Biography

Crvena Jabuka is a pop rock band that originated in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, but is based in Zagreb, Croatia since the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars. In former Yugoslavia they were one of the most successful and productive bands ever. The group was, together with Bijelo Dugme, Plavi Orkestar, Dino Merlin, and Zabranjeno Pušenje a prime example of the famous Sarajevo school of pop rock, but the origins of the band were closely related to the punk-oriented New Primitives movement.

Crvena Jabuka, which means “Red Apple”, was founded in 1985. In the first row of the band was: Dražen Ričl - vocal, guitar, songwriter; Zlatko Arslanagić - guitar, songwriter; Dražen Žerić - synthesizers, back vocals; Aljoša Buha - bass guitar; Darko Jelčić - drums. Their music was inspired by the Beatles and Indexi, a popular Sarajevo band from the ’70s. The first album is issued in 1986, and was an instant success. The band quickly gained popularity all over former Yugoslavia. In the summer of 1986 the band headed to Mostar for a promotional concert, and suffered a car accident, in which two of the members died - Drazen Ričl and Aljoša Buha.

After one year of silence and sadness the band released the second album “Za sve ove godine”, that was widely considered a sort of “in memorium”. The band seemed to be destroyed, since Ričl was widely known as the personification and soul of the band, but the success of the second album encouraged the remaining members to go on as a trio, with Zlatko Arslanagić as prime songwriter, Dražen Žerić on vocals and Darko Jelčić on drums. Their third album “Sanjati”, released 1988, was even greater success and is considered one of the best pop albums of the former Yugoslavia.

During the the ’90s, due to war erupting in their native city, the band relocated to Zagreb, Croatia. Primary songwriter Zlatko Arslanagić left the band in 1992 and now lives in Canada.

The band is signed to Croatia Records, former Jugoton. In 1993, the band moved to Zagreb where they reformed with new members. This lineup consisted of Drazen Zeric vocals, Darko Jelcic drums, Zlatko Bebek guitar, Kresmir Kresten bass guitar, and Danijel Lastric keyboard. That same year an 18 hit compilation was released entitled “ima Nesto od Srca do Srca”. This includes all the hits the band had recorded from 1986 to 1993.

Although it is widely believed that all members of the band are ‘Bosnian Croats’, the heart and soul of the band Zlatan Arslanagic as well as Drazen (Croat firsts name, indeed) Zeric actually are Muslim, and their families both come from Hercegovina.