VIA Talas

VIA Talas
The original VIA Talas lineup, from left to right: Dušan Gerzić, Miško Plavi, Mira Mijatović and Bojan Pečar
Background information
Also known as	Talas
Origin	Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Genres	New wave, pop rock
Years active	1981–1983
Labels	Sarajevo Disk, Jugoton, PGP-RTB, PGP-RTS
Associated acts	D' Boys, Katarina II / Ekatarina Velika, Piloti, Miško Plavi Band
Past members	Bojan Pečar Dušan Gerzić Mira Mijatović Miško Petrović

VIA Talas (Serbian Cyrillic: ВИА Талас; trans. VIE The Wave) were a former Yugoslav new wave band, notable as one of the participants of the Artistička radna akcija project. The band name featured the prefix VIA added to the former Yugoslav 1960s rock bands, which stands for 'vokalno-instrumentalni ansambl' ('vocal-instrumental ensemble').

The band was formed in the early 1980s by former BG 5 member Bojan Pečar (vocals, bass, guitar, synthesizer, percussion), Mira Mijatović (the daughter of the Yugoslav politician Cvijetin Mijatović, vocals), Dušan Gerzić "Gera" (saxophone, drums) and Miško Petrović "Plavi" (bass, guitar, backing vocals). The band participated the Artistička radna akcija (Artistic Work Action) various artists compilation, featuring the second generation of Belgrade new wave and punk rock bands, with two songs, "Hawai (najljepši kraj)" ("Hawai (The Most Beautiful Place)") and "Lilihip (My Boy Lollipop)", the later being a cover version of a Millie Small song "My Boy Lollipop". The band also performed as an opening act for Idoli at their first concert.

By the time the band had released their debut album Perfektan dan za banana ribe (A perfect day for bananafish), in 1983, under the name Talas, which got the title by the J. D. Salinger's short-story A Perfect Day for Bananafish, Pečar and Mijatović were the only band members. The album featured eight songs, and the album's opening track "Sama" ("Alone") became a nationwide hit and appeared on the Svetislav "Bata" Prelić's Šećerna vodica movie soundtrack. The album, recorded at the Belgrade MS studio, was produced by Pečar and Boban Petrović and released through Sarajevo Disk in 3000 copies only. As guests on the album appeared Milan "Mića" Bubalo (drum machine), Ivan Vdović "Vd" (drums), Milan Mladenović (guitar) and Vuk Vujačić (saxophone).