1978–1981 The formation of Metak was initiated in the spring of 1978 by bass guitarist
Mirko Krstičević (formerly of the band Che) and poet and journalist Momčilo Popadić. The first lineup of the band also featured
Sarajevo-born vocalist and guitarist Ranko Boban (formerly of the groups Ajan and Vozdra) and drummer
Matko Jelavić. The band had their first live appearance at the 1978
Split Festival, on which they performed the song "Šijavica" ("
Morra") and "Gastarbajterska balada" ("
Gastarbeiter Ballad"), the two songs soon after appearing on a
7-inch single. Metak continued their activity without him, with Brodarić taking over the role of the band's vocalist and his brother Zlatko Brodarić (guitar) and Doris Tomić (keyboards) joining the group as the new members. In 1979, the band released their first studio album, entitled
U tetrapaku (
In Tetrapak). After the recording sessions were finished, Željko Broadrić went to serve his mandatory stint in the
Yugoslav People's Army, and the album was released in 1981 during his absence. It brought well-received songs "Split at Night", "On voli strip junake" ("He Likes Comic Book Heroes") and guitar instrumental "Bijela soba" ("White Room"). At the end of 1981, the band ended their activity.
Post breakup Željko Brodarić would continue his career by releasing the solo album
Majmuni (
Monkeys) in 1982. The album featured the songs originally written for Metak's never-recorded third studio album. During the 1980s, he produced albums by prominent Yugoslav acts like
Haustor,
Regata,
Animatori,
D' Boys,
Đavoli,
Crvena Jabuka and others. After living in
Italy and
England during the 1990s, he returned to Split, starting his
jazz fusion trio Jappa Band in 2008. Since 2016, he has been performing with his daughter Sara Brodarić Ševgić under the name Sara & Jappa. Krstičević continued his career as a composer of
film and
theatre music. Zlatko Brodarić continued as a studio musician. He has released six solo albums of instrumental music:
Between Perpendiculars (2000),
Going West Looking East (2002), ''It's Chemical
(2004), Dalmacija na gitari
(Dalmatia on Guitar
, 2021), Acoustic Guitar Vol.1
(2022) and Acoustic Guitar Vol.2
(2022), the latter three released on Bandcamp. With his sons Gogi (drums) and Luka (bass guitar) he formed the band Dva Brata i Tata
(Two Brothers and Dad''). Jelavić continued his career as a
pop singer-songwriter, releasing a number of successful albums. After Metak disbanded, Popadić continued to write lyrics for other artists, publishing one more book of poems and a book of
autobiographical prose,
essays and
dramas. He died in Split on 20 November 1990. On 30 July 2005, a group of musicians from Split, including the Brodarić brothers, performed songs with Popadić's lyrics on a concert the recording of which was released on the album
Čovik od soli 2 (
Man Made of Salt 2) in 2006. The double compilation album
Gold Collection, released by
Croatia Records in 2017, features songs by various artists with lyrics written by Popadić. He was the subject of Toni Volarić's 2017 documentary film
Pope, vrati se (
Pop, Come Back). In 2019, Croatia record released the five-piece
box set Splitska djeca – od zidića do vječnosti (
Children of Split - From Little Wall to Eternity), featuring a previously unreleased live version of "Da mi je biti morski pas". ==Legacy==