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Serbian pop is the pop music scene of Serbia. From the 1940s until the 1980s, while Serbia was a constituent republic of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Serbian pop scene was a part of the SFR Yugoslav pop scene.
Pop music in Serbia existed before Second World War. It is known that in late 1920s guest of Serbian capital Belgrade was a famous singer and actress Josephine Baker which suggests that in Serbia there were many gramophone records of this style of music and similar music styles such as jazz. It also confirms the statement of the actress Ognjenka Het in the radio show of Radio Belgrade called Two white pigeons in 1986 and is also confirmed by other direct and indirect sources. While the first singer-songwriters appear in other parts of Yugoslavia in that time in Serbia were performed romances, starogradska muzika, and folk music by the singers Edo Ljubić, Fulgencije Vucemilović, Milan Timotić, Olga Jančevecka and others. [1] Mijat Mijatović, Sofka Nikolić, Bora Janjić – Šapčanin mostly performed folk songs, sevdalinka, starogradska muzika, but sometimes they also performed pop music. Bora Janjić – Šapčanin recorded the cover of Hungarian schlager Sad Sunday.
Serbian pop music in this period was influenced by schlager music, chansons and canzonas. Vojin Popović is remembered as one of the pioneers of pop music in Serbia and Yugoslavia. He appears during the war with the song Ne brini majčice mila, but original performance of this song was not preserved. He released seven singles between 1953 and 1956 featuring different ensembles. One of the first composers of pop music was Darko Kraljić. His famous compositions include Zašto si pospan Čo, Čamac na Tisi, Hej momci mladi. Čamac na Tisi and Hej momci mladi belong to Serbian postwar music, while it is not certain when the song Zašto si pospan Čo was created. It is considered that the song was created before or during the Second World War.
Pop music has been on the sidelines with the arrival of communist authorities. Music was mostly performed at balls or could be heard through radios. Few people had gramophone or possibility to get it. [2]
In the early 1950s decreased Soviet influence in Yugoslavia and it led to the first postwar musical wave in Yugoslavia – Mexican songs. Mexican movies became popular as well as song Mama Huanita from the movie Un día de vida.
The most famous musician of the early 1950s was drummer Spasa Milutinović. He mostly performed jazz music but also and pop music with his small musical group whose singers were Vojin Popović and Mara Janković. There are few surviving records, mostly by Jugodisk and Yugoton.
In the late 1950s appear new musicians such as Lola Novaković, Dušan Jakšić, Nada Knežević and very popular Đorđe Marjanović.
Lola Novaković was one of the most popular Yugoslav female singers of her time. She is remembered by the great number of wins on different festivals in Yugoslavia and Europe. In 1960 she became first Yugoslav musician to perform in Soviet Union. She also performed on the Near East and Japan. She released her first two songs in 1958 Alisa U Zemlji Čudesa and famous Cuban hit Babalu. After that she released significant numbers of singles, EPs and compilations.
Dušan Jakšić is notable by his numerous hits of which the most popular being Sve moje jeseni su tužne. Nada Knežević is the popular jazz and pop singer, she performed as the UN guest on Sinai Peninsula, and in jazz clubs in Germany and Scandinavia.
Đorđe Marjanović gained fame and numerous fans by appearing on television with the song Zvižduk u osam. Besides his long career in Yugoslavia, he made significant career performing in Soviet Union. He released 5 albums between 1959 and 1982: Muzika za igru (1959), Mustafa (1961), Prijatelji Zdravo (1967), Hvala vam prijatelji (1979) and Dvadeset nikad više (1982).
In the same time was active Vokalni kvartet Predraga Ivanovića which the most famous song Pod sjajem zvezda appears in the Yugoslav movie Ljubav i moda. Cune Gojković, singer with diverse repertoire performed Mexican songs. Dragan Toković records Maria, Ne Budi Tužna in 1959. He is remembered for his pop and jazz compositions. Another significant figure of this period was Mihailo Živanović, composer, clarinetist, conductor and arranger. [3]
The Sixties were a fruitful year for pop in Yugoslavia. Various festivals were set up across the country such as Belgrade Spring. They were being closely monitored and the great attention was paid on quality. Music has become available to anyone with the advent of television and mass phenomenon vinyl records. Singers maintained tours and solo concerts.
One of the most popular songs of the 1960s is Darko Kraljić's song Devojko mala, soundtrack from the movie Ljubav i moda sung by actor Vlastimir Đuza Stojiljković. Song later became popular in the Soviet Union.
A new group of singers appeared such as Dragan Stojnić, Ljubiša Bačić, Sedmorica mladih, Miki Jevremović, Ljiljana Petrović, Radmila Karaklajić, Tihomir Petrović, Krsta Petrović, Zafir Hadžimanov, Mirjana Beširević, Diego Varagić, Ivanka Pavlović, Leo Martin, Plavi Ansambl, Olga Nikolić, Slobodan Bob Đorđević, Senka Veletanlić, Vanja Stojković, Nena Ivošević, Rista Milovanović, Pera Dimitrijević, Ivana Nikolić, Daliborka Stojšić, Vera Pančić and others.
Notable to mention is also Croatian Serb singer-songwriter Arsen Dedić who remained popular to date with his chansons and great number of records.
In Belgrade were held popular igranke on Kalemegdan, Lazarevićeva, Mašinac and in the Belgrade Youth Center. [4]
In 1970s and 1980s pop music began to lose its popularity due to the growing interest in rock music.
One of the biggest stars of Yugoslav and Serbian pop in the 1970s is Bosnian Serb singer Zdravko Čolić. Zdravko Čolić performed disco and pop music followed by his dance group Lokice. As of 2014 he recorded 14 albums with significant number of hits.
Boba Stefanović, Beti Đorđević and Vladimir Savčić Čobi with his group Pro Arte were another notable group of musicians during the 1970s. [5]
Obraz uz obraz was a popular TV show of RTV Beograd hosted by actors Milena Dravić and Dragan Nikolić where most of the popular musicians of the time performed between 1972 and 1974.
The group Zana arrived on the pop scene in the 1980s with the song Dodirni mi kolena. Bebi Dol became famous with her songs Mustafa and Rudi and debut album Ruže i krv which was voted debut album of the year[ citation needed ]. Girl group Aska performed at the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 with the song Halo, halo. Maja Odžaklievska recorded the song Budi dobar, kao što sam ja. [6]
In the turbulent years of the 1990s pop music fell into the shadow of Eurodance. Tap 011 was one of the most popular groups of the 1990s with their hits Zbog tebe, Bunda, Okreni broj 95, Plava... Kovač sisters duo, K2 worked with many producers worldwide and released five albums. New pop singers include Bajone, Cali4nia, Zorana Pavić, Gloria, Ceca Slavković, Bojan Milanović, Saša Vasić, Tanja Banjanin, Leontina Vukomanić, Ksenija Mijatović, Romana Panić.
In the 2000s pop music increase its popularity with artist such as:
Serbian singers performed in Eurovision Song Contest as part of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro before Serbia's debut in 2007.
Lola Novaković achieved the first Yugoslav significant results at Eurovision winning 4th place in 1962 with the song Ne pali svetla u sumrak.
Željko Joksimović took the second place at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Lane moje representing Serbia and Montenegro. In 2012, as Serbian representative, he came third with the song Nije ljubav stvar.
Marija Šerifović won the first place at the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest at Serbia's debut in the competition, and Serbia was the host of the 2008 contest in Belgrade Arena.
Music of Serbia represents the musical heritage of Serbia, both historical and modern. It has a variety of traditional music styles, which are part of the wider Balkan musical tradition, with its own distinctive sound and characteristics.
Zdravko Čolić is a Bosnian-Serbian pop singer and is widely considered one of the greatest vocalists and cultural icons of the former Yugoslavia. Dubbed the 'Tom Jones' of the Balkans He has garnered fame in Southeastern Europe for his emotionally expressive tenor voice, fluent stage presence and numerous critically and commercially acclaimed albums and singles.
Željko Joksimović is a Serbian vocalist, composer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He plays 12 different musical instruments including accordion, piano, guitar and drums. Joksimović is multi-lingual, being fluent in Greek, English, Russian, Polish and French as well as his native Serbian.
Zoran Simjanović was a Serbian and Yugoslav musician, composer and music educator.
Popular music in Yugoslavia includes the pop and rock music of the former SFR Yugoslavia, including all their genres and subgenres. The scene included the constituent republics: SR Slovenia, SR Croatia, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SR Montenegro, SR Macedonia and SR Serbia and its subunits: SAP Vojvodina and SAP Kosovo. The pop and rock scene was a part of the general Music of Yugoslavia, which also included folk, classical music, jazz etc. Within Yugoslavia and internationally, the phrases ex-YU or ex-Yugoslav Pop and Rock both formally and informally generally to the SFRY period, though in some cases also to its successor the FR Yugoslavia including Serbia and Montenegro which existed until 2006.
Olivera Katarina, also previously known as Olivera Vučo and Olivera Šakić, is a Serbian actress, singer and writer. She was one of the leading stars of Yugoslav cinema in the 1960s and the 1970s, and is probably the best known for her performance in Aleksandar Petrović's film I Even Met Happy Gypsies (1967), which won the Grand Prix at the 1967 Cannes Film Festival.
Generacija 5 is a Serbian and Yugoslav rock band formed in Belgrade in 1977.
D' Boys was a Yugoslav synth-pop/pop rock band formed in Belgrade in 1982.
Beauty Queens are a Serbian girlband, formed in Helsinki, Finland, in May 2007, after Marija Šerifović's victory in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. The girls sang the backing vocals, and became very popular. They also reached third place at Beovizija 2008.
Ksenija Milošević is a Serbian singer and violinist, and a member of the girlband Beauty Queens, which was formed by gathering backing vocalists of Marija Šerifović after victory in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007.
Aleksandra Milošević Hagadone, better known as Slađana Milošević, is a Serbian singer, songwriter record producer, and writer.
Marina Tucaković was a Serbian lyricist and songwriter. Born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia, Tucaković had a degree from the Economic Faculty at the University of Belgrade. She first started writing songs at the age of 19. After the success of "Dodirni mi kolena" by the Yugoslav rock group Zana and vocalist Zana Nimani, Tucaković continued working with numerous artists in then Yugoslavia.
Iskre were a Yugoslav rock band formed in Belgrade in 1961. Iskre were one of Yugoslavia's earliest rock bands and are notable for being one of the pioneers of the Yugoslav rock scene.
Slomljena Stakla was a Yugoslav pop rock band formed in Belgrade in 1982. They were a prominent act of the 1980s Yugoslav rock scene.
Sanjalice were a Yugoslav rock band formed in Belgrade in 1964. Sanjalice are notable for being one of the pioneers of the Yugoslav rock scene, as well as one of the first Yugoslav all-female bands.
Serbia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Nije ljubav stvar" written by Željko Joksimović, Marina Tucaković and Miloš Roganović. The song was performed by Željko Joksimović, who had previously represented Serbia and Montentegro in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004 where he placed second with the song "Lane moje". The Serbian national broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) internally selected the Serbian entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Joksimović was announced as the Serbian representative on 18 November 2011, while the song, "Nije ljubav stvar", was presented on 10 March 2012 during a show titled Evropska pesma.
Dušan Prelević "Prele" was a Serbian singer, journalist, and writer.
Serbia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Ljubav je svuda" written by Saša Milošević Mare and Marina Tucaković. The song was performed by Moje 3, which among its members included Nevena Božović who had previously represented Serbia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2007 where she placed third with the song "Piši mi". The Serbian national broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) organised the national final Beosong 2013 in order to select the Serbian entry for the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden. The national final consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final on 2 and 3 March 2013, respectively. Fifteen entries competed in the semi-final where a public televote selected the top five to qualify to the final. The five qualifiers competed in the final which resulted in "Ljubav je svuda" performed by Moje 3 as the winner entirely by a public televote.
Slobodan "Boba" Stefanović was a Serbian and Yugoslav singer and songwriter. He was one of the leading stars of the Yugoslav pop scene in the 1970s.
Serbia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with "Samo mi se spava" performed by Luke Black. The Serbian national broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), organised the national final Pesma za Evroviziju '23 in order to select the Serbian entry for the 2023 contest. The final took place on 4 March 2023, with a combination of jury voting and televoting selecting Black to represent Serbia at the 2023 contest in Liverpool.
