After the change from socialist state to parliamentary democracy in 1989, the question of Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia was raised. In 1991, shortly before the declaration of Croatian independence and the breakup of Yugoslavia, the company's name Jugoton, a portmanteau word of "Jugoslavija" (Yugoslavia) and "tone", was changed to Croatia Records. Parallelly, the major labels in Serbia and Slovenia such as PGP RTB and ZKP RTLJ were renamed to PGP-RTS and ZKP RTVS. The company was now owned by the independent Republic of Croatia, but since socialism had ended, it was sold off to private owners. Since the year of 2000, Croatia Records is ran by professionals from the music industry who are in the partnership company called AUTOR d.o.o. (limited company). In 2001, the musician Miroslav Škoro became the leader of Croatia Records, until his resignation in 2006.
Croatia Records Music Publishing (CRMP d.o.o.) is a company owned by Croatia Records d.d. that works in the managing of rules for the use of copyrighted music and its digital sale.
Founded in 1947 as part of Jugoton, today Croatia Records Music Publishing is its own company. Croatia Records Music Publishing has the largest catalog of Croatian songs and the largest catalog of master recordings made in the last 40 years of the most famous Croatian singers such as Arsen Dedić, Đorđe Novković, Damir Urban, Nenad Ninčević, Zlatan Stipišić - Gibonni, Zdenko Runjić.
Often, the company was a target of public complaint on various issues.
Croatia Records has been the object of an issue raised by singer Branimir Štulić over royalty rights. Štulić claims that the royalties of songs by former rock band Azra, of which he was the lead singer in the 1980s, and which was then managed by Jugoton. Štulić has named a sum of 12 million Euros that he thinks Croatia Records owes him, but he has not tried to take legal action to claim it. Želimir Babogredac said in response that Croatia Records has all the legal rights to release titles by Štulić and Azra, as the company is a direct successor of Jugoton, whom these artists were signed for. He also said that the sum Štulić claims is too large. However, he added that Croatia Records is proud to have the very popular Štulić in the list of its artists and that he may receive a payment from the sale of audio CDs only if he joins the Croatian Composers' Society - ZAMP.
Thompson (band)
Thompson is a Croatian ethno band, founded by Marko Perković aka "Thompson", often thought of as the same as the band itself. "Thompson" is Perković's stage name. He is the songwriter and lead vocalist. The members of the band, aside from him, are Tomislav Mandarić, Ivan Ivanković, Duje Ivić, and Ivica Bilić Ike.
The band name originates from the Thompson submachine gun, a nickname given to Perković while he fought in the Croatian War of Independence. Although mostly formed in Čavoglave, Thompson is currently based in Zagreb. Thompson came to be popular during the Croatian war in 1991, with the release of the first single "Bojna Čavoglave", which is about the Croatian participation in the Yugoslav Wars and was included in the compilation album "Rock za Hrvatsku". This song, with slightly different lyrics, named "Branitelji Sarajeva", was sung by the BiH Army during the Siege of Sarajevo ("Sarajevo zaboravit neće nikada"). During the 1990s Thompson became popular in Croatia with the release of the first album "Moli mala" in 1992. They later became popular again with the hit "Prijatelji" in 1998.
In 2002, Thompson started their first major tour to promote the album "E, moj narode". This tour continued on and off until 2005, and included concerts at the Sydney Entertainment Centre and Melbourne's Vodafone Arena. In May 2005, the album was declared a Diamond Record with more than 60,000 copies sold. Touring continued in 2006 with "Bilo jednom u Hrvatskoj", again performing internationally with concerts in Germany, Sweden, Australia, Canada, and the United States.
Thompson features annually at the Homeland Victory celebrations in their hometown of Čavoglave. These performances are attended by as many as 60,000 to 100,000 viewers, and feature Croatian singers like Mate Bulić, Dražen Zečić, Ivan Mikulić, and Baruni. The band has became controversial for its alleged praise of the World War Two Nazi-affiliated Ustaše regime in their songs and concerts.
Jugoton
Jugoton was the largest record label and chain record store in the former Yugoslavia based in Zagreb, SR Croatia.
Jugoton was created in 1947. It released some of the most important former Yugoslav pop and rock records. The company also owned a large network of record shops across SFR Yugoslavia.
After the break-up of Yugoslavia began, the company changed its name to Croatia Records in 1991.
Jugoton signed many famous former Yugoslav pop and rock acts. Some of the artists that have been signed to Jugoton include:
Jugoton also released the popular compilation album "Paket aranžman". Many artists that represented Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest were signed with Jugoton, including the 1989 winners Riva.
Like other former Yugoslav labels, Jugoton also had a licence to release foreign titles for the Yugoslav market including notable international popular music stars such as: Rick Astley, The Beatles, David Bowie, Kate Bush, Deep Purple, Eurythmics, Iron Maiden, Kraftwerk, John Lennon, Madonna, Gary Moore, Mötley Crüe, Elvis Presley, Pink Floyd, Public Image Limited, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Scorpions, U2, Whitesnake, Kim Wilde and others.
Other major labels in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were: PGP-RTB and Jugodisk from Belgrade; Suzy from Zagreb; Diskoton from Sarajevo; ZKP RTLJ from Ljubljana and others.
Jugoton, as an important part of the former Yugoslav culture is one of the subjects of Yugonostalgia.
The former Jugoton record shop in the main shopping mall in Skopje ("Gradski Trgovski Centar"), North Macedonia, still operates under the same name managed by the Macedonian record label Lithium Records.
An example of different kind is the online radio and web tv station called Jugoton which operates in the Yugoslav diaspora in Vienna, Austria. It plays music from the former Yugoslavia, but also from all the contemporary former Yugoslav countries, including pop, rock and folk. However, it is not formally related to the actual Jugoton, and not all the Yugoslav artists represented in its program were really signed to the label.
"Yugoton" is a Polish tribute album to the former Yugoslav rock scene released in 2001. Its title is a nod to Jugoton.
Ramkrishna Baba Patil
Ramkrishna Jagannath Patil (2 September 1936 – 2 September 2020), popularly known as Ramkrishna Baba, was an Indian politician. He was a member of the Indian National Congress political party. He was born in Aurangabad, Maharashtra.
Patil was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly between 1985 to 1995. He later became a member of the Lok Sabha between 1998 to 2004.
Patil died of diabetes-related problems in Aurangabad on his 84th birthday on 2 September 2020.
Gianni Serra
Gianni Serra (14 December 1933 – 3 September 2020) was an Italian director and writer of movies, television and theatre. He was born in Montichiari, Italy. He was known for writing and directing the movies "Uno dei tre" (1973), "Fortezze vuote" (1975), "La ragazza di via Millelire" (1980) and "Una lepre con la faccia di bambina" (1988).
Serra died on 3 September 2020 in Rome, aged 86.
Dave Zeller
David A. Zeller (June 8, 1939 – September 3, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Miami RedHawks. He played in the National Basketball Association for the Cincinnati Royals between 1961 to 1962. Zeller was born in New Carlisle, Ohio.
Zeller died on September 3, 2020 in Toledo, Ohio at the age of 81.
Richard M. Weiner