[1][2] The roots of Idoli can be found in a band called Merlin (not to be confused with the Sarajevo pop rock band of the same name) and then Zvuk Ulice consisting of Vlada Divljan on guitar and vocals, bassist Zdenko Kolar, keyboard player Dragan Mitrić, drummer Kokan Popović, Bora Antić on saxophone and Dragana Milković on piano and vocals.

[6] Having created a media campaign and gained the public's attention, the band had to prove their existence and start playing.

The first lineup consisted of primary school friends Vlada Divljan (guitar, vocals), Zdenko Kolar (bass), Boža Jovanović (drums) and Divljan's high school friends Srđan Šaper (percussion, vocals) and Nebojša Krstić (percussion).

In June 1980, the band made their first live appearance at Belgrade's SKC (Student's Cultural Center) with the leading Serbian new wave acts.

[7] Already parting ways with Papić, the band recorded another version of the track as a B-side of Maljčiki single, but this time in Zagreb with the producer Goran Bregović.

At the 1980 Festival Omladina, which had been delayed from May to the autumn due to Tito's passing, new wave bands from Zagreb and Belgrade met for the first time.

[8] Idoli, with Električni Orgazam and Šarlo Akrobata participated in the project called Paket aranžman with four tracks, "Schwule Über Europa" (German for "Gays Over Europe", a parody on the attitude towards Germans) "Plastika" ("Plastic"), "Maljčiki" (Russian for "Boys", a parody on Social-Realist art and propaganda) and "Amerika" ("America").

The promotional video for "Maljčiki" was banned on national television and some radio stations after the Soviet embassy responded.

The next release was a self-titled EP or mini LP as it was called in former Yugoslavia, featuring six tracks including a cover version of Chuck Berry's "Come On" ("Hajde") and Darko Kraljić's "Devojko mala", with two different music videos.

In the summer of 1981, a new drummer became Kokan Popović who previously played with Divljan and Kolar in Merlin and Zvuk Ulice.

Guests on the album were Bebi Dol who did backing vocals on "Odbrana" ("Defence"), and Vuk Vujačić, Goran Grbić and Slobodan Grozdanović were a brass section on "Senke su drugačije" ("The Shadows Are Different").

The track "Poslednji dani" ("The Last Days") originally entitled "Maršal" ("Marshall"), dedicated to former Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito, did not include the last verse due to the record company disapproval.

Šaper did the vocals, Kolar and Isaković did the bass, Piko Stančić and Boban Đorđević did the drums, keyboards were recorded by Đorđe Petrović and Dragan Ilić and guitars by Katarina II member Dragomir Mihajlović "Gagi" and saxophone by Vuk Vujačić.

Guest vocalists were Mišo Kovač on "Da je duži moj dan" ("If my day was longer") and folk singer Jahija Gračanlić (also known as the Cosmic Bosnian) on "Ja je zovem meni da se vrate" ("I Am Calling Her To Come Back") appearing instead of a Divljan's gay-themed folk song "Zaljubljen sam u svog jarana" ("I am in love with my buddy") that remains unreleased to this day.

Following the breakup, Krstić and Šaper wrote music for the singer Biljana Krstić, they also recorded an album called Poslednja mladost u Jugoslaviji with the band Unutrašnja Imperija (consisting of Dragomir Mihajlović "Gagi" (guitar), Branko Isaković (bass) and Dragoljub Đuričić (drums)).

In 1995 the two recorded one more album this time forming a band Dobrovoljno Pevačko Društvo with Zoran Kiki Lesendrić from Piloti.

He acted and wrote the theme for "Davitelj protiv davitelja" and directed music videos and worked on TV and movie soundtracks.

At the moment he is recording a new solo album with the work title Esperanto, with a new backing band called Nevladina Organizacija.

He was a member of the Old Stars Band and currently works in Nevladina Organizacija beside Zona B. Kokan Popović and Dragan Mitrić (who played keyboards in Zvuk Ulice, but was not a member of Idoli) were also in a band called Propaganda which released only one album in 1982, partially featuring material from the Zvuk Ulice period.

In 2007 Croatia Records released a four-CD box set VIS Idoli consisting of all studio works except the first Vidici single.

The same record label released a box set consisting of Paket aranžman, Električni Orgazam and Šarlo Akrobata debut albums.

Bands like Eva Braun, Ništa Ali Logopedi, Euforia, Kristali, and others recorded cover versions of their songs.

[14] In 2015, Odbrana i poslednji dani was pronounced the greatest Yugoslav album in the special issue of Croatian edition of Rolling Stone.