Plavi Orkestar

Plavi orkestar
Plavi Orkestar in Stara Pazova in August 2011.
Background information
Origin	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Genres	Pop, Punk, Folk, New Primitives
Years active	1983–present
Labels	Jugoton, Croatia Records, ], Diskoton, Pop records, Dallas records
Website	Plavi Orkestar - Music - Videos - Pictures
Members	Saša Lošić Saša Zalepugin Samir "Ćera I" Ćeremida Admir "Ćera II" Ćeremida
Past members	Mladen Pavičić

Plavi orkestar (English: Blue Orchestra) is a Yugoslav pop band from Sarajevo. The band was formed in 1983 by Saša Lošić, lead singer and songwriter of the group. The band has remained popular with seven albums and more than 5500 concerts worldwide.

In 1981, as a 16-year-old gymnasium student in Sarajevo, Lošić founded a band called Ševin orkestar with Srđan Krošnjar on guitar, Gordan Džamonja on bass, and Admir "Ćera II" Ćeramida on drums. The following year they changed their name to Plavi Orkestar due to another group called Ševe being active in the city at the time.

Soon after, Lošić switched schools; from Third Sarajevo Gymnasium to First Sarajevo Gymnasium, which is where he met guitarist Mladen "Pava" Pavičić who already experienced a certain measure of musical prominence having played in a band called Rock Apoteka. In 1981 Pavičić appeared at Omladinski festival in Subotica with Super 98 (Rock Apoteka's next incarnation), before switching to pop band Mali Princ, and finally ending up in Pauk with whom he recorded an album, Mumije lažu, released in 1982. Since Pauk was based out of Zavidovići, for teenager Pavičić that meant traveling every weekend for band rehearsals, which his parents weren't too keen on and soon persuaded him to quit the group. He then flirted with and filled in with a variety of bands.

Though Pava and Loša hit it off as soon as they met in school, it wasn't until 1983 that Pava joined Loša's band. The two agreed to do so at the Siluete gig in Sarajevo. As soon as he arrived to Plavi orkestar, much more musically experienced Pava arranged for guitarist Krošnjar and bassist Džamonja to be kicked out of the group, seeing them as not committed and dedicated enough. Before summer 1983, Samir "Ćera I" Ćeramida joined on bass as replacement for Džamonja.

This is when the group's activity became decidedly more serious and it's generally considered as the band's real beginning. They started appearing as opening act for big Yugoslav touring bands like Riblja Čorba and Leb i Sol, which got them exposure in the country's press. However, the reviews and notices were atrocious, which Loša took quite hard and for a time even decided to quit music. Still, the enthusiasm among other band members brought him back and he devoted himself to writing pop ballads, most of which were inspired by unrequited love for a girl he was after at the time. During summer 1983, they held a gig at Sarajevo club called Trasa where they got spotted by Laboratorija Zvuka's Bata Vranešević who noticed their potential, inviting them to Belgrade to record material. In September 1983 as a send off before going away to serve the army stint, they played another show at Trasa. The next day they were on a train to Belgrade where in Enco Lesić's studio, Druga maca, they recorded three tracks — "Soldatski bal", "Goodbye Teens", and "Suada" — all of which would become future hits.

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Wikipedia