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Ambasadori
Ambasadori (The Ambassadors) were a Yugoslav schlager pop band from Sarajevo, active from 1968 until 1980.
The band is most notable for their 1975 hit single "Zemljo moja", as well as for representing Yugoslavia at the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Ne mogu skriti svoju bol"—both times with Ismeta Dervoz on vocals. They are further notable for the 1977 hit single "Dođi u pet do pet", this time with Jasna Gospić as the vocalist. Additionally, the band gained retroactive notability for having two of their lead singers—Zdravko Čolić (sang with the band from 1969 until 1971) and Hari Varešanović (from 1979 until 1980)—later go on to Yugoslav pop stardom in their respective solo careers.
Ambasadori were founded in Sarajevo in 1968 by two military brass band musicians—keyboardist Robert Ivanović and trombonist Srđan Stefanović—both holding military rank as active officers of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). In fact, Ivanović had arrived in Sarajevo shortly prior via being reassigned (prekomanda) from a JNA unit in Belgrade. At the time of the band's launch, both Ivanović and Stefanović were additionally participating in the Sarajevo military orchestra.
They soon brought in guitarist Slobodan "Vuja" Vujović, a Fojnica-born and Sarajevo-raised hobbyist musician who had simultaneously been pursuing mechanical engineering studies at the University of Sarajevo. In-between his university obligations, Vujović often hung around Dom Milicije (Police House) that provided free on-site instruments for the musically-inclined youth, which is where Ivanović and Stefanović met him and got him to join their group.
Ambasadori obtained their first instruments and sound equipment by purchasing them from a travelling Bulgarian ensemble that had been performing at Sarajevo's Hotel Evropa. Still mostly a cover band at this stage, their repertoire centered around the 1960s rhythm & blues covers (Chicago, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, etc.) along with more covers of obligatory Yugoslav hits of the day and years past, and finally even a few original numbers written by the band members thrown into the mix.
Their very first performance took place in May 1969 in Sarajevo's Dom JNA (Yugoslav People's Army House) with local singer Miroslav Balta on vocals.
Soon after their debut performance, eighteen-year-old Zdravko Čolić joined Ambasadori as their new vocalist. Though he had already been singing with the local band Mladi i lijepi, the fresh high school graduate saw Ambasadori as more established, auditioning for them at Dom JNA by performing Wilson Pickett's "Deborah". Keyboardist Ivanović reportedly hired the teenager mid-song as soon as he completed the chorus line. Impressed with Čolić's vocal range, clean intonation, and the overall ease of singing, the band decided to immediately start looking for as many live performance opportunities as possible. With young Čolić on vocals, Vujović on guitar, Ivanović on keyboards, Ivica Sindičić on saxophone, Srđan Stefanović on trombone, Slobodan Jerković on bass guitar, Vlatko Anković on trumpet, and Tihomir Določek on drums, they gigged around town in Sarajevo—in clubs like Trasa, FIS, and Sloga as well as the odd appearance in recently opened Dom Mladih (Youth House), part of the newly-built Skenderija complex. Most of these appearances were booked and arranged through local music enthusiast and promoter Želimir "Čičak" Altarac who practically became the band's unofficial manager. Over time, the group started getting more gig offers, which presented a problem since band leaders Ivanović and Stefanović as well as saxophonist Sindičić and drummer Določek, all of whom were also JNA officers, weren't available for many of them due to their army obligations, and those offers had to be declined.
By 1970, seeing their business opportunities limited by the strange setup within the band and further discouraged by the band's founders Ivanović and Stefanović enrolling in the Sarajevo Music Academy that took up a lot of their time and focus, Vujović and Čolić decided to step out and form a new group, Novi Ambasadori (New Ambassadors), bringing in drummer Perica Stojanović, organist Vlado Pravdić, saxophonist Andrej "Lale" Stefanović, and bassist Zlatko Hold. With Vujović now firmly established as the band's driving force and main songwriter, they looked to forge a new career course. Almost immediately, Vujović's Novi Ambasadori dropped the 'Novi' part, continuing on as just Ambasadori since the original band's founders Ivanović and Stefanović quickly gave up on protecting the name.
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Ambasadori
Ambasadori (The Ambassadors) were a Yugoslav schlager pop band from Sarajevo, active from 1968 until 1980.
The band is most notable for their 1975 hit single "Zemljo moja", as well as for representing Yugoslavia at the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Ne mogu skriti svoju bol"—both times with Ismeta Dervoz on vocals. They are further notable for the 1977 hit single "Dođi u pet do pet", this time with Jasna Gospić as the vocalist. Additionally, the band gained retroactive notability for having two of their lead singers—Zdravko Čolić (sang with the band from 1969 until 1971) and Hari Varešanović (from 1979 until 1980)—later go on to Yugoslav pop stardom in their respective solo careers.
Ambasadori were founded in Sarajevo in 1968 by two military brass band musicians—keyboardist Robert Ivanović and trombonist Srđan Stefanović—both holding military rank as active officers of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). In fact, Ivanović had arrived in Sarajevo shortly prior via being reassigned (prekomanda) from a JNA unit in Belgrade. At the time of the band's launch, both Ivanović and Stefanović were additionally participating in the Sarajevo military orchestra.
They soon brought in guitarist Slobodan "Vuja" Vujović, a Fojnica-born and Sarajevo-raised hobbyist musician who had simultaneously been pursuing mechanical engineering studies at the University of Sarajevo. In-between his university obligations, Vujović often hung around Dom Milicije (Police House) that provided free on-site instruments for the musically-inclined youth, which is where Ivanović and Stefanović met him and got him to join their group.
Ambasadori obtained their first instruments and sound equipment by purchasing them from a travelling Bulgarian ensemble that had been performing at Sarajevo's Hotel Evropa. Still mostly a cover band at this stage, their repertoire centered around the 1960s rhythm & blues covers (Chicago, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, etc.) along with more covers of obligatory Yugoslav hits of the day and years past, and finally even a few original numbers written by the band members thrown into the mix.
Their very first performance took place in May 1969 in Sarajevo's Dom JNA (Yugoslav People's Army House) with local singer Miroslav Balta on vocals.
Soon after their debut performance, eighteen-year-old Zdravko Čolić joined Ambasadori as their new vocalist. Though he had already been singing with the local band Mladi i lijepi, the fresh high school graduate saw Ambasadori as more established, auditioning for them at Dom JNA by performing Wilson Pickett's "Deborah". Keyboardist Ivanović reportedly hired the teenager mid-song as soon as he completed the chorus line. Impressed with Čolić's vocal range, clean intonation, and the overall ease of singing, the band decided to immediately start looking for as many live performance opportunities as possible. With young Čolić on vocals, Vujović on guitar, Ivanović on keyboards, Ivica Sindičić on saxophone, Srđan Stefanović on trombone, Slobodan Jerković on bass guitar, Vlatko Anković on trumpet, and Tihomir Določek on drums, they gigged around town in Sarajevo—in clubs like Trasa, FIS, and Sloga as well as the odd appearance in recently opened Dom Mladih (Youth House), part of the newly-built Skenderija complex. Most of these appearances were booked and arranged through local music enthusiast and promoter Želimir "Čičak" Altarac who practically became the band's unofficial manager. Over time, the group started getting more gig offers, which presented a problem since band leaders Ivanović and Stefanović as well as saxophonist Sindičić and drummer Določek, all of whom were also JNA officers, weren't available for many of them due to their army obligations, and those offers had to be declined.
By 1970, seeing their business opportunities limited by the strange setup within the band and further discouraged by the band's founders Ivanović and Stefanović enrolling in the Sarajevo Music Academy that took up a lot of their time and focus, Vujović and Čolić decided to step out and form a new group, Novi Ambasadori (New Ambassadors), bringing in drummer Perica Stojanović, organist Vlado Pravdić, saxophonist Andrej "Lale" Stefanović, and bassist Zlatko Hold. With Vujović now firmly established as the band's driving force and main songwriter, they looked to forge a new career course. Almost immediately, Vujović's Novi Ambasadori dropped the 'Novi' part, continuing on as just Ambasadori since the original band's founders Ivanović and Stefanović quickly gave up on protecting the name.
