Šarlo Akrobata () were a Serbian new wave/post-punk band from Belgrade. Short-lived but extremely influential, in addition to being one of the most important acts of the Yugoslav new wave scene, the three piece left an indelible mark on the entire music scene of former Yugoslavia.
Spawning from the progressive/hard rock group Limunovo Drvo (), founded in 1977 by guitarist and vocalist Milan Mladenović and guitarist Dragomir "Gagi" Mihajlović, after several lineup changes, moved towards new wave music, with the arrival of bassist and vocalist Dušan "Koja" Kojić and drummer Ivan "Vd" Vdović. After performing as an opening act for Pankrti in April 1980, Mihajlović left the band and the remaining three members changed their name to Šarlo Akrobata, after a Yugoslav nickname for Charlie Chaplin's character the Tramp. Subsequently, the trio recorded four tracks which were released on the 1981 compilation album Paket aranžman, now considered to be one of the most influential releases in the history of former Yugoslav rock music. During 1981, the band released their debut album Bistriji ili tuplji čovek biva kad..., after which, owing to irreconcilable differences between the band members, the band ceased to exist. The album received critical recognition and is regarded as one of the most notable albums of former Yugoslav rock music.
After the band disbandment, Mladenović with Vdović and Mihajlović formed Katarina II, which changed its name to Ekatarina Velika after the departure of the latter two, and Kojić formed Disciplina Kičme, changing its name to Disciplin A Kitschme in 1995. In 1992, Vdović died of AIDS, followed by Milan Mladenović's death from pancreatic cancer in 1994.
History Background: Limunovo Drvo In 1978, Milan Mladenović (guitar, vocals) and Gagi Mihajlović (guitar) formed the progressive/hard rock band Limunovo Drvo, with bassist Goran "Maksa" Kovinčić and drummer Dušan "Džindžer" Dejanović. The lineup did not last long and the band experienced frequent personnel changes, including bassist Mikica Stefanović as well as Kovinčić's and Dejanović's respective returns. Despite never achieving stable lineup, the band still managed to string together a bit of an active presence on Belgrade's underground music scene, performing at the Žarkovo and Železnik guitar festivals, at Novi Beograd's Blok 45, the Belgrade Youth Center, as well as staging two solo concerts at the SKC. During this period, the band also recorded a few demo tracks at the famous JM Sound Studio in Zagreb owned by Janko "Truli" Mlinarić and Petko Kantardijev.
Still, Limunovo Drvo never managed to put out an official release although they were reportedly close to recording an album for Suzy Records, only to break apart before that could be realized. Songs performed by Limunovo Drvo include "Da li se sećate?" ("Do you remember?", "Sedmi krug" ("The Seventh Circle", "Oko moje glave" ("All Around My Head"), "Limunovo drvo" ("The Lemon Tree"), "Ne veruj" ("Do Not Believe") and "Gubitak (Nešto u nama)" ("The Loss (Something Within Us)").
At the end of Mladenović's and Mihajlović's creative wits, the two were joined by Dušan "Koja" Kojić (bass, vocals) — who had previously played with a number of underground Belgrade bands in addition to moving in alternative and punk circles gathered around the SKC where he used to conduct public forum debates related to new wave music — as well as Ivan Vdović "VD" (drums, backing vocals), a drummer with a background in jazz music who performed with numerous Belgrade bands including BG5 and Suncokret. Furthermore, Kojić and Mladenović had previously played in a band Izvan Vremena, having their first performance in 1978. The addition of a new rhythm section brought a change in their musical orientations through adopting a new musical direction inspired by the emerging punk rock and new wave scenes. Upon his arrival in Limunovo Drvo, Kojić also brought along his and Milan's mutual friend Nenad "Kele" Krasavac who became the band's unofficial manager. In April 1980, the new Limunovo Drvo lineup opened for Pankrti at Belgrade SKC, performing a set of new and rearranged older songs, after which guitarist Mihajlović decided to leave the band and the remaining members decided to continue working as a trio, changing the name to Šarlo Akrobata.
In June 1980, the band performed at a series of multiple acts free concerts, mostly featuring the newly formed new wave and punk bands, organized at the Belgrade SKC under the supervision of Nebojša Pajkić, after which, Šarlo Akrobata (labeled as Akrobata Šarlo), along with Električni Orgazam and Idoli were recognized by the Džuboks critic Momčilo Rajin as "one of the most exciting new acts".". Rajin stated that Vdović's drum playing style was "reminiscent of Stewart Copeland of The Police", Kojić bass playing as "a true example of simplicity and bareness to the essence of playing his instrument", and Mladenović as "matured into a true band leader". Soon after, the three bands were labeled by the music critics as the core of the emerging scene, consisting of the newly formed Belgrade punk rock and new wave bands centered on SKC, which they called the "Belgrade Alternative Scene" or "BAS". During November, with the performance of the song "Ona se budi" the band competed at Subotica Festival Omladina, the event where the representatives of both the Belgrade and Zagreb new wave scene had met for the first time, claiming second jury prize behind Film.
Paket aranžman By the Subotica performance, during autumn 1980, the band had already made their first recordings, the songs "Ona se budi" ("She is Rousing"), "Oko moje glave" ("All Around My Head"), "Niko kao ja" ("No One Like Me") and "Mali čovek" ("Little Man") at the Belgrade Druga Maca studio, owned by the former Indexi keyboard player Enco Lesić, who had also made recordings of the other two "BAS" bands, Idoli and Električni Orgazam. Eventually, in coordination with Lesić and Idoli manager Dragan Papić, the Jugoton executive editor Siniša Škarica came up with an idea of releasing the recordings of three bands in a compilation album, rather than releasing separate maxi singles. During the recording sessions of the three bands, the Druga Maca studio was visited by the young PGP RTB television directors, Boris Miljković and Branimir Dimitrijević "Tucko", who were at the time working together on the Rokenroler (Rockenroller) television show, and in the following couple of weeks, they recorded several music videos for the songs of the three bands, all featuring the same style: a minimalist barren white chroma key scenery surrounding the band members.
The recorded music videos, including the video for the song "Niko kao ja", appeared in the third episode of the Rokenroler show, originally broadcast on New Year's Eve 1981 on R, being the debut television appearance of the three Belgrade new wave acts, as well as the first presentation of the Belgrade new wave bands to a nationwide audience outside. The show became the most notable of all the Rokenroler episodes as well as the most notable work of the two directors. The show also marked one of the first serious attempts of introducing the mainstream music video in Yugoslav media. Following the show's broadcast, in January 1981, The Džuboks magazine journalist Nebojša Mirčetović, in the text "The Ultimate Breakup with the Apathetic Seventies", in the context of the unreleased material promoted by the music videos, stated that the show marked the "beginning of a rainbow at the end of which we would find a jar full of beautiful music waiting for the record labels to release it". During following month, in the same magazine, Ivica Vdović was polled by the readers as the 10th best drummer, and Dušan Kojić as the 9th best bassist of the year 1980.
Despite the intended release during the late-1980, due to the lack of vinyl material, the omnibus compilation album featuring the debut recordings of Šarlo Akrobata, along with the recordings of Električni Orgazam and Idoli, Paket aranžman (Package Deal), was released in February 1981 by Jugoton. Despite the fact that initially all three bands were not content with the release itself, especially the album production, owing to the technical limitations of the studio itself, the half-year delay during which the three bands had evolved musically, the release proved to be one of the most influential albums in the history of Yugoslav rock music. The album received positive critical reaction, with the Džuboks magazine critic Momčilo Rajin, in his review of the album, comparing the release with notability of the Grupa 220, Bijelo Dugme, Prljavo Kazalište and Pankrti debut album releases."Rajin" The album was not a commercial success, initially being sold in about 10.000 copies with the 20.000 being sold with the subsequent reissues. However, the songs from the release, including "Ona se budi" and "Niko kao ja", were listed on the greatest Yugoslav rock songs lists on several occasions.
The release of Paket aranžman was soon followed by the release of the Miša Radivojević movie Dečko koji obećava (Promising Boy), for which the band recorded three songs, with Goran Vejvoda on guitar and the actor Aleksandar Berček on lead vocals, which appeared on the movie soundtrack. The recorded songs, for which the music was written by Kojić and the lyrics by the screenplay writer Nebojša Pajkić, were performed in the movie by the fictional musical group VIS Dobri Dečaci (The Good Boys), with Kojić acting the guitar player role, Vdović the drummer role and Berček the lead vocalist and film's starring role. The songs "Slobodan" (a popular Serbian name, literally means "free"), "Balada o tvrdim grudima" ("The Ballad of Hard Breasts") and "Depresija" ("Depression), however, were never officially released. In March of the same year, Šarlo Akrobata participated the Pozdrav iz Beograda (Greetings from Belgrade) concert organized in Zagreb as a promotion of the Belgrade new wave scene, and a live promotion of Paket aranžman, on which the band also promoted their debut single "Mali čovek", with "Ona se budi" as the single B-side, released prior to the event.
Bistriji ili tuplji čovek biva kad... In April 1981, the band entered the studio in order to record their debut studio album, which was intended to be released through PGP RTB. However, during the recording sessions at the PGP RTB Studio 5, the musical editors of the record label, the composer Aleksandar Pilipenko and Bojan Hreljac, formerly the bassist of Korni Grupa, after visiting the studio during the recording of one of the experimental tracks, the label decided to drop the release. Even though the original band's musical directions were based on a combination of punk rock and white reggae music, the outcome of the album recording sessions proved turned out to be as experimental as possible, with the British new wave styles being combined with reggae, punk sound backed with dub effects. The recording sessions were based on a kind of a system where Mladenović and Kojić would bring fresh raw ideas and Vdović would modify and shape them. Mladenović was into poetic and melodic aspect of the whole thing while Kojić, inspired by Jimi Hendrix style of playing, was turned to minimal lyrics and aggressive music which can be recognized on different tracks on the album and their work in general.