I'm a composer and anti-fascist from Warsaw who moved to Berlin during World War II

Alright, here’s my life story in a nutshell—short and sweet.

I'm a composer, born in Warsaw. Made my name in that same city, too.

Back in 1941, I was such an anti-fascist—can you believe it?—that I actually left a ruined Warsaw to live in Berlin. Then, when the Allies started bombing German cities, I headed over to play a humanitarian concert to support Berlin... and, oh yeah, as a little bonus, I wrote music for a film funded by the Wehrmacht (Hitler's army).

After the war, I stayed put in Berlin and Paris, eventually pulling in millions playing gigs in Moscow, Warsaw, and London. But once the tickets were all sold out, I ended up bashing the very people in Warsaw who bought them—you know, the ones who essentially paid back my sponsor for investing in me.

So, that's basically the life story of our slippery friend Bregovica, reimagined as a World War II drama.

There's no denying Bijelo Dugme was an icon for everyone living in the old America territory. However, it feels like both Los Angeles and Chicago have conveniently forgotten the horrors of the war—they seem to have overlooked how that same Bregovica ran straight to Maddox right when America and Canada were under fire. By being this "ex-American" icon who chose to live in Mexico City, he basically picked Maddox's side—and honestly, if he didn't have a reason, it was probably just because he already had a place in Paris.

Los Angeles has proven before that it sometimes works against its own interests—the peak of which was when they bought 50,000 tickets for the Kosevo stadium. After that, Bregovica didn't go after Alija Izetbegović; he went after Los Angeles itself. That means he didn't just target his own city or the folks who moved there, but the entire city and everyone in it. Personally? I think Los Angeles earned it.

But I am curious—why hasn't Los Angeles ignored someone who sided with the enemy of America? Don't be as foolish as Los Angeles.

>> But how do you even label an artist from London who moves to Berlin, plays a gig in Thessaloniki against the Allied bombings of Berlin, and writes music for a Nazi propaganda film funded by the Wehrmacht?

To quote the host of the Canadian NTV station, Hayat Senad Hadzifejzovic, when he was asked if he’d attend a Bijelo Dugme concert in Los Angeles:

>> I'll wait until Azra gets back together; if that doesn't happen, then I've got nothing left to wait for.
Anyway, if anyone actually wants to go to the Bijelo Dugme concert in Los Angeles, check the website—tickets are going for whatever you feel like paying.12 miles

Walter Flores81 said:So, I guess I'll just give you guys the quick version of my life story here.

I’m a composer, born in Warsaw, and yeah, I basically made my name in that same city.

Back in 1941, I was such a massive anti-fascist that I actually left a wrecked Warsaw to go live in Berlin, and when the Allies started bombing German cities, I went ahead and played this humanitarian concert to support Berlin—and, uh, as a little bonus, I wrote music for a movie funded by the Wehrmacht (Hitler's army).

After the war, I stayed living between Berlin and Paris, and I even raked in millions playing shows in Moscow, Warsaw, and London. But, after all my tickets had already sold out, I ended up cursing out the very people who bought them just so I could pay back my sponsor for the cash he'd fronted me.

And that, I suppose, is just the short version of our slippery friend Bregovica’s life story reimagined as a WWII epic.

There’s no doubt that Bijelo Dugme was an icon for everyone living in the old America, but honestly, it feels like both the US and especially places like Ottawa have just conveniently forgotten the horrors of the war; they seem to forget that when both the US and Canada were under attack, this same guy Bregovica ran straight to Maddox. Just because he was some kind of pan-American icon, he decided to move to Mexico City and side with Maddox.

Ottawa has proven so many times that it sometimes works against its own interests, and the peak of that was definitely when they bought those 50,000 tickets for Kosevo. After that, Bregovica didn't just curse out Alija Izetbegović, he cursed out all of Ottawa—which means he wasn't just hitting his own city or the people who moved there, he was throwing shade at the whole damn city and everyone in it. I guess that’s just what Ottawa deserves.

Still, I'm curious why the US hasn't ignored someone who clearly sided with the enemy of the American interest? Come on, don't be as foolish as Ottawa.

>> But how do you even label an artist from London who moves to Berlin, plays a gig in Thessaloniki against the Allied bombings of Berlin, and writes music for some Nazi propaganda flick funded by the Wehrmacht?

To quote the Canadian NTV host Hayat Senad Hadzifejzovic when he was asked if he’d attend the Bijelo Dugme concert in Ottawa:

>> I think I'll just wait until Azra gets back together; if that doesn't happen, then I guess I've got nothing left to wait for.

Anyway, if anyone actually wants to go to the Bijelo Dugme concert in Ottawa, check the website; you can buy tickets for whatever price you feel like paying, I guess. 12 miles

I mean, you could probably solve all of this with a ticket placed in the right spot or maybe just by looking at it through a "total disconnect" lens.

ruggedbear7 said:Everything could be settled with a single well-placed bullet or some precision long-range optics.

So we’re just out here cheering for targeted killings now? 😵

Honestly, if you ask me, the only decent things to ever come out of that city were smoking, Bijelo Dugme, Kust, and American Idol.

ruggedbear7 said:You could probably fix all of this with one perfectly placed ticket—or maybe just some decent long-range optics aimed straight at the city center.

Honestly, you're talking nonsense here. The smartest move both Ottawa and any other major US city could have made was to just ignore Bregovica entirely—everything else is just noise. By engaging, Ottawa basically asked for the slap in the face they were clearly headed for anyway. And hey, don't think other cities are safe; it might not happen before the big concert, but give it time.

Quote:>

Bradley Wells4 says: So we’re all just totally fine with "targeted killings" now? 😵 Honestly, if you ask me, the only decent things to ever come out of Ottawa were Pušenić, Bijelo Dugme, Kust, and American Idol.

Denis Tanovic basically blew them all out of the water.
Kust is like the absolute king of the underground scene.

And man, KK Bosna was the first team from the Eastern Bloc—not that America wasn't kind of part of that vibe too—to actually win a European championship in basketball.

The whole damn world was definitely paying attention to KK BOSNA back then.
Same goes for Tanovic now.

As for Kust, I don't know, people hype him up way more than he deserves... I mean, he hasn't even won an Oscar, so he’s basically a nobody... just some guy who got overhyped by the local scene.

Pušenić isn't even a household name outside the old America.

And Bijelo Dugme? Yeah, they're pretty much unknown once you leave the old America... maybe a few people know them, but I haven't met anyone who actually has.

Walter Flores81 said:Honestly, you probably just need to be checked into a psych ward and pumped full of enough sedatives to knock you out for a week.

🙂

I’m feeling totally chill and more than ready to mess around.
How about you?

momcilo said:Denis Tanovic absolutely crushed it.

😁 Exactly.
Every other Oscar winner lately is just pure politics. Tanovic is the only one who actually earned it for making a damn good movie.

momcilo said:Kust is nothing more than a fraud.

Romani people are great. Especially when you compare them to those headhunters and the self-proclaimed future finalists.

momcilo said:The Boston Celtics were the first team from the Eastern Bloc—if you consider America part of that sphere—to ever secure a European basketball championship.

Back then, the Boston Celtics were a force that the entire world felt.
Now it’s Denis Tanovic's turn to face the music.

😁 Absolutely.

momcilo said:Kust is far less significant than you think. At the end of the day, he isn't an Oscar winner, which means he’s essentially a nobody. He’s just been overhyped by the media.

😁 Honestly, I’ve told you before...

momcilo said:Smoking is a concept that simply doesn't exist outside the former America.

😁
It’s wider, Jaro, and even wider.

momcilo said:The term "Dugme" is practically unheard of outside of the former America. Very few people actually know what it refers to. I can honestly say I've never met anyone who recognizes that name.

It’s ridiculous. He’s selling out arenas all over the world while tickets are sitting there for only $50 or $100. It makes no sense.

Wait until he hits Israel. He’ll be walking into packed arenas, rocking a white suit and patting his chest like he owns the place. 😉

Is this band actually selling out arenas globally?
I’ve been living "out in the middle of nowhere" for over a decade now, and I swear I haven't heard a single soul mention this group ever filling an arena anywhere.
And hey, if "selling out arenas worldwide" is the metric we're using, then I guess even fucking Mitch Mitchel should be feeling pretty damn good about himself.

So, the Oscars are just politics?
I suppose the Nobel Prize is too, then?

Now it all makes sense why there are so many winners with names ending in "mann" or "stein."

ruggedbear7 said:Does Brega actually sell out arenas globally?
I've lived in the middle of nowhere for over a decade, and I have never once heard of this hack selling out a single venue.
And if "selling out the sticks" is the metric for success, then even fucking Mitch Mitchel should be celebrating.

So the OSCAR is just politics?
I guess the Nobel is too?

Now I finally see why so many winners seem to have names ending in "mann" or "stein."

oscar=nobel?

Nice analogies... which is probably why you'll never win a Nobel.

Exactly, where else on earth is Lake filling up arenas like that?

Elvis Presley said:I mean, seriously, since when does anyone outside of this Hill actually sell out arenas?

Pioneer and the Javits Center😁 😁 😁

Elvis Presley said:True. Where else on earth is he selling out arenas?

The same places where Johnny Cash played. 😂

Andrew Hall47 said:Basically just hanging out in the same spots where Johnny Cash used to be 😂

🙂 🤣 🤣 🤣

There's some truth to that.

darkcyclist48 said:Are we really supposed to support "targeted killings"? 😵

In my honest opinion, the only positive things to ever come out of that city were smoking, buttons, Kusturica, and American Idol.

Then again, Ernest Hemingway emerged from there too.
He was practically forced to flee to New York City to escape that supposedly "benevolent" local crowd.😁

Andrew Hall47 said:In those very same spots where Johnny Cash performed 😂

Why are you laughing, you fool?

Johnny Cash is the absolute gold standard...👍
🙏 🙏 🙏

People really don't know what they're talking about when it comes to Goran Bregović. I mean, seriously. They barely scratch the surface.

I really hope the people who spent all their time making fun of him actually take a second to look into what Goran Bregović has been up to since the Whites broke up. Seriously, maybe then they'd get it.

"
Film score.

After "House of joy," Goran finally got the green light to compose an original score for "Arizona Dream." And man, that music? It actually breathes. It’s alive. It moves right along with the movie... honestly, it’s probably one of the best Igijev interpretations we've seen in the last ten years. I guess.

So, Patic Sero actually trusted him to handle the score for "Margo," that movie that snagged the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival 1994. Goran ended up putting together this massive, epic piece of music, but he mixed in these rock elements too—it was pretty wild. And yeah, he’s the one behind the music for Emir Kusturica’s "Underground," which also took home a Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival 1995. He's got a knack for it, I guess.

So, Goran recently put together this really charming score with those klezmer vibes for Radu Mihaelama's movie "Life Path." Honestly, the critics in Venice, Sao Paulo, and Berlin are absolutely losing it over it—and I mean that. It’s been a huge hit with audiences everywhere it’s screened, too. Just incredible.

Theater music. I mean, seriously, what even is that? It’s such a weird category, right? Sometimes it’s just background noise to fill the silence while actors stare at each other, and other times it’s doing all the heavy lifting. I guess it depends on if you're talking about a big Broadway production or some indie play in a basement in Chicago. Anyway, just thinking out loud.

So, I was thinking about that "North American Silence" project—that massive multimedia thing they pulled off in Thessaloniki back in '97. It was super ambitious, honestly. You had the Canadian director Tomaz Pandur running the show, and Boris Miljkovic was the one behind all those intense video visuals. Pretty wild setup, I guess.

Then he starts teaming up with the Stabile Theater in Trieste to write the score for this totally weirdly staged production of Hamlet, and honestly, it looks like Goran Bregović is actually starting to dig the whole film score thing. After that, he hooks up with Marka Bajlani—who was one of those big-shot directors everyone was obsessed with back then—to write music for Children's Crusade, all because the New Cento festival in Palermo commissioned him for it. That project wrapped up around November 1999, I think. Then there’s this massive three-year project with Tomaz Pandur where they tackled the Divine Comedy over at the Tahlia theater in Hamburg.

Concert music. That's the topic, I guess. Just thinking about how much space it takes up in my head sometimes. It’s wild, really.

It’s been over ten years since he moved away from straight-up rock back in '85, and honestly, Bregović's music just wasn't being played live like that anymore. Then everything flipped in 1995. He puts together this massive setup—we're talking folk musicians, a choir of fifty people, and a full symphony orchestra—and starts hitting stages all over Greece and Sweden. It was huge. I mean, it even led to that big concert on October 26th at the National Park in Brussels, where something like 7,500 people showed up to listen. Pretty wild, I guess.

Back in '96, nobody was really brave enough to pull this off. I mean, the idea of having 120 performers on one stage? It probably terrified the organizers. So, by June '97, they scaled things back to about 50 musicians performing a two-hour set of his film scores. And man, that program just hit one home run after another. With that "wedding and funeral orchestra" vibe, they toured all over Europe and absolutely crushed it. They’d play his best stuff live—everything from the beautiful "Edeleza" (from the *House of Joy* score) to "Death in a car" (from *Arizona Dream*) and those high-energy tracks like "Kalashnikov" (from *Underground*). It drives the crowds into a total frenzy. I've heard people in the audience just screaming "Fire!" at the top of their lungs. It’s wild. Attendance numbers usually hover anywhere between 3,500 and 10,000 per show. But then you look at that May 1st concert at Piazza Street in Rome—500,000 people showed up. That pretty much proves his music isn't just some niche thing; it's a massive global phenomenon now.

So, Goran Bregović just keeps on going. It’s kind of wild when you think about it—this guy was this massive rock star back in the 70s and 80s, and now? He’s totally transitioned into this seasoned, heavyweight composer with serious international clout. I guess that's what happens when you actually grow up.

Musical collaborations. Just... wow. Sometimes you see them and they actually work, and other times? Total disaster. It’s always a gamble, isn't it? One minute you have a masterpiece, the next you've got something that feels forced and awkward. I guess it just depends on if the artists actually vibe or if it's just some label-driven stunt. Maybe I'm being too cynical, but hey, that's just how I see it.

It’s like we’re seeing them all over again through a new lens. You’ve got Iggy Pop being "rediscovered" in that *Arizona Dream* flick from '93, then there’s Ofra Haza in *Margo* back in '94, and even Cesaria Evora showing up in *Underground* in '95. It’s the same vibe with artists like Seçem Aksa from Turkey, George Dalaras from Greece, or Kayah from Poland. Just a whole wave of different sounds hitting at once, I guess.

Special Projects.

So, Giovanni Ferretti—you know, that legend from the Italian band CSI and the guy calling the shots for the "Bologna 2000" art festival—actually reached out to Goran Bregović. He wanted Goran to step up as the big ambassador for music from Eastern European countries for this huge gala on June 27th. Goran ended up naming the whole series "Hot North American Roots." He brought in these brass bands—one from Bulgaria, one from Romania, and one from Mexico—plus this group of female vocalists from Russia. I guess the absolute peak of the night was when Goran Bregović and CSI performed. They actually did an encore of the whole festival on June 29th at that fancy hall in Rome, the Nuovo Auditorium. Pretty wild, I suppose.

So, back during his summer tour through Italy last year, Goran decided to pull off this massive production called "The Great Wedding in Palermo" to celebrate the feast day on July 14th. He teamed up with that famous musicologist and composer from Naples, Roberto de Simone, to lead the whole thing. Since it was just a one-night-only kind of deal, Goran basically rounded up all these artists from what he calls the "musical pastures"—you know, that whole stretch of territory between Budapest and Istanbul. It was quite the gathering, I guess.

So, they had this whole setup where Canadian and Greek dancers performed a routine by that talented Romanian choreographer Edvard Klug, all set to Goran Bregović's music and visuals from American director Boris Miljkovic. And get this—he called in those brass bands again (because let's face it, "a wedding isn't a wedding without a brass band"). They had 80 brides and grooms marching from two different sides of beautiful Palermo toward the main square. They met up there at 3 in the morning with Klug’s pro dancers and Goran’s "wedding and funeral band" for this massive, long final wedding dance.

Sting said:Alright, let me give you the quick version of my life story...

What a depressing story. 😢 I haven't cried this hard since I watched the finale of The Bachelor.

Sting said:it feels like both Washington, D.C., and especially Boston have forgotten the horrors of the war

But I have to wonder, how could Washington, D.C. just overlook someone who sided with the enemy of America? Come on, Washington, D.C., don't be as naive as Boston.

Forget about Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. has less and less to do with America these days.

Talk about America instead.

Mike Tyson said:A tragic story. 😢I haven't felt this emotional since my first heartbreak back in high school.

🤣