Bitanga i princeza () is the fourth studio album by Yugoslav rock band Bijelo Dugme, released in 1979.
Bitanga i princeza was Bijelo Dugme's first album to feature Dragan "ÃÂiÃÂi" JankeliÃÂ on drums, who came to the band as a replacement for the band's original drummer, Goran "Ipe" IvandiÃÂ It was the band's last hard rock-oriented album before their switch to new wave in the following year.
In 1998, Bitanga i princeza was polled as the 10th on the list of 100 Greatest Yugoslav Rock and Pop Albums in the book ' (YU 100: The Best Albums of Yugoslav Pop and Rock Music). In 2015, the album was pronounced the 15th on the list of 100 Greatest Yugoslav Albums published by Croatian edition of Rolling Stone.
After the joint 1978 departure of drummer Ipe Ivandiàand keyboardist Laza RistovskiâÂÂwho ended up leaving Bijelo Dugme together amid acrimony while working on a side project Stià ¾emo (Here We Come)âÂÂthe band's former keyboardist Vlado Pravdiàreturned, while Ivandiàwas replaced with ÃÂiÃÂi JankeliÃÂ. Pravdiàhad previously left the band in fall 1976 to serve his mandatory Yugoslav People's Army stint, at which point Bregoviàhired Ristovski, however, Pravdiàended up not reclaiming his spot even after being discharged from the army as Bregoviàdecided to keep Ristovski permanently. JankeliÃÂ, on the other hand, was completely new to Bijelo Dugme, arriving via appearing on the band's vocalist à ½eljko Bebek's solo album side project Skoro da smo isti (We're Almost the Same) that had been released several months earlier to poor reviews and inferior commercial reception.
The band started preparing their new studio album during early fall 1978 in Nià ¡ka Banjaâ while Bijelo Dugme's leader Goran Bregoviàwas still serving his mandatory army stint in Nià ¡, but they definitely reunited in Sarajevo on 1 November.
Originally, the band's record label, Jugoton, booked London's AIR Studios on Oxford Street (where the band's previous two studio albums had been recorded) for the end of November 1978, with a view of releasing the record in time for New Years holidays in Yugoslavia. However, as it became clear the band would not be able to record in NovemberâÂÂand re-booking of AIR Studios could not be arranged on short noticeâÂÂthe recording sessions were moved to Belgrade. The album was recorded during January 1979 in PGP-RTB Studio in Belgrade, followed by the mastering process in London's Abbey Road Studios. Just like the band's previous two studio albums, Bitanga i princeza was also produced by British producer Neil Harrison. It did not feature the band's trademark folk-influenced hard rock sound, as it featured almost no folk music elements, while the ballads "Kad zaboravià ¡ juli" ("Once You Forget July") and "Sve ÃÂe to mila moja prekriti ruzmarin, snjegovi i à ¡aà ¡" ("All of That, My Dear, Will Be Covered by Rosemary, Snow and Reed") featured a symphonic orchestra.
The making of the album was marked by several instances of censorship. The original cover was designed by Bijelo Dugme's old collaborator Dragan S. Stefanovià(who had designed covers for each one of the band's previous albums) featuring a female's leg kicking a male in his genital area. The cover was refused by the band's label, Jugoton, as "vulgar". Stefanoviàthen designed an entirely white album cover, but it was refused by Jugoton editors with the explanation that it would cause the album to be cheaper. The album ended up featuring a cover designed by Jugoton's designer Ivan IveziÃÂ. At the insistence of the label, the verse "Koji mi je moj" ("What the fuck is wrong with me") was excluded from the song "Ala je glupo zaboravit njen broj" ("It's So Stupid to Forget Her Number"), and the verse "A Hrist je bio kopile i jad" ("And Christ was bastard and misery") from the song "Sve ÃÂe to, mila moja, prekriti ruzmarin, snjegovi i à ¡aà ¡" was replaced with "A on je bio kopile i jad" ("And he was bastard and misery").
The album was released on 16 March 1979.
In April 1979, in an interview for Dà ¾uboks magazine, Bregoviàstated he accepted the label's request to change the lyrics, but that he objected the altering of StefanoviÃÂ's cover:
Bregoviàaddressed the censorship of the "Ala je glupo zaboravit njen broj" and "Sve ÃÂe to, mila moja, prekriti ruzmarin, snjegovi i à ¡aà ¡" lyrics:
In 2005, on the recording of the documentary series Rockovnik, BregoviÃÂ stated: "Today I probably wouldn't write that verse."
In July 2024, Croatia Records, Jugoton's successor, reissued Bitanga i princeza with the original cover art and new mastering conducted at Abbey Road Studios to mark its 45th anniversary.
All songs written by Goran BregoviÃÂ.
Upon its release, Bitanga i princeza was praised by the critics as Bijelo Dugme's finest work to date, with more-or-less each one of its seven tracks becoming a hit. The album sales outperformed the band's previous releases, with the final number of copies sold reaching 320,000.
The tour following the album release was also successful. The band managed to sell out Belgrade's Pionir Hall five times during late April 1979, donating the entire revenue to the victims fund of the 1979 Montenegro earthquake. On 22 September 1979, the band headlined a large open-air event named Rock spektakl '79. (Rock Spectacle '79) at the JNA Stadium. With more than 70,000 fans in attendance, the concert featured a number of opening acts: Crni Petak, Kilo i Po, Rok Apoteka, Kako, Mama Rock, Formula 4, Peta Rijeka, ÃÂisti Zrak, Aerodrom, Opus, Senad od Bosne, Boomerang, Prva Ljubav, Revolver, Prljavo Kazalià ¡te, Tomaà ¾ Domicelj, Metak, ObeÃÂanje ProljeÃÂa, Suncokret, Parni Valjak, Generacija 5 and Siluete.
The album's title song, as well as Bijelo Dugme's prior work, was parodied by the punk band Paraf in the "Pritanga i vaza" track off their 1980 album A dan je tako lijepo poÃÂeo....
The album was polled in 1998 as the 10th on the list of 100 Greatest Yugoslav Rock and Pop Albums in the book ' (YU 100: The Best Albums of Yugoslav Pop and Rock Music).
In 2015, the album was pronounced the 15th on the list of 100 Greatest Yugoslav Albums published by Croatian edition of Rolling Stone.
In 2000, the songs "Bitanga i princeza" and "Sve ÃÂe to, mila moja, prekriti ruzmarin, snjegovi i à ¡aà ¡" were polled as 14th and 17th respectively on the Rock Express Top 100 Yugoslav Rock Songs of All Times list. In 2006, "Sve ÃÂe to, mila moja, prekriti ruzmarin, snjegovi i à ¡aà ¡" was polled as 14th on the B92 Top 100 Domestic Songs list.