In 1961, Simjanović was among the forming members of the beat band Siluete, in which he played the keyboards.[2] In 1963, he moved to the band Elipse.[2] With Elipse Simjanović achieved nationwide popularity.[4] The band's live performances and releases were praised by the Yugoslav music press, and Yugoslav media promoted rivalry between Elipse and Siluete, comparing it to the one between The Rolling Stones and The Beatles.[4][5] Elipse initially performed beat and rhythm and blues, and in 1968, with the arrival of African vocalist Edi Dekeng, added a brass section and moved towards soul music.[4] During their six-year career, Elipse held hundreds of concerts and performed as an opening band on The Searchers and The Hollies concerts in Yugoslavia.[4]
In 1967, Elipse appeared in the movies The Naughty Ones, directed by Kokan Rakonjac, and The Rats Woke Up, directed by Živojin Pavlović.[4]The Naughty Ones were the first Yugoslav and Balkan film to feature a performance of a rock band.[6] The music for the film was written by composer Zoran Hristić. As he lacked experience in composing popular music, he cooperated with Simjanović on the film score.[6] After this cooperation, Hristić persuaded Simjanović to quit his studies of law and to study music.[6]
With Elipse Simjanović released three EPs.[4] The band disbanded in 1968, when the band members decided to dedicate themselves to their studies.[4] Elipse songs released on the EPs, along with the unreleased material, appeared on the compilation album Elipse za prijatelje (1963-1968) (Elipse for Friends), released by Simjanović through his own independent record label Simke Music in 1999.[4]
Popular music composer (1968-1979)
After Elipse disbanded, Simjanović composed music for various popular music artists, including Seka Kojadinović, Dušan Prelević, Zdravo, and Zafir Hadžimanov and Senka Veletanlić.[2][7] In 1976, Simjanović wrote music for songs "Dalje, dalje" ("Further, Further") and "Gde je kraj snovima mojim" ("Where Do My Dreams End") on the lyrics of writers Milovan Vitezović and Ljubivoje Ršumović respectively; the songs were recorded by the long jumperNenad Stekić.[8] He also wrote arrangements for songs recorded by Olivera Katarina, Zafir Hadžimanov, Vlastimir Đuza Stojiljković and Senka Veletanlić.[7] At the end of 1970s, he stopped composing songs for popular music artists and dedicated himself to film, theatre and television music.[2]
Music composed for the films Special Education, Fragrance of Wild Flowers, National Class Category Up to 785 ccm, Sok od šljiva, Balkan Express, When Father Was Away on Business, Hard to Swallow, Guardian Angel, Balkan Express 2 and Cabaret Balkan were released on soundtrack albums.[1] For the recording of the soundtrack album for the film National Class Category Up to 785 ccm, a supergroup Mag (Wizard) was formed, consisting of former Korni Grupa member Josip Boček (guitar), former Elipse and Korni Grupa members Bojan Hreljac (bass guitar) and Vladimir "Furda" Furduj (drums), composer and former San member Sanja Ilić (keyboards) and composer and musician Sloba Marković (keyboards). Mag played the songs composed by Zoran Simjanović, with lyrics written by lyricist Marina Tucaković, and the vocals were recorded by popular Yugoslav singers Dado Topić, Oliver Dragojević, Slađana Milošević, Oliver Mandić, Zumreta Midžić "Zuzi" and the members of the band Laboratorija Zvuka.[10] Two of the songs written for the film, "Floyd", performed by Dado Topić, and "Zašto" ("Why"), performed by Oliver Dragojević, became nationwide hits.[2] For the film Hard to Swallow, Simjanović wrote new arrangements for the well-known themes like "My Bonnie", "El Cóndor Pasa", "Banana Boat Song", "Love Me Tender", "'O sole mio" and "O mladosti", and they were performed in the film by Romani orchestra Orkestar Lepog Jovice.[2] On the recording of Cabaret Balkan soundtrack, Simjanović played the keyboards, Zlatko Manojlović played the guitar, Bora Dugić played the flute, Branko Kamenković played the bouzouki, and Vlada Korać played the percussion.[2] The theme "Srbijanče" ("Little Serbian") was played by a Romani orchestra, and the song "Close Your Eyes to Pain" featured Israeli singer David D'Or as the vocalist and the author of the lyrics.[2] The soundtrack album opens with a narration by actor Ljuba Tadić.[2] In 1999, Simjanović released the compilation album Slike iz Sarajeva koje sam voleo (Images from Sarajevo which I Loved), featuring his compositions written for films shot in Sarajevo.[2] He released two box sets featuring his film music, Jedna tema jedan film / One Theme One Film (2002), and Pesme iz filmova (Songs from the Movies, 2006), the latter featuring four discs, each consisting of songs fitting in one of four genres – rock, pop, jazz and ethnic music.[1] Serbian jazz quartet NaissBlue recorded an album featuring covers of Simjanović's film themes, entitled The Art of Mr. Simjanović and released in 2017.[1]
During his career, Simjanović composed scores for over 20 theatre plays in various Belgrade theatres, as well as for the musicalsBeogradosti (the title being a word play which could be translated as Joys of Belgrade), Ribe u moru (The Fish in the Sea), Male tajne (Little Secrets) and several cabarets.[1][3] Simjanovć wrote music for Beogradosti on the lyrics of writer Milovan Vitezović. It was released in 1980 on the album of the same title.[11] With Italian director Paolo Magelli he worked on the Paris version of Machiavelli's The Mandrake, and after its success he cooperated with Magelli again, on the play The Straitjacket.[1] In 2010, Simjanović released the five-piece box set entitled Moje drage (My Darling Ones), featuring his music composed for theatre, accompanied by essays written by Vida Ognjenović, Paolo Magelli and Goran Marković.[1]
Academic career (1993-2021)
From 1993 until his death, Simjanović was a professor of applied music at the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade. From 1999 to 2002, he was giving lectures in the same field at the Belgrade Faculty of Music Arts[1] and from 2000 to 2002, at the University of Montenegro Music Academy in Cetinje, Montenegro. He also lectured at Dunav Film School, Post-Secondary School of Electrical Engineering and Braća Karić Academy of Fine Arts.[3]
In 1996, he published the book Primenjena muzika (Applied Music).[1] He wrote articles for Leksikon filmskih i televizijskih pojmova (Lexicon of Film and TV terms).[3] He collaborated in making of pedagogical music books for children with Lela Aleksić, Branka Cvejić and Zora Vasiljević.[3]
Other activities
In 2004, Simjanović published an autobiographical book entitled Kako sam postao (i prestao da budem) roker (How I Started (and Stopped) Being a Rocker).[1]
Simjanović first symphony, The Symphony of New Ideas, had its premiere at Belgrade Fortress on 14 July 2006. It was the first Serbian symphony written in the 21st century.[6]
During his career, Simjanović wrote music for over 500 television commercials.[1] Another significant contribution as a composer in the field of television was the theme for the newscast Dnevnik in 1979, recorded with the participation of members from Korni Grupa.[12]
In the films Special Education and National Class Category Up to 785 ccm he appeared in cameo roles.[1]
Award of the City of Belgrade for Radio, Television and Film Making for The Cordon music score and Jedna tema jedan film / One Theme One Film album (2002)[3]
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