''Kad bi' bio bijelo dugme'' (trans. ''If I Were a White Button'') is the 1974 debut studio album from influential
Yugoslav rock band
Bijelo Dugme
Bijelo Dugme (trans. ''White Button'') was a Yugoslav rock band, formed in Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1974. Bijelo Dugme is widely considered to have been the most popular band ever to exist in the former Socialist Federal Republic ...
.
The album was polled the 14th on the 100 Greatest Yugoslav Rock and Pop Albums list in the 1998 book ''
YU 100: najbolji albumi jugoslovenske rok i pop muzike'' (''YU 100: The Best Albums of Yugoslav Pop and Rock Music'').
Recording
Prior to the release of the album, Bijelo Dugme had large success with their
7-inch singles. The band's record label,
Jugoton
Jugoton was the largest record label and chain record store in the former Yugoslavia based in Zagreb, SR Croatia.
History
Jugoton was formed in 1947. It is notable for releasing some of the most important former Yugoslav pop and rock records. ...
, intended to release Bijelo Dugme's first album during the spring of 1975, but the group's manager, Vladimir Mihaljek, managed to persuade the label's executives to release the record during the autumn of 1974.
The recording sessions started on 2 October 1974 in Akademik Studio in
Ljubljana
Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center.
During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...
.
The album was produced by the band members themselves, with help from Akademik Studio's producer Dečo Žgur.
The album featured a new version of the title track, which the band had originally released as a
7-inch single in 1973 while still performing under the name
Jutro.
Album cover
The album cover was designed by designer Dragan S. Stefanović, who would go on to design covers for several of the band's future releases.
Four decades after the album release, it was revealed that the name of the model was Ljiljana Božanić.
Rock critic Dražen Vrdoljak stated in 1981 that ''Kad bi bio bijelo dugme'' album cover "represented a shift in conceiving the covers of domestic
ugoslavrock albums, identical to the shift
Bregović's music made on our rock scene".
Track listing
All songs were written by
Goran Bregović
Goran Bregović (born 22 March 1950) is a recording artist from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is one of the most internationally known modern musicians and composers of the Slavic-speaking countries in the Balkans, and is one of the few former Yug ...
, except where noted.
Personnel
*
Goran Bregović
Goran Bregović (born 22 March 1950) is a recording artist from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is one of the most internationally known modern musicians and composers of the Slavic-speaking countries in the Balkans, and is one of the few former Yug ...
– guitar, harmonica
*
Željko Bebek
Želimir "Željko" Bebek (born 16 December 1945) is a Bosnian and Croatian vocalist and musician most notable for being the lead singer of former Yugoslav rock band Bijelo Dugme from 1974 to 1984. He also has a successful career as a solo artis ...
– vocals
*
Zoran Redžić
Zoran Redžić (born 29 January 1948) is a Bosnian musician, best known for playing the bass guitar in the popular Yugoslav rock band Bijelo Dugme.
Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia, he is a younger brother of another Bosnia ...
– bass guitar
*
Ipe Ivandić
Goran "Ipe" Ivandić (December 10, 1955 – January 12, 1994) was a Bosnian rock drummer, famous for his work with the band Bijelo Dugme.
Early life
Ivandić was born to father Josip and mother Mirjana in the central Bosnian town of Vareš, at ...
– drums
*
Vlado Pravdić
Vladimir "Vlado" Pravdić (born 6 December 1949) is a Bosnian musician most famous as the organist of the Yugoslav rock group Bijelo dugme from 1974 to 1976 and again from 1978 to 1987.
Born in Sarajevo, PR Bosnia-Herzegovina, FPR Yugoslavia ...
– organ, synthesizer, electric piano, piano
Additional personnel
*Miro Bevc – engineer
*Dragan S. Stefanović – design, cover photo
*Boris Dučić – photography
Reception
The album was well received by audience and critics alike.
In a ''
Džuboks
''Džuboks'' ( sr-cyr, italic=yes, Џубокс, trans. ''Jukebox'') was a Yugoslav music magazine. Launched in 1966, it was the very first magazine in SFR Yugoslavia dedicated predominantly to rock music and the first rock music magazine to be p ...
'' magazine review,
Maksa Ćatović wrote:
The intro to the album's opening track was referred to as "pastirski" (
shepherd-like) by rock critic Dražen Vrdoljak in his review published on 30 November 1974 in ''Studio''. Few weeks later, a write-up about the album in ''Tina'' magazine used the term "pastirski rok" (''
shepherd rock''). The term was soon picked up by a wider section of the Yugoslav public and used frequently, often pejoratively, to describe Bijelo Dugme's
Deep Purple and
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
-influenced
hard rock sound mixed in with the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
elements.
The album's biggest hits were the title track,
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...
-influenced hit "Ne spavaj, mala moja, muzika dok svira", and the
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
"
Selma
Selma may refer to:
Places
*Selma, Algeria
*Selma, Nova Scotia, Canada
*Selma, Switzerland, village in the Grisons
United States:
*Selma, Alabama, city in Dallas County, best known for the Selma to Montgomery marches
*Selma, Arkansas
*Selma, Cali ...
", the latter featuring lyrics written by poet
Vlado Dijak.
Immediately upon its release, the album broke the record for the best selling Yugoslav rock album held by YU Grupa's
debut album, which sold in more than 30,000 copies.
In February 1975, Bijelo Dugme was awarded a
gold record
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
at the
Opatija
Opatija (; it, Abbazia; german: Sankt Jakobi) is a List of cities and towns in Croatia, town and a municipality in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in western Croatia. The traditional seaside resort on the Kvarner Gulf is known for its Mediterranean ...
Festival, as they sold their debut album in more than 40,000 copies.
The final number of copies sold was about 141,000.
Legacy
The album was polled in 1998 as the 16th on the list of 100 Greatest Yugoslav Rock and Pop Albums in the book ''
YU 100: najbolji albumi jugoslovenske rok i pop muzike'' (''YU 100: The Best Albums of Yugoslav Rock and Pop Music'').
The title track was polled in 2000 as the 97th on the
Rock Express Top 100 Yugoslav Rock Songs of All Times
100 najboljih pesama svih vremena YU rocka (''Top 100 Yugoslav Rock Songs of All Times'') was a list compiled by the Serbian music magazine '' Rock Express''. In 1999, ''Rock Express'' started the poll for the selection of top 100 Yugoslav rock s ...
list.
In 2015, ''Kad bi bio bijelo dugme'' album cover was ranked 20th on the list of 100 Greatest Album Covers of Yugoslav Rock published by
web magazine
An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer mag ...
Balkanrock.
Covers
*Yugoslav pop trio
Aska recorded a Bijelo Dugme songs medley on their 1982 album ''Disco Rock'', featuring, among other Bijelo Dugme songs, "Kad bi' bio bijelo dugme" and "Patim, evo, deset dana".
*Yugoslav and
Bosnian folk rock band
Nervozni Poštar
Nervozni poštar ("Nervous Postman") is a Bosnian folk rock
Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S ...
recorded a cover of "Ne spavaj, mala moja, muzika dok svira" on their 1987 album ''Ništa više nije kao prije'' (''Nothing's like It Used to Be'').
*
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
n and Yugoslav singer-songwriter
Srđan Marjanović
Srđan Marjanović ( sr-cyr, Срђан Марјановић) is a Serbian singer-songwriter from Belgrade.
Musical career
Early career
Marjanović was born in 1952 in Banja Luka. In 1961, he moved to Belgrade, where he became interested in roc ...
recorded a cover of "Selma" on his 1989 album ''Ako jednom puknem ja'' (''If I Go into Pieces One Day'').
*
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
n and Yugoslav rock band
Sokoli recorded a cover of "Ne spavaj, mala moja, muzika dok svira", featuring guest appearance by Serbian and Yugoslav musician
Momčilo Bajagić Momcilo or Momčilo (Cyrillic script: Момчило) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin. It is often found in Serbia and Montenegro. It may refer to:
* Momčilo Bajagić, Serbian rock musician
* Momčilo Bošković (born 1951), retired Ser ...
on vocals, on their 1992 album ''Satan je blazn zmatran'' (''Satan Is Dog Tired'').
*Serbian rock band
Prljavi Inspektor Blaža i Kljunovi recorded a cover of "Ne spavaj, mala moja, muzika dok svira" on their 1994 live album ''Igra rokenrol SR Jugoslavija'' (''
FR Yugoslavia
Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yug ...
Is Dancing to Rock 'n' Roll'').
*
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
n pop singer
Severina recorded a cover of "Ne spavaj, mala moja, muzika dok svira" on her 1993 album ''Dalmatinka'' (''Girl from
Dalmatia'').
*Serbian
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
band Cony recorded a cover of "Kad bi' bio bijelo dugme" on their 1993 album ''Šta bih dao da sam na tvom mjestu'' (''What Would I Give to Be in Your Place''), the title of the album alluding to the title of Bijelo Dugme's second album, ''
Šta bi dao da si na mom mjestu'' (''What Would You Give to Be in My Place'').
*Croatian and Yugoslav singer-songwriter and former
Azra
Azra was a Croatian and Yugoslav rock band that was one of the most popular acts of the Yugoslav new wave music of the 1980s. Azra was formed in 1977 by its frontman Branimir "Johnny" Štulić. The other two members of the original line-up we ...
leader
Branimir "Džoni" Štulić released covers of "Selma" and "Kad bi bio bijelo dugme" on his official YouTube channel in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
"SELMA" via Branimir Štulić, YouTube
/ref>
References
''Kad bi' bio bijelo dugme'' at Discogs
External links
''Kad bi' bio bijelo dugme'' at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kad Bi' Bio Bijelo Dugme
1974 debut albums
Bijelo Dugme albums
Jugoton albums
Albums recorded in Slovenia