Milan Mladenović
Milan Mladenović |
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Milan Mladenović (Serbian Cyrillic: Милан Младеновић; September 21, 1958 – November 5, 1994) was a Yugoslav and Serbian musician best known as the frontman of Serbian rock band Ekatarina Velika.
Born to Serbian father Spasa and Croatian mother Danica, Milan's first years were spent in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, where his father, an officer in the Yugoslav Army, was stationed at the time. Consequently, Milan grew up wherever it was that his dad's job took the family. In total, it ended up being three different cities. When he was six, Milan's family moved to Sarajevo where he spent a notable part of his childhood. Eventually in 1970, they moved to Belgrade just short of his 12th birthday. Once in Belgrade, Milan attended the Eleventh Belgrade Gymnasium in Lekino Brdo neighbourhood while simultaneously entering the circle of young people involved with music and arts.
With schoolmate Gagi Mihajlović, he formed a band called Limunovo drvo (Lemon Tree) that dabbled in melodic hard rock. The group changed lineups frequently, displaying a pretty limited creative potential until the arrival of bassist Dušan Kojić Koja and drummer Ivan Vdović Vd. Soon afterwards, they adopted a new musical direction (Novi talas) and changed the name to Šarlo akrobata. During this time Milan was musically very much fond of and inspired by Elvis Costello, Paul Weller, and Andy Partridge of XTC.
Šarlo akrobata released only one album, Bistriji ili tuplji čovek biva kad... in July 1981 and broke up soon afterward due to conflicts between Milan and Koja. The record is considered to be one of the best and most important albums of the Yugoslav New Wave music scene[who?].
In late 1981 Milan and his former bandmate from Limunovo drvo Gagi Mihajlović (guitar) hooked up again to form Katarina II. In 1982 Margita Stefanović (keyboards), Bojan Pečar (bass) and Ivan Vdović Vd joined the band. After the self-titled, New Wave coloured debut album, Vd and Gagi left the band. Since Gagi claimed ownership of the "Katarina II" name, the band was forced to take another one. They eventually settled on Ekatarina Velika and released a self-titled album in 1985. The album was widely critically acclaimed and brought them wider attention. Their next album S' vetrom uz lice launched them to the very top of the Yugoslav music scene, where they stayed for a long time, releasing a series of successful records. The concerts were jam packed and finally their music even made it on the state radio.
In the spring of 1994, Milan recorded and released an album called Angel's Breath in Brazil together with his old friend Suba (Mitar Subotić). In August it was discovered that he had pancreatic cancer. He died on November 5 in Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia and was buried at Novo groblje cemetery.
Two streets in the capital cities of former Yugoslav republics bear Mladenović's name. A street in the Belgrade neighborhood Zemun Polje was named after him in 2004[1], as well as a street in the Podgorica neighborhood Zabjelo in 2007.[2]