Kalemegdan Disk - ROCK FROM EASTERN EUROPE

Croatia Records Release Information

Divlje Jagode (Wild Strawberries) and Croatia Records present a luxury vinyl reissue of the legendary album “Motori” (Engines).

After a concert-rich 2024, in which the new studio album “Prati moje stare tragove” (Follow My Old Tracks) was released, and in anticipation of their performance at the “Harder than Rock” festival on March 7th at the Boogaloo club in Zagreb, the vinyl reissue of the album “Motori” is a move that has delighted all true discophiles.

“Motori” has been the third and key album in the career of Divlje Jagode. Released in 1982 for Sarajevo’s Diskoton, the album introduced the “new” Jagode and, despite the disapproval and absolute failure of the rock critics of the time, thanks not only to the title track, but also to songs such as “Ne želiš kraj” (You Don’t Want the End), “Sve iz inata” (All out of Spite), “Šampioni” (Champions) and “Šejla” (Sheila), it achieved an impressive number of copies sold in a short time, and then a large number of visitors to the concerts.

After the second album “Stakleni hotel” (The Glass Hotel) and the departure of the original singer Toni Janković, the bass guitarist Alen Islamović took over the role of the lead vocalist. With Nasko Budimlić on drums and guitarist, author and founder Sead “Zele” Lipovača, Divlje jagode became a trio that brought a hard ’n’ heavy sound, packed according to the highest standards of world production, to the Balkans, but also much wider, with the album “Motori”. And while everyone else looked at this with suspicion, Divlje Jagode made a career move by publishing “Motori”.

In the booklet accompanying this reissue, Theo Werdin, the German producer and recording artist of the album “Motori” said that “there is no recipe for making a successful album, but Zele and Divlje jagode had “that something” with them from the beginning. The songs had memorable melodies and choruses that quickly entered the ear, regardless of whether you are a hard ’n’ heavy fan or not. “Motori” as a theme was a symbol of freedom, the song carried the spirit of optimism that was important at that time. At the time, I did not know that the album would achieve the success that it later experienced, but fortunately for all of us – we were the right people, in the right place, at the right time.”

The success of this album was also explained by Jadranka Janković Nešić, journalist and presenter at Radio Beograd 202: “Every successful band has that one album that defined their career, regardless of the quality and popularity of previous and sometimes subsequent releases. “Motori” is that one album for Divlje jagode, the record that brought them closest to the mainstream audience, so much so that even children on the street sang the chorus of the title track. Later, they would also get a contract with the London record label Logo Records, but none of this would have happened if they hadn’t released “Motori”, which, as the first floor of the “Stakleni hotel” (The Glass Hotel), strengthened Jagode’s position and placed them in the top five Yugoslavian bands, regardless of musical genre.”

“Zele always knew how to recognize uncut diamonds, which he proved many times throughout the entire career of Divlje jagode, so he quickly noticed that it would be great to experiment and push the raw vocal power that Alen Islamović possessed into the forefront of singing, while also gaining new young fans. It is precisely because of this consistency and stubborn persistence that Divlje jagode have created a kind of cult following, not only in the former country, but throughout Europe and the world. “Motori” is a hit that is now more than ever played in clubs from Scandinavia and England to Germany and Spain,” said Stjepan Juras.

The album was remastered by Zoran “Švigi” Švigir (Studio Šišmiš), while the lacquer cut of the album was done at London’s Abbey Road Studios by Sean Magee, the winner of the Grammy Award for the Beatles’ “Mono Box Set”, who has remastered vinyl releases of Iron Maiden and Deep Purple, among others. A download card with a code to download the mp3 version of the album is also available with the release.

In addition to the 180-gram color vinyl and poster, the album also comes with an exclusive booklet containing texts by Jadranka Janković Nešić and Stjepan Juras and an interview with Theo Werdin, along with concert photos by Zoran Trbović. Darko Kujundžić is responsible for the artistic design of the reissue. At the same time, this is the beginning of the Divlje Jagode album reissue campaign – soon other albums from the catalog of this legendary hard ’n’ heavy group will appear on luxury vinyl format.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Motori 4:30
2. Šampioni 3:01
3. Nasmiješi se 5:04
4. Zagrizi rock ’n’ roll 4:04

Side B

1. Sve iz inata 2:52
2. Šejla 3:52
3. Dodirni me 3:24
4. Ne želiš kraj 3:15
5. Divlji zapad 4:10