Das ist Walter

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Das ist Walter
File:Das ist Walter.jpg
Studio album by
Released10 April 1984
RecordedNovember 1983 – March 1984
StudioStudio 17, Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
Genre
Length32:11[1]
LanguageSerbo-Croatian
LabelJugoton
ProducerMahmut Paša Ferović
Zabranjeno Pušenje chronology
Das ist Walter
(1984)
Dok čekaš sabah sa šejtanom
(1985)

Das ist Walter (transl. That's Walter) is the debut studio album by Yugoslav band Zabranjeno Pušenje released on April 10, 1984. It was released through Jugoton in Yugoslavia. The album title is the closing line from the 1972 partisan film Walter Defends Sarajevo and it refers to the city of Sarajevo. The first track is the theme from the film. The album recording began in November 1983 in Studio 17 that was located in record producer Mahmut Paša Ferović's house. Released by Jugoton, the record was out in limited circulation of 3,000 copies, indicative of the label's modest expectations, however, it started selling surprisingly well, eventually crossing the mark of 100,000 copies sold. It also received plenty of accolades, including making the list of top 100 albums in the history of pop and rock music in Yugoslavia published in the 1998 book YU 100: The Greatest Yugoslav Rock and Pop Music Albums. Das ist Walter is listed in the 87th place.[2] The album was re-released in 2000 by Nimfa Sound.[3]

Recording

After gigging locally throughout 1982 and 1983 in their hometown Sarajevo at various university student clubs such as Kuk, Trasa, and CEDUS, Zabranjeno Pušenje was ready to take the next step — releasing a studio album. Consisting of seven energetic youngsters in their early 20s, itching to increase their profile on the scene, they recorded demos for some dozen tracks during spring 1983 in a studio in Kiseljak. The lineup that recorded the demos was – frontman and vocalist Dr. Nele Karajlić, rhythm guitar player and main songwriter Sejo Sexon, lead guitarist Mujo Snažni, bassist Samir "Ćera I" Ćeramida, drummer Zenit "FuDo" Đozić, keyboards player Seid Mali Karajlić, and saxophonist Ogi Gajić. At one of their gigs in Sarajevo's Trasa club sometime during summer 1983, the Zabranjeno Pušenje youngsters were seen by 33-year-old Milić Vukašinović, established musician from Sarajevo at the time fronting his band Vatreni Poljubac having already experienced a measure of fame as former drummer of Bijelo Dugme during the 1970s. They also gave him their demo tapes at the gig. Liking what he saw and heard, Vukašinović put them in touch with his friend and former Čičak bandmate from the late 1960s, Mahmut "Paša" Ferović, who now owned a modest recording studio located in his own house where he worked as producer.

The band's rhythm guitarist and main lyrics writer Sejo Sexon remembers the recording sessions as follows:[4][5]

Recording Das ist Walter for months with Paša Ferović in his studio was like getting a master's degree and doctorate in rock and roll. We'd show up to his house to record at the hour we previously agreed upon, but he would never be there because he was off drinking in some kafana. And all you'd see on the walls of his house were angry sprayed and written messages by his other studio clients that he screwed over. Threatening stuff like 'Paša, you're a dead man', 'Paša, you're fired', 'Never again, Paša'.... Then we realized that half of the equipment in his studio is not actually his. For example, one day Goran Bregović showed up at the studio to take back his 8-channel sound board, but we somehow persuaded him to leave it with Paša just a little while longer. So, basically if Brega hadn't been nice about it, we never would've made the album.... Then, the recording itself was another story. Seven of us recorded on 8 channels — those who know sound recording can appreciate how difficult that is — for example, we recorded the flute and timpani on the same channel..... But still, if it hadn't been for Paša Ferović and Milić Vukašinović, the band would've folded in 1983 or 1984 without ever making anything. It was a critical time for us, we were going into our fourth year together with very little to show for it and our families were already nagging us with stuff like 'what's the point of all this' and 'how much longer are you gonna be doing this pointless crap of yours'. And deep down we were on the verge of asking ourselves those questions too, fully conscious of the fact that if you now get a job as a waiter or at a gas station, the band is finished.

Midway through the recording session, the young band got a hold of Raka Marić, Bijelo Dugme's manager, who helped them find a record label that would release the material. He first offered it to PGP RTB, but after they refused it, Marić contacted Jugoton's creative director Siniša Škarica who accepted it.

Track listing

For song writers, the lyrics author(s) is/are listed first, followed by the music author(s).

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Arranger(s)[6][7][8]Length
1."Uvod" (Tema iz filma Valter brani Sarajevo)Bojan Adamič 1:30
2."Anarhija All Over Baščaršija"Mustafa Čengić1:42
3."Abid"
  • N. Janković
  • N. Janković
Čengić3:40
4."Put u središte rudnika Kreka Banovići"
  • Sučić
  • N. Janković
Sučić2:07
5."Selena, vrati se, Selena"
  • N. Janković
  • Sučić
Čengić4:03
6."Neću da budem švabo u dotiranom filmu"
Čengić2:30
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Arranger(s)Length
1."Šeki is on the Road Again"
  • N. Janković
  • Sučić
Čengić3:35
2."Kino Prvi Maj"
  • Sučić
  • Sučić
Čengić4:09
3."Pamtim to kao da je bilo danas"
  • Sučić
  • Čengić
 2:07
4."Zenica Blues"Čengić2:27
5."Čejeni odlaze..."
  • N. Janković
  • N. Janković
Čengić4:13

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[9]

Legacy

In 2015 Das ist Walter album cover was ranked 41st on the list of 100 Greatest Album Covers of Yugoslav Rock published by web magazine Balkanrock.[10]

See also

References

  1. "Das Ist Walter". Google Play. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  2. "YU 100 Najbolji albumi jugoslovenske rock i pop muzike". secanja.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  3. "Zabranjeno Pušenje: Das Ist Walter". discogs.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  4. Miljenko Jergović (3 November 2006). "Sarajlija ima posvuda, pa čak i u Sarajevu". Archived from the original on 10 January 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  5. Miljenko Jergović (3 November 2006). "Sarajlija ima posvuda, pa čak i u Sarajevu". Archived from the original on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  6. "ZAMP Autors Datebase". zamp.hr. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  7. "Sokoj Datebase". pretraga.sokoj.rs. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  8. "SOKOJ Datebase". Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  9. "Zabranjeno Pušenje: Das Ist Walter". discogs.com. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  10. "100 najboljih omota YU rocka", Balkanrock.com