The band was formed in 1962 by high school friends: Slobodan "Boba" Stefanović, Velibor "Borko" Kacl, Predrag Lukić, Dušan Banović, and Vidoje "Vili" Brajović. Initially, the band was named The Tigers, but changed the name after a suggestion of journalist and chess masterNikola Karaklajić. The band regularly performed at the dances held in club Euridika in Belgrade. During these evenings Stefanović performed both with Zlatni Dečaci and with Saša Radojčić's jazz trio. Moma Davidović and Tomi Sovilj performed with the band occasionally, but after some time, Stefanović remained the only vocalist. Zlatni Dečaci wanted to break through to Yugoslav radio stations, which were at the time closed for beat music, so they started recording beat covers of classical music pieces. Karaklajić took those recordings to the Netherlands, where he participated in a chess tournament, managing to broadcast them on radio, so the editors of the label Fontana Records became interested in the band. The band, under the name Golden Boys, released the single "Swan Lake" and "Humoresque" through the label, becoming the first Yugoslav rock band to release a record for the foreign market. A year later, those two recordings, alongside versions of the theme from Charles Gounod's operaFaust and the Ion Ivanovici's waltz "Waves of the Danube", were released on the EPHumoreska, released by Jugoton. With these compositions the band gained nationwide popularity and performed across Yugoslavia. Their next EP, released during the same year, featured the songs "Čudna devojka", "Sadko", "Napušteni dom", and "Foxtrot Oriental". The single was sold in more than 100,000 copies. In April 1966, thanks to Karaklajić, they left to England. Karaklajić was invited to a chess tournament, and to acquire visas more easily, he represented the band members as young chess players. The band performed in Bognor Regis in front of some 1,500 people. They performed covers of rock hits, but their cover of Macedonianfolk song "Jovano Jovanke" saw greatest success with the audience. Before returning home, the band also performed in the club Shoreline. During the same year, Brajović left the band, and was replaced by Gradimir Janković. In 1967, the band released their third and the final EP with the songs "Sam", "Samo ti", "Pamtim taj dan", and "Ne želim kraj". During the same year, after the performance on the Belgrade Spring Festival, Stefanović left the band. The rest of the band continued with the vocalist Moma Davidović, but soon ended their activity.
Post breakup
Stefanović started a successful career as a pop music singer and composer, recording five studio albums and about fifty 7" singles, and winning numerous awards at Yugoslav and international pop music festivals. In 2015, he died in Belgrade, at the age of 69. In 1968, Kacl joined the newly formed Korni Grupa. After leaving Korni Grupa, he retired from music. He died in a car accident in 1984. Davidović moved to France, where he recorded several 7" singles under the names David Colsberry and David Loris. Brajović moved to the United States. He self-released a CD with all recordings made by Zlatni Dečaci in a limited number of copies. He wrote the book Album sa sličicama iz mog života, originally published in Washington, D.C., and later in Belgrade.
Other works
Zlatni Dečaci played as a backing band on Miki Jevremović's highly successful EP 18 žutih ruža, released in 1964, and on Zlatko Golubović EP Op Hop, released in 1967. For Vladan Slijepčević's 1967 filmWhere to After the Rain? they recorded the songs "Ti, samo ti" and "Jovano Jovanke", released on plastic foil by Jugoton.
