Leo Martin is one of the leading singers of Yugoslav and Serbian popular music. Even today, at the age of seventy-three, as he did forty-five years ago when he started his singing career, he sings hits that are loved by both young and old. At the last concert, at the closing of Belef ten days ago, the more than full Trg Republike in Belgrade sang with him. The Odyssey, Good night, dear, good night dear, i love you, Once you fall in love, and other eternal songs. And, it was very nice.
"WEATHER": I have the impression that you had a good time too, that you felt good in the open space, in front of so many people.
LEO MARTIN: Yes, although I'm not a person for the open scene. My music is love, so a closed space is more suitable for it. However, it seems that I know how to draw people into the song - both on the Square and in the Sava Center. But I was still surprised by the atmosphere on the Square. That's right. And I didn't expect so many young people. Did you see that they know the lyrics? Better than me, because I sometimes had to look at the counter in front of me, to remind myself. Understandable, of course it goes with age.
An odyssey he is forty years old, and your other hits don't have much either, these are the favorite songs of those who grew up at that time, but covers of your songs are in the repertoire of young musicians.
My audience is one that likes to hear a good melody, a wide sound, good lyrics, and an interpretation with emotions. My audience is people with taste, regardless of age. You mentioned covers of my songs โ Good night, dear, good night, sweetheart performed by the band Lutke, and There is time for love. was covered by the group Laura in 2000. It made me happy, that these young musicians contacted me and asked if they could make their own arrangements of my songs. I was happy that they gave them their energy and made them new, but of course also that they chose my songs. And for showing that they have lasting value.
It must be said that it is before all your other songs, however An odyssey timeless song. What's strange?, because it is not a light song after all, it is not...
Yes, it is philosophical, instructive, it is all from proverbs: "no one knows what the day brings" and "every morning leaves a mark in our hair". But she is also very emotional. That's why it lasts. Although it was intended for me, it was sung for the first time by Dalibor Brun, an excellent singer, at the Opatija Festival in 1973, where the SFRY entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest was selected. You probably know the story, a scandal broke out because of my name: the festival received a directive that I had to participate as Misa Joviฤ, under the name from my ID card. I refused because my stage name is Leo Martin and, whenever I'm on stage, that's what I want to call myself. I asked for that too The Odyssey I also sing in English. But right after the festival I recorded a single An odyssey for PGP, and within a week it sold 100.000 copies! As soon as I returned to Yugoslavia in 1969, some people were immediately bothered by my name, so they Songs of summer they asked me to sing like Misa Joviฤ. But Sava Mrmak, then director Songs of summer, he asked: "People, who are we really hiring, Leo Martin or Mischa Jovic?"
You are, in fact, began his singing career in Yugoslavia as a foreign singer?
Yes, I came as a trained singer from Germany. Here I finished music school, clarinet and piano, and later I learned to play tenor saxophone and flute. I started as an instrumentalist, not a singer. I followed our famous singers with I play the banjo.. At that time we had two Dixieland orchestras - Seven young people i Merry banjo. I then made my VIS Express 8, there were so many of us. At that time I started listening to Ray Charles, and realized that the voice is the most beautiful instrument after all. I didn't study singing, but I chose a good teacher, Ray Charles. I didn't imitate him, I just learned from him what good singing and interpretation are. The great learning of music is listening to music, that is the rule. Of course, you need to be a literate musician, 99 percent of our singers are musically illiterate. So, there, in Germany, I became Leo Martin. I filmed for CBS abroad, met many male and female singers, was young, beautiful, handsome and smart, and I didn't sing badly either. My first record Let me stay. was a hit in Europe at the beginning of 1968, so it arrived in Yugoslavia as a licensed edition. Participation in the aforementioned Songs of summer it helped me a lot, because thanks to that festival, the whole of Yugoslavia got to know me. It was a wonderful festival, the biggest ever made here: 30 days of concerts all over the countryโฆ
Festivals were holidays in Yugoslavia, social events, they dictated the taste, the singer's popularity depended on them...
Yes, the festivals were something wonderful, but Song of the summer was the most beautiful thing. I participated twice Songs of summer. Everything was there, we sang in stadiums in front of 50.000 people, we had fashion shows, each singer had his own car, his own driver and policeman...
Back then, pop music singers were respected, their profession was socially recognized.
And today it is derogatory to say that you are a singer! Back then it was highly valued, and not everyone could be a singer. There was filtering, and now my grandmother could make a record too, if only she had the moneyโฆ well, I would give her the moneyโฆ no, I wouldn't give the money for the record anyway. It was passed through various filters, that's why everything that was recorded then remains to this day. Everything was of high quality, the text, the arrangement, and the harmony - everything. When did the music start to go bad? So when the economic situation became bad. Music editors were valued and paid in my time. When salaries began to fall and become late, editors were tempted to accept a cash offer from someone who said, โMy girlfriend has a video, here you play it.โ Why is there an editor? To say he can do this and he can't do this. But, as we know, money spins where a drill won't... When people started to break down, music started to break down too. Money corrupts a man, but a man corrupts much faster when he doesn't have it. So the editor plays one bad song, then another, and - people get used to bad music. They say: the people want it. Not true! People listen to what is offered to them, and considering our education, the more down-to-earth the music, the more listeners there are. There was tent music before, but good, folk music was sung, and now it's like you're in Turkey. Before, when you travel and enter Yugoslavia, you know by the music on the radio that you have crossed the border, but today you think you are in Turkey or Greece. What we used to call "folk music", today they call it "turbo-folk". Not even the name is ours, let alone the music!
Recently Spring in Belgrade, a replica of the former festival Belgrade Spring, it tried to remind us of the good, quality music, you were also among the participants.
But that's not - that. A festival, to be a real festival, requires glamour. And glamor requires money. And there is no money. Belgrade used to live for Belgrade SpringHow many hits did I have on In the spring! Spring, Opatija, Split, Hit of the season in Sarajevo, my favorite after Spring โ those were festivals. At Hit of the season I received the award for the first time. Me in a blue uniform, I was a soldier, in Sarajevo in 1971 I got Golden microphone for the song Blue Coast! There are no such festivals anymore. There is an attempt to revive the festival Youth in Subotica. He used to be very good, he promoted many famous singers, Kemal Monteno started there. The festival has existed for two years, it is international, but it is difficult to organize it. Gabor Lenฤel โ composer, conducted Heavy industry from Sarajevo, he composed Indexes You were my best friend. - now he, with the help of Bata Kovaฤ and me, is trying to bring back that festival so that young people have a place to show themselves. But it only has municipal support. He asked for modest funds from the Ministry of Culture, but they did not even respond. The Minister of Culture probably thinks that culture is only the Belgrade Philharmonic, and that everything else is entertainment. Entertainment is one of the most important segments of culture, but for the minister it is not important. It's great, because that's where young people get a chance to show up, so that RTS records it, so that everyone can see it. But who still thinks about the youth in this country. Today, everything is just politics. And culture is politics. And that's bad. When everything becomes politics, then it is not good. What are artists looking for in politics? Benefits for themselves, that's what they're looking for!
Maybe they are trying to solve some life issues for all their colleagues, for example the copyright problem.
Really? I didn't notice. Copyrights are of no use here, and until the nineties everything was regulated like in the West. We had a system. In the 100s, the systemic organization of the country was destroyed. ZAMP, the Institute for the Protection of Small Rights, used to have a system network throughout Yugoslavia. My song could be sung in some inn in the mountains, the owner of that inn had to fill out an application that my song was sung so many times. If he doesn't pay the copyright, he goes to court. There is no such thing today. No system! That's why the authors don't compose anything anymore, they know that in a year they will get paid even though their songs are playing in every cafe. I receive XNUMX euros per year in the name of copyright. Funny! I'm telling you, the system is broken.
I remember, concerts used to be mixed, a pop singer and a folk singer, so I mostly went on tours with Tozovac. The practice was that before the concert, someone from the ZAMP office in that city would come to you and bring a form to enter the concert program: song name, artist, author - all. We arrived in Skopje once from Pristina, but no one from ZAMP came there. We return to Belgrade, three months pass, and I receive a court summons! They say, I didn't pay the copyright, I didn't fill out the ZAMP form, and someone said that we sang wildly. They don't care that no one brought us the form! That's how it was. It's not a lot of money, but when you collect the money for all the concerts in 365 days, it's a lot of money. Well, it's a system. That doesn't exist today.
You mention the nineties., you decided not to sing because of the war conflicts here. Why, so you were in your prime?
So what, you were also in your best years then - although you are still in your best years now. That damned war ate your best years, not only mine, but all of us! Yes, I haven't sung in seven years. I didn't feel like singing. Vojkan Borisavljeviฤ only persuaded me in 1997 and we recorded a concert for TV Belgrade in the Student Cultural Center, which is still being played today. Then I released a compilation disc, and miraculously it sold well, I guess there was no YouTube yet.
You felt sorry for Yugoslavia.?
I was sorry people! It was a tragedy! Nobody is better off today, neither the Croats, nor the Slovenes. They say it themselves. We all lived better then. But politics is a miracle. We could have entered Europe that way back in 1992-93. year, and now, when will we? Whose gratification of vanity and claustrophobia was it? Many of my friends died. A great tragedy. A big one. Irreparable. Now it is said that people have forgotten. They didn't! Everything is known, everything: who said what, who was the instigator, everything! Six years ago, I was in Sarajevo for the first time after the war, I was a guest of the Film Festival, and I didn't know how they would react. I am one of the founders of their music production, Milan Stupar was the editor, and Esad Arnautaliฤ conducted the big orchestra. I used to be popular there too, but still I wasn't sure what would await me. However, it was touching, everyone came, including Kemal Monteno and Halid Beลกliฤ, all singers of fun and folk music. It is sad that what happened in Sarajevo will never be forgiven by the people of Sarajevo. That survival, that you surround the city and whatever moves on the street, you shoot. It's a tragedy.
If you stayed abroad, now you and i wouldn't talk, nor would you think of war, about copyright and similar problems.
If I had stayed abroad, as my career had taken off, I would surely have been a millionaire. But I came back because I wanted to live more comfortably. At the same time, I never wanted to be a millionaire because I could have everything I wanted even without it. Someone says: if I had a million euros, I would buy a house. But you don't need a million euros for a house. Then he says: I would also buy a car. Okay, but then again, a million euros is too much for you. Don't get me wrong: I've never hated money, because as far as I know, I've earned it very hard. Even as a high school student, I got up at four in the morning and delivered milk until seven, then to the high school, and then to the music school. But well, after I started playing at dance parties, life was better. Lazarac, the best dances and the best fights! Because of the girl, of course! The girls were really beautiful, no silicone, smart, educated, didn't bleat on rafts until five in the morning.
And today? How to make money today?
Well, at concerts. I have three, at most four concerts a month. People call me. I was in Dubrovnik, I was filming a show in Skopje. It's a big effort: two hours on stage. After every concert I lose three kilos, but it doesn't help, I live my life. In 2000, I stopped smoking for legitimate reasons, and then I put on ten kilos, so I'm not as good to watch as I was, but I'm still good to listen to. Although, you may not know, I was recently the star of the Paul Zillery fashion show - what can I tell you, check out what I looked like on YouTube. Please, but I am still 73 years old. I know, if I were a little thinner, that suit of theirs would fit me even better. And when I remember how I used to look... yes... May it be good, it's good now, let only health remain.
And good chanson. You remained consistent with her., although that form belongs to the classics of fun music, past tense.
Yes, I am a young singer from the last century! Chanson, or schlager, as I think is more appropriate, is also Sinatrin My Way or Strangers in the Night. It is essential for a hit song that the text has a message and that it has life. It's not enough just to have rhyming words, it's not enough just to say may-day-lay as it is thought today. The text must have a message and life. If it has that, and if the singer is good, then it's a real hit. When I say that a singer is good, I don't mean that he has a great voice, but that he has a soul. Let's say, Charles Aznavour has a weak voice, but he has soul, he has emotion, and that's why he's a great singer. There are many such examples in the world. Edith Piaf never got a tone right in her life, but it doesn't matter - she did her best. And that's why it's big! Our friend ฤorฤe Marjanoviฤ is the greatest pop singer and popular singer. He can't boast of a big voice, but he has that something in him, so he can bring every song right, the rest of us can't even come close to him.
You mention emotion and life as mandatory elements of a good song.
A man cannot sing a song without himself in it. Philip Belli, who is the author of the lyrics of most of my songs, allowed me to modify them according to myself, so that there is me and my life in each song. The only song where I didn't change anything is An odyssey. Sveta Vukoviฤ wrote the text, I already said that these are all proverbs, there is nothing to redo. Sveta also wrote i love you, and I edited that. So there is my life, not only yours. It is also there Kristina, so in Once you fall in love, Good night, dear. โ it's a song about divorce, in Good evening, my life, there are a lot of them. Maybe I can't say that I led a turbulent life, but I lived a life, so it's normal for such a person to have various things happen.
Is there anyone today who can write and compose a song for you?
There is, of course not, but I don't know him. There is a great crisis of authorship, there are no composers, there are only copyists, Greek and Turkish music, they only copy. Although, it also has its own reason: who still needs a disc, when it's all on YouTube, everything is applauded. That's why I understand why Vojkan Borisavljeviฤ no longer composes, he is the author of my best songs, or Bata Kovaฤ. Some guy from Skopje almost won, I think on the X-factor, with mine Odysseus. Beautiful voice, excellent interpretation, but I was not happy. Because what will he do when there is no one to compose a good song for him? He will take something Turkish - he has to make money. Songs are forgotten after two and a half to three hours. The situation is pretty much nothing.
And what if the audience gets tired of always listening to the same songs at concerts that they have been listening to for years?
When someone asks me "what was the last thing you filmed", I say - the knee. My right knee hurts a little so I went to take a picture of it. What should I record when there is nothing to record? But I do concerts, and people listen to me. I have a lot of new recordings, however, everyone is waiting The OdysseyAnd then I sing. The Odyssey. The audience loves her, I love her, and we enjoy it.
You once stated "I love life." which is heard less and less. Does this mean you are satisfied with your life??
I really love him. I enjoy it! And as long as I live, I will be happy. Every day is a gift to me. And so should someone whose sixteenth birthday is today. Well, nobody is promised tomorrow. I'm telling you, I'm enjoying it. I'm looking forward to going shopping with the children after our conversation, and then we'll have a nice lunch... How can I not look forward to nice things?
It's my turn to ask you if you are planning a celebration, 45 years of singing career?
Yes... It should be in the Sava center again, like two years ago, but whether I will celebrate Valentine's Day this year or next, I'll see. A concert is not a cheap toy: a large orchestra, rehearsals, space, all of that has to be paid for. But there will be, surely they will, my voice and strength still serve me, there is no reason why it shouldn't be. Come.
