Crvena Jabuka

Red Apple) is a pop rock band originally formed in Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia in 1985, and since 1994 based in Zagreb, Croatia.

Infulenced by the 1960s British rock, the two formed Crvena Jabuka with keyboardist Dražen Žerić "Žera", drummer Darko Jelčić "Cunja" and bass guitarist Aljoša Buha.

On 18 September 1986, while on their way to Mostar to hold the first concert on the album promotional tour, the members of the group were involved in a traffic accident, in which Ričl and Buha lost their lives.

After the accident, the remaining three members, Arslanagić, Žerić and Jelčić, decided to continue as Crvena Jabuka, releasing the band's second album Za sve ove godine in 1987, but without giving interviews or holding promotional performances.

The group released two more highly successful studio albums, enjoying large popularity on the late 1980s Yugoslav rock scene, before the outbreak of the Bosnian War forced them to end their activity in 1992.

The group continued their career collaborating with external songwriters, most prominently Zlatan Fazlić, Saša Lošić, Miroslav Drljača "Rus" and Dino Šaran, scoring a number of hits during the following years and renewing their popularity in former Yugoslav republics.

[1] Beside Arslanagić and Ričl, the band featured vocalist Saša Kontić, bass guitarist Benjamin Levi, drummer Radmilo "Hare" Gavrilović and keyboardist Dražen Janković.

[1] Their self-titled debut album was produced by former Metak leader Željko Brodarić "Jappa", who also recorded the duet "On je poput djeteta (100 na jednoga)" ("He's Like a Child (100 to One)") with Ričl.

[1] The album cover, featuring a red apple painted on naked female buttocks, was created by designer Davor Papić, who would continue to collaborate with the band on their future releases.

[1] The album was an instant commercial success, the songs "Bježi kišo s prozora" ("Get Off the Window, Rain"), "Neka se sanja" ("May All Dream"), "Nek te on ljubi (kad ne mogu ja)" ("May He Kiss You (If I Can't)"), folk-influenced "Dirlija" and the ballad "Sa tvojih usana" ("From Your Lips") seeing large airplay and popularity across Yugoslavia.

[3] On a single-lane bidirectional road next to the Neretva river near the town of Jablanica, the Zastava 750 driven by Arslanagić veered into oncoming traffic colliding head-on with a truck.

[1] The album was well-received by the audience, with the songs "Tugo, nesrećo" ("(Oh,) Sadness, Misery"), "Uzmi me kad hoćeš ti" ("Take Me When You Desire") and "Nema više vremena" ("There's No More Time") becoming hits.

[1] With the hit songs "Ima nešto od srca do srca" ("There's Something from Heart to Heart"), "Malo ćemo da se kupamo" ("We're Going to Bathe for a Little While"), "Zovu nas ulice" ("The Streets Are Calling Us") and "Oči su se navikle na mrak" ("Eyes Got Used to the Darkness") the band repeated the success of their previous two releases,[1] selling over 250,00 copies of the album.

[4] The album brought new hits for the band – "To mi radi" ("Do It to Me"), "Neka vrijeme mijenja se" ("May Times Change"), "Volio bih da si tu" ("I Wish You Were Here") and the title track.

[4] For the promotional tour across Yugoslavia, they were joined by guitarist and keyboardist Igor Ivanović, who came in as the replacement for Bratoš, who decided to dedicate himself to studio work exclusively.

[4] The recordings from their concerts in Sarajevo, Belgrade, Zagreb, Banja Luka and Titograd appeared on the 1990 double live album ''Uzmi me (kad hoćeš ti).

[4] Beside live versions of the band's hits, the album featured four new songs, "Kad kazaljke se poklope" ("When Clock Hands Coincide"), originally released in 1989 on promo single just before the New Year Holidays, "Sve što imaš ti" ("All That You Have"), "Suzo moja, strpi se" ("Be Patient, My Tear") and a live cover of the song "Bacila je sve niz rijeku" ("She Let Everything Go Down the River"), originally recorded by Sarajevo band Indexi.

[4] During 1991, Arslanagić also composed music for Bora Kontić's radio show Jazz Time, awarded on the Prix Futura festial in Berlin.

For the band's following studio album, entitled Svijet je lopta šarena (The World is a Colourful Ball), the songs were written by Lošić, Fazlić, Jure Stanić, Karlo Barbarić and Miroslav Drljača "Rus".

[4] The concerts also featured klapa Nostalgija (Nostalgia), violinist Emir Gabrić, and backing vocalists Darija Hodnik, Jana Nemeček and Mirza Treterac.

[4] During the year, the band also toured North America for the first time, catering to diaspora-heavy areas in the United States and Canada, and Žerić appeared on the renewed Vaš šlager sezone (Your Schlager of the Season) festival in Sarajevo, performing the song "Proveo bih život ispod mostova" ("I Would Spend My Life Under Bridges"), written by Zlatan Fazlić.

[4] The song "Niko nije lud da spava" ("No One's a Fool to Go to Bed") featured musical quotation from the 1960s Yugoslav TV series Our Little Place opening theme and guest appearance by klapa Nostalgija.

[4] The album was recorded by the band's new lineup, featuring, alongside Žerić, Jelčić and Kaštelan, former Novi Fosili member Damir Gönz (guitar) and Josip Andrić (keyboards).

The album featured songs authored by Narcis Vučina, Boris Novković, Denis Dumančić, Branimir Mihaljević, and, for the first time since 1991, Zlatko Arslanagić.

[4] The song "Godinama" ("Over the Years") featured guest appearance by folk singer Halid Bešlić and a musical quotation from Queen's "You Don't Fool Me".

[4] The album closes out with the band's version of traditional sevdalinka "Voljelo se dvoje mladih" ("Two Young People Were in Love"), also known as "Žute dunje" ("Yellow Quinces"), recorded with Dalmatian tamburica orchestra Lira.

– 2020., dedicated to the city of Sarajevo and featuring, alongside old songs, three new tracks, "Rano moja" ("(Oh,) My Misfortune"), "Ja još dišem" ("I'm Still Breathing") and "Kad s tobom nema me" ("When I'm Not There with You").

[4] The song "Nebesko platno" ("The Sky Canvas") was dedicated to designer and the band's long-time collaborator Davor Papić,[4] who had died in a car accident in Netherlands on 9 April 2017.

[5] In December 2021, in Sarajevo's Štrosmajer Street an exhibit about the band was opened, authored by Amina Abdičević and entitled Crvena Jabuka: Za sve ove godine.

[11] Crvena Jabuka song "Nekako s proljeća" was covered in 1999 by Serbian pop singer Zorana Pavić on her album Nežno & opasno (Gentle & Dangerous), with actors Dragan Bjelogrlić and Nikola Kojo making guest appearances on her version.

Crvena Jabuka logo, designed by graphic designer Davor Papić. Papić designed the cover for the band's debut album and would continue to collaborate with the band on their future releases.
Crvena Jabuka performing in Zagreb in 1996.
Dražen Žerić performing with Crvena Jabuka in 2014