Bora Đorđević

Bora Đorđević
Bora Đorđević at Riblja Čorba concert in Belgrade in 2009
Background information
Also known as	Bora Čorba
Born	(1952-11-01) November 1, 1952 Čačak, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
Genres	Rock Dance Pop-folk
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter
Instruments	vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, percussion
Years active	1974–present
Labels	ZKP RTLJ, Diskos, PGP RTB, Jugoton, Helidon, WIT, Samy, Biveco, SIM Radio Bijeljina, Čorba Records, M-Factory, Radiogod Music, Hi-Fi Centar, City Records
Associated acts	Zajedno, Suncokret, Rani Mraz, Riblja Čorba, Arsen Dedić

Borisav "Bora" Đorđević (Serbian Cyrillic: Борисав-Бора Ђорђевић), also known as Bora Čorba (Serbian Cyrillic: Бора Чорба), is a Serbian singer, songwriter and poet. He is best known as the lead singer for the Serbian and former Yugoslav rock band Riblja Čorba. He is widely considered as one of the top and most influential authors of the Serbian and former Yugoslav rock scene.

Early life

Đorđević was born in Čačak in 1952 to machinist father Dragoljub^[1] and mother Nerandža, professor of Serbian.^[1][2]

He formed his first band, Hermelini (trans. The Ermines) when he was thirteen. He formed Hermelini with Borko Ilić (guitar), Prvoslav Savić (rhythm guitar) and Aca Dimitrijević (drums). Đorđević played bass guitar and the band performed music that was influenced by the sound of the band Roboti from Zagreb. Two years later Đorđević started playing rhythm guitar and writing his first songs. One of his earliest songs, "Moje tuge" was later recorded on Suncokret album Moje bube. After Hermelini, Đorđević was a member of numerous Čačak bands: Vesnici Ljubavi, Safiri, Dečaci sa Morave, Čačanski Plemići. For a certain time he was a member of the band PORS (Poslednji Ostatak Romantičnog Sveta, trans. Last Remnants of Romantic World) whose member was also guitarist Radomir Mihailović Točak.

At the time, Đorđević and his friends started burglarizing apartments and buying musical equipment for the stolen money. After three years of committing burglaries they were arrested and proclaimed juvenile delinquents. After seven days Đorđević was released from custody and was immediately expelled from high school. Đorđević's parents decided to move to Belgrade, where he became a student at Fifth Belgrade Gymnasium. At the time of his matriculation he went to audition for the Jesus Christ Superstar rock opera and was given a role of one of the apostles. He continued to act and appeared in plays Purpurno ostrvo, Tom Pejn and Caca u metrou.

Early career

Zajedno

At the beginning of the 1970s, Đorđević formed acoustic rock band Zajedno (Together) which featured three female vocals, Ivana Kačunković and twin sisters Vukica and Gordana Stefanović and keyboardist Đorđe Petrović. Zajedno members wrote music for the theatre play Bonton and often recorded music for radio shows. Their first single with songs "Vizija" and "Goro moja" brought them certain popularity. As a Zajedno member Đorđević was an accessory of Radio Belgrade show Veče uz radio. He was an author of reports from acoustic music festivals held in Sivac. He also wrote articles about Yugoslav acoustic rock scene for the Džuboks magazine and wrote numerous jingles for Beograd 202 and Studio B.

Suncokret

He left Zajedno at the end of 1974. In January 1975 he formed acoustic rock band Suncokret (Sunflower). They gained popularity with folk rock-oriented songs and Đorđević's humorous lyrics. Suncokret worked with disk jockey Zoran Modli (whom Đorđević met as a member of Zajedno when Modli produced Zajedno's first single) with whom they released single with songs "Na putu za Stambol" and "Anđelija, čuvaj se Turaka" under the name Hajduk Stanko i Jataci and single with songs "Rock and roll duku duku" and "Gili, gili bluz" under the name Zoran Modli i Suncokret. With Suncokret Đorđević recorded three more singles and album Moje bube.

Rani Mraz

Đorđević left Suncokret after the band refused to perform his song "Lutka sa naslovne strane". He accepted Đorđe Balašević's invitation and, with another former Suncokret member, female vocal Bilja Krstić, became a member of Balašević's band Rani Mraz. This was the most famous, but a short-lasting Rani Mraz lineup, and besides Đorđe Balašević, Bora Đorđević and Bilja Krstić featured female vocal Verica Todorović. This lineup held several performances in Dom omladine and Student's Cultural Centre in Belgrade. Đorđević performed songs "Lutka sa naslovne strane", "Mirno spavaj" and "Zvezda potkorvlja i suterena" (all of them will later be recorded on Riblja Čorba's debut album Kost u grlu) and Balašević entertained the audience with his humorous stories. This Rani Mraz lineup recorded famous song "Računajte na nas", which praised People's Liberation War from a slightly different perspective than habitual socialist realism, and soon became an anthem of Yugoslav youth. This lineup also recorded single with songs "Oprosti mi, Katrin" and "Život je more".

Riblja Čorba

Bora Đorđević in concert, 2008

After Rani Mraz performance on Split music festival and only forty-five days spent in the band Đorđević left Rani Mraz. After returning to Belgrade he formed hard rock band Riblja Čorba with SOS members Miša Aleksić, Rajko Kojić and Vicko Milatović. Their debut album Kost u grlu saw huge success and the band became very popular in a few months. The band's popularity grew, but it has also started manifesting in Đorđević's alcoholism, which has, together with his provocative social-related lyrics, caused him to become one of the most controversial musicians in Yugoslavia. He has remained a frontman and leader of Riblja Čorba from its formation to today.

Solo projects

Đorđević's unplugged performance with Arsen Dedić in Terazije Theatre in 1987 resulted in a famous bootleg album Arsen & Bora Čorba Unplugged `87. Bora priča gluposti, released in 1988 features a recording of his poetry evening. In 1996 he released Njihovi dani on which he demonstrated his anti-Milošević attitudes.

Guest appearances and collaborations

Đorđević made a guest appearance on numerous projects. With Minđušari he recorded controversial songs "E, moj druže zagrebački" and "Ljetovanje", released on Minđušari 1993 album Armija srpska. Other artist he recorded songs with include Bijelo Dugme, Balkan, Kerber, Zoran Predin, Arsen Dedić, Rambo Amadeus, Biljana Krstić, Dejan Cukić, Vlada i Bajka and others. He was also involved in recording of a cult compilation album Paket aranžman. He wrote songs for Zdravko Čolić, Bisera Veletanić, Generacija 5, Đorđe Marjanović, Neda Ukraden, Rajko Kojić, Dušan Prelević, Oliver Mandić, Šaban Šaulić, Poslednja Igra Leptira, Denis & Denis, Viktorija, Željko Bebek, Lepa Brena, Ceca Ražnatović, Zana, Prljavi Inspektor Blaža i Kljunovi, Baja Mali Knindža, Nedeljko Bajić Baja and others.

Literary work

Đorđević signing his books at the Belgrade Book Fair

Đorđević released his first book of poems Ravnodušan prema plaču ("Apathetic towards Crying") in 1985. In 1987 he released his second book of poems Hej, Sloveni ("Hey, Slavs") and in 1988 he became a member of the Association of Writers of Serbia (Udruženje književnika Srbije). Đorđević, reputedly, wrote the application on the table napkin. His membership in the Association of Writers of Serbia was not well received by some of the members. Đorđević released seven more books:

• Prvih deset godina je najteže (First Ten Years Are the Hardest),
• Neću (I Don't Want To)
• Psihopata i lopata (A Psychopath and a Shovel)
• Srbi bez muke (Serbs without Trouble)
• Brebusi
• Šta je pesnik hteo da kaže (What Did the Poet Mean by That)
• Debela tragedija (Fat Tragedy)

Politics and controversy

Because of his provocative social and political-related lyrics, his support for Serbian nationalism coupled with his opposition to communism, Slobodan Milošević and the political involvement as the Democratic Party of Serbia member, Đorđević was a subject of many controversies:

• In 1984, after the release of Večeras vas zabavljaju muzičari koji piju, the state's censors declared songs "Mangupi vam kvare dete" and "Besni psi" ethically unacceptable. "Besni psi" caused an international scandal. Because of the lyrics "Grčki šverceri, arapski studenti, negativni elementi, maloletni delikventi i besni psi" ("Greek smugglers, Arabian students, negative elements, juvenile delinquents and mad dogs"), the embassies of three Arabian countries and Zaire protested, complaining that Bora Đorđević had equated foreign students and mad dogs. The Yugoslav Ministry of culture ordered an analysis of the song by the experts.
• In 1985, record label Jugoton refused to publish four songs on Riblja Čorba's album Istina, thus prompting the band's re-signing with PGP-RTB, which refused to record only one song, "Snage opozicije" ("Opposition Forces"), which was not officially published until the issue of the compilation album Treći srpski ustanak in 1997.
• In 1987, Đorđević was indicted for "disturbing the public" when he read his poems in Sava Centar, however the charges were dropped because he was reading poems already published in his books and in various magazines.
• In 1988, after reading his poems in Bar, he was indicted for "insulting the working people of Yugoslavia", but these charges were also dropped.
• After the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars, Đorđević became an active supporter of the Serbian troops in Republika Srpska and Republika Srpska Krajina which he demonstrated by recording controversial songs "E moj druže zagrebački" (which was recorded as a response to Jura Stublić's song "E moj druže beogradski") and "Ljetovanje" with band Minđušari from Knin, but he was also strongly opposed to then-Serbian president Slobodan Milošević and his administration as he demonstrated his attitude by writing a number of anti-government songs released on Riblja Čorba albums Zbogom, Srbijo, Ostalo je ćutanje and Nojeva barka and by publishing Njihovi dani in his own name rather than that of his band in 1996. In 1997, Riblja Čorba issued a compilation album Treći srpski ustanak (trans. Third Serbian Uprising), which features a selection of Riblja Čorba's political songs recorded and released between 1981 and 1997.
• After the political changes in Serbia, he became the Deputy to Dragan Kojadinović, Minister of Culture in Serbian Government in 2004. However, Đorđević was forced to resign from the position the next year, after accusing the journalists of the television station B92 of treason and holding anti-Serbian politics.^[3][4]

Personal life

He was married to Dragana Đorđević until they were divorced on February 12, 2007; they have two children. Soon afterwards, on March 23, 2007, Dragana committed suicide by mixing alcohol and drugs.^[5]

He remarried in 2009, this time to his twenty-eight years younger girlfriend Aleksandra. They had met in 2007 while Đorđević was on tour with Riblja Čorba in the United States.^[6]

During 2014, it was reported that the pair are splitting after four and a half years of marriage. This was confirmed by Đorđević in April, several days after finalizing their divorce. He also confirmed speculations that he now has a new girlfriend, from Slovenia.

Discography

Zajedno

Singles

• "Vizija" / "Goro moja" (1974)

Suncokret

Albums

• Moje bube (1977)

Singles

• "Kara Mustafa" / "Moje tuge" (1975)
• "Gde ćeš biti, lepa Kejo" / Pusto more, pusti vali" (1976)
• "Rock 'n' Roll duku duku" / Gili gili blues" (1976)
• "Oj, nevene" / "Tekla voda" (1976)

Rani Mraz

Singles

• "Računajte na nas" / "Strašan žulj" (1978)
• "Oprosti mi Katrin" / "Život je more" (1978)

Riblja Čorba

Studio albums

• Kost u grlu (1979)
• Pokvarena mašta i prljave strasti (1981)
• Mrtva priroda (1981)
• Buvlja pijaca (1982)
• Večeras vas zabavljaju muzičari koji piju (1984)
• Istina (1985)
• Osmi nervni slom (1986)
• Ujed za dušu (1987)
• Priča o ljubavi obično ugnjavi (1988)
• Koza nostra (1990)
• Labudova pesma (1992)
• Zbogom, Srbijo (1993)
• Ostalo je ćutanje (1996)
• Treći srpski ustanak(1997)
• Nojeva barka (1999)
• Pišanje uz vetar (2001)
• Ovde (2003)
• Trilogija 1: Nevinost bez zaštite (2005)
• Trilogija 2: Devičanska ostrva (2006)
• Trilogija 3: Ambasadori loše volje (2006)
• Minut sa njom (2009)
• Uzbuna! (2012)

Solo

Studio albums

• Njihovi dani (1996)

Live albums

• Arsen & Bora Čorba Unplugged `87 (with Arsen Dedić, 1987)
• Bora priča gluposti (1988)

References

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