Oliver Mandić

Oliver Mandić is a Serbian pop and rock musician, composer and producer, born in Užice on 13 July 1953. He played accordion and then piano as a boy, and after the family moved to Belgrade he was accepted at the Kornelije Stanković music school, which he left in 1969 for pop music. In the early 1970s he played keyboards in Belgrade bands and was called the wunderkind of the Belgrade scene; his short-lived jazz-rock band Oliver included members of Pop Mašina.

His solo career began in 1978 with "Ljuljaj me nežno", written with Marina Tucaković's lyrics. His school friend Slađana Milošević persuaded him to sing it himself, and it became a hit; Zdravko Čolić then invited him as a guest on his stadium tour. "Sutra imam prazan stan" and the ballad "Osloni se na mene" followed in 1979.

The debut album Probaj me (1981), produced by Peter MacTaggart, brought "Nije za nju" and "Samo nebo zna (Poludeću)", and the TV show Beograd noću that promoted it won the Rose d'Or at Montreux; his androgynous image caused a public stir. Zbog tebe bih tucao kamen (1982), with Bebi Dol on backing vocals, added "Smejem se, a plakao bih". With "Pomagajte drugovi" from Dođe mi da vrisnem tvoje ime (1985) he won MESAM, and that year he took part in YU Rock Misija.

Later he produced Boris Novković's album Jači od sudbine, and his title song for the film Poslednji krug u Monci, "Odlazim, a volim te", became a hit. In 2007 he returned with "Vreme za ljubav ističe", sung with Ceca, and in 2010 he wrote "Probudi se na čas" in memory of Toše Proeski.

The book YU 100 lists Probaj me at number 15 and Sve najbolje at 51 among the best Yugoslav pop and rock albums, and the B92 Top 100 domestic songs includes "Nije za nju", "Osloni se na mene" and "Smejem se, a plakao bih". His songs have been covered by Karizma and Viktorija, among others.