Kodeksi
Encyclopedia
Kodeksi was a cover band from Sarajevo
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
, SFR Yugoslavia that existed from 1965 until 1971. It is most notable as one of the predecessors to Bijelo dugme
, the most commercially successful band ever to come out of SFR Yugoslavia. Many of the future Bijelo dugme members came up through Kodeksi.
During its final few months, the band was known as Mića, Goran and Zoran.
to join as singer and rhythm guitar
ist. Simultaneous to high school studies, Kodeksi members spent the rest of the decade covering tunes they heard on Radio Luxembourg and playing local dance parties. In the process they built up somewhat of a local youth following.
As the band had problems filling the bass player spot all throughout this period, Bebek recommended 18-year-old Goran Bregović
after seeing him play with another local cover band Beštije in 1969. Realizing Kodeksi were more established on the scene than his Beštije, Goran immediately jumped at the opportunity.
The band's musical activity began to assume a more serious form immediately after Bregović's arrival.
In the summer of 1969, Kodeksi secured a season-long gig in Dubrovnik
's Splendid bar, but just before they were set to depart for Adriatic coast Ismeta Dervoz left the band choosing to devote her full attention to university studies. Their Dubrovnik repertoire was aimed at tourists and consisted mostly of pop covers, folk standards, and easy-listening tunes.
Though it clearly didn't inspire much in terms of creativity, Dubrovnik stay proved useful as they got spotted by Italian club owner Renato Pacifico who offered a two-month gig in his Naples
club. Infused with new energy, the band went back home to hone a new progressive rock
set (along the lines of Cream
, Jimi Hendrix
, etc.), and to obtain the necessary paperwork.
in early 1970. However, it soon became apparent that the Italian club owner was deeply disappointed with their new musical shift. He wanted them to play kazachok and other similar Eastern European folkish stuff from their Dubrovnik repertoire, and the band unwillingly agreed.
Just before the first two-month stint ended, Kodeksi's founder and main decision-maker Edo Bogeljić quit and went back to Sarajevo, which is when Bregović assumed the lead guitar role for the first time. Local Italian musician was brought in to play the bass, but after he quit too, Bebek called up old friend Zoran Redžić
. Redžić in turn brought along Milić Vukašinović
as replacement on drums for Paganotto who also quit in the meantime.
At that time, Kodeksi were enjoying a fairly successful run on the club & bar circuit throughout southern Italy, playing a commercial repertoire and building up a fairly devoted following. Vukašinović's arrival was particularly significant in this regard as he brought new musical influences along the lines of what Led Zeppelin
and Black Sabbath
were doing at the time. Additionally, he convinced the rest of the band on incorporating the new sound into their set. Within two weeks of his arrival, Kodeksi were fired from all the places they were playing.
With no gigs and very little savings, the foursome of Bebek, Bregović, Redžić and Vukašinović stayed on the island of Capri
. They found gigs extremely hard to come by with the new sound, but eventually got a low-paying one on Ischia
island. As the summer season of 1970 drew to a close that gig ended as well, and they relocated back to Naples where they struggled to make ends meet.
This is when the band began to disregard Bebek musically. First, they made him stop playing the rhythm guitar reasoning that it's not fashionable any longer. Bebek also had trouble adapting to the new material vocally. He'd sing the intro on most songs and then step back as the other three members improvised for the remainder of songs. After being a key band member only months earlier, Bebek was seeing his role gradually reduced. It was more than he was willing to take and in the fall of 1970 he left Kodeksi to return to Sarajevo.
For their part, Vukašinović, Bregović, and Redžić continued soldiering on under the new name Mića, Goran and Zoran, playing everything from clubs to weddings in the Naples area. Eventually they returned to Sarajevo in the spring of 1971 when Goran's mother and Zoran's brother Fadil came to Italy to bring them back. Upon returning, the trio continued playing and gigging around Sarajevo, however not for long as in late summer 1971 Vukašinović decided that he'd move to London.
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, SFR Yugoslavia that existed from 1965 until 1971. It is most notable as one of the predecessors to Bijelo dugme
Bijelo dugme
Bijelo dugme was a highly influential former Yugoslav rock band, based in Sarajevo. Active between 1974 and 1989, it is widely considered to have been the most popular band ever to exist in former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and one of the most important acts of the Yugoslav rock...
, the most commercially successful band ever to come out of SFR Yugoslavia. Many of the future Bijelo dugme members came up through Kodeksi.
During its final few months, the band was known as Mića, Goran and Zoran.
1960s
Kodeksi were formed in 1965 by Edo Bogeljić as a hobby cover band. The band also featured Ismeta Dervoz on backing vocals and Luciano Paganotto on drums. Not too long after formation, Bogeljić invited Željko BebekŽeljko Bebek
Želimir "Željko" Bebek is a popular Bosnian Croat singer most notable for being the lead vocalist of Bijelo dugme from 1974 to 1984....
to join as singer and rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
ist. Simultaneous to high school studies, Kodeksi members spent the rest of the decade covering tunes they heard on Radio Luxembourg and playing local dance parties. In the process they built up somewhat of a local youth following.
As the band had problems filling the bass player spot all throughout this period, Bebek recommended 18-year-old Goran Bregović
Goran Bregovic
Goran Bregović is one of the most internationally known modern musicians and composers of the Balkans. He currently splits his time between Paris and Belgrade, where he settled down during the Yugoslav Wars.Bregović has composed for such varied artists as Iggy Pop and Cesária Évora...
after seeing him play with another local cover band Beštije in 1969. Realizing Kodeksi were more established on the scene than his Beštije, Goran immediately jumped at the opportunity.
The band's musical activity began to assume a more serious form immediately after Bregović's arrival.
In the summer of 1969, Kodeksi secured a season-long gig in Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
's Splendid bar, but just before they were set to depart for Adriatic coast Ismeta Dervoz left the band choosing to devote her full attention to university studies. Their Dubrovnik repertoire was aimed at tourists and consisted mostly of pop covers, folk standards, and easy-listening tunes.
Though it clearly didn't inspire much in terms of creativity, Dubrovnik stay proved useful as they got spotted by Italian club owner Renato Pacifico who offered a two-month gig in his Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
club. Infused with new energy, the band went back home to hone a new progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
set (along the lines of Cream
The cream
"The cream" is a testosterone-based ointment that is used in conjunction with anabolic steroids such as tetrahydrogestrinone in order to mask doping in professional athletes....
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, etc.), and to obtain the necessary paperwork.
1970s
Kodeksi (Bogeljić on lead guitar, Bebek on vocals and rhythm guitar, Bregović on bass, and Paganotto on drums) left for ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in early 1970. However, it soon became apparent that the Italian club owner was deeply disappointed with their new musical shift. He wanted them to play kazachok and other similar Eastern European folkish stuff from their Dubrovnik repertoire, and the band unwillingly agreed.
Just before the first two-month stint ended, Kodeksi's founder and main decision-maker Edo Bogeljić quit and went back to Sarajevo, which is when Bregović assumed the lead guitar role for the first time. Local Italian musician was brought in to play the bass, but after he quit too, Bebek called up old friend Zoran Redžić
Zoran Redžic
Zoran Redžić is a Bosnian musician, best known for playing the bass guitar in the popular Yugoslav rock band Bijelo Dugme....
. Redžić in turn brought along Milić Vukašinović
Milic Vukašinovic
Milić Vukašinović, a.k.a. Mitch Valiant is a musician from Serbia of Yugoslavian ethnicity. He was the founder of the rock band Vatreni Poljubac and drummer of the famous Yugoslav band Bijelo dugme.Born in Belgrade, he moved with his family to Peć when he was 6 years old...
as replacement on drums for Paganotto who also quit in the meantime.
At that time, Kodeksi were enjoying a fairly successful run on the club & bar circuit throughout southern Italy, playing a commercial repertoire and building up a fairly devoted following. Vukašinović's arrival was particularly significant in this regard as he brought new musical influences along the lines of what Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
and Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
were doing at the time. Additionally, he convinced the rest of the band on incorporating the new sound into their set. Within two weeks of his arrival, Kodeksi were fired from all the places they were playing.
With no gigs and very little savings, the foursome of Bebek, Bregović, Redžić and Vukašinović stayed on the island of Capri
Capri
Capri is an Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, in the Campania region of Southern Italy...
. They found gigs extremely hard to come by with the new sound, but eventually got a low-paying one on Ischia
Ischia
Ischia is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about 30 km from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures around 10 km east to west and 7 km north to south and has...
island. As the summer season of 1970 drew to a close that gig ended as well, and they relocated back to Naples where they struggled to make ends meet.
This is when the band began to disregard Bebek musically. First, they made him stop playing the rhythm guitar reasoning that it's not fashionable any longer. Bebek also had trouble adapting to the new material vocally. He'd sing the intro on most songs and then step back as the other three members improvised for the remainder of songs. After being a key band member only months earlier, Bebek was seeing his role gradually reduced. It was more than he was willing to take and in the fall of 1970 he left Kodeksi to return to Sarajevo.
For their part, Vukašinović, Bregović, and Redžić continued soldiering on under the new name Mića, Goran and Zoran, playing everything from clubs to weddings in the Naples area. Eventually they returned to Sarajevo in the spring of 1971 when Goran's mother and Zoran's brother Fadil came to Italy to bring them back. Upon returning, the trio continued playing and gigging around Sarajevo, however not for long as in late summer 1971 Vukašinović decided that he'd move to London.