Đorđe Novković

Đorđe Novković
Born September 2, 1943
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Died May 6, 2007 (aged 63)
Zagreb, Croatia
Genres Pop music
Occupation(s) Songwriter
Years active 1967–2007

Đorđe Novković (Cyrillic: Ђорђе Новковић; September 2, 1943 – May 6, 2007) was a songwriter who was known for his work in SFR Yugoslavia and Croatia. He is also known as the father of popular singer Boris Novković.

Novković was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina[Note 1] to a Croatian/Serbian mixed couple, his father Vukašin was Serb and a violinist,[6] so his musical talent was discovered very early, and he joined the musical school in Sarajevo at the age of 6. After graduating conducting from Musical Academy in Sarajevo, he founded a band Pro Arte during the fall of 1967.

In 1968, his wife Ozana, a music professor by profession, gave birth to their son Boris, and the family moved to Zagreb, Croatia. Boris later became a rock singer-songwriter, but he split abruptly with his father at the age of 19.

His first hit came in 1969 with the song "Više se neće vratiti" performed by Mišo Kovač and sold in half a million copies.

In 1973, Pro Arte merged with another Sarajevo pop group Indexi, but the experiment lasted only several months. Pro Arte existed in continuity until 1980, as well as off-and-on throughout the 1980s. In 1989 Novković moved to live in Rovinj, Croatia.

After Pro Arte, Đorđe Novković switched to writing songs, creating material for some of the hits of the former Yugoslavia. He collaborated with performers such as Mišo Kovač, Neda Ukraden, Zdravko Čolić, Duško Lokin, Đani Maršan, Tomislav Ivčić, Tereza Kesovija, Ivica Šerfezi, Gabi Novak, Srebrna krila and others.

After death of Josip Broz Tito he wrote music for song "Druže Tito mi ti se kunemo" which was then performed by Zdravko Čolić which was then sold in 350000 copies.

Novković composed music for the infamous thank-you schlager "Danke Deutschland"[7] produced in January 1992 by Croatian state television as a show - widely perceived in rather dubious taste - of gratitude to Germany for their role in international recognition of their independence. ("...Thank you Germany, my soul is burning! Thank you Germany, for the lovely gift.")

In 1993 he wrote the song "Don't Ever Cry" for Put, the first Croatian representative in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Since 1997, he co-owned and managed the Croatia Records label, together with Miroslav Škoro. In 2000, he moved to Zagreb again.

In 2003 Novković gained a lot of popularity as judge of Story Supernova Music Talents, a reality show for aspiring musicians similar to Popstars aired on Nova TV. The audience was amused by his sarcastic comments directed at contestants and his co-judge Miroslav Škoro, earning him a controversial reputation.

He died suddenly at the age of 64, from an apparent stroke, in Zagreb. In a Roman Catholic funeral ceremony he was buried in Zagreb's Mirogoj Cemetery.[8]

Notes

  1. ↑ His birthplace is disputed. All official biographies state that his birthplace was Sarajevo[1][2][3] in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while some other sources say he was born in Šabac [4][5] in Serbia, and moved to Sarajevo at an early age.

References

  1. ↑ "Đorđe Novković - Croatia Records". Crorec.hr. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ "1.12.2006. —". Booksa.hr. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ "Odlazak našeg najvećeg tvorca hitova". Jutarnji.hr. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
  7. ↑ "Veliki povratak Đorđa Novkovića - Hitmejker koji je Severinu pretvorio u megazvijezdu". Nacional (in Croatian) (341). 2002-05-29. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
  8. ↑ "Video: Ispraćen Đorđe Novković". Dnevnik.hr. Retrieved 2014-01-11.