1970s
Kodeksi (Bogeljić on lead guitar, Bebek on vocals and rhythm guitar, Bregović on bass, and Paganotto on drums) left for Italy in early 1970. However, it soon became apparent that the Italian club owner was deeply disappointed with their new musical shift. He wanted them to play kazachok and other similar Eastern European folkish stuff from their Dubrovnik repertoire, and the band unwillingly agreed.
Just before the first two-month stint ended, Kodeksi's founder and main decision-maker Edo Bogeljić quit and went back to Sarajevo, which is when Bregović assumed the lead guitar role for the first time. Local Italian musician was brought in to play the bass, but after he quit too, Bebek called up old friend Zoran Redžić. Redžić in turn brought along Milić Vukašinović as replacement on drums for Paganotto who also quit in the meantime.
At that time, Kodeksi were enjoying a fairly successful run on the club & bar circuit throughout southern Italy, playing a commercial repertoire and building up a fairly devoted following. Vukašinović's arrival was particularly significant in this regard as he brought new musical influences along the lines of what Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath were doing at the time. Additionally, he convinced the rest of the band on incorporating the new sound into their set. Within two weeks of his arrival, Kodeksi were fired from all the places they were playing.
With no gigs and very little savings, the foursome of Bebek, Bregović, Redžić and Vukašinović stayed on the island of Capri. They found gigs extremely hard to come by with the new sound, but eventually got a low-paying one on Ischia island. As the summer season of 1970 drew to a close that gig ended as well, and they relocated back to Naples where they struggled to make ends meet.
This is when the band began to disregard Bebek musically. First, they made him stop playing the rhythm guitar reasoning that it's not fashionable any longer. Bebek also had trouble adapting to the new material vocally. He'd sing the intro on most songs and then step back as the other three members improvised for the remainder of songs. After being a key band member only months earlier, Bebek was seeing his role gradually reduced. It was more than he was willing to take and in the fall of 1970 he left Kodeksi to return to Sarajevo.
For their part, Vukašinović, Bregović, and Redžić continued soldiering on under the new name Mića, Goran and Zoran, playing everything from clubs to weddings in the Naples area. Eventually they returned to Sarajevo in the spring of 1971 when Goran's mother and Zoran's brother Fadil came to Italy to bring them back. Upon returning, the trio continued playing and gigging around Sarajevo, however not for long as in late summer 1971 Vukašinović decided that he'd move to London.