YU Rock Misija

YU Rock Misija (known in English as YU Rock Mission) was the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's contribution to Bob Geldof's Band Aid campaign, which culminated with the Live Aid concert. It consisted of recording the "Za milion godina" charity single and staging a concert held at Red Star Stadium in Belgrade on 15 June 1985, both featuring top acts of the Yugoslav rock scene. The proceeds from both the single and the concert were given to Band Aid.

Background

Talking about how YU Rock Misija came about, rock critic stated in an interview for the ''Rockovnik'' documentary TV series:

"Za milion godina"

The song, entitled "Za milion godina" ("For a Million Years") was composed by Dragoljub Ilić, former leader of the hard rock band Generacija 5, and the lyrics were written by Mladen Popović, who had previously written lyrics for Denis & Denis, Oliver Mandić and other acts, and was, at the time, an editor of the TV show ''Hit meseca '' (''Hit of the Month'').

In an interview for ''Rockovnik'', Ilić stated:

A large number of musicians took part in the recording sessions, mostly as vocalists. At the time, Ilić's former band Generacija 5 had been defunct for three years, but former members of the group reunited to record instrumental sections: Ilić (keyboards), Dragan Jovanović (guitar), Dušan Petrović (bass guitar), and Slobodan Đorđević (drums). Additionally, Vlatko Stefanovski of Leb i Sol recorded the guitar solo."Za milion godina" at Discogs
/ref> The song was produced by renowned producer Saša Habić.

Personnel

* Oliver Mandić – vocals
* Sergio Blažić (of Atomsko Sklonište) – vocals
*Željko Bebek – vocals
* Marina Perazić (of Denis & Denis) – vocals
* Momčilo Bajagić (of Bajaga i Instruktori) – vocals
*Vesna Vrandečić (of Xenia) – vocals
* Aki Rahimovski (of Parni Valjak) – vocals
*Zorica Kondža – vocals
* Slađana Milošević – vocals
*Dado Topić – vocals
* Massimo Savić (of Dorian Gray) – vocals
*Zdravko Čolić – vocals
* Jura Stublić (of Film) – vocals (choir)
* Husein Hasanefendić (of Parni Valjak) – vocals (choir)
*Snežana Stamenković (of Aska) – vocals (choir)
*Izolda Barudžija (of Aska) – vocals (choir)
*Snežana Mišković (of Aska) – vocals (choir)
* Alen Islamović (of Divlje Jagode) – vocals (choir)
* Sead Lipovača (of Divlje Jagode) – vocals (choir)
* Dejan Cukić (of Bajaga i Instruktori) – vocals (choir)
*Ljuba Ninković (of Tunel) – vocals (choir)
*Doris Dragović (of More) – vocals (choir)
* Anja Rupel (of Videosex) – vocals (choir)
*Srđan Šaper (of Idoli) – vocals (choir)
*Vlada Divljan (of Idoli) – vocals (choir)
*Peđa D' Boy (of Peđa D' Boy Band) – vocals (choir)
* Zoran Predin (of Lačni Franz) – vocals (choir)
*Igor Popović (of Jakarta) – vocals (choir)
* Vlatko Stefanovski (of Leb i Sol) – vocals (choir), guitar (solo)
*Dragan Jovanović – guitar
*Dušan Petrović – bass guitar
*Slobodan Đorđević – drums
* Dragoljub Ilić – keyboards

Additional personnel

*Saša Habić – producer
*Đorđe Petrović – recording
*Jugoslav Vlahović – cover

Single cover

The cover was designed by prominent cartoonist and designer Jugoslav Vlahović."Kako su nastali Band Aid i YU Rock Misija: 'Bile su to osamdesete, doba pohlepe i individualizma", Yugopapir.com
/ref> The original design, which appeared in the March 1985 issue of ''Rock'', featured skull and crossbones symbols on the black background, which were omitted from the final design.

Release

The song was released on a 7-inch single, with its instrumental version as the B-side. The single was distributed with the 75th issue of the ''Rock'' magazine, published on 22 May 1985. The issue was printed in 150,000 copies, thus the initial number of the singles sold was 150,000. A number of records was given to Yugoslav radio stations in order to promote the single.

Notable absences

Bora Đorđević and Goran Bregović, leaders of Riblja Čorba and Bijelo Dugme respectively—two most popular Yugoslav bands at the time—refused the invitation to take part in the recording sessions."Jugoslavenski doprinos Live Aidu '85", muzika.hr
/ref> It was later revealed that Đorđević's refusal may have been based, at least partly, on his wrong assumption about the project being government-initiated, unaware that individual Yugoslav musicians and music industry people started it on their own accord."YU Rock Misija – 30 godina od sna", balkanrock.com
/ref> In a 1985 interview, published before the song recording, he stated:

However, the article published in ''Rock'' magazine in March 1985 as a companion piece to the release of "Za milion godina" stated that Bregović and Đorđević were prevented from appearing on the recording due to their respective bands' touring commitments. The piece further announced that the two would appear at the song's performance on the ''Hit meseca'' TV show alongside Bijelo Dugme vocalist Mladen Vojičić "Tifa". In late April 1985, Đorđević, Bregović and Vojičić did show up for the video shoot at RTB studios in Košutnjak and can be seen in the video for the song.

Dragoljub Ilić stated in an interview that Branimir "Džoni" Štulić, leader of the highly popular band Azra, was not considered for the song recording because he had already moved abroad to the Netherlands.

In an October 1985 interview for ''Džuboks'' magazine, Zabranjeno Pušenje frontman Nele Karajlić was asked about his absence from YU Rock Misija several months earlier. He stated:

In an interview for the magazine ''Blitz'', also in October 1985, Karajlić stated:

Singer-songwriter Đorđe Balašević was not invited to participate. In an August 1986 interview for ''Rock'' magazine, he stated:

Footage from the studio recordings show Ekatarina Velika bass guitarist Bojan Pečar being present in the studio during the single recording, although neither him nor any other of the band members took part in the song. The band would appear on the corresponding charity concert at Red Star Stadium.

"Za milion godina" music video

The video shoot for the "Za milion godina" track took place on 29 April 1985 at Television Belgrade's studios in Košutnjak.

The concert

The corresponding charity concert was held at Red Star Stadium on 15 June 1985, less than a month before Live Aid. Beside the musicians who had already participated in the song recording and the bands they were members of, additional acts performed at the live show. Some 20,000 spectators attended the concert. The following acts played the show, in the order of appearance:

* Magično Oko
* Avtomobili
*Piloti
*Partibrejkers
*Ekatarina Velika
*YU Rock Misija
* Plavi Orkestar
*Denis & Denis
* Atomsko Sklonište
*Jakarta
* Peđa D'Boy Band
*Film
* Videosex
*Željko Bebek
*Bajaga i Instruktori
* Slađana Milošević
* Elvis J. Kurtovich & His Meteors
* Tunel
*Vatreni Poljubac
* Lačni Franz
* Aska
*Električni Orgazam
* Kerber
*Balkan

Marked by uncooperative weather and technical issues, the eight-hour concert was broadcast live on Radio Television of Belgrade. The broadcast was also carried in Cuba and Czechoslovakia."YU rock misija: TV prenos spektakularnog koncerta preuzele Kuba i Čehoslovačka" yugopapir.com
/ref>

In a mid-2000s interview for ''Rockovnik'', ''Hit mesecas host and producer Dubravka Marković talked about the weather and logistical issues during the live show:

In an interview for ''Rockovnik'', Bajaga i Instruktori frontman Momčilo Bajagić complained about the unusual setup and sound issues during the stadium show:

Milić Vukašinović, performing with his band Vatreni Poljubac, dissatisfied with constant echo, stopped playing in the middle of the song "Živio Rock 'n' Roll" ("Long Live Rock 'n' Roll"), saying angrily into the microphone: "It's not good... Fuck it, it's not good!". His profane outburst was later criticized by a sizeable section of the public.

Airing during Live Aid

The song was, alongside a corresponding message from Belgrade, conveyed by Mladen Popović, aired on Wembley Stadium during Live Aid concert, between Run–D.M.C. and Black Sabbath performances in Philadelphia.

Funds raised

According to Peca Popović, the funds raised from the sales of the "Za milion godina" single were US$256,000 and further US$170,000 from the concert tickets, for a grand total of US$426,000.

Legacy

In 2007, Serbian critic Dimitrije Vojnov named "Za milion godina" one of ten most important records in the history of Yugoslav rock music, writing:

In 2011, Mladen Popović made a similar statement for the documentary series ''Rockovnik'':

The piano version of "Za milion godina" appeared at the end of the last episode of ''Rockovnik'', where it follows footage of former Yugoslav rock acts.

In 2020, in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic, a group of public figures from Serbia recorded a new version of the song, accompanied by the message "Be a Hero, Stay at Home". The participants included musicians Aleksandra Radović, Sergej Ćetković, Aleksandra Kovač, Zoran Živanović and Jelena Galonić, Bojana Stamenov, Dženan Lončarević, Nevena Božović, Ivana Peters, Goran Šepa, Nenad Milosavljević, Tijana Bogićević, Lena Kovačević, Zoran "Kiki" Lesendrić, Bilja Krstić, Ana Stanić, Leontina Vukomanović and Tijana Dapčević, actors Gordan Kičić, Nebojša Milovanović, Marko Živić (who would himself die from COVID-19 in October 2021) and Gorica Popović, and other musicians and actors.

"Za milion godina" was heavily used during 2024–2025 Serbian anti-corruption protests, performed by choirs on a number of protests across Serbia. Generacija 5 members publicly supported the protests, and Ilić stated about the usage of the song:

See also

* Popular music in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
*Live Aid

References

External links

The Yugoslav message to Live Aid and YU Rock Misija – "Za milion godina" at Live Aid official YouTube channel

{{Authority control

Yugoslav rock music groups
Yugoslav rock music
Musical advocacy groups
Charity supergroups
All-star recordings
Charity singles
1985 in Yugoslavia
1985 in music