Tako

Tako came into existence after the original members of Opus disbanded. Bassist Dusan Cucuz decided to assemble a fresh group drawn to intricate rock textures and soon connected with Djordje Llijin in spring 1975. The two musicians exchanged their original pieces, agreed the songs complemented one another, and recruited Sava Bojic along with Milan Lolic to complete the first Tako lineup, a name that literally translates as “this way.”

Months of rehearsals and live shows produced initial recordings that found no takers among record labels. In November 1975 the quartet shared bills with several prominent Belgrade acts, opening doors to further studio work. Throughout 1976 the musicians developed additional material while sharpening their craft on stage until the guitarist entered military service and the drummer’s heavy drinking forced further changes. Miroslav Dukic and Slobodan Felekatovic stepped in as the new guitarist and drummer respectively.

This revised configuration debuted at a multi-band concert held at Pinki hall in Zemun, where Tako’s markedly different approach earned favorable responses from both audiences and reviewers. A strong showing at the Belgrade Summer Festival inside Dom Omladine (Youth Center) led to an open-air appearance before 100,000 spectators at Kosutnjak alongside other local acts. Those performances, together with additional shows especially in Subotica, secured the band’s debut LP deal with RTV Ljubljana; the tracks were captured and mixed inside thirty-six hours.

Preparations for a second album in 1979 encountered setbacks when Llijin developed arthritis. Tensions between Dukic and the remaining members prompted the guitarist to depart and start his own project, yet the split proved temporary and he soon returned. With the lineup restored, fresh ideas and daily rehearsals defined the ensuing period. Disillusioned with the working methods at another facility, Tako chose to track the follow-up record in a private studio. In September 1980 the group signed with RTB and resumed playing shows in Belgrade.

Early that same year the musicians participated in an exchange series that brought Belgrade bands to Zagreb and vice versa. Their set drew enthusiastic audience response, yet critics largely overlooked them amid a broader shift in attention toward punk and new wave. Combined with evolving personal circumstances, these factors culminated in Tako’s final concert at the Philosophy College in Belgrade. Felekatovic entered the army, Dukic moved into production and engineering, Llijin took up teaching and ethnographic work at a museum while also handling recording duties, and Cucuz began supplying sound equipment for local events.

Years later collector Thomas Werner, an enthusiast of the 1970s Yugoslav rock scene, proposed reissuing both albums and supplied the first master tapes, which the band had not possessed. In 1997 the Brazilian progressive-rock label Rock Symphony released both records.