Milan Mladenović ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Младеновић; 21 September 1958 – 5 November 1994) was a Serbian and Yugoslavian musician best known as the
frontman
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...
of the Yugoslav
art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...
band
Ekatarina Velika
Ekatarina Velika ( sr-Cyrl, Екатарина Велика, en, Catherine the Great), sometimes referred to as EKV for short, was a Yugoslav rock band from Belgrade, being one of the most successful and influential Yugoslav music acts.
Initi ...
.
Early life
Born to Serbian father Spasa from
Kruševac
Kruševac ( sr-cyr, Крушевац, , tr, Alacahisar or Kruşevca) is a city and the administrative center of the Rasina District in central Serbia. It is located in the valley of West Morava, on Rasina river. According to the 2011 census, ...
and Croatian mother Danica from
Makarska
Makarska (; it, Macarsca, ; german: Macharscha) is a town on the Adriatic coastline of Croatia, about southeast of Split and northwest of Dubrovnik, in the Split-Dalmatia County.
Makarska is a prominent regional tourist center, located on a ...
, Milan's first years were spent in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slove ...
,
PR Croatia
The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Sociali ...
, where his father, an officer in the
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska a ...
, was stationed at the time. Consequently, Milan grew up wherever it was that his dad's job took the family. In total, it ended up being three cities.
When he was six, Milan's family moved to
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...
where he spent a notable part of his childhood.
Eventually in 1970, they moved to
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 m ...
just short of his 12th birthday. Once in Belgrade, Milan attended the Eleventh Belgrade
Gymnasium in the
Lekino Brdo neighbourhood while simultaneously entering the circle of young people involved with music and arts.
Musical career
Limunovo Drvo and Šarlo Akrobata
With schoolmate
Gagi Mihajlović, Mladenović formed a band called Limunovo drvo (Lemon Tree) that dabbled in melodic hard rock. The group changed lineups frequently, displaying a pretty limited creative potential until the arrival of bassist
Dušan Kojić Koja and drummer
Ivan Vdović Vd. Soon afterwards, they adopted a new musical direction (
new wave) and changed the name to
Šarlo akrobata
Šarlo Akrobata ( sr-Cyrl, Шарло Акробата; trans. ''Charlot the Acrobat'', a Serbo-Croatian language version of Charlie Chaplin's name in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) were a seminal Serbian new wave/post-punk band from Belgrade. Short- ...
. During this time Milan was musically very much fond of and inspired by
Elvis Costello
Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in 2020, and has twice been nomi ...
,
Paul Weller
Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...
, and
Andy Partridge
Andrew John Partridge (born 11 November 1953) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who founded the rock band XTC. He and Colin Moulding each acted as a songwriter and frontman for XTC, with Partridge writing and sin ...
of
XTC
XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing i ...
.
Šarlo akrobata released only one album, ''
Bistriji ili tuplji čovek biva kad...'' in July 1981 and broke up soon afterward due to creative differences between Milan and Koja. The record is considered to be one of the best and most important albums of the Yugoslav
new wave music
New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. La ...
scene.
Katarina II and Ekatarina Velika
In late 1981 Milan and his former bandmate from Limunovo drvo Gagi Mihajlović (guitar) hooked up again to form
Katarina II
Ekatarina Velika ( sr-Cyrl, Екатарина Велика, en, Catherine the Great), sometimes referred to as EKV for short, was a Yugoslav rock band from Belgrade, being one of the most successful and influential Yugoslav music acts.
Initi ...
. In 1982
Margita Stefanović (
keyboards),
Bojan Pečar (
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
) and Ivan Vdović Vd joined the band. After the self-titled,
new wave coloured
debut album, Vd and Gagi left the band. Since Gagi claimed ownership of the "Katarina II" name, the band was forced to take another one. They eventually settled on
Ekatarina Velika
Ekatarina Velika ( sr-Cyrl, Екатарина Велика, en, Catherine the Great), sometimes referred to as EKV for short, was a Yugoslav rock band from Belgrade, being one of the most successful and influential Yugoslav music acts.
Initi ...
and released a
self-titled album in 1985. The album was widely critically acclaimed and brought them wider attention. Their next album ''
S' vetrom uz lice'' launched them to the very top of the Yugoslav music scene, where they stayed for a long time, releasing a series of successful records. The concerts were jam packed and finally their music even made it on the state radio.
Final works
In 1992, Mladenović joined other Serbian musicians to form
Rimtutituki project dedicated to the
anti-war
An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...
campaign. They released one single titled "Slušaj 'vamo". In the spring of 1994, Mladenović recorded and released an album called ''
Angel's Breath'' in
Brazil together with his old friend
Suba
Suba may refer to:
Groups of people
* Suba people (Kenya), a people of Kenya
**Suba language
*Suba people (Tanzania), a people of Tanzania
*Subha (writers), alternatively spelt Suba, Indian writer duo
Individual people
* Suba (musician), Serbian ...
(Mitar Subotić).
Death
In August 1994, Mladenović discovered that he had
pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of panc ...
. He died on November 5 in
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 m ...
,
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 Yu ...
and was buried at
Novo groblje
The New Cemetery ( sr, Ново гробље, ''Novo groblje'') is a cemetery complex in Belgrade, Serbia, with a distinct history. It is located in Ruzveltova street in Zvezdara municipality. The cemetery was built in 1886 as the third Christia ...
cemetery (lot No. 114).
Legacy
Three streets in the capital cities of former Yugoslav republics bear Mladenović's name. A street in the Belgrade neighborhood
Zemun Polje
Zemun Polje ( sr, Земун поље) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the municipality of Zemun.
Location
Zemun Polje is located on both railway and highway Belgrade-Novi Sad, halfway between the ...
was named after him in 2004, a street in the
Podgorica
Podgorica (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Подгорица, ; Literal translation, lit. 'under the hill') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd ...
neighborhood
Zabjelo in 2007, as well as a street in Zagreb (Croatia) in 2012.
Since 14 July 2011 the forecourt of the
Belgrade Youth Center bears the name "Milan Mladenović Place".
Studio discography
With Šarlo Akrobata
*''
Paket aranžman'' (1980) - with
Električni orgazam
Električni Orgazam ( sr-cyr, Електрични Оргазам, lit=Electric Orgasm, translit=) is a Serbian rock band from Belgrade. Originally starting as a combination of new wave, punk rock and post-punk, the band later slowly changed t ...
and
Idoli
Idoli ( sr-cyr, Идоли; trans. The Idols) were a Serbian new wave band from Belgrade. They are considered to be one of the most notable acts of the Yugoslav rock scene, and their 1982 album '' Odbrana i poslednji dani'' was on several occas ...
*''
Bistriji ili tuplji čovek biva kad...'' (1981)
With Katarina II/Ekatarina Velika
* ''
Katarina II
Ekatarina Velika ( sr-Cyrl, Екатарина Велика, en, Catherine the Great), sometimes referred to as EKV for short, was a Yugoslav rock band from Belgrade, being one of the most successful and influential Yugoslav music acts.
Initi ...
'' (1984)
* ''
Ekatarina Velika
Ekatarina Velika ( sr-Cyrl, Екатарина Велика, en, Catherine the Great), sometimes referred to as EKV for short, was a Yugoslav rock band from Belgrade, being one of the most successful and influential Yugoslav music acts.
Initi ...
'' (1985)
* ''
S' vetrom uz lice'' (1986)
* ''
Ljubav'' (1987)
* ''
Samo par godina za nas'' (1989)
* ''
Dum Dum
Dum Dum is a city and a municipality of Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of Kolkata urban area and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).
Etymology
During the 19 ...
'' (1991)
* ''
Neko nas posmatra'' (1993)
With Angel's Breath
* ''
Angel's Breath'' (1994)
References
External links
Ekatarina Velika On-Line - fansite Mladenović's grave at ''Finde a grave websiteDanas 13 godina od smrti Milana Mladenovića, ''Blic'', November 5, 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mladenovic, Milan
1958 births
1994 deaths
Musicians from Zagreb
Serbian rock singers
20th-century Serbian male singers
Serbian rock guitarists
Lead guitarists
Yugoslav male singers
Musicians from Belgrade
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
Serbian punk rock musicians
Post-punk musicians
Serbian male poets
Serbian people of Croatian descent
Serbs of Croatia
Serbian record producers
Deaths from cancer in Serbia
20th-century Serbian poets
Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery
20th-century guitarists
Serbian anti-war activists
Musicians from Sarajevo
Yugoslav rock singers