U Škripcu

U Škripcu

U Škripcu at the time of release of their second album
Background information
Origin Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Genres New wave, art punk, post-punk, synthpop, pop rock
Years active 1980 – 1985
1986 – 1987
1989 – 1991
(reunions: 2007)
Labels Jugoton, PGP-RTB, Jugodisk, Taped Pictures, Mascom
Associated acts Babe, Delča i Sklekovi, Đura i Mornari, Ekatarina Velika, E-Play, Familija, Košava, Partibrejkers, Vlada Divljan i NVO
Past members see the members section

U Škripcu (Serbian Cyrillic: У Шкрипцу; trans. In Dire Straits) was a Serbian and former Yugoslav rock band from Belgrade.

The band was formed in 1980 by Zoran Vulović "Vule" (keyboards), Milan Delčić "Delča" (vocals) and Aleksandar Vasiljević "Vasa" (guitar), who decided to expand the lineup of their former band to Miloš Obrenović (drums) and Aleksandar Lukić (bass guitar), and change their name to U Škripcu. At the time of their formation, the band was a part of the Yugoslav new wave scene, the period of work which was documented on the seminal 1981 various artists compilation album Artistička radna akcija. With the debut album release, the 1982 Godine ljubavi, the band moved towards a more experimental post-punk sound, before achieving nationwide commercial success with the release of the album O je! and EP Nove godine!, under the influence of New Romanticism. The original lineup recorded yet another album, the synthpop Budimo zajedno, which was did not repeat the commercial success of its predecessors, causing the band to disband in 1985.

In 1986, Vulović and Delčić reformed the band, but the latter soon left the band, so the new lineup, featuring the vocalist Aleksandar Tabaš and various musicians, recorded the fourth studio album, U Škripcu. Despite the hit song "Vreme je za nas", the album was not commercially successful, causing the band to disband in 1988. The following year, Vulović reunited with Delčić and Vasiljević, Lukić on guitar, bassist Dejan Škopelja, and drummer Ratko Ljubičić. The lineup recorded the critically acclaimed fifth studio album Izgleda da mi smo sami, after which the band disbanded. Following the disbandment, Vulović became a producer and manager, Delčić pursued a solo career with his band Sklekovi, and Vasiljević and Lukić became a part of the supergroup Familija. In 2007, the original lineup reunited at the Delča i Sklekovi concert at the Belgrade Dom Omladine, which was released in 2008 as Ljubilarnih 20 i nešto godina - Live, under the moniker Delča a i U Škripcu. Delčić died on 24 July 2011, after spending a decade fighting cancer.

History

Original lineup years (1980-1985)

The band was formed by three high school friends Zoran "Vule" Vulović (keyboards), Milan "Delča" Delčić (vocals, guitar for a short period of time) and Aleksandar "Vasa" Vasiljević (guitar). The three used to write amateur theatre plays and in 1979 decided to form a band. The group was initially called Prolog Za Veliki Haos (Intro for the Great Chaos) and then Furije Furiozno Furaju. The three also worked as associate journalists for the Mladi novi svet show airing on Studio B radio station.

In 1980 the band was renamed U Škripcu, adding two more members, drummer Miloš Obrenović and bassist Aleksandar "Luka" Lukić. The band's first recordings, tracks "Južno voće" ("Tropical Fruit") and "Pamflex dom" ("Pamflex Home") were released on the Artistička radna akcija compilation, which featured the second generation of Belgrade new wave bands, in 1981.[1] The beginning of their career is also connected to the "Pamflex" concept. Pamflex was an imaginary company, invented by Delčić. The songs were actually commercials for imaginary products, as the band members considered advertising to be the finest form of art. Part of the concept was also reading of ironic and comical speeches, usage of Pamflex flags and using theater language style.

During 1981, the band had numerous live appearances in Belgrade and Zagreb, and soon established a fanbase. Their debut album Godine ljubavi (Years of Love), released by PGP-RTB in 1982,[2] did not feature Lukić on bass guitar, who was at the time serving the mandatory Yugoslav People's Army stint, and was replaced by Idoli bassist Zdenko Kolar, who recorded bass sections. During the tour, Dejan Grujić from the band Braća played bass. The band established a team of co-workers who collaborated on their next releases, producer Saša Habić[3] and album artwork design group Aux Maniere (Slobodan Šajin and Momčilo Rajin). The album's most notable tracks were "Ti imaš dosta godina" ("You Have Plenty of Years"), "Hamuamule", "Samuraj" ("Samurai"), "Kao u boji" ("Like in Color") and "Proleće" ("Spring"), dealing with various theme orientations. After the album release, Saša Dragić became the band's manager.

In 1983, the band signed a contract with Jugoton and released the album O je! (Oh, Yeah!)[4] and the EP Nove godine! (New Years!).[5] The album was well accepted by the audience and the critics and the Rock magazine voted the album the best release of 1983. Guest appearances featured Gordi bassist and arranger Slobodan Svrdlan, Đorđe Petrović on keyboards, Nenad Jelić on percussion and Jovan Maljoković on saxophone.[4] The tracks "Beograd spava" ("Belgrade Is Sleeping"), "Kockar" ("Gambler") and "Siđi do reke" ("Come down to the River") were the most notable tracks on the album. The Nove godine! EP was intentionally released during the New Year holidays and featured five songs including the title track, also released on single, and the hit "Koliko imaš godina" ("How Old Are You").[5]

In 1984, Lukić returned to the band and together they toured mainly in Croatia and in 1985 the band released Budimo zajedno! (Let's Be Together!)[6] which was a combination of pop and electronic music. It featured a new version of "Hamuamule", "Tama me prati" ("Darkness Follows Me"), "Crni anđele" ("Black Angel"), "Baj, baj" ("Bye, Bye"). Due to the inability to achieve the success of the previous records the band ceased to exist.

Reformation with new lineup (1986-1987)

Delčić finished drama studies at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade and started writing theatre plays. Vasić and Lukić worked as producers and with Obrenović and Aleksandar Ralev formed the pop rock band Košava.[7] Vulović, having returned from the Yugoslav People's Army decided to form his own band, Bang Bang, featuring himself on vocals. Since Delčić became a part of the project, the two decided to reform U Škripcu in 1986. They recorded new material with musicians from Zagreb, drummer Davor Vidiš (from Kristalno Plavo), bassist Dario Kumele and guitarist Zdravko Jurković. In the meantime Delčić went to serve the Yugoslav People's Army, so Vulović decided to change the lineup featuring musicians from Belgrade, vocalist Aleksandar Tabaš, bassist Dejan "Škopi" Škopelja, guitarist Zoran Veljković and drummer Marko Milivojević. The 1987 self-titled album was produced by Rijan Nemurin, and guest appearances featured Aleksandar Vasiljević and Vlada Negovanović.[8] The album was not commercially successful, the only track becoming a minor hit was "Vreme je za nas" ("It Is Time for Us"), and the band disbanded.

Original members reunion (1989-1991)

Delčić, having returned from the army, started preparing his first solo album. The album was never released and U Škripcu reunited once again featuring original members Lukić, Vulović, Delčić, Vasiljević, bassist Dejan "Škopi" Škopelja and Disciplina Kičme drummer Ratko Ljubičić. The band released Izgleda da mi smo sami (It Looks like We're Alone) in 1990.[9] It was produced by Lukić and Vasiljević[9] and, beside the title track, "Ako ti kažem (Je, je, je)" ("If I Say to You (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah)") became popular songs. On the retrospective evening of the Belgrade Spring festival, the band performed a cover version of "Stjuardesa" ("Stewardess") originally performed by Radoslav Grajić, and the recording appeared on the Beograde compilation in 1991.

When the Yugoslav wars started, the band became inactive and reformed only for major events like the student's protests, Gitarijada festival, and others, and in the meantime prepared some new material, which was never released. Part of the material was used on the Familija debut album Narodno pozorište, featuring Vasiljević and Lukić and Vampiri members Dejan "Peja" Pejović, Dejan "Dexi" Petrović and Goran "Gedža" Redžepi. The material written by Delčić appeared on his first solo album Delča & Sklekovi.

Post-breakup and 2007 reunion

In 2000, the band's song "Ako ti kažem (Je, je, je)" appeared on the Taped Pictures various artists compilation Automania 2 - Pop Hidraulic.[10] In 2006, on the Delča & Sklekovi concert at Belgrade's Dom Omladine, the original U Škripcu members appeared as guests. In December 2008, a live album was released, entitled Ljubilarnih 20 i nešto godina - Live, recorded at the band's 2006 performance in Dom Omladine, released as Delča a i U Škripcu (Delča, but also U Škripcu).[11] Delčić stated that the release of the album is not a comeback album or the announcement of the band's reunion.[11]

Delčić died on 24 July 2011, after spending several years fighting cancer.[12]

Legacy

In 2011, Serbian alternative rock band Block Out released a cover of "Beograd spava" as a single.[13] In 2012, Croatian singer Massimo Savić covered the song "Siđi do reke", as a tribute to Delčić, during his performance at the Belgrade Sava Centar venue.[14] In 2012, Serbian band Vampiri covered the song "Koliko imaš godina" on their concert in Sava Centar, as a tribute to Delčić.[15] In 2014, Croatian singer-songwriter Damir Urban covered the band's song "Ne brini" ("Don't Worry"), for the film Dječaci Iz Ulice Marksa i Engelsa (The Boys from the Marx and Engels Street).[16]

In 2006, the song "Siđi do reke" was ranked No. 71 on the B92 Top 100 Domestic Songs list.[17] In 2011, the song "Izgleda da mi smo sami" was polled, by the listeners of Radio 202, one of 60 greatest songs released by PGP-RTB/PGP-RTS during the sixty years of the label's existence.[18]

The lyrics of the songs "Proleće" and "Šuma" ("Forest") were featured in Petar Janjatović's book Pesme bratstva, detinjstva & potomstva: Antologija ex YU rok poezije 1967 - 2007 (Songs of Brotherhood, Childhood & Offspring: Anthology of Ex YU Rock Poetry 1967 - 2007).[19]

In September 2013, a commemorative plaque in memory of Delčić was revealed in Mila Jevtović Street in Belgrade, on the house in which he lived.[20]

Members

Former members

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Live albums

Singles

Other appearances

References

  1. ↑ Artistička radna akcija at Discogs
  2. ↑ Godine ljubavi at Discogs
  3. ↑ Saša Habić at Discogs
  4. 1 2 O je! at Discogs
  5. 1 2 Nove godine! at Discogs
  6. ↑ Budimo zajedno! at Discogs
  7. ↑ Košava at Discogs
  8. ↑ U Škripcu at Discogs
  9. 1 2 Izgleda da mi smo sami at Discogs
  10. ↑ Automania 2 - Pop Hidraulic at Discogs
  11. 1 2 "Popboks - Delča, a i U škripcu [s2]". popboks.com. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  12. ↑ "Blic Online - Preminuo Milan Delčić Delča". Blic Online. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  13. ↑ "Bend "Block out" poklanja koncert". B92.net. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  14. ↑ "Blic Online - Masimo Savić u Sava centru ispunio kancone rok energijom". Blic Online. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "Popboks - Vampiri sinoć svirali u Sava centru (video) [s2]". popboks.com. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "Urban & 4 obradili "Ne brini" grupe U Škripcu (video)". Balkanrock.com. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  17. ↑ "PLAY Radio — NAJBOLJA MUZIKA SADA!". Playradio. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  18. ↑ "PGP na 202". facebook.com. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  19. ↑ Janjatović, Petar (2008). Pesme bratstva, detinjstva & potomstva: Antologija ex YU rok poezije 1967 - 2007. Belgrade: Vega media.
  20. ↑ "Sutra otkrivanje spomen ploče Delči i otvaranje festivala "Dan D"". Balkanrock.com. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
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