NASE DOBA

INDEXI started in 1962 as an all-instrumental combo imitating the world stars of the day such as THE SHADOWS, while around 1965 began composing their own songs with domestic lyrics upon recruitment of the singer D. Popović. In this period of the "swinging sixties" they signed with the Belgrade label PGP RTB (acronym for "Radio Television Belgrade's Gramophone Records Production") who released three EP vinyls from 1964-69. These were important records for the emerging pop rock scene in ex Yugoslavia, while the EP format was a standard because very few LP records appeared at this time and these were mostly reserved for jazz or classical music.

These 3 EPs - "Sedam veličanstvenih" ("The Magnificent Seven", 1964), "Nase doba" ("Our Time", 1967) and "Jutro će promijeniti sve" ("The Morning Changes Everything", 1968) - contained 11 tracks. In the early seventies the LP format was more or less established, so PGP RTB used to release LP compilations of artists/bands containing the songs from 7" singles or EPs from the 1960s issued by their label. Despite the fact that the author of the INDEXI biography "U inat godinama" even confirmed in a communication with the PGP executives that such an LP had been issued around 1973, I was not able to find any trace of its existence on the Web catalogues!

So, this CD "Nase doba" ("Our Time") is a sort of reminiscence to that ghostly collection, and for that fact it is a worthy release. More than that, it contains 3 additional songs. "Oko malih stvari svađamo se mi" ("We're Fighting over Small Things") is an excellent mid-60s beat with the beatlesque harmony vocals recorded in 1966. Two bonus tracks are taken from 1976 solo single by Davorin Popović and these belong to the mid-70s vocal pop/schlager phase of the band, which was backing Popović along with an orchestra on these two tracks. This CD would be even more complete had it included another song released by PGP on the festival "Vas slager sezone" compilation EP in 1968 - "Pustinjak" ("The Hermit").

The cover design is pretty awful with its pink colours and amateurishly pasted band photo from the EP "Nase doba" cover sleeve, while there are many typos in the tracks listing. Still, this is a recommended purchase for those wishing to have early INDEXI singles on one CD. As one-time member of the group Kornelije Kovač (ex KORNI GRUPA) put it in the liner notes: "The INDEXI were the most deserving group for the creation of the Yugoslavian pop and rock scene in that period, because within a short period of time they composed, recorded and performed their own songs when it was a pioneering work."

PERSONAL RATING: 3,5/5

P.A. RATING: 3/5