Bulevar (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Bulevar


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Origin = Belgrade, Serbia
Genre = New Wave Symphonic rock Punk Rock
Years_active = 1978 – 1982
Label = Jugoton, PGP RTB
Associated_acts = Bajaga i Instruktori Dejan Cukić
Past_members = Dejan Cukić Nenad Stamatović Predrag Jakovljević Branko Isaković Dragan Mitrić

Bulevar (Serbian Cyrillic: Булевар; trans. "Boulevard") were a former Yugoslav new wave band.

Band history

The band's history dates from the days of the group Tilt where young highschool attendants Dejan Cukić (former Dizel member, vocals), Nenad Stamatović (guitar), Dušan Bezuha (guitar), Miroslav Cvetković (bass) and drummers at different times, Vlada Golubović and Predrag Jakovljević. The band appeared with Branko "Čutura" Marušić (guitar, vocals). Following the departures of Bezuha and Golubović, who went to Suncokret, and Cvetković, who went to Pop Mašina, the band ceased to exist.

Stamatović, who was in the band Zebra, along with Cukić, Jakovljević and Suncokret bassist Branko Isaković, formed Bulevar in 1978. The band got the name Bulevar because all of the members lived near The Boulevard Of Revolution in Belgrade. During the following year, the band had their first live appearances as an opening act for Riblja Čorba. Their first major appearance was at Belgrade's Tašmajdan on September 1, 1979 at the famous Riblja Čorba concert. After the band Zvuk Ulice disbanded, their keyboard player, Dragan Mitrić joined the band. Soon after they began working on their new songs and with the help of Momčilo Bajagić, the band recorded their first single "Moje bezvezne stvari" ("My Silly Stuff"). Due to the illness of Josip Broz Tito, the band released their first single in 1980 through Jugoton. The release of their second single, "Nestašni dečaci" ("Wild Boys"), was described by Cukić as "the inauguration of symphonic punk" due to the fact the band combined punk music with arrangements of Mitrić who was then studying composition at the Music Academy. "Nestašni dečaci" was also featured on a various artists compilation "Svi marš na ples!". The song caused a slight incident as the authorites considered the song as the direct support of the March 1981 protests in Kosovo, which was not true.

By the time the band was about to release their debut album "Loš i mlad" ("Bad and Young"), the band signed for PGP RTB. The album was released in 1981, and was produced by themselves with the help of Tahir Durhalić. When the band released their second album "Mala noćna panika" ("A Little Night Panic"), featuring the tracks "Nestašni dečaci", "Unutarnja panika" and "Trenutni lek", Mitrić, Stamatović and Cukić went to the army so the record did not have a presentation. The only appearance they made were at the Dok, where Kornelije Kovač who produced the record played keyboards. The band held their last concert in Skopje in 1982, where Stamatović appeared as a soldier.

Branko Isaković went to Idoli, Jakovljević to Divlji Anđeli, and then to Zana, Zamba, Viktorija and stopped playing. Cukić started writing for the "Rock" magazine. When Stamatović and Mitrić returned from the army, they had a few rehearsals as Bulevar and then went to Bajaga i Instruktori where Mitrić spent a short time and dedicated himself to studying, only to return when Cukić started his solo career. Cukić recorded three albums with Bajaga i Instruktori and after their Soviet Union tour formed started his solo career. Beside Mitrić, Isaković was also a member of Dejan Cukić's support band Spori Ritam Band.

Cukić recorded several cover versions of Bulvear songs. On the "1991" album Cukić did the cover of "Nestašni dečaci", a live version appeared on the "DC & SRB @ SC". On the "San na pola puta" compilation beside "Nestašni dečaci" also appeared the cover of "Trenutni lek". On the 1998 album "Igramo na ulici" there is a track called "Bulevari".

In 2008 PGP RTS' Retrologija rereleased remastered both studio albums and the band's second single.

Discography

Studio albums

* "Loš i mlad" (PGP RTB, 1981)
* "Mala noćna panika" (PGP RTB, 1982)

Compilations

* "Nestašni dečaci" (PGP RTS, 2008)

Singles

* "Moje bezvezne stvari" / "Nemam ništa važno da te pitam" (Jugoton, 1980)
* "Nestašni dečaci" / "Moja lova, tvoja lova" (Jugoton, 1981)

Various Artists compilations

* "Svi marš na ples!" (Jugoton, 1981)

References

* EX YU ROCK enciklopedija 1960-2006, Janjatović Petar; ISBN 978-86-905317-1-4

ee also

* SFR Yugoslav Pop and Rock scene
* New Wave in Yugoslavia
* Serbian rock