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Najbolji Hrvatski Tamburaši (in English Best Croatian Tambura Players) is a Croatian tambura group.

The group was formed in 1983 as Zlatni Dukati. After a tour of America organized by the Croatian Fraternal Union, the band started to compose more music about Croatia. This came to coincide with the Croatian War of Independence which brought such traditional music back into the spotlight.

In 1997 the group changed its name from Zlatni Dukati to Najbolji Hrvatski Tamburaši. The band was signed to Croatia Records.

History

Zlatni Dukati's first album was titled Ni sokaci nisu što su nekad bili. The album was released by then Jugoton, now Croatia Records. The original band members were:

• Zoran Bucković-prim
• Stanko Šarić-basprim
• Zdravko Šljivac-basprim
• Zeljko Miloš (Yinks)-celo
• Mario Pleše-kontra
• Mato Lukačević-bas
• Marijan Majdak-Vocals

In the above-mentioned formation, Zlatni Dukati played only one season. Lukačević and Šarić continued to play under the name Zlatni Dukati. They were joined with group of tambura players from Štitar in Slavonia. The leader of this group was Šima Dominković and the other members were: Andrija Miličić, Mato Miličić, Mirko Gašparović, Josip Dominković, Mato Lukačević and Stanko Šarić. They were later joined by Hrvoje Majić.

For the next few years, Zlatni Dukati performed exclusively in Slavonia around Županja. In 1985, the group split due to internal problems.

In 1986, Lukačević and Stjepan Bogutovac reformed Zlatni Dukati. The band now consisted of:

• Petar Nikolić-violin
• Hrvoje Majić-basprim
• Mirko Gašparović-basprim
• Stjepan Bogutovac-basprim
• Mato Miličić(Pista)-kontra
• Mato Lukačević-bas

This group also performed around Županja. During 1986 and 19876, Zlatni Dukati played weekly at the "Tavern Kristal". At the end of 1986, Šarić rejoined the band and Nikolić left it. During the summer of 1987, Zlatni Dukati started its first Croatian tour with the help of music agency "Lira" from Cakovec. The band members for the tour were:

• Hrvoje Majić-prim
• Mirko Gašparović-basprim
• Stjepan Bogutovac-basprim
• Stanko Šarić-basprim
• Mato Miličić (Pista)-kontra
• Mato Lukačević-bas

In 1988, Zlatni Dukati started working with composer Josip Ivanković and released the album Nek zvone tambure. After disagreements with Ivanković, Bogutovac left the band. The rest of Zlatni Dukatiand Ivanković then released several successful albums.

During their tour of the United States, Zlatni Dukati decided to record an album of Croatian patriotic songs. The name of that album was Hrvatska Pjesmarica. This release was a great success and contributed to the popularization of tambura music.

During and after the war in 1991, Zlatni Dukati continued to record patriotic songs. That album was U meni Hrvatsk which reportedly boosted the morale of Croatian soldiers on the front lines.

In 1996, due to disagreements, Ivankovic ended his association with Zlatni Dukati. In 1997, due to litigation with Ivankovic, "Zlatni Dukati" changed its name to "Najbolji Hrvatski Tamburaši" . The band released the following albums under its new name: Vranac, Nek me pamte gradovi, Hrvatske pjesme iz Bosne i Hercegovine, Sedam dana, Divne godine, Tamburica od javora suva, Sretan Bozic, Nostalgija and Slavonijo, biseru Hrvatske.

In 1999 Majić committed suicide and was replaced by Denis Špegelj from Virovitica. Celo player Krunoslav Golubičić also joined Najbolji Hrvatski Tamburaši

The current members of Najbolji Hrvatski Tamburaši include :

• Denis Špegelj-prim
• Mirko Gašparović-basprim
• Stanko Šarić-basprim
• Krunoslav Golubičić-celo
• Mato Miličić (Pista)-kontra
• Mato Lukačević-bas

Discography

1. Nek zvone tambure – 1988
2. Pjevaj kad dusa boli – 1989
3. Hrvatska pjesmarica – 1989
4. Dao bih zlatne dukate – 1990
5. Horvatska domovina – 1990
6. U meni Hrvatska – 1991
7. Klasika – 1991
8. 16 zlatnih hitova – 1992
9. Da su meni krila laka – 1993
10. Sretan Bozic – 1993
11. Starogradska pjesmarica – 1994
12. Od dvora do dvora – 1994
13. Suzivot – 1995
14. Vranac – 1996
15. Nek me pamte gradovi – 1998
16. Hrvatske pjesme iz Bosne i Hercegovine – 1999
17. Sedam dana – 2001
18. Divne godine – 2003
19. Tamburica od javora suva – 2004
20. Sretan Bozic – 2005
21. Nostalgija – 2007
22. Zlatna kolekcija (Zlatni dukati) – 2007
23. Zlatna kolekcija (Najbolji hrvatski tamburasi) – 2007
24. Slavonijo, biseru Hrvatske – 2010