S Vremena Na Vreme

S Vremena Na Vreme (Serbian Cyrillic: С Времена На Време, trans. From Time To Time) is a Serbian and former Yugoslav rock band from Belgrade. S Vremena Na Vreme were one of the pioneers of the Serbian acoustic rock scene, and one of the pioneers in incorporating folk music elements into rock music on the former Yugoslav rock scene.

History

Early career and breakup (1972-1979)

S Vremena Na Vreme was formed in 1972 by brothers Miomir "Miki" Đukić (guitar, vocals) and Vojislav "Koki" Đukić (guitar, vocals), Asim Sarvan (guitar, vocals), and Ljubomir "Ljuba" Ninković (guitar, vocals). Before the band was formed, the Đukić brothers performed with flutist and keyboardist Branislav "Bane" Zarin in the band Pupoljci (at this time Miomir Đukić wrote the song "Sunčana strana ulice" ("The Sunny Side of the Street"), which was later recorded by S Vremena Na Vreme), and Vojislav Đukić composed songs for Miljenko Žuborski and wrote music for theatre plays, Sarvan was a literature student, and Ninković was a singer-songwriter. The four of them, in Radio Belgrade studio, recorded songs for the then-popular radio show Tip top kabare, and decided to form a band. After the suggestion of their friend, sound engineer Boban Petrović, the band chose the name S Vremena Na Vreme, as they gathered from time to time.

In the beginning, the band mostly wrote music for theatre plays, including Lukrecija Bordžija and Mandragola performed in National Theatre in Belgrade, Beleške jedne Ane performed in RU Đuro Salaj, and Nesumnjivo lice performed in Atelje 212; the Radio Belgrade archive contains more than 100 recordings made by the band. Although they recorded a large number of songs, during the first period of their career the band rarely performed live. However, they performed on the 1974 BOOM Festival, and the live version of their song "Odisej" ("Odysseus") was released on the double live album BOOM Pop Festival Ljubljana '74, and on the 1972 and 1973 concerts organized at Hajdučka česma by the members of Pop Mašina, also appearing on pop music festivals. In both 1973 and 1974 they received the Best Original Music Award at the Festival of Yugoslav Radio held in Ohrid.

As all of the members went to serve Yugoslav People's Army at different periods, the members that were not serving the army cooperated with various musicians: drummer Nikola Jager, drummer Ratislav Đelmaš (of YU grupa), keyboardist Sloba Marković, bass guitarist Dejan Petković, flutist Bane Zarin, flutist Dragoslav "Džib" Vokić, contrabassist, Nebojša Ignjatović, and others. During Sarvan's and Miomir Đukić's absence from the band due to their army obligations, Tanja Bošković, Gorica Popović and Ljiljana Dragutinović, all of them drama students at the time, performed with the band as female singers.

During the initial period the band members also appeared on the albums by Jadranka Stojaković, Vlada i Bajka, Srđan Marjanović and Tamara and Nenad Pavlović. They also recorded music for the songs written by Kornelije Kovač, which were performed by pop music singers.

The band released their first single, featuring the songs "Sunčana strana ulice" and "Ponekad" ("Sometimes"), in 1973.^[1] The track "Ponekad" featured the monologue spoken by the actor Marko Nikolić. The band released a number of well-received singles with folk music elements, before releasing their debut self-titled album in 1975,^[2] featuring acoustic rock hits "Tema classica", "Traži mene" ("Looking for Me"), "Utočište" ("Sanctuary") and "Biblijska tema" ("Biblical Theme", which featured text from The Book of Psalms). Most of the album lyrics were written in hotel Turist in Ljubljana on the last night of the album recording. The album featured Jager on drums (after the album recording Jager would become an unofficial member of the band) and Pop Mašina member Robert Nemeček on bass guitar.^[2] Their next album Moj svet (My World), released in 1978, was a compilation consisting of the songs from their 7" singles.^[3] During 1978 and 1979, in Dom omladine in Belgrade, the band held performances under the title Bistro kod plave sove, which followed the play Rastibuđilizovane klejbezable performed by amateur theatre Teatar levo.

In March 1979 the band, following several amateur theatres from Belgrade, held a successful Polish tour. During the same year, the band, with the symphonic rock band Tako, organized the first quadraphonic sound concert in Yugoslavia, in Dom omladine in Belgrade. During the same month the band released the album Paviljon G (Pavilion G),^[4] which marked the band's shift towards electric sound. The album featured the song "Rok kritičar" ("Rock Critic") which dealt with the expansion of punk rock. After the album was released, Vojislav Đukić went to serve the army, and the band members decided to disband.

Post-breakup (1980-1992)

Sarvan formed the band Muzej Sarvan (Museum Sarvan), wrote songs for folk music singers, and, in 1984, he released a solo album Asime, spasi me (Asim, Save Me) with Baklava Band and Laza Ristovski.^[5] Most of the songs on the album were written and produced by Ninković.^[5] Ljuba Ninković started working in Radio Belgrade, and with Vlada Janković "Džet" (a former Crni Biseri member) he formed the band Tunel. Vojislav Đukić wrote music for plays.

In 1983 the band made a brief reunion to appear in Srđan Karanović's film Nešto između. In the film, the band members portrayed a kafana band which performs music which is a combination of country and Serbian folk music.

In 1990 Ninković and Sarvan rerecorded some of the band's most popular songs and released them on the album Najveći hitovi grupe S Vremena Na Vreme (The Greatest Hits by the band S Vremena Na Vreme).^[6]

Reunion and second breakup (1993-1997)

On Sarvan's idea, in May 1993 in Belgrade's Dom omladine, the best known musicians of Serbian 1960s and 1970s acoustic rock scene gathered to perform on a fund-raising concert. The good reception at the performance made S Vremena Na Vreme reunite once again. They held their comeback concert in Sava Centar on November 5, 1993, featuring keyboardist Saša Lokner (of Bajaga i Instruktori), bass guitarist Bata Božanić, drummer Ratko Ljubičić and percussionist Nenad Januzović performing with the band. The recording of the concert was released on the video album S Vremena Na Vreme uživo, Sava Centar novembar 1993 (S Vremena Na Vreme Live, Sava Centar November 1993). The recording also features guest appearance by Snežana Jandrlić, who performed the song "Prvi sneg" ("First Snow"), originally recorded by her former band Suncokret. At the same time the band released the compilation album Vreme ispred nas (The Time that's Coming) which featured a live version of "Sunčana strana ulice", and "Na početku i na kraju" ("In the beginning and in the End"), which was originally recorded in 1973.^[7] In 1994, the song "Sunčana strana ulice" was released on Komuna compilation album Sve smo mogli mi: Akustičarska muzika (We Could Have Done All: Acoustic Music), which featured songs by Yugoslav acoustic rock acts.^[8]

In 1995, S Vremena Na Vreme released the album Posle kraja (After the End). The album featured Bata Božanić, Saša Lokner, Čeda Macura (on drums), Pera "Joe" Miladinović (harmonica), and Marija Mihajlović (vocals on the song "Spavaj").^[9] The recording of the concert the band held at Studio M in Novi Sad on January 30, 1996, which was a part of the NS Plus Unplugged series, was released on the live album Unplugged.^[10] The album featured a cover of Bob Dylan's song "Knockin' on Heaven's Door".^[10] After the album was released, the band disbanded once again.

Svremenaši and second reunion (2011, 2013-present)

In 2011, Ninković and the Đukić brothers reunited under the name Svremenaši (From-timers).^[11] The band performed on the 2011 Belgrade Beer Fest,^[12] and on November 12, together with Croatian progressive rock band Drugi Način, held a concert in Belgrade Youth Center.^[13]

In 2013, S Vremena Na Vreme reunited for a concert in Kolarčeva zadužbina, in order to celebrate 40 years since the release of their debut single, "Sunčana strana ulice". The concert was held on May 16, and featured guest appearances by Drago Mlinarec, Dušan Mihajlović "Spira" and Dragan Popović.^[14] After the concert, the band continued their activity.^[15] Ninković stated that the band will probably work in this lineup for several more years, during which they will record a new studio album, before making another break in their work.^[16]

Legacy

In 1989, the song "Traži mene" was covered by Yugoslav singer-songwriter and former Azra leaader Branimir "Johnny" Štulić on his album Balkanska rapsodija (Balkan Rhapsody).^[17] In 2011, Štulić released a cover of "Sunčana strana ulice" on his official YouTube channel.^[18] In 2012, the song "Čudno drvo" ("Strange Tree") was remixed in by the Serbian project Laura 2000.^[19]

The album S Vremena Na Vreme was polled in 1998 as 30th on the list of 100 greatest Yugoslav popular music albums in the book YU 100: najbolji albumi jugoslovenske rok i pop muzike (YU 100: The Best albums of Yugoslav pop and rock music).^[20]

In 2011, the song "Moj svet" 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.^[21]

The lyrics of 9 songs by the band 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).^[22]

Discography

Studio albums

• S Vremena Na Vreme (1975)
• Paviljon G (1979)
• Posle kraja (1995)

Live albums

• Unplugged (1997)

Compilation albums

• Moj svet (1978)
• Vreme ispred nas (1993)

Singles

• "Sunčana strana ulice" / "Ponekad" (1973)
• "Čudno drvo" / "Odisej" (1973)
• "Povratna karta" / "Đački rastanak" (1974)
• "Jana" / "Tavna noć" (1974)
• "Kao vreme ispred nas" / "Kad budem stariji" (1974)
• "Dixie band" / "Tema za šargiju" (1975)
• "Put putuje karavan" / "Priča sa istočne strane" (1977)
• "Moj svet" / "Saveti dobroj kuci" (1977)
• "Učinila je pravu stvar" / "Spavaj" (1978)

Video albums

• S Vremena Na Vreme uživo, Sava Centar novembar 1993 (1993)

References

• EX YU ROCK enciklopedija 1960-2006, Janjatović Petar; ISBN 978-86-905317-1-4
• Ljuba Ninković: S vremena na vreme, Kajlovic Vladimir; ISBN 86-7784-033-8

External links

• S Vremena Na Vreme at Progarchives
• S Vremena Na Vreme at Discogs