The guy at the piano
How two music masters met - about the friendship of Oliver Dragojević and Zdenko Runjić.
After one of the greatest Croatian pop music composers, Zdenko Runjić, started conquering festivals with his songs, all the artists wanted to work with him. The biggest music stars, not having seen the composition, believed that he would write them a quality song.
Since Runjić lived outside the city, he heard from the singers over the phone. They would sing him a song "over the wire", after which Runjić would instruct how the performance should be adjusted.
Once, while listening to a concert in Diocletian's cellars, Runjić saw a thin young man singing "Yesterday" at the piano. He felt that there was some talent, some attraction in the young man. Runjić approached the long-haired singer and immediately offered him to sing his song "Picaferaj" at the festival. He enthusiastically agreed.
However, the still undiscovered star was too stiff on the stage due to the size of the festival where Shadows and many other famous authors performed. The song and performance of the young man who will soon become one of the most respected Croatian singers went unnoticed.
But Runjić gave the talented young man another chance. At a time when singers with strong voices ruled the scene, his gentle and romantic sound seemed to Runjić a good and different choice.
He asked him to sing the song "Sunčane fontane" for the rehearsal. His performance was perfect! Runjić immediately wrote another song for him - "Galeb i ja".
In 1975, Oliver Dragojević performed with her at the Popular Music Festival in Split. He swept the competition! This was the beginning of the long-term collaboration between the two greatest Split musicians, as well as their timeless friendship
