History
In 1981, sixteen-year-old Saša Lošić, a gymnasium student from Sarajevo, started a band called Ševin Orkestar with Srđan Krošnjar on guitar, Gordan Džamonja on bass, and Admir "Ćera II" Ćeramida on drums. The following year, the four teenagers changed their name to Plavi Orkestar due to another group called Ševe being active in the city at the time.
Soon after, Lošić switched high schools; transferring from the Third Sarajevo Gymnasium to First Sarajevo Gymnasium where he met guitarist Mladen "Pava" Pavičić who had already experienced a certain measure of musical prominence having played in a band called Rock Apoteka. Furthermore, Pavičić had appeared at the 1981 Omladinski festival in Subotica with Rock Apoteka's next incarnation Super 98, before switching to pop band Mali Princ, and finally, during early 1982, ending up with the 1980 Zaječar Gitarijada winners Pauk whom he joined as replacement for their outgoing guitarist Branko "Daba" Dabić and soon recorded an album with, Mumije lažu, that was released in 1983.[1] Since Pauk was based out of Zavidovići, for teenage Pavičić, that meant traveling 130 km from Sarajevo every weekend for band rehearsals, which his parents weren't too keen on and soon persuaded him to quit the group. He then flirted with and filled in with a variety of bands.
Though Pava and Loša hit it off as soon as they had met in high school, it wasn't until 1983 that Pava joined Loša's band. The two agreed to do so at a Siluete gig in Sarajevo. As soon as he became a part of Plavi Orkestar, much more musically experienced Pava arranged for guitarist Krošnjar and bassist Džamonja to be kicked out of the group, seeing them as not committed and dedicated enough. Shortly prior to the summer of 1983, Samir "Ćera I" Ćeramida joined on bass as a replacement for Džamonja.
Beginning
This is when the group's activity became decidedly more serious and it's generally considered as the band's real beginning. They started opening for big Yugoslav touring acts like Riblja Čorba and Leb i Sol, which got the young band their first exposure in the country's press. However, the reviews and notices were atrocious, which Loša took quite hard and for a time even decided to quit music. Still, the enthusiasm from the rest of the band brought him back into the fold and he began focusing on writing pop ballads, most of which were inspired by unrequited love for a girl he was after at the time. During summer 1983, they held a gig at a Sarajevo club called Trasa where they were spotted by Laboratorija Zvuka's Bata Vranešević [sr] who, noticing their potential, invited them to Belgrade to record material for a studio album. In September 1983, as a send-off of sorts before going away to serve their respective mandatory Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) stints, Plavi Orkestar played another show at Trasa. The next day they boarded a train to Belgrade where, in Enco Lesić [hr]'s studio, Druga maca, they recorded three tracks—"Soldatski bal", "Goodbye Teens", and "Suada"—all of which would become future hits.
Over the following weeks, the four band members left for their respective army stints and band activity was put on hiatus.
A year later, in September 1984, they returned to Sarajevo only to see that their mates from the city's club scene, Zabranjeno Pušenje, had been enjoying Yugoslavia-wide breakout success with their debut album. Loša and Pava returned home first, continuing where they had left off one year earlier while waiting for their rhythm section to come back home as well. However, due to poor gig quality and general malaise, the two got into a row that ended up with Pava quitting the band. Loša then got in touch with music manager Malkolm Muharem [sr], who had previously worked with Elvis J. Kurtović & His Meteors; the two arranged for the band (though the group strictly speaking didn't even exist at the moment) to record a few more demos in Zagreb with the help of Parni Valjak's Husein Hasanefendić and Rastko Milošev. While in Zagreb, Loša managed to get the country's best known record label interested in the group, signing a pre-contract with Jugoton. The event was the catalyst for Pava to return to the band.
Debut album
In early 1985, the band's first album Soldatski bal (Soldier's Ball) was recorded in SIM studio, Zagreb. From this album the band had many hit singles such as "Suada", "Daj mi vruće rakije" (Give me hot rakija), "Odlazi nam raja" (Our Friends are Leaving), "Bolje biti pijan nego star" (Better to be drunk than old), "Goodbye Teens", and the title track, "Soldatski bal". The album's lyrics were based on Loša's experiences whilst serving in the army.
Their second album "Smrt Fašizmu" ("Death to Fascism") was another outstanding success for the band, selling over 300,000 copies in Yugoslavia and being certified diamond. This album spawned several hits: "Fa, Fa, Fašista", "Puteru Puteru", "Sava Tiho Teče", "Zelene su bile oči te" and "Kad si sam druže moj".
In 1989, they returned with the album "Sunce na prozoru" which was another big hit for the band. It included such hits as "Kaja", "Lovac i košuta" and "Proljeće". Their 1991 release, Simpatija, would be their last album issued in Yugoslavia prior to its breakup. It included their version of Mamas and Papas hit single "California Dreaming" (titled "Ljubi se Istok i Zapad) which is still a big hit to this day in the post-Yugoslav republics. They were on hiatus until 1998 when they released "LongPlay" which included the hits "Ako su to bile samo laži" and "Od rođendana do rođendana". After that came the album "Infinity" released in 1999, which included numerous hit singles like "Odlazim", "Djevojka iz snova" and "Pijem da je zaboravim". "Infinity" was followed by "Sedam" in 2012.
