Marko Novosel

Marko Novosel is a Croatian singer of zabavna, the popular light music of the festivals, born on 24 January 1936 in Nova Gradiška. He is regarded as the leading bel canto voice of Croatian popular music, and he was at his most popular between 1958 and 1965, when he launched festival songs such as "Mornarev cha-cha-cha", "Tri prijatelja", "U nedilju, Ane", "Malena", "Zagreb, Zagreb", "Maškare", "Veslaj", "Dalmatinke male" and "Autobus calypso".

Many were duets with the leading singers of the day: he sang "U nedilju, Ane" at Opatija in 1960, "Autobus calypso" with Beti Jurković, "Maškare" with Anica Zubović and with Gabi Novak, "Veslaj" with Gabi Novak, "Dalmatinke male" with Zdenka Vučković and "Ljubav prašta sve" with Lola Novaković. For Jugoton he also recorded Croatian versions of foreign hits such as "Nije li lažan tvoj mir", "Buongiorno Giuliana", "Vatreni poljubac" and "Banjo boy", and in Vienna he recorded "Elena Rosa" and other songs in German and Italian.

In the autumn of 1965, invited by the Croatian Fraternal Union, he went to the United States, where for five years he sang for Croatian emigrants. Back home he sang mostly at the Krapina festival of kajkavian songs, with "Došel bum v Zagorje nazaj", "Mi sme tu navek", "To malo zemlice", "Kipec v obloku" and "Ostal bum tu", and also at the Slavonija festival. As a composer he is known for "Pod starim krovovima", set to words by Drago Britvić, which has become an evergreen. Jugoton also released two LPs of Slovenian folk songs that he recorded with his wife Ervina.

He appeared on television and in concerts all over Yugoslavia and toured the Soviet Union several times. In 1981 he moved to Vienna, where he worked as a pianist and singer in well-known hotels, and in 1996 he received the Order of Danica Hrvatska with the face of Marko Marulić for his contribution to Croatian culture. Since 2001 he has lived in Maribor, Slovenia, still composing, arranging and recording.

In 2011, marking sixty years on stage, he received an award from the Croatian Musicians Union, and Croatia Records released his Zlatna kolekcija and the CD Za družbu staru, with songs from Zagorje and Slavonia. His recordings are gathered here in one playlist.