The playlist contains 4 songs performed by Arsen Dedic, famous Croatian singer-songwriter and poet, somewhere in the mid-70s, in TV show Muzicka kutija (The Musical Box) by TV Beograd. Translations are by today classic Croatian poet Nikica Petrak.
They were working on the LP Arsen sings Cohen at the time, but unfortunately the master tapes were severely damaged (or even wiped out) in the final mixing process at Jugoton in Zagreb so it was never finished. (There are couple of contradictory stories: it seems that tapes simply disappeared.) Mr. Dedic (who btw was last year in audience at Arena Zagreb) had nervous break down as he spent long time in the production, and then he abandoned the whole project. In 1985 he released double LP KANTAUTOR with covers of his favourite singer-songwriters; the set included Nancy which was re-recorded as solo accompanied by the piano.
First tape recording (reel tape off the TV set) emerged few years back as mp3 bootleg and was included on my website, but the original master TV recording on DVDR was sent to Mr. Dedic two years ago, when due to his comeback tour Leonard Cohen's media presence became enormous so somebody in TV archives probably recalled this show and dig it out. Mr. Dedic gave me the copy when we were promoting the Croatian translation of Tim Footman's Leonard Cohen: Hallelujah last year as the part of promotional activities for Leonard's Zagreb show.
If the album was finished as planned, it probably would be the first Cohen tribute in the world, or first after Graeme Allwright's French album from 1972-73.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsen_Dedić
Arsen Dedić is a Croatian singer-songwriter who has been prominent in the Croatian as well as former Yugoslav music scene. Dedić writes and performs chansons as well as film music. He is also an award-winning poet, and has been one of the best-selling poets of former Yugoslavia.
(...)
Arsen became a household name in the 1960s, thanks to pop music festivals and his brand of music, which was at first influenced by Dalmatian folklore, but is mostly comparable to the French chanson genre. Throughout the decades Dedić became one of the most respected musicians in former SFR Yugoslavia and maintained this reputation to this day.