Simone Graffeo

Sava "Simon" GrafanoviÄ‡ (Serbian Cyrillic, Ð¡Ð°Ð²Ð° "Ð¡Ð¸Ð¼Ð¾Ð½" Ð“Ñ€Ð°Ñ„Ð°Ð½Ð¾Ð²Ð¸Ñ›) , is a Serbian folk singer. He is also known throughout Europe by an Italian pen-name Simone Graffeo, he created after his multi-lingual top charting album "Moj Evropa" (My Europe).

Early life
Simon was born to Serbian parents in the Serbian town of on November 19, 1963

Simone's singing career started at an early age, when Simone was an altar boy at the Orthodox Church in ÄŒaÄ?ak, his father was a deacon for the Bishop of Moravica. He enjoyed music from a young age. He went on to sing at festivals, and local events while still in school. His debut on TV was as a background singer for the song "Jugoslavijo", where he represented Serbia, among others who represented their own region in Yugoslavia.

Debut
After taking his nickname Simon, as his stage name, he was discovered by famed Serbian music producer Mile StojanoviÄ‡, and the two began working on an album in 1979, during his junior year of high school. Simon found other members for his band which kept the name Simon, from all different parts of Serbia. The close-knit band eventually produced their first album Volim te Jelena (I love you, Jelena) in January 1980. The album was an immediate success, and copies could not be kept on the shelves. The songs were all fun pop tunes, combining folk and pop elements, which were all loved by the Yugoslav public. Simon's sense of humor and good looks also prompted the public. His outlandish outfits, consisting of metallic bell-bottoms, leisure suit like jackets, and sparkling head bands. Simon's music was largely influenced by the "Narodnjaci" music of his home region of Šumadija, and also modern disco elements that were coming into Yugoslavia. Simon's second album "Srcu Moj"(My Heart) was also an immediate success, and reached number one on the song album charts in 1981.

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