Ivo Robić (28 January 1923 – 9 March 2000) was a Croatian singer-songwriter.

Domestic career

Robić began his career as a soloist with the Radio Zagreb

Orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

, while studying at the same time 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 Sl ...

. He performed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

on "Krugovalna postaja Zagreb" in an

Esplanade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...

hotel in Zagreb,

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in p ...

. During his career in what was then

Socialist Republic of 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 Social ...

, he made more than one hundred records, mostly singles and '' schlagers''. In his own country, the most memorable of his many schlagers might be "Vraćam se Zagrebe tebi" (Coming Back to You, My Zagreb), "Ta tvoja ruka mala" (That Little Hand of Yours), and "Tiho plove moje čežnje" (Silent Sail of My Yearnings).

International achievements

A pioneer of popular Croatian music from the early 1950s on, Robić was an artist who successfully pursued both domestic and international careers for almost half a

century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial ...

. When he began, he was the only

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, t ...

from Croatia whose records were available in the record shops of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

and the rest of the world. Robić was nicknamed "Mister Morgen" following the success of his first international hit, "Morgen" (which means "tomorrow"), in 1959. The optimistic song was the first collaboration between Robić and

Bert Kaempfert Bert Kaempfert (born Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the mu ...

. Following its success in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, the German-language version became a #13 hit on the pop chart ( ''Billboard'' Hot 100) in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. An English set of lyrics, "One More Sunrise", bearing no resemblance to the German lyrics, sung by Leslie Uggams, reached #98 on the same charts. It has also been performed by many other artists. Robić was active in recording for Germany's Polydor label. He performed and collaborated with Kaempfert,

Freddy Quinn Freddy Quinn (born Franz Eugen Helmut Manfred Nidl; 27 September 1931) is an Austrian singer and actor whose popularity in the German-speaking world soared in the late 1950s and 1960s. As Hans Albers had done two generations before him, Quinn ...

, and

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

. Of the Kaempfert composed international hit of 1966 ''

Strangers in the Night "Strangers in the Night" is a song composed by Bert Kaempfert with English lyrics by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder. Kaempfert originally used it under the title "Beddy Bye" as part of the instrumental score for the movie '' A Man Could G ...

'' he sang the Yugoslav and German versions ''Stranci u Noći'' with lyrics by Marija Renota and ''Fremde in der Nacht'' with lyrics by Kurt Feltz. Robić's other international hits are "Muli-Song" (1960), "Mit 17 fängt das Leben erst an" (1960), "Ein ganzes Leben lang" (1962), "Rot ist der Wein" (1966), and "Ich zeig' dir den Sonnenschein" (1971).

References

External links

* Morgen * Strangers in the night
Morgen, in Croatian and German languages

"Stranci u noći",(Strangers in the night), in original Croatian language

Ivo Robić - Biografija

Ivo Robić's recordings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robic, Ivo 1923 births 2000 deaths People from Garešnica Croatian pop singers Croatian songwriters 20th-century Croatian male singers Yugoslav male singers Polydor Records artists Laurie Records artists Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery Musicians from Zagreb