Magazin is a Croatian pop band from Split.
Founded in 1979 under the
name Dalmatinski magazin ("Dalmatian Magazine" in Croatian), the band quickly
began to make a mark on local pop music festivals with its songs influenced by
Dalmatian folk music. One of the most prominent bands in Yugoslavia and one of the
longest lasting, with 45 years active in the music industry in Croatia and former
Yugoslavia. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Lorena Bućan, guitarist Željko
Baričić and bass guitarist Nenad "Keko" Vesanović. Baričić is the only active founding
member even though Vesanović featured on every album to date.
History
[edit]
Founding and first musical success (1979 – 1986)
[edit]
In 1979, the band Magazin, then under the name "Mladi batali", was founded by Željko
Baričić, Zoran Marinković, Miro Crnko, Igor Biočić and vocalist Majda
Šoletić in Split then Yugoslavia. That same year, they signed a record deal with the
record company Jugoton and recorded their first LP singles, but also changed the
band's name to "Dalmatinski magazin". At the end of the same year, the band gained
two new members, Tonči Huljić and Nenad Vesanović Keka.
In early 1982, Majda Šoletić left the band, and was replaced by Marija Kuzmić. That
same year, the band changed the band's name to "Magazin" and recorded their first
album Slatko stanje (Sweet State), and performed at the Split Festival with the song
"Dišpetožo moja mala", where they won the first prize of the professional jury. At the
end of the year, they performed at the Zagrebfest with the song "Moja mala mila". [1]
National success with Ljiljana Nikolovska (1986 – 1990)
[edit]
Their gradual rise in popularity continued in the 1980s with a series of prestigious
festival victories. Their peak of popularity was reached when Maja Kuzmanić left the
group and was replaced by Split born singer of Macadonian descent Ljiljana
Nikolovska who became the band's lead singer. The leader and songwriter Tonči
Huljić began to insert elements of folk music of other European countries in his songs.
On Split Festival '83 they performed Kokolo off of their album Kokolo which was
released in December. The album was sold in 270,000 copies and was Platinum
certified.[2] Drummer Zoran Marinković left the band in 1984, and was replaced by Ante
Miletić. The band performed at the Split Festival that same year with the song "Nikola",
and then released their third album, O, la, la. In 1985, they performed with the song
"Vrati mi, vrati sve" at the Split Festival, and with the song "Piši mi" ("Write to me") at
the Zagrebfest, where despite receiving by far the largest number of audience votes,
Magazin did not win due to a set-up. In protest at the ceremony announcing the winner,
the band refused to go on stage and accept the second prize from the audience, and
the outraged visitors left the Lisinski Hall in large numbers, with loud protests and
whistles.[3] Tonči Huljić started collaborating with songwriters from other parts
of Yugoslavia such as Marina Tucaković who wrote many of Magazin's songs. In 1985
they released the fourth album Piši mi (Write to Me), with most prominent songs like:
"Tamara", "Oko moje sanjivo", "Piši mi" & "Istambul". The album 'Piši mi' reached
diamond certification, when it was sold in 380,000 copies and it's considered their best
album and their masterpiece of Croatian pop music.[4] It was recorded in Zagreb at
Janko Mlinarić's studio Truli. It was the beginning of a long-term collaboration with
arranger and producer Mate Došen. At the Split Festival in 1986, they won the second
audience award with the song 'Ne mogu da ga ne volim'. At the Zagreb Fest in 1986,
the song 'Piši mi' received recognition for the most performed song from the previous
festival. In early December of the same year, the album Put putujem (The path I travel)
was released, for which they received the "Zlatna Ptica" ('Golden Bird') for more than
670,000 copies of the album sold[5][6] and it's considered to be one of the best selling
albums in Yugoslavia.
Magazin in 1980s with Ljiljana Nikolovska and Tonči
Huljić
In 1987, the band went on a major tour of Yugoslavia, and at the end of the year they
released the self-titled album Magazin, which sold more than 500,000 copies and for
which they received the "Zlatna ptica" award.[7][8] The album was written by Nenad
Ninčević, Zvonimir (Zvonko) Stipičić and their previous collaborator Marina Tucaković
who wrote: "Ti si želja mog života" and "Tri sam ti zime šaptala ime". In 1988, they
released the seventh album Besane Noći (Sleepless nights), which got diamond
certification, sold in 200,000 copies[8] and the following year (1989) they released the
album Dobro jutro (Good Morning), the last album with vocals by Ljiljana Nikolovska,
which got another diamond certification and equivalent of 200,000 copies. At the end of
1990, a large compilation "Svi najveći hitovi 1983-1990" (All the greatest hits 1983-
1990) was released with 26 of the best songs of the group Magazin, sung by Ljiljana
Nikolovska.[3] After this compilation and due to a war that occurred in Croatia, she left
the group and went to the San Pedro, California where she still resides.
Departure of Ljiljana Nikolovska, and new singer Danijela
Martinović (1991 – 1996)
[edit]
Danijela Martinović, 2011
In 1991, instead of Ljiljana Nikolovska, the lead singer became Danijela Martinović who
became popular during Split Festival, where she met Tonči Huljić. In 1991 they released
their 9th as a group and first with Danijela album titled Da mi te zaljubit' u mene (If I
could make you fall in love with me). Tonči Huljić kept on collaborating with Marina
Tucaković who wrote "Djana", "Ostani nježan do kraja", "Ustani", "Svi igrači", "Tišina"
and most notable song from that album “Bilo bi super”. On that album they recorded an
anti-war song "Mir, mir, mir do neba" ("Peace, peace, peace to the sky"), and in the
same year, keyboard player Miro Crnko leaves the band for family reasons. In 1993,
they released a new album Došlo vrijeme (Time has come) and performed at
the Melodije Hrvatskog Jadrana festival with the song "Neću se vratiti" ("I will not
return"). The following year, they performed again at the Melodije Hrvatskog Jadrana
with the song "Simpatija", a duet with Marija Bubić and won the Grand Prix of the
festival. In the same year, they released the album Simpatija (Simpathy), which was
published by Croatia Records and reached a gold edition.[9] In 1995, Magazin won the
"Dora" (Croatian pre-selection for Eurovision Song Contest) and they performed
"Nostalgija” with opera singer Lidija Horvat-Dunjko. They represented Croatia with their
song "Nostalgija" on Eurovision Song Contest 1995 and finished six-th.[10]
Departure of Danijela Martinović, and new success
with Jelena Rozga (1996 – 2006)
[edit]
Jelena Rozga, who was the lead singer of the band for 10
years
In 1996, Danijela Martinović left the band, and Jelena Rozga took her place. In 1995,
Tonči Huljić started looking for a new singer for the group, who was supposed to
replace Danijela Martinović. Tonči and Jelena's mother Marija arranged an audition.
Jelena sang the songs "Opusti se" and "Zlato ljubavi" in a restaurant in Zagreb, after
which she was accepted into the group. Jelena first performed on Dora under her own
name, performing the song "Aha" and won second place, and only later on Melodije
hrvatskog Jadrana in 1996, she made her debut as a singer of the group Magazin with
the song "Suze biserne". At the age of 19, Jelena became the band's new and youngest
singer.[11][12]
In the same year, an album called Nebo boje moje ljubavi (The sky of colour of my love)
was released, which included the big hits: "Suze biserne", "Minut srca tvog", "Nebo boje
moje ljubavi" and "Samo navika" collaboration with Croatian singer Oliver Dragojević.
The album achieved a gold circulation. The year 1997 was marked by a performance on
Dora with the song "Opijum", and after that a performance on Melodije hrvatskog
Jadrana '97 with the song "Ime mi spominje". Two years after the album Nebo boje
moje ljubavi, in 1998, the album Da si ti ja (If you were me) was released. The
mentioned album also contained numerous successful songs, including: "Gutljaj vina",
"Ginem", "Briga me", "Na svijetu sve", "Idi i ne budi lude" , "Luna", "Na Sve Svete" and
"Opijum". With the song "Na svijetu sve", the group competed at the Dora in 1998, and
with the song "Idi i ne budi ljude" at the Melodije Hrvatskog Jadrana in 1998. The album
reached platinum circulation in Croatia and Slovenia.
At Dora 1999, the group performed with the song "Kasno je", and at Melodije Hrvatskog
Jadrana with the song "Ako poludim". After the album "Da si ti ja", the album Minus i
plus was released in 2000. In addition to the aforementioned song of the same name,
the album also includes hits such as: "Jel zbog nje", "Kasno je", "Nemam snage da se
pomirim" and "Ako poludim". In 2002, Magazin with Jelena Rozga released 15th
album S druge strane Mjeseca (The other side of the Moon). The album continued the
success of the previous albums, so this album also included numerous successful
songs such as: "S druge strane Mjeseca", "Ne vjerujem tebi, ne vjerujem sebi", "Dani su
bez broja" collaboration with Esma Redžepova which became international success and
"Tko me zove".
The album with the symbolic name Paaa..? (Sooo..?) released in 2004 is the last album
of the Magazin group with Jelena as the lead vocalist. Like the previous albums, the
album was a great commercial success and contained numerous hits such as the
songs: "Ne tiče me se", "Troši i uživaj", "Kad bi bio bizu" and "Da li znaš da te ne volim".
At the Radio Festival in 2003, the group performed the song "Kad bi bio blizu", and at
the Split Festival the same year, the song "Da li znaš da te ne volim". A year later, the
group performed the song "Ne tiče me se" at the Split Festival and won the festival at
the same time. After almost five years of absence, Magazin returned to Dora with the
song "Nazaret" in 2005 and won second place, and a year later they performed at the
same contest with the song "Oprosti mala". At the same time, this performance is
considered to be the last performance of the group with Jelena Rozga as a vocalist. The
almost ten years Jelena was a member of the Magazin group is considered one of the
most successful and productive periods of the group.[13] In addition to successful songs
and albums, the Magazin group also held large concert tours with Jelena as a singer.
Thus, concerts were held in Belgrade's Sava Centar in 2002 and 2004, while in 2000 a
concert was held in Sarajevo's Skenderija.[14][15] Jelena left the band in 2006 to focus on
her solo career.
