Rani Mraz

Rani Mraz (Serbian Cyrillic: Рани Мраз; trans. Early Frost) were a former Yugoslav rock band from Novi Sad, formed in 1977 by former Žetva member Đorđe Balašević. During the initial period, the band went through several lineup changes, until Balašević and female singer Biljana Krstić remained the only official members of the band. The two released two studio albums under the name Rani Mraz, before officially dissolving in 1981.

Band history

Rani Mraz was formed at the end of 1977 by former Žetva members Đorđe Balašević and female vocalist Verica Todorović. The first lineup of the band also featured the guitarist Vladimir Knežević "Knez". The band had their first public appearance in December 1977 at the Sportsman of the Year Award ceremony, held in Belgrade's Pionir Hall, where they performed Žetva hit "U razdeljak te ljubim" ("I Lay a Kiss on Your Parting"), with alternative lyrics and entitled "U levicu te ljubim" ("I Lay a Kiss on Your Left Hand"), dedicating it to boxer Mate Parlov. Soon after, Balašević was invited to appear in Radio Novi Sad, to record one of his songs, which would represent Radio Novi Sad on the 1978 Opatija Festival. The song chosen was "Moja prva ljubav" ("My First Love"), and it was recorded with the members of the band Neoplanti, as Rani Mraz was still lacking members. The single cover featured, beside Balašević, Todorović and Knežević, Balašević's friend Slobodan Pavković, a football player at the time playing for FK Novi Sad. Although Rani Mraz did not win the festival, the song became a hit, and the single, released by Jugoton, was sold in more than 130,000 copies.

Rani mraz (album)

Rani mraz (trans. Early Frost) is the twelfth studio album released by Serbian and former Yugoslav singer-songwriter Đorđe Balašević. The title refers to Balašević's former band Rani Mraz.

The album's subtitle was Priča o Vasi Ladačkom.../Muzika iz nesnimljenog filma (Story of Vasa Ladački.../Music from the Film that was not Filmed) referring to Rani Mraz 1980 ballad "Priča o Vasi Ladačkom" which went on to become one of Balašević's signature pieces, and to the film which should have been based on the song and filmed by Balašević and actor and film director Ljubiša Samardžić (the disagreement between Balašević and Samardžić led to two films based on the same story: Samardžić's entitled Jesen stiže, dunjo moja, released in 2004, and Balašević's Kao rani mraz, released in 2010).

Rani mraz features folk rock sound with acoustic instruments, similar to the sound of Balašević's 1996 album Na posletku....

The album featured new studio version of the song "Priča o Vasi Ladačkom" (entitled "Priča o Vasi L."). This is the third version of the song, the first one being the 1980 version from Rani Mraz album Odlazi cirkus, and the second being the version from Balašević's 2003 compilation album Ostaće okrugli trag na mestu šatre. The album's opening track "Pričica o Vasi L." is an instrumental track based on "Priča o Vasi Ladačkom".