Yugo rock: Bijelo dugme ('70s hard rock/prog in the vein of Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Zepp etc.)

So, I intend to start a series of threads here to introduce you guys on this boards to some music from former Yugoslavia, as there were some really great bands from this region.

The first band I'm going to write about is Bijelo dugme (White Button), one of the most popular and most influential bands in former Yugoslavia.
They were formed in the early '70s, originally under the name VIS Jutro (Morning), and the music they originally played was somewhat mellower and poppier than what they released as Bijelo dugme.
The band's guitarist, Goran Bregović, wanted to play hard rock with folk elements, which led to a conflict with some other band members, and after some personnel changes, the band changed their name to Bijelo dugme in 1974, and released their debut album in November of the same year:






They released three more studio albums and one live album in the '70s, which featured a similar hard rock/prog sound with influences from Yugoslavian folk music:










As the band entered the '80s, new wave music exploded in Yugoslavia, and the band followed the trends with the albums "Doživjeti stotu" and "Uspavanka za Radmilu M." My favorites from this era are the title tracks of the albums, the first one being a catchy new wave song, and the second one being a beautiful acoustic guitar instrumental that featured Vlatko Stefanovski, a renowned Macedonian guitarist of the band Leb i Sol (another great band that I intend to write about):




After Uspavanka za Radmilu M., the original singer Željko Bebek left the band to pursue a solo career, and a young singer, Mladen Vojičić Tifa was hired to replace him. The band's sound shifted to '80s arena rock with folk influences, and the band even made some proper folk songs, such as Lipe cvatu:



After the s/t album with Tifa, due to Tifa's age difference and drugs and alcohol problems, he was fired from the band and replaced by Alen Islamović of the Bosnian heavy metal band Divlje Jagode, whom Bregović originally approached to replace Bebek (and who was, incidentally, then replaced by Tifa). The band's sound didn't change much for the following two albums, after which Bregović disbanded the band. They would eventually reunite for a short tour in 2005.











For more in depth information, check their Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bijelo_Dugme

I have heard of Tako. A friend burned their two albums for me many, many years ago.

I'll check these out.

Actually, that's a band I'm not really familiar with.
What do you think of Dugme, chewie?

I forgot to listen to these......I really like that first song! It has a Uriah Heep vibe to it.


They have listings for both those bands at Prog Archives:
BIJELO DUGME - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2877
TAKO - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=884

The first song was all I scoped out earlier......


Like Chewie, picked up on a Heep influence with a tatse of Golden earing and Iron Butterfly

Yugo rock:


The 70's stuff is interesting, the later stuff not so much

I'm surprised noone brought this up yet. ^^
Anyway, agreed on that. I still like the '80s albums, though.
Will post some '80s metal from Yugoslavia now.