Saà ¡a Loà ¡ià"Loà ¡a" (; born 19 July 1964) is a Bosnian singer, guitarist, songwriter, composer and music producer currently residing in Slovenia. He is best known as the frontman of the highly popular pop rock band Plavi Orkestar.
Loà ¡iàstarted his musical career at the age of sixteen, forming Plavi Orkestar with a group of Sarajevo teenagers. The group gained nationwide popularity with their folk-influenced pop rock debut Soldatski bal, released in 1985, with Loà ¡iàand rest of the members rising to the status of Yugoslav teen stars, despite mixed reactions to the album coming from the country's music press. On their following release, 1986 album Smrt faà ¡izmu!, Plavi Orkestar presented themselves with the New Partisans concept, to general dislike of the critics and lukewarm reaction of the group's fans. The band turned towards sentimental pop rock with their following two releases, scoring a number of hit songs. Plavi Orkestar disbanded with the outbreak of the Bosnian War in 1992, with Loà ¡iàemigrating to Slovenia. During the 1990s, he wrote songs for other artists, including Crvena Jabuka, Severina, Rade à  erbedà ¾ija and Tanja RibiÃÂ, and started composing for theatre and cinema. In 1998, Plavi Orkestar reunited, seeing renewed popularity in former Yugoslav republics. Up to date, Loà ¡iàhas released 7 studio albums with Plavi Orkestar and has composed music for 12 feature films, two television shows and a number of short films and theatre plays. He has performed his film music live with his Saà ¡a Loà ¡iàFilm Orchestra.
Loà ¡iàstarted his musical career in 1981 as a gymnasium student, forming the band à  evin Orkestar (The Lark's Orchestra) with guitarist SrÃÂan Kroà ¡njar, bass guitarist Gordan Dà ¾amonja and drummer Admir ÃÂeremida "ÃÂera II". The following year, the four teenagers changed their name to Plavi Orkestar. In 1983, the four were joined by experienced guitarist Mladen PaviÃÂià"Pava". The band got a steady lineup in late 1983, with the departure of Kroà ¡njar and Dà ¾amonja and the arrival of Admir ÃÂeremida's twin brother, bass guitarist Samir ÃÂeremida "ÃÂera I". In the early stage of their career, Plavi Orkestar were associated with the New Primitivism subcultural movement, but after working with manager Goran MariÃÂ, alias Malkolm Muharem, they turned towards commercial folk-influenced pop rock and power pop sound. Their debut album Soldatski bal (Soldier's Ball), released in 1985, saw mixed reactions by the Yugoslav music critics, but achieved large success with the country's teen audience, becoming the best-selling debut album in the history of Yugoslav popular music, and placing Plavi Orkestar alongside other mega-selling acts of the Yugoslav rock scene like Bijelo Dugme, Riblja ÃÂorba and Bajaga i Instruktori. In 1986, the band released the album Smrt faà ¡izmu! (Death to Fascism!), presenting themselves with the New Partisans concept, featuring lyrics and imagery inspired by Yugoslav Partisans and Yugoslavism. The album was generally disliked by the critics and was met with lukewarm reactions from the band's former fans, the members ending their cooperation with Malkolm Muharem and deciding to make a discographic hiatus. With the album Sunce na prozoru (Sun on the window), released in 1989, the band turned to sentimental pop rock sound. Despite not repeating the nationwide success of the group's first album, Sunce na prozoru and their following release, the 1991 album Simpatija (Crush), brought a number of hit songs. The outbreak of the Bosnian War in 1992 forced the band members to end their activity, with Loà ¡iàemigrating to Slovenia.
In 1998, Plavi Orkestar reunited in Slovenia, featuring Loà ¡iÃÂ, ÃÂeremida brothers and new guitarist Saà ¡a Zalepugin. The band's 1998 comeback album Longplay was well-received in former Yugoslav republics. The band continued to perform and record new material, releasing two more studio albums since.
Loà ¡iàbegan writing for other artists in 1988, with the song "Hvala ti, nebo" ("Thank You, Heaven"), composed on Marina TucakoviÃÂ's lyrics for Zdravko ÃÂoliÃÂ's 1988 self-titled album. After emigrating to Slovenia in 1992, Loà ¡iàstarted a career in design and marketing. He continued to compose, writing several songs for Crvena Jabuka, another popular pop rock band whose members emigrated from Sarajevo with the beginning of the Bosnian War, reforming the group in Croatia. The songs were released on Crvena Jabuka's 1995 album U tvojim oÃÂima (In Your Eyes), and Loà ¡iàjoined the group on their promotional tour as a guest. Loà ¡iàalso wrote songs for Croatian pop singer Severina and for the 1996 album Zaboravi (Forget) by actor and singer Rade à  erbedà ¾ija. He wrote several songs for the 1998 album Ko vse utihne (When Everything Goes Quiet) by Slovenian actress and singer Tanja RibiÃÂ, including the song "Zbudi se" ("Wake Up"), with which Ribiàrepresented Slovenia at the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest. He wrote the hit "Jagode i ÃÂokolada" ("Strawberries and Chocolate") for Croatian pop rock band ÃÂavoli, released on their 1998 album Space Twist.
Loà ¡iàhas composed music for a number of theatre plays, including Elvis de Luxe performed by Grapefruit theatre troupe, for Slovenian productions of Romeo and Juliet, Mother Courage and Her Children, Lemonade and other plays.
He debuted as a film score composer with music for Andrej Koà ¡ak's 1997 film Outsider. He has since written music for 11 more feature films, most prominently Andrej Koà ¡ak's Headnoise (2002), Pjer à ½alica's Fuse (2003)âÂÂin which he also played a minor roleâÂÂand Days and Hours (2004), Branko ÃÂuriÃÂ's Cheese and Jam (2003), SrÃÂan VuletiÃÂ's It's Hard to Be Nice (2007), Marko Naberà ¡nik's Rooster's Breakfast (2007) and Shanghai Gypsy (2012), and omnibus film Sex, Drink and Bloodshed (2004). Commercially most successful was the soundtrack for Fuse, released on the soundtrack album Gori vatra (the film's original title). The album brought the hit song "Iznad Teà ¡nja zora sviÃÂe" ("The Day Is Dawning Over Teà ¡anj"), as well as a cover of Plavi Orkestar's early hit "Suada" performed by folk singer à  erif KonjeviÃÂ.
In his feature film scores, Loà ¡iàhas cooperated with numerous prominent musicians including singer and guitarist MomÃÂilo BajagiàBajaga, guitarist and singer Vlatko Stefanovski, violinist Jovan Kolundà ¾ija, singers Rade à  erbedà ¾ija, Zdravko ÃÂoliÃÂ, Dado TopiÃÂ, Branko ÃÂuriÃÂ, Tanja RibiÃÂ, Severina, Helena Blagne, Usnija Redà ¾epova, Halid Beà ¡liÃÂ, Candan Ercetin, and others. In 2004, during the Sarajevo Film Festival, he debuted with his Saà ¡a Loà ¡iàFilm Orchestra, holding a concert of his film scores entitled Hotel Evropa (Hotel Europe) in National Theatre in Sarajevo. The concert featured appearances by singers Halid Beà ¡liÃÂ, Hanka Paldum, Leo Martin and others.
Loà ¡iÃÂ's music was featured in the television series VratiÃÂe se rode (The Storks Will Return) alongside music of other composers, appearing on the 2008 soundtrack album VratiÃÂe se rode. He composed music for the television series à ½igosani u reketu (Branded in the racket).
In 2015, Soldatski bal was polled No.97 on the list of 100 Greatest Yugoslav Albums published by the Croatian edition of Rolling Stone.
In 2000, Plavi Orkestar song "Bolje biti pijan nego star" was polled No.75 on the Rock Express Top 100 Yugoslav Rock Songs of All Times list. In 2006, the band's song "Goodbye Teens" was polled No.97 on the B92 Top 100 Domestic Songs list.