Djordje Balasevic, the most prominent
Serbian songwriter, born in
Novi Sad in
1953. A high school dropout, he scored his first major success in
1977 with a
tango single "
U razdeljak te ljubim" sold in 180,000 copies, a big success by
Yugoslav standards. The next major success came in
1978 with a song celebrating the
communist revolution, "
Racunajte na nas", popular with both authorities and people, and widely promoted as a generation hymn. After that, all the doors were opened and Balasevic has been a major figure in Yugoslav pop-music scene ever since. His political views have shifted in the last few decades, always condescending his public and following the general mood in the volatile
Balkans, and managing to remain popular across all
ex-Yu countries (despite his flirting with Serbian nationalism and populism in the early
1990s). But his style has been constant and very distinctive, marked with nostalgia and rich narrative saturated with gentle moods. He was influenced by the poet
Mika Antic[?] and songwriter
Arsen Dedic[?], although Balasevic is shy in acknowledging his creative debt.