Grupa I
Encyclopedia
Grupa I was a Serbia
n and former Yugoslav
New Wave
band from Belgrade
, active in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
member), and vocalist Branko Bogićević. The lineup recorded their debut single "Sestra Vera" ("Sister Vera"), with "Miris ulice" ("The Smell of the Street") as the single B-side, released by PGP-RTB
in 1979, after which Bogićević left the band, and bassist Kojić took over the vocal duties.
The debut album Na svom talasu (Making Our Waves), released by PGP-RTB in 1980, presented a combination of diverse musical influences, including hard rock
, power pop
, ska
and reggae
. The album, recorded at the PGP-RTB studio V, during the Summer 1980, featured the prominent tracks "Tinejdž bluz" ("Teenage Blues"), "G.S.B-S.O.S.", "Jugo rok" ("Yugo Rock"), featuring a quotation from the chorus of the Vatreni Poljubac song "Doktor za rokenrol" ("PhD for rock & roll"), and "Mirela" ("Mirella"), was produced by Slobodan Marković, who also appeared as song arranger and guest keyboard player. After the album release, guitarist Predrag Mijović left the band, quitting his musical career and moving to Botswana
.
In the meantime, the band had released the single "Sa tobom, bez tebe" ("With You, Without You"), with "Bekstvo" ("Escape") as the B-side. The B-side appeared on the following studio album, I zvuci za I ljude (I Sounds for I People), also featuring the notable tracks "Nove vrednosti" ("New Values") and "Složena procedura opstanka" ("A Complex Survival Procedure"), mainly ska oriented. Guest appearances featured Vuk Vujačić (saxophone) and Disciplina Kičme
frontman Dušan Kojić "Koja"
(backing vocals), who also produced the dub
version of "Nove vrednosti" which appeared on the four-track EP
of the same name, released in 1982 by PGP-RTB. After the EP release, the band ceased to exist.
band Du-Du-A in 1981, with whom he continued working throughout the 1980s and the 1990s. He had also made a guest appearance on the Bebi Dol album Ruže i krv, playing guitar and bass, and wrote the music for the first Yugoslav movie to deal with drug abuse
, Pejzaži u magli (Fogscapes).
Kuštrin made a guest appearance on the Du-Du-A debut single "Ja Tarzan ti Džejn" ("I Tarzan
you Jane
"), released in 1982. During the same year, on February, he became the drummer of Katarina II, and remained the band member until the following year. He had also performed with Doktor Spira i Ljudska Bića
and Električni Orgazam
, appearing on their debut self-titled album
and the tour following the release of the 1983 cover album
Les Chansones Populaires
. He had committed suicide in 1985.
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n and former Yugoslav
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band from Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, active in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
History
The band was formed on January 1979 by guitarists Dejan Kostić and Predrag Mijović, drummer Branko Kuštrin "Mango" (a former Tarkus member), bassist Branko Kojić (a former ZdravoZdravo (band)
Zdravo was a former Yugoslav euro disco group from Belgrade.-Band history:The group was formed in 1976 by the disk jockey Boban Petrović. Having gathered several teenagers and several Belgrade musicians, Petrović intended to form a band which would perform communicative disco music with funk...
member), and vocalist Branko Bogićević. The lineup recorded their debut single "Sestra Vera" ("Sister Vera"), with "Miris ulice" ("The Smell of the Street") as the single B-side, released by PGP-RTB
PGP-RTB
PGP-RTB was a major record label and chain record store in the former SFR Yugoslavia based in Belgrade, Socialist Republic of Serbia. PGP-RTB was established in 1958...
in 1979, after which Bogićević left the band, and bassist Kojić took over the vocal duties.
The debut album Na svom talasu (Making Our Waves), released by PGP-RTB in 1980, presented a combination of diverse musical influences, including hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
, power pop
Power pop
Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are...
, ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
. The album, recorded at the PGP-RTB studio V, during the Summer 1980, featured the prominent tracks "Tinejdž bluz" ("Teenage Blues"), "G.S.B-S.O.S.", "Jugo rok" ("Yugo Rock"), featuring a quotation from the chorus of the Vatreni Poljubac song "Doktor za rokenrol" ("PhD for rock & roll"), and "Mirela" ("Mirella"), was produced by Slobodan Marković, who also appeared as song arranger and guest keyboard player. After the album release, guitarist Predrag Mijović left the band, quitting his musical career and moving to Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
.
In the meantime, the band had released the single "Sa tobom, bez tebe" ("With You, Without You"), with "Bekstvo" ("Escape") as the B-side. The B-side appeared on the following studio album, I zvuci za I ljude (I Sounds for I People), also featuring the notable tracks "Nove vrednosti" ("New Values") and "Složena procedura opstanka" ("A Complex Survival Procedure"), mainly ska oriented. Guest appearances featured Vuk Vujačić (saxophone) and Disciplina Kičme
Disciplina Kičme
Disciplina Kičme , is a Serbian band, one of the two spin-offs of the seminal Yugoslav New Wave and later post-punk band Šarlo Akrobata, the other being Ekatarina Velika...
frontman Dušan Kojić "Koja"
Dušan Kojic
Dušan Kojić "Koja" is a Serbian rock bassist, singer and songwriter. He is the frontman of the Serbian Alternative rock band Disciplin A Kitschme .- Compilation albums :...
(backing vocals), who also produced the dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
version of "Nove vrednosti" which appeared on the four-track EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
of the same name, released in 1982 by PGP-RTB. After the EP release, the band ceased to exist.
Post-breakup
Kostić formed the influential alternative rockAlternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Du-Du-A in 1981, with whom he continued working throughout the 1980s and the 1990s. He had also made a guest appearance on the Bebi Dol album Ruže i krv, playing guitar and bass, and wrote the music for the first Yugoslav movie to deal with drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
, Pejzaži u magli (Fogscapes).
Kuštrin made a guest appearance on the Du-Du-A debut single "Ja Tarzan ti Džejn" ("I Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
you Jane
Jane Porter (Tarzan)
Jane Porter is a major character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Tarzan novels, and in adaptations of the saga to other media, particularly film.- In the novels :...
"), released in 1982. During the same year, on February, he became the drummer of Katarina II, and remained the band member until the following year. He had also performed with Doktor Spira i Ljudska Bića
Doktor Spira i Ljudska Bića
Doktor Spira i Ljudska Bića was a Serbian New Wave/alternative rock band from Belgrade.- Mira i Spira, band formation :...
and Električni Orgazam
Električni Orgazam
Električni Orgazam is a Serbian rock band from Belgrade. Originally starting as a combination of New Wave, punk rock and post-punk, the band later slowly changed their style, becoming a mainstream rock act.- New Wave years :...
, appearing on their debut self-titled album
Električni Orgazam
Električni Orgazam is a Serbian rock band from Belgrade. Originally starting as a combination of New Wave, punk rock and post-punk, the band later slowly changed their style, becoming a mainstream rock act.- New Wave years :...
and the tour following the release of the 1983 cover album
Cover Album
-Tracklisting:#Misono to Utaou! Animedley I # #...
Les Chansones Populaires
Les Chansones Populaires
-Personnel:*Grof — bass guitar*Piko — drums*Ljubomir Jovanović — guitar*Srđan Gojković — guitar, lead vocals*Ljubomir Đukić — piano, synthesizer, vocals...
. He had committed suicide in 1985.
External links
- Grupa I at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Grupa I at YoutubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- Branko Kuštrin fan page at FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...