YU Rock Misija


YU Rock Misija 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" single and staging a concert held at Red Star Stadium 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 Peca Popović stated in an interview for the Rockovnik documentary TV series:

"Za milion godina"

The song, entitled "Za milion godina" was composed by former Generacija 5 keyboardist and leader Dragan Ilić, 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 show Hit meseca .
In an interview for Rockovnik, Ilić stated:
A large number of musicians took part in the recording, mostly as vocalists. The song was played by Ilić, his former bandmates from Generacija 5, Dragan Jovanović, Dušan Petrović and Slobodan Đorđević, and Vlatko Stefanovski of Leb i Sol.
The song was produced by Saša Habić. It was released on a 7" single, with the instrumental version of the song as the B-side, with the 75th issue of the Rock magazine. The cover was designed by cartoonist and designer Jugoslav Vlahović.

Personnel

However, both Đorđević and Bregović, alongside Bijelo Dugme vocalist Mladen Vojičić "Tifa", showed up for the video shoot and can be seen in the video for the song.
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 on Red Star Stadium on June 15, 1985, a little less than a month before Live Aid. Beside the musicians who participated in the song recording and the bands they were members of, other acts performed as well. Some 20,000 spectators attended the concert. The concert featured, in the following order:
The concert lasted for eight hours and was broadcast live by Radio Television of Belgrade. The concert was also broadcast in Cuba and Czechoslovakia.
In an interview for Rockovnik, Dubravka Marković, an editor of the show Hit meseca, stated about the concert:
Bajaga i Instruktori frontman Momčilo Bajagić stated about the concert:
Vukašinović, performing with his band Vatreni Poljubac and dissatisfied with constant echo, stopped playing in the middle of the song "Živio Rock 'n' Roll", saying angrily into the microphone: "It's not good... Fuck it, it's not good!". His outburst was criticized by a large part 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 and legacy

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.
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.