MOJA HANA/PUTOVI

During February 1976, a new lineup change occurred in Indexi. Keyboardist Enco Lesic, who accepted an enticing offer to go on a four-month tour of the Soviet Union, was replaced by Nenad Jurin, a former member of the Sarajevo band COD. Jurin made his debut performance with Indexi during the promotional concert for Davorin Popovic's solo album "Svaka je ljubav ista (osim one prave)" on February 21st in the large hall of Skenderija, and on February 23rd at the Dom mladih in Sarajevo. Encouraged by these successful performances (nearly 12000 people attended the concert in Skenderija), Indexi soon continued their tours of music festivals. The Sarajevo's "Vas slager sezone" was held on April 10, 1976, and Indexi performed the composition "Moja Hana," which quickly became a hit and earned Davorin the Golden Microphone award for best vocal performance. Shortly after, in early May, Indexi appeared at "Beogradsko prolece" in Belgrade, where they performed the song "Stani malo zlato moje," winning third prize by public vote. It was time for a new Indexi record, and their label, Diskoton, decided on an unusual move - instead of a standard single, they opted for an already somewhat forgotten EP format ("extended play" with four tracks). This was Indexi's fifth EP in total (including the "mini-album" "Plima"), and the first under the Diskoton label. The record matrix was cut on May 25, 1976, and was probably released in early June. The cover design was done by their longtime collaborator Dragan S. Stefanovic, who photographed the band members in glamorous outfits, with shimmering jackets and colorful shirts with wide collars - something between a belated influence of glam rock aesthetics and recent references to the appearance of individual pop and disco music performers from the world charts, like the Bee Gees or ABBA.

Judging by the cover, the main titles are "Putovi" ("Roads") on the front and "Moja Hana" ("My Hana") on the back. The latter is the leading track that opens side A. The music and arrangement were written by bassist Fadil Redzic with lyrics by Maja Perfiljeva. The introductory bars feature a solo guitar part discreetly accompanied by an organ, while the sung phrase is accompanied by a beautiful melodic bass and a solid rhythm section. The opening verses, allegedly dedicated to Bodo Kovacevic and his daughter, are accompanied by an emotional melody with occasional, somewhat harder guitar riffs. The song, in the usual Indexi manner, combines progressive musicianship with a concise pop-rock expression. "Nocni susret" ("Night Encounter") is a composition by Bodo, with lyrics by Slobodan Djurasovic, that was previously released on Davorin's solo album "Svaka je ljubav ista...". It's unclear why Diskoton decided to include this track, as it significantly deviates from the commercial sound of the other compositions. The song conveys a heavier, darker mood, emphasized by subtle psychedelic phaser effects throughout. Fadil's solo bass playing, combined with Milic Vukasinovic's powerful drumming, serves as an overture for Bodo's excellent guitar work, featuring occasional heavy riffs. During a short bridge, Jurin, accompanied only by the rhythm section, performs a short solo on the electric piano, creating a jazz-rock feel. The somewhat threatening and gloomy atmosphere, as if taken from a noir film, is evoked by the singing about a terrible, windy night full of shadows that threaten to separate a beloved girl from her lover's embrace. This is one of Indexi's best songs from this period, unfortunately, it remains less known. Stylistically, it can be characterized as heavy progressive rock with elements of jazz and psychedelia.

Side B opens with a schlager from "Beogradsko prolece", "Stani malo zlato moje" ("Wait a Little Bit My Honey") composed by Aleksandar Korac with lyrics by Fadil and arranged by Bodo. It's an unfortunate and rather banal composition where the chorus is especially cringeworthy with its inappropriate elements of newly composed folk music, accompanied by a trite rhythm and a cheesy keyboard sound. After "Predaj se, srce" and "Volim te," it becomes clear that the collaboration with Korac brought Indexi only a few commercial successes, but at the cost of damaging their reputation among rock audiences and critics. This song, therefore, is only noteworthy for Bodo's skillful playing of electric and acoustic guitars, while everything else puts it in the running for the worst song Indexi ever recorded. However, the record ends on a brighter and more quality note. Bodo's composition "Putovi," with lyrics by Miso Maric, showcases the guitarist's multifaceted instrumental skills. In this quality pop-rock number, which features a descending chord progression in the verses, Bodo, in addition to his excellent playing of acoustic and electric guitars, also demonstrates an impressive ability to play the pedal steel guitar. This detail introduces elements of country-rock into the music, making it a unique example in Indexi's repertoire.

This EP has been reissued several times. It's worth noting that on some releases, the credits of the compositions "Noćni susret" and "Putovi" are incorrectly listed, and in some cases, the order of these two tracks has been switched, or at least that's how it's shown on mistakenly printed labels on the vinyl. Additionally, there seem to be variants with both the full album version and an edited version of the song "Nocni susret," where the instrumental parts (introduction and bridge) have been removed. Despite these editorial oversights by Diskoton, the record was a success. "Moja Hana" reached number 2 on the top 10 list of domestic singles in Politikin zabavnik's Hit-strana, where it remained from May 4th to July 2nd, 1976. "Stani malo zlato moje" reached number 7 on the same chart for three weeks, and both songs remained on the Dzuboks magazine's barometer - the top 10 singles chart from July to September 1976, reaching number 2. Overall, it can be said that this is a solid release by Indexi, although it doesn't rank among their best 7" records.

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