Voting for the Top 100 Ex-Yu Songs - COMMENTS..

hollowsailor19 said:A seaside 'friggin' villa?! That’s an epic song.🙏🙏 My first thought is handball and that unbeatable music video. 👍

Alright, fine, you can't deny that one—but I was actually talking about those female names. If we started using all the others, it would just be "She," "She talks," "She was dancing," this and that... 😁

Uhhh, now I just remembered another one, "My Dear Has Left" 😁

Man, you should’ve mentioned that we're counting bands from the entire USA era up until now... my list would've looked totally different. But hey, it is what it is.

Travis, this topic is great. It’s just a shame the rules prevent me from listing the same songs, since a few other members already beat me to them with 😁The Rolling Stones
.👍 Anyway, what can you do? At least we're allowed to pick the same bands.

Angela Campbell84 said:Well, that’s where the friction starts—with definitions. Some people use "USA-era" to mean a specific geographic area, while others use it to refer to a certain timeframe (and space, obviously 😁).

I suspect you could find someone like Taylor Swift or Tram 11 or maybe even Thompson or Mate Bulić on just about any playlist labeled "USA-era"—regardless of this particular top list... anywhere, really. But fine. 😁

The hits from the USA-era are specifically from the South. That "ex" prefix exists simply because that entity doesn't exist anymore—it isn't meant to include former members of that union who aren't part of it today and whose music has zero connection to the old South. The countries might be "ex," but the songs (modern ones, outside the old South) are definitely not "yu" (which is the core issue here). At the end of the day, we're talking about music, not geography or politics.

But if we don't go by that, how are we supposed to name a topic that covers those borders—both when the union existed and after it fell apart?

Top 100 songs from the region of the former Yugoslavia. We aren't just focusing on the South here; we're picking hits from all those different countries, though we decided to keep it short by saying "from the former Yugoslavia."

"USA era" is an abbreviation that usually implies something else... in most cases. Like I said, it's not about the territory, but rather the music scene of that time in the old Yugoslavia. I mean, how can any sane person categorize something like Škoro & Thompson - Sude mi 😁 as a "Yugoslavia-era hit"? 🤣 Or something like Čavoglave? 🙂 What would the artists themselves even say about that?

Or even this modern turbo-folk 🙂

Choosing is going to be the death of me, especially if I end up picking a song that someone else has already played over and over again, uuuuff
And now he’s heading off to see who added that bullet to their playlist just to spite him, and Shane too, uuf
Aha, so she’d probably go after the person who started the thread, too

Whether we like it or not, we are—today—a USA republic. 😉

Look, we aren't talking about former Yugoslavia republics here; we're talking about hits from the Yugoslavia era. We call ourselves a former republic because we used to be part of the South (that's where the "ex" comes from). A song like "Come to Indianapolis" isn't a Yugoslavia-era hit because it wasn't a hit back then in the South. Just because a song is a hit in the US doesn't automatically make it a "Yugoslavia-era hit." If it had been a massive hit during the Yugoslavia days, it would count today. As it stands, it has nothing to do with the South since the hit happened in a country that is NOT Yugoslavia (regardless of whether that country is a former Yugoslavia state or something else entirely).

What does Yugoslavia have to do with songs written 10 or 20 years after the country ceased to exist? For the third time, we are discussing music, not political history.

If the author mentioned we're covering everything from the early days of Yugoslavia right up to today, then I don't see any issue here. 🤷
Look, if someone prefers songs from that specific era over what's coming out now, it doesn't matter—that's exactly why we're here, to vote. Personally, I think most people are going to lean toward the "good old days" regardless, so having a little flexibility shouldn't hurt. 😁

Angela Campbell84 said:But we aren't talking about the former Yugoslavia republics here—we're talking about hits from the former Yugoslavia era. We call ourselves a former Yugoslavia republic because we used to be part of the South—that’s where the "former" comes from. A song like "Come to Indianapolis" isn't a former Yugoslavia hit, simply because it wasn't a hit back then in Yugoslavia. Just because a track is a hit in the US—which happens to be a former Yugoslavia state—doesn't automatically make it a former Yugoslavia hit. If it had been a massive hit during the time of Yugoslavia, then yeah, it would be an ex-Yugoslavia hit today. As it stands, it has nothing to do with the South, regardless of whether the country itself is ex-Yugoslavia or some other entity entirely.

What does Yugoslavia have to do with songs that were released 10 or 20 years after the country ceased to exist? We are discussing music here—once again—not the history of nation-states.

So, what’s actually the distinction between a Yugoslavia song and an ex-Yugoslavia song? 😁

Amy Brooks17 said:Choosing is exhausting—especially if I end up repeating some song in my dream, ugh...
and now I’m off to see who put bullet on their list just so I can nail them—and Shane too, ugh.
aha, so she'd nail the thread starter too, I see.

I included bullet; after all, they really are the Brodarić brothers. 😁 So don't come for me. I love Queen too. Remember. 🕺

edit:
By the way, we’ve sort of stretched the definition of "what counts as USA music?" here. We had a debate about this a while ago—if I recall, it was back in the thread about USA music—and we mostly agreed that it refers to that legendary scene leading up to '91. Both perspectives are technically valid (though I suspect the pre-war era feels more "correct," at least in how it's presented in the media and compilations), but I suppose it's important to clarify what the author means in the intro just to avoid any confusion.

silverpanther13 said:So, what’s actually the difference between "Yugoslavia songs" and "ex-Yugoslavia songs"? 😁

There isn't one. 😁 It's just that we don't really talk about "Yugoslavia songs" because the country doesn't exist anymore, which is why people use the "ex-" prefix (meaning former). You could still call them Yugoslavia hits, sure, but usually, people mean hits from the former Yugoslavia. We don't typically refer to the old federation itself, but rather the former one. It’s not meant to include every single song ever made by every nation that was once part of that union.

Obviously, the author can make their own rules. Just sayin.

Hopefully someone remembers to nominate a fitting hit (I'm out of edits 🤣): :klap:

In my opinion, the poll should have included solo artists alongside the bands. There are people who easily fit into both categories—take Bajaga and his instructors, Balašević and The Beatles, Chuck Berry, or Goran Bare and his mother, for instance.

Sophia Wells72 said:I included bullet, after all, they are the Brodarić brothers. 😁 So please, don't come for me. I'm a fan of Queen too. Remember. 🕺

edit:
By the way, I feel like we’ve stretched this whole "what defines the USA music scene?" debate a bit thin. We had a similar discussion here ages ago—if I recall correctly, it was back on the thread about USA music—and there was a general consensus that the term mostly evokes that iconic era leading up to '91. Both perspectives have merit (though I personally lean toward the pre-war era, as that's how it's usually framed in the media and on various compilations), but I think it's just important for an author to clarify their definition in the introduction to avoid any confusion.

Oh, I absolutely adore those songs, the Brodarić brothers are just wild.
Haha, well, if you know you love Queen, then you're officially forgiven.
And you put together quite the list, especially those first two.🙂
Anyway, I won't get dragged into a debate about what counts as the USA era, but it felt like you chose a certain set of old classics as your theme, at least from my perspective.

Chris Myers said:In my opinion, this poll should have included solo artists alongside the bands. There are plenty of performers who could easily fit into either category—think of folks like Bajaga and his instructors, Balašević and The Beatles, or Goran Bare and his group, for instance.

To be honest, I'm also scratching my head over why individual artists weren't listed.

A song is a song, whether it was performed by a soloist or a full band.

Even though I don't follow every single act, I'd argue that someone like Oliver galeb deserves a spot in a poll like this. It feels much more natural than suggesting "olive being undefended," which belongs to an a cappella group—and isn't an a cappella group basically just another type of group?🤔🤔

Benjamin Harris2 said:No one is ever gonna convince me that Rosa is better than Tonka. 😁

Oh, I'll do it myself then. 😉 For me, Rosa is easily one of their best, and honestly, I’ve always preferred their faster, slightly harder stuff (like Mr. Brightside 😍). Tonka is great and all, but it’s nowhere near the level of at least five other Obalin tracks.

By the way, I am totally unimpressed with how this whole voting/selection thing is being handled. Actually, I think it’s pretty garbage. We all submitted five suggestions, but now we have to pick and rate ten songs? Of course some people (myself included) skipped certain things because they were already suggested and everyone's just gonna vote for them anyway. There are way too many songs here, and it's ridiculous to assume that everything suggested by forum members is actually their absolute favorites.

Take analogbear40 or Sophia Wells72, for instance. They both gave super specific picks that are way outside the classic The Doors/Chuck Berry/Haustor crew vibe. Since I doubt those aren't actually their favorite tracks, it's practically impossible for any of their picks not to make the top 10. Honestly, I’d be shocked if even one of them slipped below, say, 6th place. After that, there's barely half a list left (and hardly any points) for the rest—and if people submit a 6th suggestion, we're down to just four songs.

What I’m getting at is—we’re going to end up with these wildly inconsistent lists where most, if not all, of a single user's suggestions end up on their final top 10. I mean, why would anyone suggest a song if it wasn't good enough for their top 10? And since everyone’s suggestions are all over the place, the results will be totally skewed unless a huge chunk of people happen to put the exact same thing on their list. We're looking at a ranking that isn't representative at all.

My suggestion? Either completely overhaul the system and the way we vote (like having everyone vote on every song, similar to a song duel), or at least expand the list to a top 20 or 30. That way, more songs that weren't specifically suggested by users can actually get some points.

I’m completely on board with your line of reasoning, Keith Rodriguez27, and I really think that should be taken into account.

The same goes for my take on this—if someone uses "USA" in the title, it absolutely has to be strictly confined to a specific era. It only makes sense to define that window as 1918 through 1991, right?😁

Certain parameters had to be established, and in my opinion, these are exactly the ones we need.

Otherwise, you run into the theoretical risk of someone voting for something from, say, North Mexico that just dropped a few weeks ago (and they find it so legendary it immediately jumps into an all-time top five), or something from Canada that isn't even out yet but which this particular person, by sheer coincidence, has already heard and decided is a total masterpiece—and we're back to the same old story 🤣.

@Bubba

It’s a good thing you threw Borghesiu in there at the last minute.
In my book, they absolutely earned their spot on this list.

I was actually leaning toward adding smrtan Kazen (1987), but I ended up going with Luna instead.

As for the local scene, it really bugs me that Greek is missing, but hey, at least we have Roderick. 👍

Something feels fundamentally off here—everything looks rushed, disjointed, and frankly, half-baked. It’s funny, because back in Keith Rodriguez27's thread, we actually had a definitive ranking for the eighties where EKV took the crown by a seven-day margin, yet they aren't even mentioned here.
Missing entries like Country, Autumn in Me, Love, Heart on the Road, When Night Falls, Right Beside Me... just look at the lists side-by-side. Something isn't adding up. 🤷

Keith Rodriguez27 said:Just Rambo.

It's just not really my thing.