Babe (; translation: Grandmas) is a Serbian rock band formed in Belgrade in 1992.
Babe were formed in 1992 as a supergroup, with Bajaga i Instruktori guitarist on vocals and guitar, ElektriÃÂni Orgazam drummer on drums and vocals, Riblja ÃÂorba guitarist , and former Bezobrazno Zeleno bassist Bojan VasiÃÂ. They got together with the intention of recording a studio album of quirky and offbeat material they weren't able to push through their original bands. VasiÃÂ left during the recording sessions and was replaced by (formerly of U Ã Â kripcu). Initially a one-off side project, with hits like "NoÃÂ bez sna" and "Da te vidim golu" off their 1993 release ', Babe unexpectedly gained a significant mainstream popularity in FR Yugoslavia that led to the band's decision to continue on beyond that album.
However, their second album, despite the hit song "Ko me ter'o", did not see the same success. ÃÂavajda left the band after the album release, and the band released another studio album before ending their activity in 1999. Babe reunited in 2013, in the lineup featuring MilenkoviÃÂ, IliÃÂ, Ã Â kopelja and drummer Goran Ljuboja "Trut".
The band was formed in 1992 as a side project of Bajaga i Instruktori member à ½ika Milenkovià(vocals, guitar), ElektriÃÂni Orgazam member Goran ÃÂavajda "ÃÂavke" (vocals, drums) and Riblja ÃÂorba member Zoran Ilià(guitar). All three being rock veterans, they decided to steadily work within the group during the times when their own bands were taking a work break. The band's bass guitarist and the initiator of the band formation was Bojan VasiÃÂ, who had previously played with Iliàin Bezobrazno Zeleno. Humorous lyrics written by MilenkoviÃÂ, a graduate from Belgrade Faculty of Applied Arts, stylistically similar to the lyrical style of his early 1980s band MaÃÂori (The Cats), and his stage performance, based on the experience gained in the long-term activities within the Teatar Levo (Theatre Left) amateur theatre, soon became the band's trademark.
During the recording sessions for the band's debut album, Vasiàleft the band, moving to South Africa, eventually only recording the bass sections for the song "Mirko i Marina" ("Mirko and Marina"). He was replaced by a former U à  kripcu member Dejan à  kopelja. Slike iz à ¾ivota jednog idota (Images From an Idiot's Life), released in 1993 and produced by former ElektriÃÂni Orgazam member Ljubomir Jovanovià"Jovec", brought MilenkoviÃÂ's humorous songs about drunks, drug dealers and erotomaniacs, which had large success, especially with young audience. The album featured guest appearances by vocalist Marija MihajloviÃÂ, Ekatarina Velika keyboardist Margita StefanoviÃÂ, Riblja ÃÂorba guitarist Vidoja Boà ¾inoviÃÂ, ElektriÃÂni Orgazam guitarist Branislav Petrovià"Banana", Bajaga i Instruktori guitarist Nenad StamatoviÃÂ, keyboardist Mià ¡a Saviàand Del Arno Band members. After the album release, Babe went on a promotional tour, performing as an opening act for Riblja ÃÂorba.
In January 1994 the band performed at the unplugged festival held at the Belgrade Sava Centar, and the recording of the song "Adio stres" ("Adio Stress"), featuring guest appearances by keyboardist Margita Stefanoviàand Del Arno Band percussionist Vladimir Leà ¡iÃÂ, was released on the various artists live compilation Bez struje (Unplugged), released by MTS Records. On February 17 of the same year, the band performed at the Belgrade Youth Center and the recording of the cover version of the Azra song "Lijepe à ¾ene prolaze kroz grad" ("Pretty Women are Passing Through the Town"), made at the performance, appeared on the various artists live compilation album Groovanje live vol. 1 (Rumbling Live Vol. 1), released by L.V.O Records in 1995. On April 30, 1994 the band performed at the Rock and roll zauvek (Rock and Roll Forever) rock spectacle, held at the Belgrade Fair â Hall 1 in order to celebrate thirty years of rock music in Yugoslavia.
In December of the same year, not long before New Year's Day, the band released a compact cassette EP 4 Babe pesme (4 Babe Songs), featuring the songs "Novogodià ¡nja pesma" ("New Year's Day Song"), "Loà ¡a navika" ("Bad Habit"), "ReÃÂi ÃÂemo hvala kad bude karnevala" ("We Will Thank Only If There Will Be a Carnival") and "Dizel" ("Diesel"), the latter being a cover version of Tommy Roe's song "Dizzy". At the time, Milenkoviàstarred the Elvira je cool (Elvira is Cool) theatre play, also starring Lora Orloviàand Neda ArneriÃÂ, written by the Aleksandar à ½ikiàand performed at the Duà ¡an RadoviàTheatre in Belgrade. Also, the band had appeared in the SrÃÂan Dragojeviàfilm Two Hours of Quality TV Program, performing the song "Dizel". The following year appeared the soundtrack album for the Marija Soldatoviàplay Zigi, Zvezdana Praà ¡ina (Ziggy Stardust), staged at the Bitef Theatre, consisting of cover versions of the David Bowie greatest hits, with Milenkoviàand ÃÂavajda working on the song lyrics translations and the latter providing lead vocals for the cover versions of "Five Years" and "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide".
In late 1995 the band released their second studio album, Laà ¾ne slike o ljubavi (False Images of Love), but the album did not reach the success of the debut, although the songs "Ko me ter'o" ("Who's Made Me") and "Mesnica" ("Butcher Shop") became minor hits, having a decent media coverage. The rest of the album remained unnoticed, including the cover version of "Strangers in the Night", with lyrics in Serbian entitled "Stranac usranac" ("Stranger in the Shit"). After the album release, ÃÂavajda left the band, being replaced by Vlada CvetkoviÃÂ. ÃÂavajda later starred the film Geto (Ghetto), directed by Ivan Markov and Mladen MatiÃÂeviÃÂ, before moving to Tasmania where he died of AIDS on February 16, 1997 at the age of 35.
In early 1998 the band released the compilation album P.S Babe, composed of the material previously released on the debut album and the 4 Babe pesme EP as well as new material, consisting of the songs "HoÃÂu da budem predsednik Srbije" ("I Want To Be The President of Serbia"), "Zadnja noÃÂ" ("The Last Night") and "Mladi ludi svet" ("Young Crazy World"). At the time, the band started preparing the material for the third studio album, with Milenkoviàseeking inspiration for song lyrics in the works of MomÃÂilo BajagiÃÂ, Aleksandar à ½ikià(of the band S.T.R.A.H.), Danko ÃÂurià(of the band Papatra), Zoran ÃÂiriÃÂ's book Vulvaà ¡i (Vulvas) and street graffiti. Slike sna i jave (Samo za ludake i buntovnike) (Images of Dream and Reality (For Lunatics and Rebels Only)) featuring new members, Vladan Nedeljkov (guitar) and Blagoje Nedeljkovià(drums), was released in 1999. The material, consisting of sixteen songs, featured the songs "Mexico", written in 1982 during MilenkoviÃÂ's work with the band MaÃÂori, and "U sukobu 2 pola" ("In the Two Gender Clash"), a cover of Hazel O'Connor's song "Will You?".
After the album release, MilenkoviÃÂ's main band Bajaga i Instruktori started the recording sessions for the album Zmaj od NoÃÂaja (The Dragon of NoÃÂaj), due to which Babe band ceased to exist, even though it had never been officially announced. During 2000, the song "HoÃÂu da budem P.S." ("I want to be P.S.") appeared on the Gotov je! (He is Done!) various artists compilation, which featured protest songs.
In 2013, Babe reunited in the lineup featuring, beside MilenkoviÃÂ, Iliàand à  kopelja, the drummer Goran Ljuboja "Trut" (of E-Play and formerly of Rambo Amadeus backing band), with guitarist Stefan AÃÂimoviàand Dejan à  kopelja's daughter, keyboardist Luna à  kopelja soon being added to the lineup. The reunited Babe had their first performance at the Long Night festival, held in Belgrade Youth Center on March 30.
In July 2014, the band released their comeback single, "Daj mu ga, Lola" ("Come On, Lola"), originally written in 2001. In the following period the band performed on a number of major festivals, including Arsenal Fest and Belgrade Beer Fest. In March 2017, the band released the single "Primabalerina". In October 2019, the band released the EP Volim à ¾ivot (I Love Life), featuring four new songs, available for free digital download.
In 2021 Babe's album Slike iz à ¾ivota jednog idiota was polled 53rd on the list of 100 Best Serbian Albums Since the Breakup of SFR Yugoslavia. The list was published in the book Kako (ni)je propao rokenrol u Srbiji (How Rock 'n' Roll in Serbia (Didn't) Came to an End).