History
The beginnings (1976-1979)
Guitarist Radovan Jovićević and keyboardist Jovan Živanović "Kikamac" started to work together in 1976, playing in several high school bands.[1] At the end of the 1970s they were both members of the band Suton (Dusk). On a school dance in Saint Sava elementary school in Belgrade, on which Suton, Jovićević brought his girlfriend-at-the-time Zana Nimani. She sang, having her first performance with Jovićević and Živanović.[1] They soon managed to get a term to record their songs in Radio Belgrade's Studio VI, where they were spotted by lyricist Marina Tucaković,[1] who had previously worked with Srđan Marjanović, DAG, YU Grupa, Bisera Veletanlić, Ambasadori, Dado Topić, Slađana Milošević and other acts.[2] She got interested in the band, and soon became not only their lyricist, but also their official member.[1] In 1979, Jovićević, Živanović and Nimani started to perform under the name Zana.[1] The first lineup of Zana also featured the guitarist Igor Jovanović, the bass guitarist Bogdan Dragović and the drummer Aleksandar Ivanov.[1]
Zana Nimani years (1979-1984)
In 1980, Zana recorded their first 7-inch single, with the songs "Nastavnice" ("Hey, Teacher") and "Sveta", recorded with a children's choir in new wave and pop rock style.[1] They were declined by Belgrade-based record label PGP-RTB, but soon after signed for Zagreb-based Jugoton, which released the single.[1] The band started performing live, with alternative music saxophonist Paul Pignon occasionally performing with them.[1] They had their first public performance in Belgrade in November 1980, performing as an opening act on Generacija 5 concert in Pionir Hall.[1] In 1981, Jugoton refused to give Zana unlimited time in studio to record their debut album, so the band moved to PGP-RTB, for which they released the single "Leto" ("Summer"), which featured elements of reggae, intentionally releasing it in May, hoping it would become a summer hit.[1] As "Leto" had success on the market, Jugoton agreed to Zana's terms, so the band signed back to Jugoton.[1]
The band's debut album, Loše vesti uz rege za pivsku flašu (Bad News Accompanied by Reggae for a Beer Bottle) was released in 1981.[1] It was recorded in Jugoton's Studio VI, and produced by the band members themselves. On the album, Živanović was signed as "Kikamac" only, as prior to the album release, his fees were by mistake often paid to Zoran Živanović "Hoze" of the band Mama Co Co.[1] The album brought hits "Jutro me podseća na to" ("Morning Reminds Me of It"), "On" ("He"), "Miševi beli celu noć" ("White Mice All Night") and "Loše vesti" ("Bad News"), the latter featuring altered lyrics, because Jugoton demanded the original politically provocative lyrics to be changed.[1] The band promoted the album with a concert in Dadov Theatre.[3] On a fund-raising concert in Sarajevo they performed as an opening act for Bijelo Dugme.[3] The December 1981 mini-tour across Serbia was ended when Aleksandar Ivanov left the band due to his mandatory stint in the Yugoslav army; he was soon replaced by Pavle Nikolić.[3]
The band's second album, Dodirni mi kolena (Touch My Knees) was recorded in Sweden during May 1982, with the help of saxophonist Goran Nillson, percussionist Byl Gunnar Byllin, and multi-instrumentalist, recorder and producer Tini Varga, who also coauthored lyrics for two songs on the album.[3] During the album recording, Tucaković stopped being the band's official member, but continued to write lyrics for them.[3] On this album the group moved to more commercial sound. The album brought synthpop-oriented hits "Dodirni mi kolena", "Majstor za poljupce" ("Kisses Maestro"), "13 je moj srećan broj" ("13 Is My Lucky Number"), and the album saw high number sales.[3] In September, the same month when the album was released, Jovanović left the band due to his army stint, and was replaced by Aleksandar Radulović "Futa".[3]
At the end of 1982, the band went on a tour across Serbia, Macedonia, Herzegovina and Dalmatia, however, the concerts saw bad reviews, as the band failed to reach the standards of their studio recordings.[3] In May 1983, Jovanović and Ivanov returned to the band, and Dragović and Radulović left.[3] After leaving Zana, Dragović and Radulović formed the band Zamba (which also featured the guitarist Nikola Čuturilo and the drummer Predrag "Bata" Jakovljević).[3] The band's new bass guitarist became Miloš Stojisavljević "Cajger", a former member of Generacija 5.[3]
In August 1983, Zana recorded their third studio album, entitled Natrag na voz (Back to the Train), also recorded in Sweden and produced by Tini Varga.[3] The album's biggest hits were the duet "Jabuke i vino" ("Apples and Wine"), sung by Nimani and Željko Bebek (although the band initially considered Daniel, Oliver Mandić, Jura Stublić, or Branimir "Džoni" Štulić for the song)[3] and "Mladiću moj" ("My Boy").[3] At the time of album release, the end of 1983, Ivanov left the band, and was replaced by Predrag Jakovljević (formerly of Zamba).[3] In February 1984, Zana went on a promotional tour, but as the audience showed little interest in their concerts, they ended the tour in March.[3] Soon after, Jovičić and Kikamac went to serve the army, the band went on hiatus, and Nimani decided to start a solo career.[3] After the release of her only solo album Noćas pevam samo tebi (Tonight I Sing only for You) in 1986, she retired from music.[3]
Nataša Gajović and Nataša Živković years (1985-1990)
In 1985, Jovićević and Živanović reunited Zana with the new vocalist, Nataša Gajović.[3] With the album Zana, unofficially known as Crvene lale (Red Tulips), released in 1985 and produced by Saša Habić, they moved towards pop and pop rock sound .[3] The album brought the hit "A što, a što" ("Why, Oh Why").[3] Their next album, Otkinimo noćas zajedno (Let's Get Crazy Tonight Together), released in 1987 and produced by Dušan Petrović "Šane", brought folk-inspired hit "Vejte snegovi" ("Fall Heavily, Snows"), which featured Boki Milošević on clarinet.[3] The 1988 album Zana, produced by Tini Varga, featured Mladen Vojičić Tifa and Laza Ristovski as guest musicians.[3] The album brought hits "Oženićeš se ti, udaću se ja" ("You Will Get Married, I Will Get Married"), "Vojna pošta" ("Military Post") and "Vlak" ("Train").[3]
In 1989, Gajović left the band, retiring from music and moving to Saudi Arabia.[why?][3] Most of the members also left the band, so Jovićević and Živanović recorded the album Zana, also known as Rukuju se, rukuju (They're Saying Goodbye, They're Saying Goodbye) after its biggest hit[3] with the new vocalist, Nataša Živković, and studio musicians.[3] The album was produced by Jovićević, Živanović and Laza Ristovski and released in 1989.[3] The track "E, moj doktore" ("Oh, Doctor") featured folk singer Dragana Mirković on vocals, and the song "Napravite mostove" ("Build Bridges") featured the girl group Šarmerke on vocals.[3]
After only two years spent with Zana, Živković joined Hare Krishna and withdrawn from the scene.[3] In 1990, to celebrate ten years of activity, Jovićević and Živanović released the compilation album Najlepše pesme 1980-1990 (Most Beautiful Songs 1980 - 1990).[3]
Jelena Galonić years (1991-1999)
With Zana's fourth singer, Jelena Galonić, Jovićević and Živanović recorded the albums Zana in 1991, featuring the pop-oriented hit "Nisam, nisam (Devojka tvoga druga)" ("I'm Not, I'm Not (Your Friend's Girlfriend)"), and Tražim (I'm Searching), released in 1993, featuring the rock-oriented hit "Priča se, priča (Da Rusi dolaze)" ("They're Saying, They're Saying (That the Russians are Coming)").[3]
At the beginning of 1996, the compilation album Zlatni hitovi 1980 - 1995 (Golden Hits 1980 - 1995) was released, featuring two new songs, "Modrice" ("Bruises") and "Gušti, gušti" (a cover of the song by Istrian singer Alan Vitasović), the videos for which were recorded at Thailand.[3] The album Zanomanija (Zanomania), released in 1997 and featuring dance-pop elements, featured a remixed version of "Modirce" and a cover of Time song "Da li znaš da te volim" ("Did You Know that I Love You").[3] In the autumn of 1998, they released the live album Zana uživo (Zana Live), recorded on their concert held in Sava Centar on 1 November 1997. The album featured singer Brankica Vasić as guest.[3]
In 1999, they released the album Prijatelji (Friends), which featured rock sound resembling their earlier works.[3] On the song "40", which deals with the life of a middle aged man, Živanović sang for the first time.[3] Beside Zana members, the authors of the lyrics were Marina Tucaković and Bora Đorđević.[3]
Zana as a pop duo (1999-2015)
In 1999, Jovićević moved to the United States, leaving Živanović and Galonić as Zana's only official members.[3] In 2001 the two released album 21, featuring songs composed by Živanović on the lyrics by Galonić and Marina Tucaković.[3] The album was produced by Žika Filipović and Živanović and Galonić themselves.
In 2006, the two released the album Kao nekad (Just like Before),[4][5] which featured dance-pop remixes of "Vejte snegovi" and "Dodirni mi kolena".[6]
In June 2008, Živanović and Galonić got married. On 29 April 2010, Zana celebrated thirty years of work with a concert in Sava Centar. Nataša Gajović and Nataša Živković made guest appearances on the concert.[7]
Return to rock format (2015-present)
In 2015, after a five-year hiatus in their work, the band, in the lineup consisting of Galonić, Živanović, Milica Rančić (drums), Dejan Trajković (guitar), Miljan Davidović (keyboards), Zoran Jakšić (bass guitar), released the single "Maco" ("Honey").[8]
Bogdan Dragović, Zana's original bass guitarist, died in March 2016.[9]
In December 2016, Zana released the single "Stupido", a duet sung by Galonić and the group's former vocalist Nataša Gajović.[10] In 2018, Croatia Records released the box set Original Album Collection, containing all of the band's albums with Nimani on vocals (the first three studio albums), as well as Zana Nimani's only solo album, Noćas pevam samo tebi.[11] In 2022, in order to mark the band's 40th anniversary, PGP-RTS released the box set entitled Dijamantski box set 1980–2022 (Diamond Box Set 1980–2022) containing all 13 studio albums released by the band, the live album Zana uživo, as well as a disc with singles released during the 1980–2022 period. The release also contains a book with press clippings and photographs from various phases of the group's career.[12]
