Written by: Sonja Staničić Photos: Croatia Records
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Back in that bygone year of 1979, thousands of fans of one of the greatest rock and roll bands of the region – Bijelo Dugme – awaited the announced release of their fourth studio album with a mix of trepidation and excitement. Patience, as will be shown, paid off because the now famous album titled Bitanga i princeza, released by the Jugoton record company, was greeted with a standing ovation by critics and the public alike, and was soon declared one of the best albums in the overall history of ex-Yu rock.
Recorded over a period of no less than two years, the album displayed a different, more modern, and altered version of Bijelo dugme. Bregović’s chord-striking solos, gripping rhythmic patterns, and songs quite different from the band’s previous hits hinted that Bijelo dugme had entered a new, more evolved stage while at the same time retaining its sounding energy.
Thanks to the new and refreshing line-up, where the old guard made up of Željko Bebek (vocals), Goran Bregović (guitar), Zoran Redžić (bass guitar), and Vlado Pravdić (keyboards) welcomed the young and ambitious drummer Điđi Jankelić, the Bitanga i princeza album will go down in music history as “the best symphonic-rock album recorded east of London” and, for many, the band’s most ambitious and hardest rock work.
– Even from today’s perspective, the Bitanga i princeza album is one of the most enthralling achievements of Bijelo Dugme’s entire oeuvre. I personally see it as my ultimate achievement in those now distant seventies – Željko Bebek reveals to us, adding that he often listens to it on repeat.
This album has brought forth seven remarkable songs: “Na zadnjem sjedištu moga auta”, “Ala je glupo zaboravit njen broj”, “Bitanga i princeza”, “A koliko si ih imala do sad”, and emotional ballads such as “Kad zaboraviš juli”, “Sve će to mila moja prekriti ružmarin, snjegovi i šaš” and “Ipak poželim neko pismo”, in which they were accompanied by a symphony orchestra and a choir.
When asked if he could single out one song that he particularly likes, Bebek answers:
– Of course I hold every note and every chorus of every song very dear, no exceptions, but in “Sve će to mila moja prekriti ružmarin, snjegovi i šaš” I, together with the others, created a masterful rock ballad that branded Bijelo dugme forever.
The album was recorded in a Belgrade studio, and the mastering was carried out in London’s Abbey Road studio under the producer Neil Harrison from EMI. It was preceded by a tour that followed their previous album Eto! Baš hoću! and the legendary Concert at Hajdučka česma, the most attended concert in the history of rock, held in Belgrade on the eve of Bregović’s departure for military service.
– In between the making of Bitanga i princeza and after The Concert at Hajdučka česma, we had an almost two-year long break from traveling, holding concerts and recording. We also had struggles with the police and the courts at the end of 1977, and then Goran Bregović joined the army… When we finally reunited in Niška Banja, suddenly everything smelled like not-so-teen spirit and a new album. And in the spring of 1979, Bitanga i princeza was out. Nothing was ever the same again. We also hit the iron curtain of censorship; certain words of the songs were changed, and so was the album cover… But little did we know fear next to so much love, camaraderie, and passion. And spite. Yes, spite, that’s right – recalls Bebek, whom many fans still consider to be the trademark of the band and the best vocalist of Bijelo Dugme.
– I dare not comment on my own abilities and performance, but I’m happy when I read the opinions of professional critics and the public. I feel every written word in my bones; that’s how it’s always been. This solidifies my love for music over and over again – Bebek expresses his feelings on the matter.
The recording of the album was followed by a lot of controversy and a series of censorship interventions by Jugoton. Certain verses had to be changed due to pressure from different sides, while the album cover by their “designated” designer, Dragan S. Stefanović, suffered the greatest injustice of all. The cover, which portrayed the [female] leg of the “princess” hitting the “scoundrel” in the crotch, was chastised and proclaimed “provocative and vulgar”, so it was clumsily replaced with a new, plain design of a woman’s face with a button for an earring at the last minute.
Even Dragan S. Stefanović himself, an academic painter, photographer, and designer who rose to stardom by designing album covers for a number of celebrity bands and solo artists, reflected on this situation as well as the actual process of creating the scandalous cover.
– I often insert some hidden message or a dash of mischief into my works, now even more so than before. The cover of Bitanga i princeza was, indeed, a bit “cheeky” in the message it aimed to convey, but it was camouflaged by a beautiful and elegant picture. The idea behind it was simply that the girl (the princess) dealt a low blow to someone close to her (the scoundrel), with whom she had a certain relationship. But the roles in the relationship had been reversed: the princess was dressed like a guttersnipe, and she acted like it, while the man was dressed sharply, almost a gentleman in demeanour, looking like a groom in his white suit, defending himself instead of attacking.
In that era, everything was much harder to bring to fruition, especially taking photos in a studio, which is unimaginable from today’s perspective. For example, finding black patent leather women’s shoes with thin high heels, fishnet stockings, and beautiful, thin female legs, and a man with beautiful hands and a white suit, shirt, and white cuffs was extremely difficult.
Back then, those were almost abstract nouns. You couldn’t buy all these props in a store or simply happen upon them. Finding high heels with stars in the right place posed a particular problem, and it was quite vexing for the models. Today, on the other hand, it only takes a few seconds and two or three mouse clicks for this very, or even better, effect – he says, and then immediately continues:
– I was convinced that the cover would go almost unnoticed. When I heard that it was censored and banned from publication, I was deeply hurt. There was nothing visually indecent or vulgar in the picture itself; the only thing that was provocative was the idea behind it. At the same time, there were many other, much nastier, dirtier images and messages all around us. Our cover was just really nice and playful – claims Stefanović.
To demonstrate his disagreement with that decision, he wanted to show all of Yugoslavia the “forbidden image” in question…
– I had just returned from America, where I finished working on the covers for the Average White Band, Toots and the Maytals, and the Inner Circle. And I was all fired up, like Cervantes’s Don Quixote fighting windmills. That wild-child attitude helped me find wild cards who were ready to print the biggest and first campaign of that scale.
The prohibited image (the cover) thus ended up being printed in the largest format ever and in top quality. Until then, no other rock group in the entire country had such promotional material and image – large billboards, posters, flyers, and tickets – everything in colour and on beautiful, top-shelf paper. I was really pleased: the “forbidden image” was everywhere!
And now, on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the legendary Bijelo Dugme’s album Bitanga i Princeza (“The Scoundrel and the Princess”), Croatia Records is proud to present its special reissue. Goran Marinac re-mixed the original 24-track recording in the Croatia Records studio, using tapes carefully preserved all these years in the archives:
– Getting my hands on the original, multitrack tapes of the album gave me an immense thrill, but I also went into panic mode. Now what?! Following the example of Giles Martin’s The Beatles, and the worldwide trend of remixing great, legendary albums, we decided on a dangerous but challenging venture. Bitanga i princeza is certainly one of the best played, best recorded, best mixed, and finally the best albums in the area of the former state, but new technology creates new opportunities, so the Bitanga i princeza 2024 album found its voice in the new, clearer, and more present sound of the tracks.
We tried to stick to the original sound, the original spaces, and the original balance of the instruments as much as we could. The new release of the album brings back the once censored verse from “Ala je glupo zaboravit njen broj…” / “Boy, was it stupid of me to forget her number…” – “…a koji mi je moj?” / “… and I should’ve put mine right under.” Some backing vocals by Maja Odžaklijevska and Goran Bregović are more resounding on this version of the album and some can be heard for the first time. Bebek’s vocals are more direct and vocal this time around, and Goran’s guitar notes sound more polished and noted. Vlado’s magical Hammond goes up to a “snarl”. Zoran’s bass chords are now cut-and-dried. Điđi’s drum has a more articulate sound. On the original album, due to the underdeveloped recording techniques and microphones of the time, there were a lot of drum spills, so I’m sure the OG tonmeisters, Nick Glennie Smith and Rade Ercegovac, had problems with the lack of presence and soundness of the rhythm section as a whole.
Today’s mixing technology makes it much easier to deal with these issues. In addition to the stereo versions of the mixes, we have a Dolby Atmos version ready for digital services, a Super Audio CD with a stereo version, a HiRes stereo version, and a 5.1 surround mix.
Given that the original Bitanga i princeza was “cut” in 1979 at the Abbey Road studio by the legendary Chris Blair, we decided to go to the same studio with Chris’s “student”, the Grammy-winning tonmeister Sean Magee – explains Goran Martinac.
The Bitanga i princeza album will be available on audiophile 180-gram vinyl, with a download card for downloading the wav versions of the songs. In addition to vinyl, the anniversary edition will also be available in Super Audio CD format.
The main initiator of this project and director of Croatia Records, Želimir Babogredac, believes this reissue will be the new rock and roll.
– Keeping up with global discography trends comes with the responsibility to try and breathe new life into great, legendary releases in the most technologically modern way, both for those who once listened to the records and for the generations that have yet to discover them. Everything that we will present with this 180-gram vinyl reflects all the goings-on in the world of vinyl, super audio, digital downloading, in the way famous records are reissued, for example those of The Beatles – explains Babogredac.
The old songs now got a new groove, and attentive listeners will notice numerous details not included in the original mix. Another belated Easter egg of this release is the cover, which was redesigned by Dragan S. Stefanović based on his original concept from 1979. Equipped with a luxurious 440-gram tip-on record jacket, Stefanović has reinterpreted his original design from 1979 and offered a new reading of it based on the famous but hitherto unseen censored original.
However, according to Stefanović himself, the process of restoring the original album cover was no easy feat.
– I was pleasantly surprised by the gracious offer from Croatia Records to participate in the project with the “forbidden image” of the almost forgotten cover once more. Their open-mindedness and willingness to meet me halfway on everything I needed obliged me to try and do something ground – and record-breaking.
Be that as it may, the original images we had at our disposal were basically bootless by today’s standards for reproduction. My archive and the original slides I shot with my 6×6 Hasselblad were lost and gone forever. Mr Kujundžić from Croatia Records helped me with appropriate reproductions and finding the necessary material, but all of this was on the very bounds of usability in the beginning.
All of this modern technology, and you can’t even clear up an image and avoid rasterisation without losing the quality and sharpness of the image itself! However, we’ve managed to do the seemingly impossible: making the most of the structure and texture of crumpled paper and the purple reflex that underlines the relief effect and shines a new light on the whole project, we pulled off the authentic and original look of the image anew. The prohibited image is now back in the public eye, and I’m on top of the world! – Stefanović does not even bother to hide his satisfaction.
While listening to the new release of the album for the first time, Bebek himself also could not hide a smile:
– This reissue makes me really happy, as it brings back old memories and flickers of emotions I felt back then. Although we recorded in a top-notch studio in Belgrade and with a phenomenal crew from London back in the winter of ’78/’79, I’d say that the present-day conditions are technically much more advanced. Nowadays, everything appears to be far ahead of the sound of the so-called “romantic” times. Of course, the human factor is essential, so I must acknowledge that Goran Martinac is a true miracle worker. Croatia Records is good both on manuscript paper and speakers, and it has plenty of potential to achieve top results working with chart-topping musicians – says Bebek, admitting that he himself makes ample use of the possibilities offered by modern technology when recording new stuff.
– Technology has taken on a huge role in this millennium, increasing its already immeasurable added value year after year. Thanks to remixing and remastering, brilliant ideas that the giants of the rock and pop music industry came up with decades ago are conjured up all over again. This brings them closer to the new, younger generations and plucks them from oblivion for the sake of a memorable future – Bebek points out.
The original Bitanga i princeza album broke all previous record sales records, so it does not come as a surprise that the expectations regarding its reissue are very Dickensian but also very optimistic, as confirmed by director Babogredac:
– There has been huge interest in this release for a long time now. Not only for the music, that is, the sound, but also for the original album cover. We’re all brimming with excitement, and I believe that the quality of the reissue will delight all those who have been waiting in anticipation for it – he is confident.
In the end, we ask Babogredac how realistic it is to expect a new band or an album to achieve such success in these parts.
– Even after 50 years since their emergence on the scene, the phenomenon of Bijelo Dugme remains largely unreplicable in any segment. Since their formation, they have been a sort of institution that has changed the discography of these parts for the better, and the time in which they created was one and only for the ages. Therefore, this release is another contribution to their uniqueness, as well as a new way of looking at and listening to the Bitanga i princeza album for discophiles eager to further study the phenomenon of Bijelo Dugme – Babogredac concludes.
