Dorde Balasevic – Famous singer/songwriter dies from pneumonia
Early biography
Balaševic was born to a Serbian father Jovan, and mother Veronika Dolenec, half Hungarian and a half Croatian from Rasinja near Koprivnica, Croatia. He had a sister Jasna. His grandfather’s surname was Balaš but during the World War II his grandfather changed it to Balaševic in fear of being Magyarized.
The younger Balaševic grew up in Jovan Cvijic street in Novi Sad, in the same house where he lived until his death. He started writing poetry in primary school. He left high school in the third year but managed to get a high school diploma as a correspondence student and passed the preliminary exam for the university study of geography. He never graduated from the university but instead, he decided to pursue a music career, and in 1977 he joined the band Žetva.
Early career: Žetva and Rani Mraz
After Balaševic joined the group, Žetva recorded a humorous tango-oriented hit single “U razdeljak te ljubim” (I Lay a Kiss on Your Parting), which was sold more than 180,000 copies. In 1978, he left Žetva and, together with Verica Todorovic, formed the band Rani Mraz. The band had its debut at the 1978 music festival in Opatija with the song “Moja prva ljubav” (My First Love). During 1978, former Suncokret members Biljana Krstic and Bora Ðordevic joined the band (forming the most famous Rani Mraz lineup), and together they recorded “Racunajte na nas” (Count on Us), written by Balaševic, a song which celebrated the youth’s adoption of the communist revolution. The song became popular with both the communist authorities and the people, becoming an anthem of the Yugoslav youth. After just a few months of cooperation, Verica Todorovic and Bora Ðordevic left the band (Ðordevic forming his famous hard rock band Riblja Corba). Biljana Krstic and Balaševic then recorded Rani Mraz’s first album Mojoj mami umesto maturske slike u izlogu (To my Mom instead of Prom Photo in the Shop-Window) with the help of studio musicians.
At the 1979 Split Festival, Balaševic won the first prize with the single “Panonski mornar” (Pannonian Sailor). A few months later, Rani Mraz sold out Belgrade’s Dom Sindikata Hall eight times in a row. In 1980, Balaševic served in the Yugoslav People’s Army in Zagreb and Požarevac, where he had a role in the TV show Vojnici (Soldiers), but also found time to write song “Zbog tebe” (Because of You) for Zdravko Colic and lyrics for several songs recorded on Srebrna krila album Ja sam samo jedan od mnogih s gitarom (I’m only One of Many with a Guitar).
By the end of 1980, Balaševic and Krstic released their second and final album under the name Rani Mraz, with a symbolic title Odlazi cirkus (The Circus Is Leaving). The album reaffirmed Balaševic’s status and delivered several hit songs, one of them being “Prica o Vasi Ladackom” (Story of Vasa Ladacki) which went on to become one of Balaševic’s signature songs. However, Rani Mraz officially dissolved after that.
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Balaševic lived in Novi Sad in the same house where he grew up, with his wife Olivera (born Savic in Zrenjanin), who was a ballerina and a member of the national gymnastics team, and their three children; daughters Jovana (an actress, born in 1980) and Jelena (born in 1984), and son Aleksa (born in 1994). On November 14, 2019, Balaševic suffered a myocardial infarction from which he was recovering until his death. Balaševic died on February 19, 2021 in Novi Sad from pneumonia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorde_Balasevic