Dorian Gray

Dorian Gray was an art rock band from Zagreb, formed in 1982 and led by the singer and guitarist Massimo Savić. The first line-up was Savić, Vedran Čupić on guitar, Emil Krnjić on bass, Toni Ostojić on keyboards and Branko Terzić on drums; it was Terzić who suggested the name, after Oscar Wilde's character. Influenced by Japan, Roxy Music, Talking Heads and David Bowie, they rehearsed and played their early gigs in the gallery of the Zagreb Student Centre.

After concerts in Croatia and Slovenia the band won critical acclaim across Yugoslavia and played the YURM (Yugoslav Rock Moment) festival. At the end of 1983 they recorded their debut album, Sjaj u tami, for Jugoton, produced by Saša Habić, with bassist Jadran Zdunić and saxophonist Miroslav Sedak Benčić as guests. Its title song, "Sjaj u tami", was a cover of the Walker Brothers' "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore", an idea of Jugoton editor Siniša Škarica, whom Savić's voice reminded of Scott Walker, and it became the band's breakthrough. The album also carried "Dugo si sam" and "Monstrum pored sna", released together as a single in 1984, and its sleeve by Sanja Bachrach and Mario Krištofić is still regarded as one of the standout record covers of the Yugoslav scene.

After the album Terzić, Čupić and Krnjić left. Zdunić joined on bass, with drummer Dragan Simonovski and guitarist Zoran Cvetković Zok, formerly of Prljavo Kazalište and Parni Valjak. The second album, Za tvoje oči, recorded in Sweden with producer Sjunne Ferger, came out in 1985 with "Ti si tu", "Vjeruj mi" and the title song "Za tvoje oči".

The Swedish sessions ended the band. The members used two and a half times as many studio days as Jugoton was willing to pay for, and the label asked them to cover the rest themselves; manager Marijan Crnarić booked 42 concerts across Yugoslavia, but they earned the musicians little more than their daily expenses, and in 1986 Dorian Gray split amid money troubles and mutual accusations. Massimo Savić went on to a successful solo career as a pop singer, winning eleven Porin awards for best male vocal performance. A later line-up released the album Dorian Gray on Croatia Records in 1997, without much success. Massimo Savić died in Zagreb on 23 December 2022.