OBALA PUSTA, OBALA VRELA

When the preparations were underway for a major Yugoslav tour, following INDEXI's April appearance on 'Vas slager sezone '75' festival, Miroslav Maraus left the band. Being employed by the Music Production and Dance Orchestra of RTV Sarajevo, going on tour with INDEXI seemed too risky, so the position of keyboardist was soon filled by Enco Lesic, who had previously played with them in 1971 and 1972. Lesic this time also took on the role of the band's financial manager, which would prove beneficial for their planned concert performances.

Throughout the summer, organized by Croatia Concert, INDEXI performed for over a month at various Adriatic gigs in Baska Voda, Kastel Stari, and Pula, often sharing the stage with BIJELO DUGME, SMAK, and YU GRUPA. They used this opportunity to hold their first and only performance at the famous Split Festival in early July 1975. As a curiosity, it's worth mentioning that there were actually three drummers on stage during the festival performance: in addition to the regular Milic Vukasinovic, INDEXI were joined for this occasion by another "returnee" Petar Petej (who had also briefly played with them in 1971), and the skilled studio musician Milo Vasic, later known as the singer Jasmin Stavros. Naturally, this kind of rock performance quite shocked the festival audience, accustomed to Dalmatian schlagers and chansons. Around this time, the sixth single on the Diskoton label was released (the matrix was cut on July 1st), with the song from the Split performance chosen as the lead track.

This is the composition "Obala pusta, obala vrela" (Deserted and Hot Coast) by Dalmatian chansonnier Djordji Peruzovic, with lyrics by a certain I. Flesch. The arrangement, jointly signed by Lesic and the band, was done in a typical "Indexi" progressive manner. The intro with exciting bass, keyboard, and cymbal creates an intriguing atmosphere, which soon transitions into a dynamic rhythm with a guitar riff and synthesizer, sounding somewhat heavy. The composition is in a minor key, and the sung part is accompanied by a complex rhythmic structure of bass and solo guitar treated with discreet psychedelic effects. Sound effects of sea waves along with high backing vocals bring the song to an end through a drum fade-out.

The B-side of the single features the ballad "Prva ljubav" (First Love), entirely composed by Lesic, making the entire record his strong authorial contribution to the band. The song has a slightly lighter tempo, with an emphasized bass guitar that Fadil Redzic treats melodically, while slide and acoustic guitar, and synthesizer alternate in the background. Lesic's piano soon enters, leading to the chorus, a somewhat weaker part of the composition, where a slightly forced rhyme such as "procvalo bi cvijece srece" (flowers of happiness would bloom) can be heard at times. This song also ends with a fade-out of the chorus with backing vocals.

With this very good single, INDEXI somewhat regained their position among the rock-oriented audience, combining "progressive" instrumental parts with the pop melodicism of the vocal elements. Lesic's keyboards at times sound as if they could have been played by the virtuoso Tony Banks from Genesis, while the accompanying falsetto vocals, for which Redzic and Vukasinovic are presumably responsible, draw on similar vocal performances by Uriah Heep. Both of these songs, however, remained less known in INDEXI's opus and were not often included in compilation releases. The single nevertheless reached 6th place on the top-10 chart of the magazine Dzuboks in August, and on the top-10 chart of Hit-strana in Politikin zabavnik it remained for several weeks from October to December 1975, reaching the 3rd position. The production was handled by the then-standard Diskoton producer Milan Stupar. The already well-established designer Dragan S. Stefanovic did not experiment much this time, but stuck to what he was best at: photography. The cover features color group portraits. INDEXI pose with dark, worried looks against a light blue sky background, while at the same time mostly wearing light blue "worn-out" jeans. The back cover shows them from a "frog's perspective". In short, "Obala pusta, obala vrela" is one of the better INDEXI singles on the Diskoton label, worth re-visiting and re-evaluating. It deserves 4 stars on the prog scale.