Šarlo akrobata

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Šarlo akrobata
Bistriji ili tuplji, čovek biva kad... cover
Background information
Origin	Belgrade, Serbia
Genre(s)	New Wave Post-punk
Years active	1980–1981
Label(s)	Jugoton
Members
Milan Mladenović (vocals, guitar) Dušan Kojić (bass, vocals) Ivica Vdović (drums)

Šarlo akrobata were a seminal Yugoslav rock band often categorized as late punk or New Wave, with a particularly arty attitude. Short-lived but extremely influential, in addition to being one of the most important acts of the Yugoslav New Wave, the threepiece left an indelible mark on the entire music scene of former Yugoslavia.

1 History
2 Discography
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

Šarlo akrobata's roots are found in a band named Limunovo drvo, formed in the late 1970s by Milan Mladenović and Gagi Mihajlović (other members that came and went through the group included guitarist Mikica Stefanović, bassist Maksa and drummer Dušan Dejanović). The band laboured for two years in the melodic hard rock waters before realizing they were headed nowhere.

At the end of their creative wits, the band's backbone of Milan and Gagi were joined by Dušan "Koja" Kojić and Ivica "Vd" Vdović, which is when things began to change for the better as they adopted a fresh sound inspired by punk & new wave. Koja also brought along his and Milan's friend Nenad "Kele" Krasavac who became the band's unofficial manager.

In April 1980, Limunovo drvo opened for Pankrti at SKC. That night, they played a fresh set consisting of new songs as well as some older ones in modified form. Shortly afterwards, Gagi left the band and remaining three guys decided to change their name to Šarlo akrobata. This left the trio that everyone today associates with Šarlo: Milan [guitar+vocal], Vd [drums] and Koja [bass+vocal].

Their first recordings were done in studio owned by Enco Lesić: "Ona se budi", "Oko moje glave", "Niko kao ja" and "Mali čovek". All four tracks later appeared on Paket aranžman showcase album together with material of Idoli and Električni orgazam released in 1980 by Jugoton. Each one of the 4 songs made a measurable commercial and critical impact, with "Ona se budi" and "Niko kao ja" connecting especially well with radio listeners and live crowds.

At the end of 1980, Šarlo competed in Omladinski festival (Youth fest) in Subotica and claimed second jury prize with "Ona se budi".

They created the soundtrack for Dečko koji obećava directed by Miša Radivojević, with Goran Vejvoda as a guitarist. Koja did the music, while lyrics were written by Nebojša Pajkić who also penned the movie's screenplay. Koja and Vd have roles in the film as the rhythm section of the fictional band VIS Dobri dečaci. For the movie, they recorded three tracks that were never released: "Slobodan", "Balada o tvrdim grudima" and "Depresija". On an off note, in a truly peculiar coincidence, movie's main character, the rebellious youth, is named Slobodan Milošević. This was several years before a certain politician arrived on the Serbian political scene and made that name infamous.

During spring of 1981, Šarlo played Zagreb's biennale on a bill that also included now legendary Gang of Four and Classix Nouveaux.

In April 1981, they recorded Bistriji ili tuplji čovek biva kad... LP album, originally for PGP RTB, before it ended up being released by Jugoton in July of the same year. Today regarded by many critics as one of the milestones of Yugoslav rock, the album was an experimental delight, breaking completely new ground for the band as well as the entire Yugoslav scene at the time.

However, the professional and, consequently, private relations within the group were very strained for quite some time already. Vd insisted on bringing Goran Vejvoda and possibly even Vejvoda's girlfriend at the time Bebi Dol (both of them were Vd's mates from Announda Rouge, his side project) into the band. Milan was mostly receptive to the idea largely because he wanted to add a keyboardist (Vejvoda was one of the rare youngsters in Belgrade at the time who owned a Casio VL-2 synthesizer), whereas Koja vehemently objected to it, feeling the band still had much more to offer with the existing lineup.

Jugoton put out around 10,000 copies of the album with very little commercial radio support, all of which, along with the absence of a recognizable hit candidate like "Ona se budi" or "Niko kao ja" resulted in the album selling modestly. Furthermore, the 7-inch single "Bes" / "Prevaren" (featuring a track off the new album and a B-side from Limunovo drvo days) recorded in parallel to the album was never released by Jugoton. According to Koja, the band was also reluctant to promote the album with much touring as the writing had already been on the wall since the trio barely tolerated each other at this point, knowing for some time they would soon split apart.[1]

In the fall, they embarked on a previously booked tour of Poland. After returning home and performing a farewell show in Ljubljana in October 1981, the group quietly disbanded.