Večeras Vas Zabavljaju Muzičari Koji Piju

''Večeras vas zabavljaju muzičari koji piju'' (English: "The Hard-Drinking Musicians Will Be Your Entertainment, Tonight") is the fifth studio album from Serbian and former Yugoslav rock band Riblja Čorba.

The album was polled in 1998 as the 80th 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 pop and rock music'').

Background and recording

Although the band's guitarist Momčilo Bajagić had already been set to venture out on his own, he still contributed significantly to ''Večeras vas zabavljaju muzičari koji piju'' by authoring two and co-writing another two songs. Furthermore, drummer who worked with Bajagić on his side project, '' Pozitivna geografija'', was brought in to temporarily replace Vicko Milatović who had been away serving his mandatory Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) stint. ''Večeras vas zabavljaju muzičari koji piju'' would be the only album recorded with Golubović and the last album before Bajagić and Rajko Kojić left the band.

As Riblja Čorba's record label, PGP-RTB, declined to facilitate the band's wish of recording the album in London, the group decided to move to Jugoton, a high-profile business decision that, in and of itself, received a lot of attention in the Yugoslav press. For their part, Jugoton, while not willing to finance the recording in London either, nevertheless agreed to at least pay for the album to be mixed in London. Still, ''Večeras vas zabavljaju muzičari koji piju'' would end up being the only album the band released through Jugoton as, within a year, they returned to PGP-RTB for their next studio release.

In his autobiography ''Uživo!: Autobiografija'' (''Live!: Autobiography'') the band's bass guitarist Miša Aleksić described the atmosphere at the recording sessions:

After completing the recording sessions in Ljubljana, the album's producer Kornelije Kovač and band members (minus guitarist Bajagić) went to London to mix the material. Bajagić decided not travel to London ostensibly due to feeling that he's "not needed for that part of the process since Kovač has it covered". Instead, while the rest of the band was in London, Bajagić went back home to Belgrade where, in his small Kosovska Street rental apartment using a 4-channel TASCAM Portastudio cassette recorder he had borrowed from Kovač, he proceeded to record about a third of the material for a potential solo side project he had tentatively been working on. Additionally, he also put together a supporting band and booked a debut show in April 1984 at Belgrade's Dom Sindikata before also adding a prior warm-up club gig at Zagreb's Kulušić. His album, named '' Pozitivna geografija'' and also produced by Kornelije Kovač, would soon be completed and released by PGP-RTB and met with extremely positive critical and commercial notices.

Track listing

Reception and controversy

Immediately after the album's release, state censorship board declared the songs "Mangupi vam kvare dete" and "Besni psi" "ethically unacceptable". "Besni psi" in particular caused a protracted international scandal. Due to its lyrics "Grčki šverceri, arapski studenti, negativni elementi, maloletni delikventi i besni psi" ("Greek smugglers, Arab students, negative elements, juvenile delinquents, and rabid dogs"), the embassies of three Arab countries as well as Zaire protested, complaining that songwriter Bora Đorđević had equated foreign students in SFR Yugoslavia with rabid dogs. The Yugoslav Ministry of Culture ordered an expert analysis of the song.

With a somewhat darker atmosphere, the album was not nearly successful as Riblja Čorba's previous albums, bringing only one hit, Momčilo Bajagić's gentle ballad " Kad hodaš".

Promotional tour and personnel changes

Post album release, Bajagić—still officially a Riblja Čorba member though increasingly on the outs with the rest of the band as a consequence of the overwhelmingly positive public reaction to his side project, '' Pozitivna geografija'', and bandleader Đorđević raising doubts about Bajagić's focus—participated in ''Večeras vas zabavljaju muzičari koji piju'' promotional activities and toured with the band in May and June 1984. As his status in Riblja Čorba became untenable, during summer 1984, he ended up essentially being kicked out of the band amid acrimony over his refusal to cut his Mljet vacation short and join them for several summer gigs in Greece. Bajagić reportedly learned about his dismissal from a newspaper report, specifically while returning from the Mljet island by boat and buying a copy of '' Politika ekspres'' in Dubrovnik.

Though for different reasons, the band's other lead guitarist, Rajko Kojić, was also expelled from Riblja Čorba at the same time. His dismissal from the band, however, had to do with his increased drug use that began affecting his on-stage performance. Kojić's and Bajagić's immediate replacements at Riblja Čorba were Džindžer Božinović and .

Legacy

The album was polled in 1998 as the 80th 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 pop and rock music'').

In 2006, the song " Kad hodaš" was ranked #4 on the B92 Top 100 Domestic Songs List.The B92 Top 100 Domestic Songs list at B92 official site

Personnel

*Bora Đorđević - vocals
*Rajko Kojić - guitar
*Momčilo Bajagić - guitar
*Miša Aleksić - bass guitar
* - drums

Additional personnel

*Kornelije Kovač - keyboards, producer
*Bob Painter - recorded by
*Aco Razbornik - recorded by

References

''Večeras vas zabavljaju muzičari koji piju'' at Discogs
* ''EX YU ROCK enciklopedija 1960-2006'', Janjatović Petar;
* ''Riblja čorba'', Jakovljević Mirko;

External links

''Večeras vas zabavljaju muzičari koji piju'' at Discogs

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veceras Vas Zabavljaju Muzicari Koji Piju
Riblja Čorba albums
1984 albums
Jugoton albums
Albums recorded in Slovenia