E.N.I. (band)

History

All four original members of E.N.I. came from the Rijeka supergroup Putokazi. Their first release, a special album from late 1996, also featured another new singer from Rijeka and was called Putokazi predstavljaju: E.N.I. i Vivien Galetta. The band’s first proper single, “Probudi me,” came out in 1997. That same year, the song won Croatia’s Eurovision selection show Dora with 170 points, beating runner-up Petar Grašo by nine points. At the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 in Dublin, E.N.I. finished 17th with 24 points. Their debut album, also titled Probudi me, arrived later in 1997 and produced two more singles: “Mi možemo sve” and “Ljubav je tu.”

The group’s second album, Saten, was released in 1998 on Orfej and had three singles: “Ljubav je tu,” “Kap po kap,” and “You’re The One.” In 2000, while taking a break from their own recordings, the band appeared on songs like “Košulja plava” with Šajeta and “Profesor Jakov” with Let 3. During the 2000 parliamentary election campaign, they joined many other rock musicians in backing the Social Democratic Party of Croatia and other opposition parties. Another collaboration, “Treba mi vremena,” came out in 2002 with the Rijeka rock band En Face.

In 2003, E.N.I. signed with Dallas Records and put out their third album, Da Capo, on 9 June 2003. It featured ten covers of popular Yugoslav songs from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The lead single “Ti si moja ruža” was a Croatian translation of Videosex’s “Ti si moja roža.” The second single “Rijetko te viđam sa djevojkama” covered Idoli’s “Retko te viđam sa devojkama,” and the album cycle ended with “Samo jednom se ljubi,” originally by Ivo Robić.

On 14 June 2004, the band performed a set at the Zagreb Pride parade and festival. Their fourth album, Oči su ti ocean, came out in 2007 on Dallas Records and included two of their biggest commercial hits: the title track and “Traži se dečko.” Two more singles, “Mona Lisa” and “Ja znam,” were also released from it. At the 2007 Porin Awards, E.N.I. won Best Group Vocal Performance for “Oči su ti ocean” and were nominated for Best Pop Album for Oči su ti ocean.