- Zana (band)
Infobox musical artist
Name = Zana
Img_capt =
Landscape = yes
Background = group_or_band
Origin =Belgrade ,Serbia
Genre = RockNew Wave Synthpop Pop-rock
PopPop-folk
Years_active = 1980 – present
Label =Jugoton ,PGP RTB ,Diskoton ,City Records
Associated_acts =Zana Nimani
URL = [http://www.zana.rs// Official web site]
Current_members = Jelena Galonić
Zoran Živanović
Past_members =Zana Nimani
Nataša Gajović
Nataša Živković<
Radovan Jovićević
Igor Jovanović
Bogdan Dragović
Pavle Nikolić
Aleksandar IvanovZana is a popular music group from
Belgrade ,Serbia , which was especially successful during the 1980s in the formerSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia .Early years
The band was formed in 1980 in
Belgrade by Zoran "Kikamac" Živanović (keyboards) and Radovan Jovićević (guitar ). The band was named after its first and most popularfrontress , the ethnic Albanian from BelgradeZana Nimani .The band released several singles before their first album "Loše vesti uz rege za pivsku flašu" ("Bad News Accompanied byReggae for a Beer Bottle") was released for the Yugoslavmajor label Jugoton in 1981. During this short and less known initial period, Zana was a New Wave band and part of theYugoslav New Wave music scene. They were featured on the compilations "Svi marš na ples! " and "Vrući dani i vrele noći ".Mainstream commercial success
The band and especially
Zana Nimani herself gained nationwide popularity across the former SFR Yugoslavia with their very successful second album "Dodirni mi kolena" released forJugoton in 1982. With this album, the band shifted towards a morepower pop sound, thus fusingNew Wave music with more radio-friendly pop. However, certain elements of the then-popularNew Romantic andsynthpop sound are also evident on this record. The album was recorded inTorsby ,Sweden betweenMay 20 andJune 25 ,1982 , with the line-up: Zana Nimani (vocalist); Kikamac (ARP omnisynthesizer andpiano ); Radovan Jovićević and Igor "Mali" Jovanović (guitar); Bogdan "Bogi" Dragović (bass guitar and backing vocals); Pavle "Paja Banana" Nikolić (drums)instead of Aleksandar Ivanov while he was attending compulsory military service ; Bylla Gunnar Byllin (percussion); Goran Nillson (saxophone ) and Tini (Roland guitar synthesizer).In 1983 they release their album "Natrag na voz" including the pop-ballad hit "Jabuke i vino", aduet of Zana Nimani andŽeljko Bebek (the ex-frontman ofBijelo Dugme ).Zana Nimani solo
In 1985 Zana Nimani left the band and started a successful solo career as a pop singer. She released her solo album "Noćas pevam samo tebi" in 1986.
Zana without Zana
Despite
Zana Nimani 's departure, the band continued to work under the same name with a new vocalist: Nataša "Naca" Gajović (1985 – 1988 period) which sang on the albums "Crvene lale" (PGP RTB 1985), "Otkinimo noćas zajedno" (PGP RTB 1987) and "Vlak" (Diskoton 1988) with guests such asMladen Vojičić Tifa andLaza Ristovski ofBijelo Dugme . Beside the arrival of the new vocalist the sound of the band also underwent severe changes to commercial pop music with frequent use ofpop-folk (for example the songs: "Vejte snegovi", "Oženićes se ti" and others). After Nataša Gajović left she was replaced by Nataša Živković (1989 - 1990 period), who sang on the 1989 album "Miš" (Diskoton 1989) which includes the pop-folk hit "Rukuju se, rukuju". A guest on this album was the Serbian pop-folk and laterturbo-folk starDragana Mirković .The current singer Jelena Galonić joined the band in 1990. With her the group released albums "Nisam, nisam" (1991), "Tražim" (
PGP RTS 1993), "Zanomanija" (PGP RTS 1997), "Prijatelji" (PGP RTS 1999) and "Kvaka" (PGP RTS 2001) and "Kao nekad" (City Records 2006), mostly pop-folk oriented records without any connection to the band's earlier period when Zana Nimani was its vocalist.In 1999, Radovan Jovićević, one of the founders of the band, left the group and moved to the
United States .In 2006 the group released the album "Kao nekad" which includes remixes of the older hits "Dodirni mi kolena" and "Vejte snegovi".
Video
* [http://www.zana.co.yu/video/majstorzapoljupceDivX.avi Zana - Short excerpt from "Majstor za poljupce" video, from their second album "Dodirni mi kolena" 1982]
External links
* [http://www.zana.rs Official site]
* [http://www.balkanmedia.com/m2/doc/274-1.shtml Zana Bio at Balkanmedia] sr icon
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Zana Short info at Discogs]
* [http://www.last.fm/music/Zana Zana at Last fm]
* [http://www.opendemocracy.net/arts-festival/article_546.jsp Dejan Djokić: Ex-Yugoslav Rock at openDemocracy Ltd. (incl. Zana)]
* [http://arhiva.glas-javnosti.co.yu/arhiva/1999/10/16/srpski/k99101603.shtm CD "Prijatelji" promotion at "Glas javnosti" magazine, Serbia] sr icon
* [http://www.republika.cg.yu/naslovna.phtml?akcija=vijest&id=68721 Promotion of the album "Kao nekad" - "Republika" daily newspaper, Montenegro] sr icon
* [http://www.cityrecords.co.yu/izdanja/464.html City Records, Serbia - Catalogue of 1980s Retro compilations incl. Zana]
* [http://www.novosti.co.yu/code/navigate.php?Id=15&status=jedna&vest=96208&search=zana%20nimani&datum=2007-04-04 25th Anniversary of Zana - "Večernje novosti" newspaper, Belgrade, Serbia] sr icon
* [http://www.kurir-info.co.yu/Arhiva/2005/oktobar/31/ST-01-31102005.shtml "Kurir" magazine, Serbia] sr icon
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