YU grupa

YU Grupa
YU Grupa performing live in Niš in 2007
Background information
Origin	Belgrade, Yugoslavia (present-day Serbia)
Genres	Progressive rock, hard rock, blues rock, folk rock
Years active	1970 – 1981 1987 – present
Labels	PGP-RTB, Jugoton, ZKP RTLJ, PGP-RTS, Croatia Records
Associated acts	Džentlmeni, Siluete, Opus, Pop Mašina, Srđan Marjanović, Dah, Zdravo, Zebra, Leb i Sol, Kerber, Bjesovi
Website	www.yugrupa.com
Members	Dragi Jelić Žika Jelić Petar Jelić Slobodan Jurišić
Past members	Miodrag Okrugić Velibor Bogdanović Miodrag Kostić Ratislav Đelmaš Dragan Micić Nedžat Maculja Dragoljub Đuričić Dragan Janković Igor Malešević

YU Grupa (trans. YU Group) is a Serbian (former Yugoslav) rock band. A pioneer in combining rock music with the elements of the traditional music of the Balkans, YU Grupa is credited with being the longest-lasting Serbian rock band.

YU Grupa was formed in the autumn of 1970 by brothers Dragi (vocals, guitar) and Žika Jelić (bass guitar), both former members of the band Džentlmeni, Miodrag Okrugić (organ) and Velibor Bogdanović (drums). In the beginning the band performed under the name Idejni Posed (Notional Property), which was suggested by Korni Grupa leader Kornelije Kovač. In November 1970, on their concert in Sinagoga club in Zemun, disc jockey Zoran Modli asked the audience to suggest a name for the band. The name YU Grupa was suggested by a young man called Miroslav Stanivuk. In accordance with the name, the band continued to hold birthday concerts on November 29, the date of Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia declaration.

Their first song, "Nona", was recorded at the end of December of 1970. The song was inspired by folk music of Kosovo, and by recording it YU Grupa became one of the pioneers of combining rock and folk music elements on the Yugoslav rock scene. Their first solo concert was organised by radio personality and chess master Nikola Karaklajić and journalist Peca Popović, editors of the Radio Belgrade show Veče uz radio (Evening by the Radio). The concert was held in Dadov Theatre on January 21, 1971. During the year they held a great number of concerts, mostly in Serbia. They recorded fourteen songs for the needs of Radio Belgrade, part of those songs later released on their vinyl singles. All the copies of their first single "Nona" were sold immediately after the release, but the publisher, PGP-RTB, refused to release a new number of copies, so YU Grupa signed a contract with Jugoton. The band appeared at the Belgrade Spring Festival with the song "Tajna" ("Secret"), a different version of the song performed at the same festival by Zdenka Kovačiček. The songs "Drveni most" ("Wooden Bridge"), "Mali medved" ("Little Bear") and "Devojka Džoj" ("Girl Named Joy") were well accepted on all of their concerts. Okrugić's song "Opus 1" had a significant place on their live appearances, however, it was never recorded by YU Grupa.