Radomir Mihajlović, better known as Točak, one of the greatest guitarists from this part of the world, was born on June 13, 1950, in Čačak. His father was a wheelwright, which explains his nickname, a name that long ago became more familiar than his given name, as well as the tattoo on the back of his right hand.
From the age of five, he played various string instruments, and from the age of nine, he focused on the guitar. He discovered the real guitar at the age of nine through Jarak, a legendary Čačak guitarist and master of romances and Spanish songs. Jarak taught Točak to play “Ulazak u harem” (“Entering the Harem”) with his fingers, and Točak never used a pick (terzijan). There is an anecdote that, at one performance, a guitarist approached Točak and played “Ulazak u harem” for him, simply to show him that it was nothing special and that almost anyone could play it. Legend has it that Točak then said, “That’s great, but here’s the Exit from the Harem,” and played the entire piece backwards.
In the summer of 1959, Radomir was injured during a school trip and dislocated his leg. Spending almost five years in hospitals, he practiced guitar relentlessly. He mastered all the tunings on his own and even invented two of his own along the way. He finished elementary school, played in Čačak’s taverns and parks, and was a member and leader of numerous rock bands.
Stories about the incredible guitarist Točak circulated throughout Čačak. Few people knew his real first and last name, but the myth surrounding him was so powerful that everyone kept adding something from their own “reliable sources.” Of course, Radomir himself reinforced the legend with his mysterious appearance. During performances with the band SMAK, he wore black clothes and a black, wide-brimmed hat, beneath which his long hair and beard could be seen.
In 1970, he went to Brussels, played in clubs, and earned enough money to buy his first electric guitar, an Aria Diamond. Dissatisfied with its appearance, after returning home he took a saw at a construction site and reshaped it. That was the strange instrument he played for years and even dedicated a song to. But that was not his only attempt at building instruments. At one point, in his father’s workshop, he also tried to make a piano.
More than 40 years ago, in 1971, he founded the band “Smak” on the Kraljevo–Čačak–Kragujevac route, a band about which more or less everything is already known.
“I would dare to play the blues with any guitarist in the world, but I’m still young for jazz and classical music,” he said in 1976. Later, in his mature years, while teaching young guitarists, he systematized his interest in jazz by publishing the textbook Jazz Guitar Chords.
His diverse interests also included an excursion into film, resulting in the memorable music for Byzantine Blue, as well as composing music for the Great School Lesson in Kragujevac. At one point, he also left the stage behind to devote himself to teaching at his own guitar school.
This guitar wizard has always played without any aids, producing all those extraordinary sounds solely through his exceptional knowledge of the guitar and countless hours of hard work. Even today, he will say: “I practice constantly; I don’t measure time.”
