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.
Talking about how YU Rock Misija came about, rock critic stated in an interview for the Rockovnik documentary TV series:
| Za milion godina | |
| Cover: | Za milion godina single.jpeg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | YU Rock Misija |
| B-Side: | Za milion godina (Instrumentalna verzija) |
| Genre: | Pop rock |
| Label: | PGP-RTB |
| Producer: | Saša Habić |
The song, entitled "Za milion godina" ("For a Million Years") was composed by Dragoljub Ilić, former leader of the band Generacija 5, and the lyrics were written by Mladen Popović, who had previously written lyrics for Denis & Denis, Oliver Mandić and other acts,[1] and was, at the time, an editor of the TV show Hit meseca (Hit of the Month).[2]
In an interview for Rockovnik, Ilić stated:
A large number of musicians took part in the recording, mostly as vocalists. The instruments were played by Ilić (keyboards) along with his former Generacija 5 bandmates: Dragan Jovanović (guitar), Dušan Petrović (bass guitar), and Slobodan Đorđević (drums), as well as Vlatko Stefanovski of Leb i Sol (guitar solo).[3] The song was produced by Saša Habić.[3]
The cover was designed by prominent cartoonist and designer Jugoslav Vlahović.[4] 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.[4]
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,[3] published on 22 May 1985.[4] The issue was printed in 150,000 copies, thus the initial number of the singles sold was 150,000.[4] A number of records was given to Yugoslav radio stations in order to promote the single.[4]
Bora Đorđević and Goran Bregović, leaders of Riblja Čorba and Bijelo Dugme respectively—two of the most popular Yugoslav bands at the time—openly refused to take part in the recording sessions.[5] 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.[6] 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".[4] 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.
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:
Dragoljub Ilić stated in an interview that Azra leader Branimir "Džoni" Štulić was not considered for the song recording because he had already moved abroad to the Netherlands.[6]
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 song recording, although neither him nor any other of the band members took part in the song.[7]
The video shoot for the "Za milion godina" track took place on 29 April 1985 at Television Belgrade's studios in Košutnjak.
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.[8] The following acts played the show, in the order of appearance:[8]
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.[9]
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:
Bajaga i Instruktori frontman Momčilo Bajagić complained about the unusual setup and sound issues during the stadium show:
Vukašinović, performing with his band Vatreni Poljubac and 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 criticized by a sizeable section of the public.[8] [9]
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.[5]
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.[10]
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.[11]