Beograd (band)

The band was formed in Belgrade on late 1980 by Slobodan Stanić "Gricko" (synthesizer) and Ljubodrag Bubalo "Ljuba" (bass guitar, synthesizer), the latter being a former member of Uliks (the embryonic Zana) and Rulet, whom, influenced by Kraftwerk and Ultravox, decided to form a synth-oriented band.[1] The two then invited the Električni Orgazam keyboard player Ljubomir Đukić to join the band, but the deal eventually fell through.[1] During the following year, the duo was joined by Ljubodrag's brother Milan Bubalo "Mića" (rhythm machine, electric drums) and Dejan Stanisavljević (synths, vocals).[1] In the meantime, the band had recorded their newly written material on a four-channel Teac cassette recorder.[1]

Beograd had their first live performance at the Belgrade Dadov Theatre where they performed with an additional member who had sequenced the rhythm machine behind the stage.[1] On their latter live appearances, the band continued the trend of adding another member, usually the U Škripcu drummer Miloš Obrenović, mainly performing in Dadov and KST. At the time, Stanić had left the band, and after a two-month break, the band continued working as a trio. Intending to replace Stanić's playing with music samples, previously recorded by the band themselves, the band used the backing tracks on their live performances.[1]

During the Spring of 1982, the band released the first Yugoslav electronic music single, "Sanjaš li u boji" ("Do You Dream In Color?") with the song "TV" as the B-side. The single, featuring Dejan Stanisavljević as the author of both music and lyrics, arranged and produced by Saša Habić, was released through Jugoton.[2] Because it had been released in 500 copies only, the single is today considered a rarity and a collector's item.[3]

From August until November 1982, the band recorded the material for their debut album at the PGP RTB studio V.[4] The following year, the label released their debut album Remek depo (a pun for the term Remek delo which means A Masterpiece, here addressing the word Deposit), featuring a combination of synthpop and brass instrument-oriented soul. The album was produced by Saša Habić and featured saxophonist Paul Pignon, trumpeter Stjepko Gut and timpanist Borislav Pavićević "Bora Longa" as guest performers.[4] The album reached the fourth position on the Džuboks magazine top ten Yugoslav rock albums list in March 1983,[5] and remained on the top ten list for twelve weeks.[6] After the album release, on mid-1983, Stanisavljević left the band and thus Beograd disbanded.

After the Beograd disbandment, the three members continued working in similar musical directions with other bands. Slobodan Stanić, with the Defektno Efektni and Urbana Gerila members, formed the band Berlinen Strasse, influenced by the British post-punk and gothic rock scene and the German krautrock scene, performing songs with lyrics in German language.[7] As Berlinen Strasse, with the song "Maske" ("Masks"), the band appeared on the various artists compilation Ventilator 202 demo top 10 in 1983.[8] The band also appeared in the movie Nešto između (Something In Between) performing the song "Achtung America" ("Attention America").[7]

Ljubodrag Bubalo made a guest appearance on the Berlinen Strasse song "Maske" as the rhythm machine sequencer.[8] During the same year, he had also appeared as the rhythm machine sequencer on the U Škripcu second studio album O, je! (Oh, Yeah!), on the track "Ples žutog lista" ("A Yellow Leaf Dance").[9] He formed a synthpop band Haj'mo (C'mon) which released the 1984 EP Irina (Irene) before disbanding. Haj'mo also featured Milan Bubalo on drums and rhythm machine.[10] The two brothers, signed as the Bubalo Bros, appeared on the Bebi Dol nationwide hit single "Rudi" ("Roody") as drum machine programmers.[11]

Milan Bubalo joined the band Laki Pingvini (The Easy Penguins), with whom he released the highly successful EP Šizika (Crazyca), released in 1983, and the studio albums, Muzika za mlade (Youth Music), released in 1984, and Striptiz (Striptease), released in 1985, before the band disbandment in 1989. He had reunited with Laki Pingvini in 1994 at the unplugged festival Bez Struje, organized at the Belgrade Sava Centar, from which the recording of the unplugged version of "Šizika" appeared on the festival compilation album Bez struje (Unplugged),[12] as special guests at the Delča i Slkekovi concert in March 2006, and as an opening act for the Duran Duran Belgrade concert held on October of the same year.[13] He had made guest appearances as the drum machine programmer on the U Škripcu second studio album O, je!, on the hit song "Siđi do reke" ("Come Down To The River"),[9] on all the tracks of the VIA Talas only studio album Perfektan dan za banana ribe (A Perfect Day for Bananafish),[14] and the Jakarta debut single "Amerika" ("America"),[15] all released in 1983.

Dejan Stanisavljević had worked with Du-Du-A with whom he released the 1996 album Ritual, and appeared on the Bez struje compilation album with an unplugged version of the song "Era Vulgaris".[16] He had appeared as the keyboard player on the Bebi Dol album Ruže i krv, released in 1984.[17] Stanisavljević later lived and worked in Canada as an Electronic Arts animator.[18]

In October 2011, it was announced that the German record label Anna Logue Records would release a 7" EP TV, featuring both tracks from the band's debut single, the song "Mrak" ("The Dark"), from the album Remek depo, as well as instrumental demo versions of the songs "TV" and "Mrak", recorded during the band's demo phase on ORWO cassettes.[19]

In August, 2012, the band, consisting of the original members Dejan Stanisavljević (synthesizer, vocals) and Milan Bubalo (Ableton Live sequencer), with the new members, Sana Garić (synth, vocal), Igor Panić "Ziggy" (guitar, pedals) and Miroslav Ćatić (drums), reunited, holding their first performance at the Belgrade club 20/44 on September 9, 2012. The band performed, beside their own songs, several songs by Garić's band Xanax.[20]

In June 2015, the band released their comeback album, Pola/pola (Fifty/Fifty).[21] The album cover was designed by famous comic book artist Aleksa Gajić.[21] The album was previously announced by singles "Percepcija" ("Perception"), released in March 2013,[22] "Zrnca prašine" ("Grains of Dust"), which featured samples of the traditional music of Hopi people, released in November 2013,[23] and "Weltschmerz", released in May 2015.[24] Pola/pola was released on a USB flash drive. The release featured, besides 17 new tracks and a remastered edition of Remek depo, 7 videos, and a number of photographs and links to web pages about topics which inspired the members of the band in creating the album.[21] The album was split into two sections, based on the tracks' pitch standard, the 440 Hz and the 432 Hz section.[21] The second section featured songs in which the band experimented with Oriental music elements.[21]

• Remek depo (1983)
• Pola/pola (2015)

• "TV" / "Sanjaš li u boji?" (1982)

• TV (2011)

• "TV" (Vrući dani i vrele noći; 1982)
• "TV" (Rock 'n' Roll "Ravno do dna" i druge, više-manje, čudnovate pjesme (1980-1989); 1999)
• "TV" (YU Elektronika 1978-1991); 2005)
• "Mrak" (New Waves Of Old; 2011)