Riblja Čorba, one of the most beloved and influential bands to come out of the former common state of Yugoslavia, announced on its official Facebook profile (the original is at the bottom) that Bora Đorđević has passed away!
Back on August 20, Riblja Čorba had posted on their Facebook profile that doctors had strictly ordered Bora not to travel until further notice and not to put himself through any strenuous activity, as he was suffering from severe pneumonia, which came with a worsening of his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Who doesn’t know Bora Čorba? He’s one of the most influential songwriters in the history of the Serbian and Yugoslav rock scene. The sharpness of that one-of-a-kind, sparkling mind spoke to people endlessly! The poetry left behind by that famous, throaty baritone is nothing short of unbelievable, and special for its unique, metaphorical black sarcasm, loaded with vivid humor that turned the troubles of the little guy into a critique of the social system.
Bora started his first band (Hermelini) at just 13, but as a teenager he also strayed into petty delinquency, falling in with similar buddies who broke into apartments and stole, among other things to scrape together money for music gear. After three years he was finally arrested and, released from custody after a week, he was immediately expelled from grammar school.
At 19, after his family moved from his native Čačak to Belgrade, he spent some time as an extra in various plays at a Belgrade theater.
In the spring of 1973 he co-founded the band Zajedno, and their first recordings came out on the label PGB RTB, a vinyl single called Vizija (with Goro moja as the B-side). The single was released in 1974. Around then Bora kept busy with other gigs too. He was part of the production team of “Veče uz radio” on Radio Beograd, tried his hand as a music critic with reports from acoustic music festivals, and wrote pieces for Džuboks about the Yugoslav acoustic scene. He also recorded jingles for Beograd 202 and Studio B. At the end of 1974, Bora left Zajedno.
In early 1975 Đorđević formed Suncokret, a band focused on playing acoustic rock. Even then he was winning people over with his humorous lyrics, which went hand in hand with the group’s folk rock repertoire. Suncokret worked with Zoran Modli. Under the name Hajduk Stanko i Jataci they put out the joint single “Na putu za Stambol / Anđelija, čuvaj se Turaka”, and under the name Zoran Modli i Suncokreti, the single “Rock and roll duku duku / Gili, gili bluz” followed later. Three more singles and the album Moje bube” came after that.
After disagreements in the band, which didn’t want to go along with recording the single Lutka sa naslovne strane, Đorđević joined Rani mraz, which also featured Đorđe Balašević. That short-lived lineup became cult mostly thanks to the single Računajte na nas, which soon turned into an anthem for Yugoslavia’s youth, as well as the two singles that followed, Oprosti mi Katrin and Život je more. Đorđević left the band after just a month and a half.
Bora went back to Belgrade and, together with members of SOS, founded the hard rock outfit Riblja Čorba — and from here on in this obituary it’s enough to just say, ‘the rest is history’. In 1979 Riblja Čorba released their debut “Kost u grlu”. Over 20 albums followed from one of the most important acts of the Yu-rock scene, and with it Bora carved out a lasting monument to himself as one of the most piercing, sharp-minded and influential artists in the former Yugoslavia.
Bora’s collaboration with Arsen Dedić was unforgettable too, when the two performed together on Belgrade’s Terazije in an “unplugged” setup, which gave us the famous bootleg “Arsen & Bora Čorba Unplugged `87”. Bora’s poetry evenings are, one way or another, a special “confessional massif” of his prolific creativity. In 1988, a recording of one of those evenings came out under the title “Bora priča gluposti”. Bora released his only solo studio album, “Njihovi dani”, in 1996, as a critique of Slobodan Milošević’s regime at the time.
Alongside his work in Riblja Čorba, Bora was involved in plenty of other musical projects. He recorded with artists such as Bijelo dugme, Balkan, Kerber, Zoran Predin, Arsen Dedić, Rambo Amadeus, Biljana Krstić and Dejan Cukić, among others. He also joined the recording of the compilation “Paket aranžman”. Bora wrote music for many other performers as well, including Zdravko Čolić, Bisera Veletanlić, Generacija 5, Đorđe Marjanović, Neda Ukraden, Rajko Kojić, Dušan Prelević, Oliver Mandić, Šaban Šaulić, Poslednja igra leptira, Denis & Denis, Viktorija, Željko Bebek, Lepa Brena, Ceca Ražnatović and Zana.
Bora was also known for his literary work. Over his career he published ten books, and for the latest one, “Pusto ostrvo”, he received the Andrić Award in 2018.
For the last ten years, Bora split his time between Ljubljana and Belgrade.
With the departure of this sparkling, fearlessly bold artistic jester, a true “doctor of language” and at once a sharp, uncompromising provocateur and merciless thunderer, an eternal void opens up across the Balkans. What remains is a legend’s extraordinary body of work, without equal, standing on a self-made throne from which thunder will keep rolling. From here into eternity! Farewell, Bora!
