Ivan "Ivica" Šerfezi (1 December 1935 – 29 May 2004
) was a
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
n pop singer hailing from
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
.
Ivan "Ivica" Šerfezi started singing in dance halls, and his first real success was a duet with
Domenico Modugno at the
Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb (Modugno had a worldwide hit song, "
Volare"). In the 1960s and the 1970s Šerfezi made many tours throughout Yugoslavia, East Germany, as well as the Soviet Union, and his concerts filled up 150 venues.
His songs were often influenced by Mexican and Greek folk music.
The primary composers of his songs were
Ivica Krajač and
Nikica Kalogjera.
Some of his hit songs included "Suze liju plave oči" (Croatian version of the
Willie Nelson classic, "
Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain"), "Ruže su crvene" (Croatian version of the
Bobby Vinton classic, "
Roses are Red"), "Ksimeroni", "Elada", etc.
His career lasted for 46 years and he had 15 gold records. He also sang many duets with the very popular female Macedonian singer,
Ljupka Dimitrovska.
Šerfezi was nicknamed ''Šerfa'', and called "the golden boy of home show business". He was an avid tennis and golf player, and in later years also a politician. In 2001, as a longtime supporter of the
Croatian Peasant Party
The Croatian Peasant Party (, HSS) is an agrarianism, agrarian List of political parties in Croatia, political party in Croatia founded on 22 December 1904 by Antun Radić, Antun and Stjepan Radić as Croatian Peoples' Peasant Party (HPSS). The ...
, he ran as that party's candidate on the elections for Zagreb City Assembly, but his list failed to enter the Assembly.
Šerfezi died in May 2004, just months after he had been diagnosed with
stomach cancer.
[http://www.24sata.hr/show/suprugina-sjecanja-mojih-10-godina-bez-ivice-serfezija-368581 ]
Lyrics
References
External links
Suze liju plave očiIvica ŠerfeziIvica ŠerfeziIvica Šerfezi (Discogs catalogue)
1935 births
2004 deaths
Croatian pop singers
20th-century Croatian male singers
Yugoslav male singers
Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery
Deaths from stomach cancer
Musicians from Zagreb
Deaths from cancer in Croatia
{{Croatia-singer-stub