er, ours a lot and somehow unacceptably theirs. He is both the leader of the largest Serbian band, and a witness to and actor in the collapse of Yugoslavia, the years of dissolution, war and truce, freedom, transi- tion and this that is happening right now. As brilliant as he is, he is just as capable of muddling between showbiz politics and utterly politicised showbiz - says Popović. Bora admits that even now, after 40 years, it helps him to do that which he knows best,“composing and strumming on the guitar and on stage”. The band’s huge audiences and
ing during performances and travelling to perform, this job cannot be done profes- sionally. In Bora’s opinion, tapping on com- puter keys is not real composing, nor work- ing in music. - I’ve always had self-confidence. And there have always been people who try to trip you up, but I don’t pay attention to that, and that’s the only way you can survive. A star can’t be made by a few TV appear- ances. That doesn’t work, nor does it en- dure. Nowadays there’s a lack of great authors. A lot of luck, love, pain etc., are invested in creating a single song. Technology has crammed all of that into a little flash memory stick that can be copied countless times and re- duces the significance of every work. He is not inclined to make compro- mises. He never had an alternative to music. - At the age of 65, I know that I will deal with it as long as I have the strength, will and voice. A rocker’s life has a light and dark side, both of which I have felt... Vicko and Miša have shared both the good and the bad with me. But men do not cry... but don’t believe me [laughs]. He claims that he had more fortune than smarts, and although he has lived three lives as Bora Čorba, he doesn’t want to live from his former glory. - In the bookies’ dictionary the term for a score after a score is “from ace into ace”. That’s very tough to achieve in life. God directs all of us.
years of success stand behind Bo- ra’s thesis that without gigs, sing-
JUGO’S FISH BONE That which Roger Dean is for the group YES and designer Gary Burden is for Neil Young, that’s what Jugoslav Vlahović is for Riblja Čorba. Roger did all of the album sleeves for YES and its members, as did Burden for Young, while Jugoslav created all 25 official record covers. This illustrator of weekly news magazine NIN is actually the man who designed the sign of the group, which has as much of a cult status as the songs themselves. This is the famous fish bone, which we remember from way back with the single “Doll from the front cover”. Several of his record covers also received official awards, while Jugoslav received a great audience award prior to the start of the Belgrade Arena concert commemorating the 35 th anniversary of the group, when the audience recognised him and began chanting “Jugo, maestro”. For Vlahović, that was the greatest possible recognition.
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