As foretaste of your weekend excesses, you are invited to dive into the refreshing eighties with this oldie but goodie coming from a mythical Belgrade disc jockey. After forming disco-funk band Zdravo (“hello” in Serbian) in which he was singing and playing the keyboard, Boban Petrović decided to dedicate himself to a solo project that brought into existence Žur (“party”) in 1981 and Zora (“dawn”) in 1984. More than merely trying to jump on the disco bandwagon that drove all the world radios mad that decennia, the Yugoslavian composer brought a visionary contribution to the genre and also shaped a timeless and energetic work during a period of strong political tension in his country.

Off his second album, Zajedno Srećni (“happy together”) is an exquisite mix of sly avant-gardism and relevant conformism. There is thus here no question of transgressing codes of funk or disco. With its groovy bass lines, highly simplified drum patterns and metronomic guitar inflections, the track's structure is a shining example of how the genre is such a good vibes dispenser. The originality of Zajedno Srećni lies in the utterly phlegmatic attitude of Boban Petrović who – more of a DJ than a singer – still gives himself passionately over to a romantic recital throughout the track. While these chants are sung, the high-pitched keyboard sounds and the increasingly intense bass slaps convey the visceral passion coming from the composition.

Beside being a perfect earworm, the opus creates a velvet carpet in which one curls up until the gradual fading where a sexually symbolic saxophone constitutes the apotheosis of those hot four minutes. The least that can be said is that this work is a tribute to melodic delight and musical eroticism. Now, it is only up to you to see in which circumstances you wish to listen to this pleasure of a track.

Boban Petrovic - Zajedno Srecni

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