Top Lista Nadrealista - Radio Segment (1981-1985)

Radio Segment (1981-1985)

When radio executive Boro Kontić became aware of a group of kids in their late teens from Sarajevo's Koševo neighborhood who were involved with music as well as other forms of artistic expression, he brought them on Primus, the weekly radio show he was in charge of. Kontić was made aware of them through his own younger brother Saša who was part of the group since they all attended Sarajevo's Second Gymnasium as well as additionally through the young local musician Zlatko Arslanagić. After seeing them at a rock show they put together at a local club and liking what he saw, Kontić gave them the 15-minute segment called 'Top lista nadrealista', a name that remained from the previous groups of kids he used on the show.

The six new kids from Koševo were Nele Karajlić, Zenit Đozić, Zlatko Arslanagić, Boris Šiber, Dražen Ričl, and Saša Kontić, and their very first radio appearance on Primus took place on Saturday, 9 May 1981. Their debut fifteen-minute segment was done in form of a faux terrorist takeover of the radio station as they read out their manifesto along with the list of demands. They were later joined by Branko Đurić.

The group's creative modus operandi consisted of getting together every Thursday in Šetalište, a kafana located across the Radio Sarajevo building in Sutjeska Sreet, couple of hours before their scheduled 9pm studio taping in order to come up with bits for that week's segment. Under their command, the segment became a complete free format — sometimes a single bit for the entire fifteen minutes, other times a weekly recap through satirical commentary of recent events, from those of local character to global ones. Since the attendance was always very unstable, the taping sometimes involved bringing random people from Šetalište into the studio for bits. Uncoordinated and chaotic as well as airing at an unpopular timeslot, Saturdays at 10:15am, when most of its target demographic is fast asleep, the segment nevertheless rapidly gained popularity among young listeners and soon became the staple of Primus. Getting around the early timeslot, many youngsters resorted to recording the segment on audio cassettes and sharing; scenes of young people in bars listening to segments they taped off radio were not uncommon around the city.

It wasn't long before a move to television was suggested and first steps to that end arranged by TV Sarajevo. However, following a few screen tests that essentially consisted of the group doing their radio schtick before cameras, the television executives deemed them too unpolished and sent them back to radio.

Most members of the newly assembled on-air radio crew were already involved with music. Karajlić had been fronting a garage rock group called Zabranjeno Pušenje together with his buddy and neighbour Sejo Sexon while early lineups included Đozić who played drums with even Elvis J. Kurtović and Šiber spending some time in the band. Furthermore, Zlatko Arslanagić and Dražen Ričl played together in a band called Ozbiljno Pitanje and after the group disbanded, Ričl started playing alongside Elvis J. Kurtović and Rizo Petranović in a band called Elvis J. Kurtovich & His Meteors, the most established group of the lot at the moment since they had a recording contract with ZKP RTVLj. Finally, Branko Đurić also started a band called Bombaj Štampa with his friend Nedim Babović.

As its popularity grew, 'Top lista nadrealista' segment slightly expanded from topical humour to include longer bits, played in installments. Some of the more popular sketches included "Bata brani u Sarajevu" (a takeoff on the famous partisan film Valter brani Sarajevo) and rock opera "Kemmy" (parody of The Who's Tommy). In March 1983, some of the individuals in and around this often intertwining group of budding radio personalities, musicians, and comedians came up with an idea of putting all of that activity under a single definition banner - thus giving birth to New Primitives, an entity that functioned as something between a (sub)cultural movement and a cheap PR ploy.

The synergy of weekly radio appearances along with constant gigging around Sarajevo in student hangouts (Trasa, Kuk, Cedus, etc.) created a bit of local buzz that benefited both the radio and the music side of things. By 1984, Zabranjeno Pušenje finally got the record deal it was after (with Jugoton no less) while 'Top lista nadrealista' developed enough of a following among the Sarajevo youth that it got a second shot on television in June.

The weekly radio segment continued in parallel with the television episodes and the success of Pušenje's debut album. Good sales of the album together with the satisfactory reception of the television episodes prompted the release of Top lista nadrealista audio cassette tape by Diskoton. Produced by Boro Kontić, it consisted of the troupe's best of radio material. However, the so-called 'Marshal affair' that Nele Karajlić and Zabranjeno Pušenje got themselves into put a damper on many activities. First, the 11-episode Top lista nadrealista run on television ended in late December 1984. Then, the Top lista nadrealista audio cassette tape's promotional cycle pretty much got destroyed on administrative orders from above - it became unavailable for sale in general circulation, only through traveling salesmen - though it still managed to sell 10,000 copies. Finally, during March 1985 'Top lista nadrealista' segment got taken off radio airwaves for good.