Bajagić's beginnings and career with Riblja Čorba Momčilo Bajagić "Bajaga" started his musical career in 1974, at age 14, as vocalist for the band TNT. He wrote his first lyrics as a TNT member, for their song "Dvadeseta noć" ("Twentieth Night").
1980s During his time in Riblja Čorba, Bajagić wrote a large number of humorous pop-oriented songs that did not fit into Riblja Čorba's
hard rock sound and social-related lyrics. The album featured the
anti-drug song "Znam čoveka" ("I Know a Man"), dedicated to Dragan Đerić "Đera", Bajagić's former bandmate from Ofi and Glogov Kolac. Bajagić's former bandmate from the band Ofi, a former Mačori member and an actor in the
amateur theatre Teatar levo), keyboardist Dragan Mitrić (a former Bulevar and
Propaganda member) and Kornelije Kovač, During their staying in Zagreb, Bajagić and Cukić appeared as guests on the recording of
Parni Valjak album
Uhvati ritam (
Get into the Rhythm), singing backing vocals on the title track, as a sign of gratitude to Parni Valjak for lending them a piece of drum kit for their first concert.
Sa druge strane jastuka was the band's first album to feature Milenković as an author: he co-wrote the song "Francuska ljubavna revolucija" ("French Love Revolution") with Bajagić. The band chose "Zažmuri" as a single for the
music chart TV show
Hit meseca (
Hit of the Month), much to dissatisfaction of the editors of their record label,
PGP-RTB, who insisted on a fast-tempo song. "Zažmuri" eventually climbed to the top of the
Hit meseca chart. In March 1985 Bajaga i Instruktori presented their new songs to the Zagreb audience in Kulušić club, as a part of the
BG-ZG: Bolje vas našli (
Belgrade-Zagreb: Happy to Be Here) action. The band went on a successful Yugoslav tour, on which they held two concerts in
Tašmajdan Stadium, on 8 and 9 June. For both of the concerts the Stadium was sold out, and on the first one the band played during pouring rain. The
soundcheck, during which Yugoslav technicians played
Bruce Springsteen and
Pink Floyd songs, attracted some 100,000 people to the location. Bajaga i Instruktori opened the concert, however, after some time, the police started to beat the ecstatic audience, and the concert was interrupted by the Soviet officials, so Bijelo Dugme did not have the opportunity to go out on the stage. Fearing new riots, the Moscow authorities scheduled the second concert in Dinamo Hall, and the third one in the Moscow Green Theatre. The first one, held on 30 July, was attended by about 2,000 uninterested factory workers, and the second one, held on 2 August and also featuring British bands
Misty in Roots and
Everything but the Girl, by about 10,000 young activists with special passes. At the end of the year the band was awarded with the 25 May Plaque by the
League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia. To promote the album, the band recorded a cover of
The Beatles song "
All You Need Is Love", entitled "All You Need Is Love (verzija 1986)" ("All You Need Is Love (Version 1986)"), which was released on a
7-inch single given as a gift with an issue of
Rock magazine. The B-side featured
audio clips from the
Jahači magle songs. The single was printed in 99,999 copies, which was the circulation of
Rock magazine. was produced by Saša Habić. During the tour that followed the album release, the band held two sold-out concerts in Belgrade's
Pionir Hall.
1990s In 1991 the band released the
EP Četiri godišnja doba (
Four Seasons), which featured the songs "Uspavanka" ("Lullaby"), "Buđenje ranog proleća" ("Awakening of the Early Spring"), "Dobro jutro" ("Good Morning"), and "U koži krokodila" ("In Crocodile Skin"). In 1993 Bajaga i Instruktori released the album
Muzika na struju (
Electric Music). – erupted. Bajagić excluded Stamatović and Golubović from the group, which led to Bajaga i Instruktori ending their activity. In 2001 the band released the album
Zmaj od Noćaja (
Dragon of Noćaj), recorded with the new guitarist, Ljubiša "Buba" Opačić (previously a member of several less-known bands), and produced by Saša Habić. In 2002 the band released the album
Best of Live, which featured recordings from their concerts in Belgrade,
Ljubljana, Zagreb, Timișoara,
Skopje and
Niš. In 2004 Lokner released the solo album entitled
Evropa Electro Exprees (
Europe Electro Express). In 2008 the band recorded two new songs: "Bežiš od mene ljubavi" ("You're Running Away from Me, My Love") and "A ti se nećeš vratiti" ("And You're not Coming Back"), the latter featuring guest appearance by
Plavi Orkestar frontman
Saša Lošić, for the TV show
Vratiće se rode (
The Storks Will Be Back). On 28 September 2008 Opačić died in
Maribor, in a hotel room after the band's concert. He was replaced by former
VROOM guitarist Marko Nježić. In December 2009 the band celebrated 25 years of existence with three concerts held in Belgrade's
Sava Centar. During the same year they performed in the United States, in
Boston, New York City (in
Cooper Union Great Hall),
Montreal, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago, and director Miloš Jovanović recorded a documentary about the band entitled
Muzika na struju.
2010s In 2010
PGP-RTS released the
box set entitled
Antologija (
Anthology), featuring remastered editions of the first four Bajaga i Instruktori studio albums. On 6 June 2012 the band released the studio album
Daljina, dim i prašina (
Distance, Smoke and Dust). The album, which ended up selling around 30,000 copies according to frontman Bajaga himself, was announced by the singles "Ako treba da je kraj" ("If It Should Be the End") and "Vreme" ("Time"), and featured a new version of "Bežiš od mene, ljubavi" and a version of the song "Od sumraka do svitanja" ("From Dusk till Dawn"), written by Bajagić and originally recorded by pop singer
Karolina Gočeva in 2005. The album was released with the book of Bajagić's poetry entitled
Vodič kroz snove (
Guide through Dreams). The book featured lyrics Bajagić had written for Bajaga i Instruktori and his solo albums, as well as for other artists, with accompanying texts by playwright and
academic Dušan Kovačević,
Belgrade University professor
Aleksandar Jerkov and journalist
Peca Popović. In November the band released the video for the album title track, featuring actor
Srđan Todorović. On 19 April 2013 the band performed in
Poland for the first time. The band performed in Proxima Club in
Warsaw, and the concert featured guest appearance by Polish singer
Maciej Maleńczuk, who, in 2011, covered Bajaga i Instruktori 1988 song "Verujem – Ne verujem" ("I Believe – I Don't Believe"), his version entitled "Ostatnia nocka" ("Last Night"). On 26 June 2013 the band held a concert at Belgrade
Kalemegdan Fortress in front of 30,000 spectators, as a part of
Daljina, dim i prašina promotional tour. The concert featured Shark, Snakes and Planes,
Eva Braun and
Bombaj Štampa as the opening bands, and actor and drummer
Srđan Todorović,
YU Grupa bass guitarist
Žika Jelić and
Plavi Orkestar frontman
Saša Lošić "Loša" as special guests. The concert was preceded by ''Meet Belgrade from Bajaga's Songs
contest organized by Long Play concert agency and Tourist Organization of Belgrade. On 12 June the winners of the contest toured Belgrade with rock journalist Peca Popović, visiting locations mentioned in Bajaga and Instruktori songs, and at Topčider the winners were welcomed by Bajagić. In August 2013 Daljina, dim i prašina'' was released on
vinyl, in a limited number of 200 copies only, each one signed by Bajagić. In 2014 the band started a tour with which they celebrated 30 years since the formation of the band and the release of their debut album. The tour included three concerts in
Tvornica kulture in Zagreb, In April 2018 Bajaga i Instruktori released their twelfth studio album,
U sali lom (
Rumpus in the Hall). The album was produced by Saša Habić and post-produced in London's
Abbey Road Studios and co-released by PGP-RTS and
Croatia Records. It featured
Neverne Bebe member Saša Ranđelović "Ranđa" on guitar, singer-songwriter
Nikola Vranjković on guitar,
Majke member Davor Rodik on
pedal steel guitar and Marko Kuzmanović on drums as guests. Croatian rock band
Hladno Pivo was invited as a replacement, but refused to perform as a sign of support for Bajaga i Instruktori.
U sali lom was followed by the live album
U Puli lom – Live at Arena (
Rumpus in Pula – Live at Arena), recorded on the band's concert at
Pula Arena on 11 August 2019. The video recording of the concert was released on
Blu-ray 2020s In September 2020 the band released their thirteenth studio album, entitled
Ovaj svet se menja (
This World Is Changing). The album was produced by Saša Habić and co-released by PGP-RTS and Croatia Records. The album featured a new version of the song "Ni na nebu ni na zemlji", a new version of the
Otvorena vrata theme song, and a new version of the song "Mladost" ("Youth"), originally written for the theatre play
Ženidba i udadba (
Marriage), with altered lyrics dedicated to deceased singer-songwriter
Arsen Dedić. During the year the band released the live album
Koncert Bajaga I Instruktori – Tašmajdan 2021 (
Bajaga i Instruktori Concert – Tašmajdan 2021), recorded on the concert held on Tašmajdan Stadium on 16 July 2021. The album was released in digital form only. During the year Bajagić composed four songs on
Dušan Kovačević's lyrics and instrumental music for Kovačević's film
Nije loše biti čovek (''It's Not Bad to Be Human
). The compositions were released on the soundtrack album Nije loše biti čovek
, featuring singer and actress Lena Kovačević and actor Gordan Kičić on vocals. In 2022 Croatia Records and PGP-RTS released the double live album Koncert za rock grupu, orkestar i zbor – Sava Centar 2019. Live (Concert for Rock Band, Orchestra and Choir –
Sava Centar 2019 Live''), recorded on the concert the band held On 6 December 2019 in Sava Centar with the orchestra Beogradski solisti and the choir Lola. The concert was also released on Blu-ray. In March 2023, Miroslav Cvetković and Čedomir Macura left the band. Cvetković, who was a forming member of the band, stated that he decided to retire from performing due to the fact that he had recently turned 70, while Macura's decision was influenced by the desire to dedicate himself to his new business and spend more time with his family. They were replaced by bass guitarist Vladimir Čukić and drummer Marko Kuzmanović. The new members debuted on two club performances the band held in Belgrade's Bitef Art Cafe at the end of March 2023. == Legacy ==