Vestica / The Witch

The Beginning

It is possible to trace back the birth of Poslednji stepnik (The Last Step) into mid seventies of the 20^th century. The event took place at a scout camp in Croatia, on top of the hill called “The Old Man.” The hill is situated close to the settlement of Kostajnica overlooking its Bosnian counterpart on the other side of the Una river. At the time, both belonged to the beautiful country of Yugoslavia. There, sitting around a bonfire accompanied with the guitar, the two youngsters, Bikadi Zoltan (from here on: Mr. Bicady) and Radulovic Dragan (further on: D.R.Phantom) came to the point that they share the affection about music, in fact, rock and roll music.

Having got back home again they animated some of their friends about fresh born idea.

The idea was warmly welcomed, so a friend of theirs Mr. Vranes Branislav popped up with the expression Poslednji stepenik (The Last Step) as a brand new name for a brand new music band of Bela Crkva.

They were all beginners and self learners. For the sake of fairness, it is believed Mr. Bicady attended a music school for some years. Yet, nothing certain about him succeeding in completing it is not possible to declare. D.R.Phantom, either, wasn’t just an absolute beginner. With his friends Mr. Dragan Vojnovic and late Ranc Tibor, he entered the magic microcosm of music by hitting drums in the band of the high school they attended. However, a tragedy struck the bunch. In his sixteen, Tibor committed suicide and was buried with his guitar on his chest. The event affected Mr. Vojnovic and D.R.Phantom rather badly. The school band ceased to exist and the noise of loud rock and roll was replaced for silence. So, D.R.Phantom started playing the guitar as a complete novice. The seat at the drum set was taken by Mr. Trajkovski Nikola, while a duty of playing the bass guitar was assigned to Mr. Stanojlovic Dusan. It was an example of unprecedented committment.

The settlement of Bela Crkva stretches along Romania-Serbian border along the Nera river, a tributary of the Danube, the second largest European river. The mouth of the Nera is about 12 km from Bela Crkva as well as the mouth of DTD channel, which, on its way to the Danube, picks up the water of the Karas river. That is why the area around Bela Crkva is considered as one of greatest water resources on Balkan Peninsula. Particularly, if you take into account six or even seven lakes left after the excavation of gravel. During scorcher summer days, the shores of the lakes become central stage for boys impressing girls with the shape of their muscles or by exercising some of their remarkable skills. Surprisingly, instead of chasing girls, the crew of The Last Step replaced refreshing waters of Bela Crkva for one dump vault of centuries old building formerly used as a fire department. Rehearsals took place all the summer for days on end. Before long, the Last Step began yielding first ovations.

At the time, the Last Step was a party band. Here and there, the band entertained public by delivering music to the people hungry of dancing. It means they didn’t play songs of their own. The program was mostly assembled of the songs popular at the time and well known to the audience. In other words, the band played tunes people like to dance on. Each block of songs (a dancing party is made of a couple of them) ended in waltz, polka and “kolo” (A Serbian country dance when people form a circle or line holding each other's hand), which the band played on and on as long as the dancers could remain on their feet.

Summers come and summers go. So did the summer of 1976. In the autumn, the band moved to the garden of the Labor University, which played so important role in the life course of the Last Step. The bunch of stars settled in a small but dry chamber well suited for keeping it warm during cold days. Again - recurring rehearsals and hard work. For the first time, the band put on the agenda the issue of switching from a party to a concert band. However, the proposal was premature. The idea is to be lived up later on. In the meantime, D.R.Phantom was invited to fulfill his sacred duty of serving Yugoslav people’s army (at the time of Marshall Tito’s rule army service was mandatory). So, he bade “goodbye” to his friends beginning his 15 month absence from the main stage.

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MAGIC

Let it bury those who shade life gray;

Let it bury those whose words love betray;

Let it bury those chimneys, churches and bells;

Let it bury those thoughts so pregnant of worries.

Let it comfort sound under your crystal body;

Let the noise down; let it leave just silence creeping;

Let the minds glide ghostly over the pales of satin blankets;

Let the winds whirl freely taking up white patches to heaven.

                                ***

When the spring calls sunshine, your face spills out weeping;
When the spring calls sunshine, tears of yours are dropping deeply;

When the spring calls sunshine, boggy fields blemish perfection;

When the spring calls sunshine, muddy waters vortex creation:

Fall!
Make them ready for the glory of Nature.

Fall!

Make them grateful for witnessing Eden.

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