Bijelo dugme ("White Button") were a highly influential rock band stationed in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, originally when in Yugoslavia. Active between 1974 and 1989, they are considered to have been the most popular band ever to exist in the former Yugoslavia and one of the most important acts of the Yugoslav Rock scene.
Bijelo dugme was founded by Goran Bregović who was born in Sarajevo, who spent much of his childhood in Music School, studying violin, from which he was expelled for "lack of talent". Soon after his expulsion, his mother bought him a guitar, and thus, Bijelo dugme was born. Goran Bregović often admitted that his main motivation for forming the band was because "girls were more receptive to musicians". Bregović was the band's sole composer and wrote most of the lyrics, although some of the most popular Bijelo dugme songs weren't written by Bregović, for example: Ima neka tajna veza, Glavni junak jedne knjige, ta bi dao da si na mom mjestu, Pristao sam biću sve to hoće were written by Duko Trifunović, Da sam pekar, Selma were written by Vlado Dijak, Loe vino by Arsen Dedić etc.
After recruiting the band's first line up, Bijelo dugme under the name Jutro (translation: "Morning") were turned down by Sarajevo based record company Diskoton, but another record company, Jugoton, signed them up to record a single. The first single was named Kad bi' bio bijelo dugme (translation: "If I were a white button"). After the single was released, the band's manager talked Bregović into changing the band's name to Bijelo dugme.
With its charismatic vocalist eljko Bebek, the band soon reached superstardom in the former Yugoslavia, and, as one newspaper put it, sold more records than there were record players in the country. The pinnacle of the band's career was 1979's Bitanga i princeza, an album often heralded as their most mature with vocalist eljko Bebek. They were often referred to as the Yugoslav Beatles.
The turn of the decade brought the rise of numerous Yugoslav New Wave artists, including Azra, and Bijelo dugme soon found their popularity sinking, to which they reacted by reinventing themselves for their 1980 release Doivjeti stotu, featuring a much more New Wave sound. The chorus of their ska song "Ha, Ha, Ha" was used as the title of a compilation album by various artists Svi mar na ples! which was released by Jugoton in 1981.
1984 brought the departure of eljko Bebek to pursue a solo career and Mladen Vojičić - Tifa was recruited to replace him for their 1984 self-titled release. He in turn left the band because of inner conflicts and was replaced by Alen Islamović, formerly vocalist of the heavy metal band Divlje jagode for their last two folk-inspired records.
The band disbanded in 1989 after Alen Islamović checked into hospital for chest pains during their last tour, without telling anyone he was ill. The real reasons have never been elaborated, but most people suspect the dissolution of Yugoslavia caused the breakup of the band, because the band was often seen as a symbol of unity among the peoples of Yugoslavia.
Bijelo dugme at the 2005 Sarajevo farewell concert, from left to right: Alen Islamović, "Điđi" Jankelić, Milić Vukainović, Goran Bregović, eljko Bebek, Zoran Redić and Vlado Pravdić
Bijelo dugme's biggest hits were: Lipe cvatu, A i ti me iznevjeri, Đurđevdan, Ne spavaj mala moja muzika dok svira, Ipak poelim neko pismo, Ima neka tajna veza, Pristao sam biću sve to hoće, Selma, Loe vino, Jer kad ostari, Lae, Kad zaboravi juli, Hajdemo u planine, Napile se ulice, Ruica si bila, sada vie nisi, Bitanga i princeza, Pljuni i zapjevaj moja Jugoslavijo, Sanjao sam noćas da te nemam, Te noći kad umrem, Nakon svih ovih godina...
The band reunited for three concerts in Sarajevo, Zagreb and Belgrade in 2005 with all three vocalists, but without the drummer Goran "Ipe" Ivandić who died in Belgrade, Serbia in 1994.
A new pop folk-like album was released in November of 2007.
Source : Wikipedia, Bijelodugme.org
