Bijelo dugme (rock band)

Bijelo Dugme (trans. White Button) was a Yugoslav rock band, based in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Bijelo Dugme is widely considered to have been the most popular band ever to exist in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and one of the most important acts of the Yugoslav rock scene. 

Bijelo Dugme was officially formed in 1974, although the members of the default lineup, guitarist Goran Bregović, vocalist Željko Bebek, drummer Ipe Ivandić, keyboardist Vlado Pravdić and bass guitarist Zoran Redžić, were previously active under the name Jutro.

The band's debut album Kad bi bio bijelo dugme, released in 1974, brought them nationwide popularity with its Balkan folk-influenced hard rock sound. The band's future several releases, featuring similar sound, maintained their huge popularity, described by the media as "Dugmemania", and the band's work, especially their symphonic ballads with poetic lyrics, was also widely praised by the critics.

In the early 1980s, with the emergence of Yugoslav new wave scene, the band moved towards new wave, managing to remain one of the most popular bands in the country. After the departure of Bebek in 1983, the band was joined by vocalist Mladen Vojičić "Tifa", with whom the band recorded only one, self-titled album.

The band's last vocalist, Alen Islamović, joined the band in 1986, and with him Bijelo Dugme recorded two albums, disbanding, with the rising tensions in Yugoslavia, in 1989. In 2005, the band reunited in the lineup that featured most of the musicians that passed through the band, including all three vocalists, for three concerts, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Zagreb, Croatia and in Belgrade, Serbia.

Post-breakup

Bregović continued his career as a film music composer, cooperating mostly with Emir Kusturica. Redžić moved to Finland, where he worked as a producer, and after the Bosnian War ended, he returned to Sarajevo, where he opened a rock club.

After the war broke out, Ivandić went to Belgrade, where he, in 1994, died after falling from the sixth floor of the building in which he lived; the death was believed to be a suicide. Ristovski continued to record solo albums, work as a studio musician, and during the 1990s he performed with Osvajači and Smak. Islamović, who recorded his first solo album Haj, nek se čuje, haj nek se zna in 1989, started a semi-successful solo career.

In 1994, the double compilation album Ima neka tajna veza (There's Some Secret Connection), featuring Dragan Malešević Tapi's painting Radost bankrota (The Joy of Bankruptcy) on the cover, was released.

2005 reunion

Bregović, who during the 1990s became one of the most internationally known modern composers of the Balkans, on numerous occasions stated that he will not reunite Bijelo Dugme.

However, in 2005, Bijelo Dugme reunited, with Goran Bregović on guitar, Željko Bebek, Mladen Vojičić and Alen Islamović on vocals, Zoran Redžić on bass guitar, Milić Vukašinović and Điđi Jankelić on drums and Vlado Pravdić and Laza Ristovski on keyboards. The reunion saw huge media attention in all former Yugoslav republics, followed by various forms of yugonostalgia. The band held only three concerts: in Sarajevo, at Koševo stadium, Zagreb, at Maksimir stadium, and Belgrade, at Belgrade Hippodrome.

Influence and legacy

Bijelo Dugme is the most important phenomenon in the last quarter of the 20th century in Yugoslav culture. In a socialist culture, which shyly searched for its path outside of determined framework of values, they were a phenomenon of overturning importance.

They promoted the necessity of talent, the exigency of authenticity, the importance of attitude, the need for complete dedication, the high level of professionalism and the modern package. They were the biggest mass concept of Yugoslavia and the first mass concept not financed by the state. During their entire career, they had the endless love of the audience, the constant envy of their colleagues and divided sympathy of the establishment.

They defined rock culture and defined teenagers as an organised category. They fought for the freedom of taste, by then unimaginable in socialism, and won. They were one of the rare capitalist establishments in former Yugoslavia and the best advertiser of freedoms in Yugoslavia. They lived and worked in accordance to all the attributes of the Western rock culture. There was everything present in all big biographies of rock: big numbers, the euphoria of fans, all the vices (especially sex) except gambling, the inexplicable circumstances and tragic deaths.

 It is believed that they are the only ones in Yugoslavia who made big money from rock music. They set new standards in the entertainment industry and kept lifting them up. They fulfilled all the dreams of Yugoslav scene — except one: they did not step out on the world stage side by side with the biggest stars of the time, although they had the capacity to do that. Bijelo Dugme was maybe the biggest collateral damage of the Cold War when it comes to music: they couldn't go neither to the East, neither to the West. Then again, Bijelo Dugme is the only proof that the classic rock 'n' roll career is possible outside of English language.