Thursday, September 19, 2019

STIDLJIVA LJUBIČICA - Osvrni Se Na Mene 1981

Let's come together and unlock your eavesdroppers because it waits another example of fantastic powerpop riffs, this time by Stidljiva Ljubičica from Croatia and they were active 1980-1982 in former Yugoslavia. The band split up soon after releasing second album. Members were: Renato (vocals, organ, piano), Zlatko (guitars), Tvrtko (bass), Elvira (drums). Glorious music deserves background knowledge and I give you a bumpy translation because my Croatian is a bit rusty, but I think you can follow that, here we go:

The emergence of a new wave in the music scene, which enabled various musical styles and directions to simultaneously exist in this region at the same time. In the beginning it was underground art music created by people often without big musical experience and not much talent but with a lot enthusiasm for new ideas. There were various fusions and almost incompatible directions that created new hybrids of completely unique and original music. Combinations of rock'n'roll, punk, ska, surf, new wave created Clash, Talking Heads, Blondie, B52, Ramones and many more... in Yugoslavia by Film, Haustor, Azra (only the first two albums), Stidljiva Ljubičica and some other bands who wanted to use this boom to catch a slice of glory of the wings of a successful trend which enters the mainstream.

Stidljiva Ljubičica unmistakably had the characteristics of a famous new wave groups, they appear suddenly, out of nowhere. They were more than ten years younger than their competitors. They had a female drummer Elvira (not common at this time) & they were fuckin' teenagers who held their first gig at the end of 1979 in the hall of the high school center Vrbovec. Their songs are short, mostly 2-3 minutes long, varied, completely stripped of superfluous arrangements and with catchy beats. Lyrically small pop art stories. They performed in cinema halls, clubs and in smaller towns. The audience celebrated them frenetically, they played a couple of two-minute songs and ran off stage. There they were greeted by a bunch of journalists and photojournalists so they held a short press conference and told them "we release our first single via Jugoton and starting recording our first album."

In summer 1981, their debut 7Inch 'Volim Te' was released and a Yugoslavian version of Top Of The Pops invited them and the whole country became aware of the fantastic four! At that point, the band had about twenty songs ready so they go ahead and started the recordings for their first album, Osvrni Se Na Mene. Before that, they decided to celebrate their success with a promotional concert at the sports hall in Vrbovac, together Johnny Stulic and Azra, and held a concert in front of thousand people. Many gigs all over Yugoslavia were made in front of several thousand visitors & it was a great opportunity to promote the album which they recorded and mixed in seven days. Despite the praise of the media, the commercial success of the album was not as satisfactory as that of the record label.

The band decided to start immediately with the recording of the second album Jesenje Frke, with the idea, that after recording, Renato (he hasn't finished high school) as soon as possible join the army and Elvira start a job at the media and when the record is out, she will be performed again, as well as Renato's return from the army. There was very little no praise for the album, because there was not much opportunity to promote it. It was early 1984 that the group could physically reunite, but the members couldn't find the feelings of the "old" spirit, so there was only one concert in the original cast at the Pauk Hall in Zagreb. The air was finally out and Stidljiva Ljubičica history.

Don't hesitate, get it!


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