Ambasadori
Ambasadori | |
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Hari Varešanović Ivica Sindić Krešimir Vlašić Ismeta Dervoz-Krvavac Perica Stojanović Vlado Pravdić Ivica Vinković Zlatko Hold Andrej Stefanović Jasna Gospić Miroslav Balta Sead Džumhur Miroslav Maraus Sinan Alimanović Neven Pocrnjić Ranko Rihtman Damir Jurišić Darko Arkus Slavko Jerković Enes Bajramović Hrvoje Tikvicki Nenad Čikojević Edo Bogeljić Nazif Dinarević Tihomir Doleček Miroslav Šaranović Sead Avdić Dragan Nikačević Velibor Čolović |
Ambasadori (The Ambassadors) were a Yugoslav schlager pop band from Sarajevo, active from 1968 until 1980.
The band is most notable for their 1975 hit single "
History
Ambasadori were founded in Sarajevo in 1968
They soon brought in guitarist Slobodan "Vuja" Vujović , a Fojnica-born and Sarajevo-raised hobbyist musician who had simultaneously been pursuing mechanical engineering studies at the University of Sarajevo. In-between his university obligations, Vujović often hung around Dom Milicije (Police House) that provided free on-site instruments for the musically-inclined youth, which is where Ivanović and Stefanović met him and got him to join their group.
Ambasadori obtained their first instruments and sound equipment by purchasing them from a travelling
, etc.) along with more covers of obligatory Yugoslav hits of the day and years past, and finally even a few original numbers written by the band members thrown into the mix.Their very first performance took place in May 1969 in Sarajevo's Dom JNA (Yugoslav People's Army House) with local singer Miroslav Balta on vocals.
Zdravko Čolić years (1969–1971)
Soon after their debut performance, eighteen-year-old
By 1970, seeing their business opportunities limited by the strange setup within the band and further discouraged by the band's founders Ivanović and Stefanović enrolling in the Sarajevo Music Academy that took up a lot of their time and focus, Vujović and Čolić decided to step out and form a new group, Novi Ambasadori (New Ambassadors), bringing in drummer Perica Stojanović , organist Vlado Pravdić, saxophonist Andrej "Lale" Stefanović, and bassist Zlatko Hold. With Vujović now firmly established as the band's driving force and main songwriter, they looked to forge a new career course. Almost immediately, Vujović's Novi Ambasadori dropped the 'Novi' part, continuing on as just Ambasadori since the original band's founders Ivanović and Stefanović quickly gave up on protecting the name.
With an almost all new lineup, Ambasadori also expanded their repertoire so that in addition to R&B they now also began playing covers of Led Zeppelin, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Creedence Clearwater Revival, etc. In the summer of 1970, Ambasadori scored a month-long gig with Indexi in Dubrovnik, their first tour-like experience and a taste of life on the road.
The band appeared at the 1971
During summer 1971, Kovač met up with Čolić by showing up at an Ambasadori gig in Mostar. He quickly managed to convince the young singer to move to Belgrade and join his Korni Grupa as replacement for Dado Topić.
Ismeta Dervoz years (1972–1976)
After Čolić left, eighteen-year-old Ismeta Dervoz became the new Ambasadori vocalist. Dervoz's only previous musical engagement of note had been singing for cover band Kodeksi.
Dervoz's first live appearance with Ambasadori came at the 1972
In 1973, in line with SFR Yugoslavia's new policy of decentralization, Diskoton music label was established in Sarajevo with Ambasadori bandleader Vujović appointed as its top executive.
During fall 1973, Ambasadori went on a tour of the Soviet Union.
In early 1974, twenty-six-year-old Diskoton chief executive Vujović rejected a fledgling local band called Bijelo Dugme, a move that would go down in Yugoslav popular music history as an example of a bad judgement call after they signed a long-term deal with rival label Jugoton and immediately went on to nationwide fame with millions of records sold.
In 1975, Ambasadori scored a sizable hit with their entry at the Vaš šlager sezone festival—Kemal Monteno-written patriotic schlager song "Zemljo moja" , inspired by and dedicated to Yugoslav gastarbeiters leaving their homeland in search of expanded employment opportunities throughout Western Europe. Finishing fourth among the sixteen competitors, they additionally won the festival's interpretation award while the main prize went to Zdravko Čolić, their former singer who had recently gone solo, and his song "Zvao sam je Emili".[4]
Ambasadori represented SFR Yugoslavia at the
Fresh off their Eurovision disappointment, Ambasadori returned to the Vaš šlager sezone where they had had so much success a year earlier. This time performing Marina Tucaković-written and Nenad Pavlović-composed "Usne imam da ga ljubim", the song didn't get much attention at the festival, finishing seventh out of sixteen participants as the main prize went to Kemal Monteno and his Alija Hafizović-written love letter to the city of Sarajevo — "Sarajevo, ljubavi moja".[6] Yugoslav press also reported ironic heckles of "Bravo Hag" ('Good job at the Hague') during Ambasadori performance as the poor Eurovision showing continued lingering over them.[6]
Soon after the 1976 Vaš šlager sezone appearance, Dervoz left the band. She was eventually replaced with sixteen-year-old Jasna Gospić.
Jasna Gospić years (1977–1979)
By bringing in teenage Gospić, whose only prior musical experience had been signing in a band called Plima with her brother Zoran, Ambasadori leader Vujović continued the practice of acquiring young and inexperienced vocalists. Still a high school student at Sarajevo's Second Gymnasium,[7] Gospić's first appearance with Ambasadori took place at the 1977 Vaš šlager sezone with "Dođi u pet do pet". Composed by Vujović with lyrics by Slobodan Đurasović, the cheeky song turned out to be an unexpected Yugoslavia-wide hit despite failing to get much attention from the festival jury that awarded the top prize to Indexi's "U jednim plavim očima".
Riding the unanticipated popularity of "Dođi u pet do pet", the band began touring a lot more throughout the country while also continuing to appear at various schlager festivals. However, the age gap between the band members and their teenage vocalist soon began causing issues. Gospić herself talked about it in later interviews, describing the strange dynamic between the band members — all of whom were married with wives and families — who saw the band as a job and their teenage vocalist, half their age, who was mostly concerned with hanging out with friends.[8]
Other Ambasadori members that came and went throughout the 1968–1970s include various musicians active on the Sarajevo music scene at the time and after, such as trombone player Srđan Stefanović, keyboard player Robert Ivanović, keyboard player
References
- ^ "Sarajevska pop-rock škola: Ambasadori – Čola, Ismeta, Hari (2)". Archived from the original on 2016-08-05. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
- ^ "Ambasadori – Sarajevo".
- ^ a b Đurić, Vladimir (16 January 2023). "Zdravko Čolić: Audicija za "Ambasadore"". SrpskaInfo.com. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- ^ Z., Z. (1975). "Ambasadori svoje muzike". RTV revija. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
- ^ Glavan, Darko (April 1976). "Pjesmice lažnog sjaja". Tina. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- ^ a b Marjanović, Višnja (April 1976). "Sarajevo, muziko naša". RTV revija. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- ^ Kurtović, Elvis J. (8 October 2019). "Radio Days". RadioSarajevo.ba. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
- ^ Dobrosavljević, S. (20 October 2018). "Jasna Gospić: Mogla sam da budem velika zvezda". Večernje novosti. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
External links
- Ambasadori Videos