Lapos - prvi novogoriški pop-rock band 

The music group Lapos from Nova Gorica represented an important local pop-rock band that was a regular presence at summer dances in Hotel Park and elsewhere.

The band Lapos was founded in 1971 in Anhovo. Apart from the saxophonist Silvio Brosche, all members of the ensemble were amateurs. Silvio Brosche was a well-known musician from the Gorizia area who, for his long-standing work in music pedagogy, introducing many students to professional musical careers and popularising different styles of music, received the France Bevk Award in 2024. The award is granted by the Municipality of Nova Gorica on the occasion of the municipal holiday. The other members performed in the band alongside their regular jobs.

On weekends they played at various village festivities (Chestnut Festival in Vitovlje, Cherry Festival in Medana, Zeleno gajska Night in Zeleni gaj, Miss Goriške, Children’s Golden Voice), cultural events, trade union celebrations and similar occasions. They performed with many well-known names: Alenka Pinterič, Laura Budal, Mija Aleksić Ćkalja, Janko Ropret, Ivica Šerfezi, Braco Koren and Tereza Kesovija. At the peak of their activity they performed throughout Yugoslavia. They were also regular guests at Hotel Sabotin and Hotel Park.

A former guitarist said during the ethnographic workshop Life in the Russian Blocks Tells Us… (July 2023), organised within the project Nova Gorica: We Built the Town (see also the digital collection Kamra 2017):

“I was a musician for 30 years. In the 1970s with the Lapos ensemble. We experienced the better times. We played continuously in Hotel Park. We organised there the first ‘Voice of Goriška’, the ‘Children’s Golden Voice’. Helena Blagne was 11 years old when she sang with us. Laura Budal also sang with us. We were mostly locals. After ten years we changed and accompanied show performers all over Yugoslavia. Political variety shows. /…/ Before gambling started in Hotel Park there was a beautiful garden. One memorable event was when we played outside and 700 or even 1000 people came. The popular song was Zbog neke divne crne žene. In summer the music was outside, in winter in the hall. In summer some people complained, so after midnight we had to lower the volume. People argued about it, but that was how it was.”

They played Croatian, Italian, English and Slovenian songs. On one occasion the audience even whistled them off stage when they sang a Slovenian pop song during a performance in the cultural hall in Bukovica.

“We felt quite bad about that. Later the band Čuki came and made a revolution in this field, bringing Slovenian songs closer to new younger generations,” the interviewee emphasised.

During this period the influence of Italian pop music and the Sanremo festival was also very strong.

“We recorded on cassette recorders; in the Standa shop in Gorizia they sold song lyrics. The day after Sanremo we learned the songs and performed them. Sometimes we picked up the melody and lyrics simply by listening. One of our performances in Metropol was organised by Patrik Greblo. We didn’t know he was a musician. In the programme he saw the song Just a Gigolo, went home and brought us the sheet music and the lyrics.”

(Source: https://www.kamra.si/digitalne-zbirke/zarko-stanic-lapos/)

As Stanič says, they were considered a “political” ensemble in the sense that they performed at many official openings, such as the inauguration of gyms, stadiums and other municipal buildings. They always performed at the 1 May celebrations in Opatje selo.

“At one event children were supposed to dance. Their cassette broke just before the performance, so we sang live. The parents were very grateful – we saved the children’s performance.”

(Source: https://www.kamra.si/digitalne-zbirke/zarko-stanic-lapos/)

They also had their own football team called Lapos, and later cooperated with FC Gorica.

“We always performed when they won,”

said the former guitarist in the interview.

“When Jure Franko returned with his medal, we welcomed him. The same with the kayakers – everything was done voluntarily.”

(Source: https://www.kamra.si/digitalne-zbirke/zarko-stanic-lapos/)

For some time their sponsor was MIP, later Herz.

Avtor: Jasna Fakin Bajec

Vir:

• Marussig, Mitja. 2017. Ustvarjalnost je prinesel rock. V:  Skupnih 70 – Posebna revijalna izdaja in priloga ob 70-letnici mesta in 70-letnici priključitve Primorske matični domovini. Ljubljana: Tiskarsko središče Dela, str. 54-57. 
• Nova Gorica: zgradili smo mesto, 2017. Žarko Stanič, Lapos. Vir: https://www.kamra.si/digitalne-zbirke/zarko-stanic-lapos/ (ogled: 5. 11. 2024).

Tags