Kodeksi
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Kodeksi were a cover band from
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia that existed from 1965 until 1971. It is most notable as one of the predecessors to Bijelo dugme, the most commercially successful band ever to come out of SFR Yugoslavia. Key future members of Bijelo dugme — Goran Bregović, Željko Bebek,
Zoran Redžić Zoran Redžić (born 29 January 1948) is a Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian musician, best known for playing the bass guitar in the popular Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav rock music, rock band Bijelo Dugme. Born in Sarajevo, Bo ...
, and Milić Vukašinović — came up through Kodeksi. The band effectively ended during fall 1970 via splitting off into two groups — Mića, Goran i Zoran and Novi Kodeksi — with both offshoots also folding within a year.


Activity


1960s

Kodeksi were formed in 1965 as a hobby cover band by . Soon after formation, Bogeljić invited Željko Bebek to join as a singer and rhythm guitarist. By 1968, the group also featured on backing vocals and Luciano Paganotto on drums. Simultaneously to their high school studies, Kodeksi members spent the rest of the decade playing local dance parties with a repertoire of covered tunes they would hear on Radio Luxembourg. In the process, they built up somewhat of a local youth following in Sarajevo. As the band experienced continual problems filling the bass player spot throughout this period, Bebek recommended 18-year-old Goran Bregović after seeing him play with another local cover band Beštije in 1969. Realizing Kodeksi were more established around town than his Beštije, teenage Bregović immediately jumped at the opportunity. The band's musical activity began to assume a more serious form immediately after Bregović's arrival. In the summer of 1969, Kodeksi secured a season-long gig at Hotel Splendid's bar in
Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...
, however, just before they were set to depart for Adriatic coast, Ismeta Dervoz left the band, choosing to devote her full attention to university studies. Their Dubrovnik repertoire was aimed at tourists and consisted mostly of pop covers, folk standards, and easy-listening tunes. Though it clearly didn't inspire much in terms of creativity, the Dubrovnik stay still proved useful as they got spotted by an Italian
nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
owner, Renato Pacifico, who offered a two-month gig in his
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
club. Infused with new energy, the band went back home to hone a new
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
set inspired by the likes of Cream and
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
, while simultaneously obtaining the necessary paperwork in order to be able to travel and temporarily live and work in Italy.


1970s

Kodeksi (Bogeljić on lead guitar, Bebek on vocals and rhythm guitar, Bregović on bass, and Paganotto on drums) left for
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
in early 1970. However, soon upon arrival, it became apparent that the Italian club owner was deeply disappointed with their musical shift. Instead of Anglo-American progressive rock, he wanted them to play kozachok and other similar Eastern European folkish stuff from their Dubrovnik repertoire and the band unwillingly acquiesced. Just before the first two-month stint ended, Kodeksi's founder and main decision-maker Edo Bogeljić quit and went back to Sarajevo, which is when Bregović assumed the lead guitar role for the first time. Local Italian musician was brought in to play the bass, but after he quit too, Bebek called up old friend
Zoran Redžić Zoran Redžić (born 29 January 1948) is a Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian musician, best known for playing the bass guitar in the popular Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav rock music, rock band Bijelo Dugme. Born in Sarajevo, Bo ...
. Redžić, in turn, brought along Milić Vukašinović as a replacement on drums for Paganotto who also quit in the meantime. At that time, Kodeksi were enjoying a fairly successful run on the club & bar circuit throughout southern Italy, playing a commercial repertoire and building up a fairly devoted following. Vukašinović's arrival was particularly significant in this regard as he brought new musical influences along the lines of what
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...
and
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...
were doing at the time. Additionally, he convinced the rest of the band on incorporating the new sound into their set. Within two weeks of his arrival, Kodeksi were fired from all the places they were playing. With no gigs and very little savings, the foursome of Bebek, Bregović, Redžić, and Vukašinović stayed on the island of
Capri Capri ( , ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. A popular resort destination since the time of the Roman Republic, its natural beauty ...
. They found gigs extremely hard to come by with the new sound but eventually got a low-paying one on Ischia island. As the summer season of 1970 drew to a close that gig ended as well, and they relocated back to Naples where they struggled to make ends meet. This is when the band began to disregard Bebek musically. In keeping with the Canned Heat-inspired boogie rock sound favoured by Vukašinović and Bregović, the two made Bebek stop playing the rhythm guitar reasoning it's no longer fashionable. Bebek also had trouble adapting to the new material vocally — he'd sing the intro on most songs and then step back as the other three members improvised for the remainder of songs. After being a key band member only months earlier, Bebek was seeing his role gradually reduced. It was more than he was willing to take and in the fall of 1970, he left Kodeksi to return to Sarajevo.


Mića, Goran i Zoran

For their part, Vukašinović, Bregović, and Redžić remained in Italy and continued soldiering on under the new name Mića, Goran i Zoran, playing everything from clubs to weddings in the Naples area. Eventually, they returned to Sarajevo in the spring of 1971 when Goran's mother and Zoran's brother came to Italy to bring them back. Upon returning, the trio continued gigging in Sarajevo—mostly at the Želimir Altarac Čičak-run Kaktus Klub in the basement of the recently opened Dom Mladih—playing covers of Ten Years After,
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...
,
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...
, Deep Purple, etc. Despite getting satisfactory reaction from the young Sarajevo club crowds that seldom had a chance to hear
hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
cover bands, it was clear that the popularity of live cover acts in the city is on the wane. The trio also made their television debut, performing on Nikola Borota's rock'n'roll music show on TV Sarajevo; Borota booked them on condition of composing their own song so Vukašinović and Bregović set about coming up with an original number, which, by Vukašinović's own words, ended up being just a "mish-mash and slight re-work of different hard rock tracks by British and American bands we listened to at the time". By the late summer 1971, Vukašinović decided to move to London and the band ceased to exist.


Novi Kodeksi

Shortly after coming back to Sarajevo from Italy, Bebek reunited with Bogeljić, another former Kodeksi member who had also previously left amid acrimony while the band gigged in Italy. Seeing that Vukašinović, Bregović, and Redžić were out of sight in Italy performing as "Mića, Goran i Zoran", Bogeljić and Bebek reclaimed the Kodeksi name, getting a new rhythm section—bass guitarist Dražen Tuce (formerly of Pro Arte) and drummer Ljubo Pavlović (formerly of Romeo i Julia)—and forming Novi Kodeksi in late 1970. Conceptualized as a return to the original Kodeksi cover repertoire, Bogeljić's and Bebek's Novi Kodeksi gigged around Sarajevo, along with an odd gig out of town, with varying success as the audiences' general taste seemingly moved away from cover music. Their shining moment came during the New Year's 1971 rock marathon concert at Dom Mladih where they set a record for the non-stop length of performance, spending 32 straight hours playing on stage — breaking the feat set a year earlier at the same venue by the band Čičak that played for 26 hours non-stop. The following summer 1971, they lined up a summer-long gig in the coastal town of Vrsar, playing in hospitality venues catering to foreign tourists. After that gig ended, soon to be 26-year-old Bebek got married and all but decided to quit music as a professional endeavour. In late 1971 he received the call-up for his mandatory Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) service and Novi Kodeksi disbanded.


References

{{authority control Bosnia and Herzegovina musical groups Kodeksi