The beginnings: Ibn Tup (1973–1979) The band's beginnings can be tracked back to 1973, when Josip Sabo (guitar), Zlatko Karavla (drums), and Dušan Bečelić (bass guitar) started the band Ibn Tup. They chose the name for the band after a popular
comic book character. Later during the year, they released the 7-inch single with the songs "Njen tata" ("Her Dad") and "Događaj u Balkan ekspresu" ("An Event in Balkan Express"), through
Jugoton, and the
EP Da li bi mi dala? (
Would You Give to Me?), through
Diskos. At the beginning of 1979, Vince and Milošević left the band to serve their mandatory army stints, and the group was joined by keyboardist Zoran "Cokla" Stojšin. The band was initially named Bela Griva (
White Mane), after a
children's book by
French author
René Guillot, but the members soon decided to shorten the name to Griva. Soon after, Griva, as a support act, went on Vojvodina tour with
Divlje Jagode. After a short
Austrian tour and a performance on the Subotica Youth Festival, Griva ended their activity. The album featured a
Serbo-Croatian language cover of the hit song "
Gyöngyhajú lány" by
Hungarian band
Omega, Griva version entitled "Devojka biserne kose" ("The Girl With Pearly Hair"). The record brought the hits "Ti u Sarajevu, ja u Novom Sadu" ("You in
Sarajevo, Me in Novi Sad") and "Nekad sam mogao triput na dan" ("I Used to Be Able to Do It Three Times a Day"). In May 1988, Griva performed at the international rock festival in
Budapest, and after returning to Yugoslavia, they held a concert in
Spens Sports Center in
Novi Sad with
Osmi Putnik,
Viktorija and Alen Islamović appearing on the concert as guests. The band went on their last Yugoslav tour, ending their activity at the beginning of 1990. After the group disbanded, Karavla dedicated himself to work in studio and writing songs for Serbian folk singers. In 1991, he started recording the studio album
Pij, jedi, veseli se... (
Drink, Eat, Be Merry...), the recording of which, due to the outbreak of
Yugoslav Wars, lasted for more than year and a half, with former Griva members and other musicians taking part in the recording process. After Karavla finished the recording, he released the material under the Griva moniker in 1992 for the independent label Megaton, the album receiving very little attention of the audience and the media.
2002 reunion In September 2002,
One Records released the compilation album
Samo najbolje (
Only the Best), featuring previously unreleased ballad "Gde sam to pogrešio" ("Where Did I Go Wrong"), and in December of the same year, the band reunited for an
unplugged concert in Novi Sad. The concert, held on 18 December 2002 in Novi Sad's Studio M, featured most of the band's former members, accompanied by
Novi Sad Music Academy String Quartet and the
folk rock group
Apsolutno Romantično. The recording of the concert was self-released by the band in 2010 on the live album and the
DVD, both entitled
Vojvodino, Vojvodino, što si tako ravna. ==Discography==