Yugoslav rock band
Korni Grupa (Serbian Cyrillic: Корни Група, trans. Korni Group) was a Yugoslav rock band formed in Belgrade in 1968.
Launched and led by the keyboardist Kornelije Kovač, the band was one of the first Yugoslav rock acts to achieve major mainstream popularity in the country, and often considered the first Yugoslav supergroup. Over the period since their demise, Korni Grupa went on to be considered among the most prominent and influential bands in the history of rock music in Yugoslavia. The band additionally used the Kornelyans name during a short-lived commercial foray outside of Yugoslavia in an attempt at breaking into the international market with an English-language album released by an Italian label.
Since the very beginning of their run, Korni Grupa's activity took place on two tracks: one focused around commercial pop rock in pursuit of mainstream popularity, and the other, an artistically influenced progressive rock sound crossed with influences of psychedelic, folk, jazz, and symphonic rock music. The band was led by the keyboardist Kornelije Kovač who formed it with the bassist Bojan Hreljac, drummer Vladimir Furduj, and guitarist Velibor Kacl. After going through several vocalists—Miroslava Kojadinović, Dušan Prelević and Dalibor Brun—a period during which Korni Grupa released several singles, the band settled on Dado Topić who brought along his former bandmate Josip Boček as the replacement for Kacl. The lineup with Topić on vocals participated at music festivals, scored a popular film, Bube u glavi [sr], and created a soundtrack for an episode of the Jedan čovek jedna pesma [sr] television program that would be released years later as 1941. Upon Topić's departure, his substitute was Zdravko Čolić who only lasted six months. Zlatko Pejaković took over the vocals after Čolić left.
With Pejaković the band recorded their eponymous debut album, which was the first full-length rock album in SR Serbia and fourth in Yugoslavia, and an English language second album Not an Ordinary Life, under the name Kornelyans. The band had also performed at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest reaching the 12th place, owing to which, along with the little success of the second album, the band had decided to split. They held two farewell concerts at the Novi Sad Studio M and disbanded on December 1, 1974. A part of the recordings from the concerts was released on the posthumous compilation album Mrtvo more, the first double album in the history of Yugoslav rock music.
After the disbandment, Korni Grupa members pursued careers as solo acts, studio musicians and producers, reuniting in 1987 with Topić on vocals for two performances, in Zagreb and Belgrade. In 2019, Kovač, Boček and Topić reunited to hold the farewell Korni Grupa concert in Belgrade; Hreljac's participation in the reunion was also announced, however, he died less than two months before the concert.
History
Early years (1968–1969)
Having left the Sarajevo band Indexi in 1968, keyboardist Kornelije "Bata" Kovač, a graduate of the Sarajevo Music Academy, moved to Yugoslav capital Belgrade, and after meeting bass guitarist Bojan Hreljac, former member of recently disbanded Elipse, the two decided to form a new band, inviting drummer Vladimir "Furda" Furduj, Hreljac's former bandmate from Elipse, and guitarist Velibor "Borko" Kacl from the also recently disbanded major band Zlatni Dečaci.[1] Korni Grupa completed its lineup with the arrival of the female singer Miroslava "Seka" Kojadinović in September 1968, with the event receiving a significant media coverage due to the members being well-known musicians owing to their previous work, the band becoming the first Yugoslav supergroup.[2]
The band had their first live appearance at the Belgrade Trade Union Hall during the Sportsman of the Year award ceremony.[3] The performance featured two go-go dancers appearing on stage with the band, which performed several songs they had written while rehearsing at Hreljac's garage and a cover version of the song "If You Go Away" in which the band had used the sounds of the sea played on a tape recorder placed inside the piano.[4] The performance provided the band with the public's attention and opportunities to perform live at numerous venues in Belgrade.[5]
One of such performances was at Belgrade Youth Center, where they held a conceptual multimedia performance, with painter Raša Trkulja painting during the performance, ballerinas closed in multicolored plastic cylinders which would blur their silhouettes during their dancing, and actors performing sketches such as dusting the piano or the The Lady With the Dog sketch (named after a short story by Anton Chekov) in which a lady would walk a man on a leash in the first part of the performance and the man walking the lady in the second part.[6] The band was also invited to perform in the Radio Belgrade show Studio VI vam pruža šansu (Studio VI Offers You a Chance), however, Kojadinović refused to sing, so for the band's appearance in the show Kovač provided the lead vocals.[7] The reason for her refusal was the selection of the songs for the performance, including the song "Marijan", the first song the Kovač had written with the band, which Kojadinović disliked due to her being heavily influenced by the 1960s underground music, especially Julie Driscoll, whose version of "Season of the Witch" the band used to perform at the time.[8] Since the rest of the band took Kovač's side, Kojadinović was excluded from the band, after which she started a short solo career, releasing several 7" singles before retiring from music and becoming a lawyer.[9]
Dušan "Prele" Prelević, famous around Belgrade at the time for his distinguished rhythm and blues and soul vocal style and excessive lifestyle, became the new Korni Grupa vocalist.[10] At the time, Kovač was influenced by the emerging progressive rock musical style, but due to the hostility of a part of the audience and the media towards the music, he wrote the pop-oriented song "Cigu-ligu" ("Tweedle-dum, Tweedle-dee") which Korni Grupa performed at the 1968 Jugovizija festival in Zagreb, the competition for the Yugoslav representative on the Eurovision song contest.[11] Prelević arrived drunk to the performance, leading to an argument with Kovač that ended in the decision that he should leave the band.[12] Nevertheless, in 1969, the band released their debut single "Cigu-ligu", with "Čovek i pas" ("A Man and a Dog") as the B-side, with Prelević on vocals, the latter of which Prelević rerecorded on his solo album Ja, Prele (I, Prele), released in 1996. Having left Korni Grupa, Prelević appeared in the cult 1969 Yugoslav adaptation of the Hair musical in Atelje 212 theatre, recorded a studio album with progressive rock band Opus, a single with keyboardist Oliver Mandić, as well as several solo albums and devoted to a literary and journalism career.[13]
The new Korni Grupa singer became Dalibor Brun from Rijeka, a former Uragani and Bohemi (Bohemians) member, with whom Korni Grupa recorded their first hits "Magična ruka" ("The Magic Hand"), "Sonata" and "Dzum-ram".[14] With Brun, himself fostering a typically festival singer image, but a rock vocal style, the band succeeded in maintaining a double track career – alternating between being a festival band performing commercial pop rock songs on one hand and a progressive rock band following the current global rock musical trends on the other.[15] With the folk influenced song "Pastir i cvet" ("A Shepperd and a Flower"), the band appeared at the Singing Europe festival in Netherlands winning the award for the most original band, despite being in competition with acts such as the Wallace Collection and Olivia Newton-John.[16] The song, released as a single during 1969 by PGP-RTB, with "Ako budeš sama" ("If You Were Alone") as the B-side,[17] featured Balkan folk instruments šargija, tarabuk and frula.[18] This was however, the last recording with Brun as he, becoming less enthusiastic about the band's work, decided to leave the band conventionally.[19] Having left Korni Grupa, Brun started a successful career as a pop singer.[20]
Dado Topić years (1969–1971)
After Brun's departure, owing to the mutual friendship with dancer Lokica Stefanović, the new Korni Grupa vocalist became Dado Topić, a former member of the Osijek band Dinamiti.[21] With Topić the band appeared at the Opatija festival, performing the song "Devojčice mala" ("Little Girl"), which was released on a split-inch single with the song "Priča se" ("Rumour Has It") by the quartet 4M.[22] With Topić, the band held their first solo concert in Belgrade, on November 6, 1969 in Belgrade Youth Center. The concert was entitled "Uz malu pomoć naših frendova" ("With A Little Help from Our Friends").[23] Soon after, Kacl left the band and decided to retire from music.[24] He was replaced by Josip Boček, Topić's former bandmate from Dinamiti who at the time was playing in his own band Boček i Tri (Boček and Three).[25] The new lineup started working on their own vision of progressive music, recording the songs "Jedna žena" ("A Woman"), "Prvo svetlo u kući broj 4" ("The First Light in the House Number 4"), co written by Topić and Kovač,[26] classical music-inspired "Etida" ("Étude") and "Žena je luka a čovek brod" ("Woman is a Harbor and Man is a Ship").[27]
With the performance of "Jedna žena" at the 1970 Zagreb Music Festival Korni Grupa won both the audience and jury award for best song.[28] The band continued recording commercial material with the recording of the song "Bube" ("Beetles"), the theme song for the Miša Radivojević movie Bube u glavi (Beetles in the Head),[29] released on single with "Neko spava pored mene" ("Somebody is Sleeping Beside Me") as the B-side, as well as the highly successful "Trla baba lan" ("Granny Scutched the Flax"), "Slika" ("Image"), co-written with the at the time little known author Ljuba Ninković (later of S Vremena Na Vreme fame), continuing their double musical career.[30] During the same year, French singer Dalida released a French language cover of "Trla baba lan" under the title "Ram Dam Dam", her version achieving large success on the charts and leading to a number of covers by European artists.[31]In 1971, Korni Grupa recorded the musical poem "1941." on the lyrics of Branko Ćopić with Josipa Lisac as a guest vocalist.[32] The material was recorded as a soundtrack for the 1941. television series, for which Momo Kapor did the mise-en-scène, directed by Jovan Ristić.[33] Afterward, the band spent a month in Paris, playing at the fashion show which presented "Prokleta Jerina" ("Damned Jerina") line of clothing by fashion designer Aleksandar Joksimović.[34] At the show, the band had met the producer Alan Milo from the Barclay record label.[35] However, guided by his own ambitions, Topić left the band to form Time, a progressive rock and jazz fusion group that would also go on to nationwide popularity, before becoming a successful solo act.[36]
Topić was replaced by the former Ambasadori vocalist Zdravko Čolić in September 1971.[37] A young singer with more of a festival schlager sensibility, twenty-year-old Čolić right away presented an uneasy fit with the band's well-established propensity for musical experimentation with even his stage movements and vocal style not fitting into the progressive aspect of the band's musical expression.[38] Čolić thus remained in the band for only six months, recording three songs — "Gospa Mica gazdarica" ("Lady Mica the Landlord"), "Kukavica" ("The Cuckoo") and "Pogledaj u nebo" ("Look at the Sky")[39] — before leaving to start a solo career that would by late 1970s see him become one of the most popular and commercial acts in SFR Yugoslavia.[40] During Čolić's short stay, Korni Grupa shot a television special directed by Jovan Ristić, featuring songs from the band's commercial repertoire.[41]
Zlatko Pejaković years (1972–1974)
In early 1972, a former Lavine (Avalanches), Zlatni Akordi and Had (Hades) member Zlatko Pejaković became the band's new singer, and with Pejaković, Korni Grupa recorded their first full-length album, Korni Grupa.[42] At the time of the album release, Korni Grupa was one of four former Yugoslav rock bands with a full-length album (Grupa 220, Žeteoci and Time being the other three), as the scene revolved mostly around 7-inch singles.[43] The album featured complex songs "Put na Istok" ("A Trip to the East"), "Bezglave Ja Ha horde" ("The Headless Ya Ha Hordes"), "Moj bol" ("My Pain"), "Glas sa obale boja" ("A Voice from the Coast of Colors").[44] Following the album release, the band appeared at the Zagreb Music Festival and won the second place with the performance of the song "Kosovka devojka" ("Kosovo Maiden"), as well as performing at the 1972 Montreux Jazz Festival; on this performance they were joined by Mića Marković (saxophone) and Mladi Levi member Petar Ugrin (violin, trumpet).[45] In the meantime, the band recorded the first Yugoslav television show in color, Put za istok, edited by Jovan Ristić and directed by Dejan Karaklajić.[46]
During the late 1973, Korni Grupa recorded a symphonic rock English language album Not an Ordinary Life, which they released under the name The Kornelyans through the Italian record label Ricordi.[47] The album was sold without much commercial promotion in ten thousand copies only,[48] with the license for the album release being sold to Yugoslavia, Japan, Israel, and several South American countries.[49] The album was produced by Carlo Alberto Rossi, a prominent Italian record producer and composer, who had been working with the Italian progressive acts of the time as Premiata Forneria Marconi, Banco and Area.[50] On the Yugoslav scene the band had an enormous success with the songs "Oj, dodole" ("Hey, Dodola"), "Ivo Lola", with the lyrics based on the last letter of Yugoslav World War II hero Ivo Lola Ribar, "Znam za kim zvono zvoni" ("I Know for Whom the Bell Tolls"), featuring as guest the singer Ditka Haberl, "Divlje jagode" ("Wild Strawberries"), "Miris" ("Scent"), with lyrics from Charles Baudelaire's sonnet "Parfum exotique", and "Praštanje" ("Forgiveness"), with lyrics by poet Brana Crnčević, who was at the time considered a dissident.[51]
In the spring of 1974, they won first place at the festival in Opatija with the song "Moja generacija" ("My Generation") and represented Yugoslavia at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton, on which ABBA won the first place, with whom the band had shared the wardrobe.[52] The single with the English-language version of "Moja generacija" and the shortened version of "Jednoj ženi" was released in Italy. During the same year the music magazine Music Week declared Korni Grupa the Yugoslav Band of the Year. However, disappointed with little success of Not an Ordinary Life and the 12th place won at the Eurovision Song Contest, Kovač decided to disband Korni Grupa.[53] They held two farewell concerts in Studio M in Novi Sad on November 24 and a part of the concert recordings was released on the first double album in the history of Yugoslav rock music, the compilation Mrtvo more (The Dead Sea).[54] One record featured their singles, representing commercial and more pop-oriented side of Korni Grupa, while the other featured live recordings of "Put za Istok", "Čovek sa belom zastavom" ("The Man with a White Flag") and "Blues", representing the progressive side of their career.[55] The band officially disbanded on December 1, 1974.[56]
Post breakup, 1987 reunion
After Korni Grupa disbanded Kovač started a successful career as a compose, arranger and producer, Pejaković turned towards pop music, Boček and Hreljac became studio musicians and Furduj started a career in jazz.[57] The various artists live album Randevu s muzikom (A Rendevouz with Music), released in 1977, featured the Korni Grupa songs "I ne tako obićan život" ("Not an Ordinary Life at All") and "Jedna žena" recorded at Novi Sad farewell concerts, which were previously unreleased.[58] During the same year, Kovač initiated the formation of a supergroup K2 (not to be confused with the 1990s duo consisting of Kovač's daughters) which ought to have featured Josip Boček, Dado Topić, Sloba Marković, Čarli Novak and Ratko Divljak, but it was never formed mostly owing to Topić's hesitating.[59] In 1979, the recording of the musical poem 1941. was released as a posthumous studio album.[60] In May 1984, Korni Grupa's original guitarist Velibor Kacl died in a car accident.[61]
In May 1987, Korni Grupa, consisting of Kovač, Furduj, Hreljac, Boček and Dado Topić on lead vocals, reunited to perform, alongside Indexi, Time, YU Grupa, Drago Mlinarec and R.M. Točak Band, at the Legende YU Rocka (Legends of YU Rock) concert organized by Radio 101 at Zagreb's Dom Sportova.[62] In June of the same year, the same bands performed at Belgrade's Sava Centar.[63] The version of "Jedna žena" recorded at the Zagreb concert appeared on the various artists double live album Legende YU Rocka, released by Jugoton during the same year.[64]
Post 1987
In 1994, the previously unreleased song "Prvo svetlo u kući broj 4" appeared on the compilation album Plima: Progresivna muzika (Tide: Progressive Music), released as a part of Komuna YU retROCKspektiva (YU RetROCKspective) album series.[65] In 1996, the compilation album Prvo svetlo neobičnog života (The First Light of an Unordinary Life) was released, featuring a selection of tracks from Korni Grupa's progressive repertoire.[66] During the same year, Kovač released a compilation album Moja generacija (My Generation), consisting of recordings of his songs used in the television show Zvučna viljuška (Tuning Fork), including cover versions of the Korni Grupa songs "Moja generacija" by Filip Žmaher, "Sonata" by Zoran Šandorov, "Oj, dodole" by Del Arno Band and "Jagode i maline" ("Strawberries and Raspberries") by Van Gogh.[67]
In 2005, the three-part compilation album Ne tako običan život (Not an Ordinary Life at All) was released by PGP-RTS, featuring the collected singles, recordings from the progressive phase, the recording of "Jedna žena" from the 1987 reunion concert and the previously unreleased version of the song "Kosovka devojka" with Kovač on lead vocals.[68]
In 2007, the band's second vocalist, Dušan Prelević, died in Belgrade after a long illness, aged 58.[69] In 2015, Furduj died in Belgrade. He was 70 years old.[70]
2019 reunion
In 2018, it was announced that Korni Grupa would reunite for the farewell concert to be held in Belgrade's Sava Centar, in a lineup that would feature Kornelije Kovač on keyboards, Josip Boček on guitar, Dado Topić on vocals, and three younger musicians, Peđa Milanović (bass guitar), Aleksandar Miletić (keyboards) and Ratko Ljubičić (drums).[71] It was announced that Bojan Hreljac would also perform on the concert, but only as a guest on one song due to his health condition.[72] However, the planned reunion was marked by numerous difficulties. The concert was originally announced for 30 November 2018, but was postponed for 31 January 2019,[73] and in the meantime, on 19 December 2018, Hreljac died in Belgrade, aged 70.[74] Prior to the concert, the organizers announced that Dado Topić might not appear on the concert due to his health problems and that he would be replaced by guest vocalists. Eventually, Topić appeared on the concert, but on several songs only, while the rest of the set featured Dejan Cukić, Goran Šepa, Zoran Šandrov and Dušan Svilar as guest vocalists.[75]
Post 2019
Three years after the band's farewell concert, in 2022, Kornelije Kovač died in Belgrade, aged 81.[76]
