Doživjeti stotu

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Doživjeti stotu
Doživjeti stotu cover
Studio album by Bijelo dugme
Released December 1980
Recorded Studio 4, Radio Belgrade
October-November 1980
Genre Rock
New Wave
Length 32:19
Label Jugoton
Producer Goran Bregović
Bijelo dugme chronology
Bitanga i princeza
(1979)		 Doživjeti stotu
(1980)		 5. april '81
(1981)

Doživjeti stotu is the fifth studio album released by Yugoslav rock group Bijelo dugme. The album is noted for the band's change of direction towards new wave, in contrast to folkish hard rock on their previous releases.

Doživjeti stotu was being prepared and eventually released in the wake of the Yugoslav lifetime president Josip Broz Tito's death. His passing on May 4, 1980 triggered an extended mourning period that saw most of the entertainment activities throughout the country temporarily quiet down.

Pre-recording rehearsals were held in Goran Bregović's chalet on Jahorina Mountain, before actual sessions began at Radio Belgrade's Studio 4 on October 6, 1980. Exactly two months later, on December 6, in anticipation of the album release, the 7-inch single "Dobro vam jutro Petrović Petre" / "Na zadnjem sjedištu moga auta" appeared in stores containing a song off the coming album as well as a B-side from the previous one.

[edit] Reception and reaction

Immediately, the new song about a fictional character Petar Petrović received a radio ban due to the lyric "sve u finu materinu", which some found inappropriate "especially in the sensitive time following Tito's death". Also, once the album itself came out, some complained about what they saw to be the "morbidity" of its three part sleeve, which depicts a plastic surgery. The sleeve was done by graphic designer Mirko Ilić, artist closely associated with new wave in Yugoslavia.

Unlike with previous studio albums, promoting Doživjeti stotu also included selling the shocked public on the whole new sound and radically different look.

Except for the monumental "Pristao sam biću sve što hoće" and "Pjesma mom mlađem bratu" every single track sounded much different from what came to be expected as Bijelo dugme sound over the previous 6-7 years, which is why the album was met with a lot of scepticism. However, bandleader Bregović was unapologetic as the group prepared to start a tour: It would've been foolish to make this record any different than it is since this is the only way I feel my music at the moment. When I look back, I think this is our first album with this much energy. We're hungry for music and I think our live shows will also be exceptional. The record is all tempo, it's got a lot of text and rhythm and I think the public will like it.

Still, many critics weren't convinced, speculating the real reasons for the radical musical shift lay in Bregović feeling the creative heat from emerging Yugoslav acts at the time such as Riblja čorba and Azra. Both of those bands exhibited clear social awareness with a pronounced political component in their lyrics, which is something Bregović tried to replicate for the very first time in his career on the track "Tramvaj kreće" and "Ha, ha, ha". Critics further accused Bregović of posturing and pandering to a younger audience, speculating that his motives for latching on to the fresh new wave sound have to do with his fear of Bijelo dugme seeming over the hill and out of touch, especially when compared to many younger, hip, and critically-acclaimed Yugoslav New Wave bands like Šarlo akrobata, Film, Idoli, Haustor, etc.

Other critics, however, found it conceivable that following a pinnacle year Bijelo dugme had in 1979 and the commercial heights they reached with Bitanga i princeza album, Bregović sincerely wanted a change of pace, all of which he himself alluded to when he commented on how Doživjeti stotu fits in the group's overall opus: It's hard to catch us in a style on any of our albums. We never limited ourselves to a style on any record and I'd like to keep that freedom whereby nothing specific is expected from us. I've never been quite satisfied with what I've done so far, which makes it really easy for me to go further on. This thing now creates an opening for us to go somewhere since we really did reach an end in a way that we took some things as far as they could be taken and after which we had nowhere to go to. When we were starting this band we thought we'd make as much as we feel is necessary and then we'll quit - but it's not time for that quite yet.

As mentioned, the new album also brought a whole new look. Željko Bebek shaved off his famous bushy mustache, while everyone in the band cut their hair short and started wearing white shirts and thin ties ala Talking Heads instead of the usual shepherd's coats. Also, their signature platform boots and bell-bottoms got replaced by sleak running shoes and tight pants.

The refrain lyrics of their ska themed "Ha, ha, ha" were used as a title for the New Wave various artists compilation album Svi marš na ples!.

Unlike the new sound which found some, albeit less vocal, sections of support, the reaction to the new visuals was much more unynamous - both the fans and the media pretty much hated it. Different press outlets had a field day ridiculing the band's new look with even the somewhat more serious Politika ekspres, daily that usually stayed away from such prosaic topics, proclaiming Bijelo dugme members to be "pale copies of Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran".

In the end, it wasn't just the press and dissatisfied fans taking shots at Bregović. Even his longtime collaborator and former Bijelo dugme drummer Milić Vukašinović chimed in through a song on his new band Vatreni poljubac's 1982 album Živio rock'n'roll. The album's title track features the following lyric:

In Serbo-Croat language:

I moj stari drug se šiš'o
sad maše gitarom k'o Houra
nije to zbog love, nije,
on se samo osjeća mlad
sutra i da glavu brije
on će prvi biti rad.

Translation:

My old friend got a haircut too
now he's fooling around with the guitar like Houra
its not about the money, oh not at all
he's just feeling young
even to shave his whole head tomorrow
he will be the first one to gladly do it.

Note: Jasenko Houra was a member of the New Wave group Prljavo kazalište.

Presenting a clear disparaging reference to Bregović's new image posturing.[1] Vukašinović further lampoons Bregović's sudden turn-around in another song ("Poštovani ska ska") from the same album: In Serbo-Croat:

Poštovani ska ska, frizura ti je kratka, ti si šik
Poštovani ska ska, sad ekranom vlada tvoj lik
Žao mi je ali ipak ne možemo ja i ti.

Translation:

Dear Mr. Ska Ska, your haircut is short, you are chic
Dear Mr. Ska Ska, now your face is on every screen
Sorry, but we cannot go along anymore.

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Doživjeti stotu" (Bregović) – 3:12
  2. "Lova" (Duško Trifunović/Bregović) – 2:49
  3. "Tramvaj kreće (ili Kako biti heroj u ova šugava vremena)" (Bregović) – 3:14
  4. "Hotel, motel" (Bregović) – 3:33
  5. "Pjesma mom mlađem bratu (iz Niša u proljeće '78)" (Bregović) – 4:14
  6. "Čudesno jutro u krevetu gđe. Petrović" (Bregović) – 2:29
  7. "Mogla je biti prosta priča" (Bregović) – 2:47
  8. "Ha, ha, ha" (Bregović) – 3:10
  9. "Zažmiri i broj" (Bregović) – 3:45
  10. "Pristao sam biću sve što hoće" (Trifunović/Bregović) – 3:01

[edit] Band Members