Džentlmeni
Encyclopedia
Džentlmeni were a Serbia
n beat
band from Belgrade
.
and vocals), Živorad "Žika" Jelić (bass guitar
), Milan Buza (rhythm guitar
) and Velibor "Boka" Bogdanović (drums
), getting the name Džentlmeni on Todorović's idea, despite Jelić's suggestion of naming the band Žetoni (The Coins). The lineup performed until April 1967 when the band had split in two factions. Todorović did not continue working with any of the factions, moving to Siluete
and then to the band CD.
Milan Buza, with Branko Stefanović (vocals), Đorđe Doksas (solo guitar), Moma Lukić (drums) and Dušan Ćućuz (bass guitar), performed under the moniker Džentlmeni for approximately a year at local parties before disbanding in 1968. The other faction, featuring Bogdanović and Jelić, continued working with the new Džentlmeni lineup, completed by Mihajlo Simikić (tenor saxophone
, clarinet
, piano
and vocals), Branko Marušić "Čutura"
(vocals, rhythm guitar) and Žika Jelić's brother Dragan "Dragi" Jelić
(guitar).
tour, performing for several months at the isle Hvar
and several other resorts, basing their repertoire on cover versions of popular rhythm and blues
hits, but also presenting their own material. The frequent live performances provided the band with a status of a leading live act in Belgrade. One of the song from the band performance at the 1968 Subotica
Youth festival, "Veseli svet" ("Cheerful World"), written by Đorđe Uzelac, was released on the festival official compilation release, along with other bands who performed at the festival.
During the same year, the band performed at another major festival, Beogradsko Proleće (Belgrade Spring festival), with the song "To je tvoj stil" ("It Is Your Style"), written by Vojkan Borisavljević. The song was also included on the band debut 1968 extended play
, Idi (Go), featuring the title track, a cover version of Sandie Shaw
single "Today", "Naša mladost" ("Our Youth"), recorded at the Subotica Youth festival in 1968, and "Slatko" ("Sweet"), a cover version of The Drifters
hit "Sweets for My Sweet
". The song "Naša mladost" also appeared on the various artists compilation 20 godina festivala "Omladina" (20 years of Youth festival), released for the Subotica Youth festival 20th anniversary in 1981.
The following year, in 1969, the band performed again at the Beogradsko Proleće festival, with the song "Korak ka suncu" ("A Step towards the Sun"), released by PGP-RTB
on the official festival compilation. The band also released their second EP, Slomljena srca (Broken Hearts), featuring the title track, a cover version of the Don Gibson
single "Sea of Heartbreak", "Kraj snova" ("The End of Dreams"), written by Dragi Jelić, "Hellule, Hellule", originally performed by The Tremeloes
, and Branko Marušić's song "Nisi došla" ("You Haven't Come").
The band released their final release in 1970, the single "Ona je moja" ("She Is Mine"), a cover version of the song "34-06", with "Da li su važne reči?" ("Do Words Matter?"), a cover version of the song "There's a Better Day Coming", both originally performed by The Dave Clark Five
. After the single release, the Jelić brothers and Boka Bogdanović, with keyboard player Mive Okuglić formed the band YU grupa
. Marušić continued working with Džentlmeni in the lineup: Zlatko Manojlović (guitar), Robert Nemeček (bass guitar), and Dušan Banović (drums), but the band had frequent lineup changes, and some of the musicians performing with the band were guitarist Zoran Božinović, and bassists Dušan Petrović and Slađana Milošević, before disbanding in 1972.
The song "Slomljena srca" appeared on the various artists compilation YU retrospektiva - Sjaj izgubljene ljubavi (Yu Retrospective - A Lost Love Spark), released by Komuna
in 1994, and the box set various artists compilation Kad je rock bio mlad - Priče sa istočne strane (1956-1970) (When Rock Was Young - East Side Stories (1956-1970)), released by Croatia Records
in 2005. During 2006, the entire band discography was remastered and reissue on the compact disc
compilation album Antologija (Anthology), as a part of the PGP-RTS
Retrologija series, featuring a live recording of an early career television performance as well as a part of Marušić's 1994 unplugged performance.
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n beat
Beat music
Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a pop and rock music genre that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Beat music is a fusion of rock and roll, doo wop, skiffle, R&B and soul...
band from Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
.
Band formation and split (1966–1967)
The band was formed in 1966 by Slobodan Todorović (guitarElectric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
and vocals), Živorad "Žika" Jelić (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
), Milan Buza (rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
) and Velibor "Boka" Bogdanović (drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
), getting the name Džentlmeni on Todorović's idea, despite Jelić's suggestion of naming the band Žetoni (The Coins). The lineup performed until April 1967 when the band had split in two factions. Todorović did not continue working with any of the factions, moving to Siluete
Siluete
Siluete was a former Yugoslav and Serbian rock band from Belgrade, notable for being one of the pioneers of the former Yugoslav rock scene.-1961 - 1971:...
and then to the band CD.
Milan Buza, with Branko Stefanović (vocals), Đorđe Doksas (solo guitar), Moma Lukić (drums) and Dušan Ćućuz (bass guitar), performed under the moniker Džentlmeni for approximately a year at local parties before disbanding in 1968. The other faction, featuring Bogdanović and Jelić, continued working with the new Džentlmeni lineup, completed by Mihajlo Simikić (tenor saxophone
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and vocals), Branko Marušić "Čutura"
Branko Marušič
Branko Marušič is a Slovenian historian.Born to an upper middle class Slovene family in Gorizia, Italy, he moved with the family to the Yugoslav side of the Yugoslav-Italian border in 1947, and has been living in Solkan since...
(vocals, rhythm guitar) and Žika Jelić's brother Dragan "Dragi" Jelić
Dragi Jelić
Dragi Jelić is a Serbian rock musician, best known as a singer and guitarist for the band YU grupa, which he formed in 1970 with his brother Zika Jelić. During the 1960s, alongside his brother Žika, he was a member of the beat band Džentlmeni.-References:...
(guitar).
The mainstay Džentlmeni (1967-1972)
During the Summer of 1967, the band had an AdriaticAdriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
tour, performing for several months at the isle Hvar
Hvar
- Climate :The climate of Hvar is characterized by mild winters and warm summers. The yearly average air temperature is , 686 mm of precipitation fall on the town of Hvar on average every year and the town has a total of 2800 sunshine hours per year. For comparison Hvar has an average of 7.7...
and several other resorts, basing their repertoire on cover versions of popular rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
hits, but also presenting their own material. The frequent live performances provided the band with a status of a leading live act in Belgrade. One of the song from the band performance at the 1968 Subotica
Subotica
Subotica is a city and municipality in northern Serbia, in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina...
Youth festival, "Veseli svet" ("Cheerful World"), written by Đorđe Uzelac, was released on the festival official compilation release, along with other bands who performed at the festival.
During the same year, the band performed at another major festival, Beogradsko Proleće (Belgrade Spring festival), with the song "To je tvoj stil" ("It Is Your Style"), written by Vojkan Borisavljević. The song was also included on the band debut 1968 extended play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Idi (Go), featuring the title track, a cover version of Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw is an English pop singer, who was one of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s. In 1967 she was the first UK act to win the Eurovision Song Contest...
single "Today", "Naša mladost" ("Our Youth"), recorded at the Subotica Youth festival in 1968, and "Slatko" ("Sweet"), a cover version of The Drifters
The Drifters
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
hit "Sweets for My Sweet
Sweets for My Sweet
"Sweets for My Sweet" is a song written by the songwriting team of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, originally recorded by The Drifters. The group's first single featuring Charlie Thomas on lead vocal, "Sweets for My Sweet" reached #16 in October 1961. This was one of the few post-1958 Drifters singles...
". The song "Naša mladost" also appeared on the various artists compilation 20 godina festivala "Omladina" (20 years of Youth festival), released for the Subotica Youth festival 20th anniversary in 1981.
The following year, in 1969, the band performed again at the Beogradsko Proleće festival, with the song "Korak ka suncu" ("A Step towards the Sun"), released by PGP-RTB
PGP-RTB
PGP-RTB was a major record label and chain record store in the former SFR Yugoslavia based in Belgrade, Socialist Republic of Serbia. PGP-RTB was established in 1958...
on the official festival compilation. The band also released their second EP, Slomljena srca (Broken Hearts), featuring the title track, a cover version of the Don Gibson
Don Gibson
Donald Eugene "Don" Gibson was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson penned such country standards as "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the early 1970s.-Biography:Don Gibson was...
single "Sea of Heartbreak", "Kraj snova" ("The End of Dreams"), written by Dragi Jelić, "Hellule, Hellule", originally performed by The Tremeloes
The Tremeloes
The Tremeloes are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, Essex, and still active today.-Career:They formed as Brian Poole and the Tremoloes influenced by Buddy Holly and The Crickets...
, and Branko Marušić's song "Nisi došla" ("You Haven't Come").
The band released their final release in 1970, the single "Ona je moja" ("She Is Mine"), a cover version of the song "34-06", with "Da li su važne reči?" ("Do Words Matter?"), a cover version of the song "There's a Better Day Coming", both originally performed by The Dave Clark Five
The Dave Clark Five
The Dave Clark Five were an English pop rock group. Their single "Glad All Over" knocked The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" off the top of the UK singles charts in January 1964: it eventually peaked at No.6 in the United States in April 1964.They were the second group of the British Invasion,...
. After the single release, the Jelić brothers and Boka Bogdanović, with keyboard player Mive Okuglić formed the band YU grupa
YU grupa
YU grupa is a Serbian and former Yugoslav rock band. One of the pioneers in combining rock music with the elements of the traditional music of the Balkans, YU grupa is considered the longest-lasting rock band to come from Serbia....
. Marušić continued working with Džentlmeni in the lineup: Zlatko Manojlović (guitar), Robert Nemeček (bass guitar), and Dušan Banović (drums), but the band had frequent lineup changes, and some of the musicians performing with the band were guitarist Zoran Božinović, and bassists Dušan Petrović and Slađana Milošević, before disbanding in 1972.
The song "Slomljena srca" appeared on the various artists compilation YU retrospektiva - Sjaj izgubljene ljubavi (Yu Retrospective - A Lost Love Spark), released by Komuna
Komuna Belgrade
Komuna is a Serbian record label and media production house. Established in 1985, its headquarters are in Belgrade, Serbia with a branch office Budva, Montenegro...
in 1994, and the box set various artists compilation Kad je rock bio mlad - Priče sa istočne strane (1956-1970) (When Rock Was Young - East Side Stories (1956-1970)), released by Croatia Records
Croatia Records
Croatia Records is the largest major record label in Croatia, based in Dubrava in Zagreb.-Summary:Croatia Records d.d. is a joint stock company currently led by the Chairman of the Board of directors Želimir Babogredac, a notable sound engineer...
in 2005. During 2006, the entire band discography was remastered and reissue on the compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
compilation album Antologija (Anthology), as a part of the PGP-RTS
PGP-RTS
PGP-RTS is a major record label based in Belgrade, Serbia. It is a successor of PGP-RTB which was established in 1958 in Belgrade, then capital of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
Retrologija series, featuring a live recording of an early career television performance as well as a part of Marušić's 1994 unplugged performance.
Other appearances
- "Veseli svet" (Omladina '68; 1968)
- "Korak ka Suncu" (Beogradsko proleće '69; 1969)
- "Naša mladost" (20 godina festivala "Omladina"; 1981)
- "Slomljena srca" (YU retrospektiva - Sjaj izgubljene ljubavi; 1994)
- "Slomljena srca" (Kad je rock bio mlad - Priče sa istočne strane (1956-1970); 2005)
External links
- Džentlmeni at FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
- Džentlmeni at YoutubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- Džentlmeni at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Džentlmeni at Rateyourmusic
- Džentlmeni at Last.fmLast.fmLast.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....