Amajlija

History

Amajlija got its start in 1979, put together by Bogoljub "Čombe" Banjac on vocals, Boško "Čvaja" Plaćkov on bass, and Predrag "Čole" Čoka on drums—all three had previously played in the band Oćeš-Nećeš (Want It or Not)—alongside guitarist Slobodan "Veća" Većkalov and rhythm guitarist Tomislav "Čvaja" Milei. At first they played covers of The Rolling Stones, Riblja Čorba, and Azra, while slowly working on original songs. They practiced in barracks owned by the Zlatibor construction firm, where they also played their first live show near the end of 1979.

Their first payment came from a gig at a party thrown by the Novi Sad Union of the Deaf People. Throughout 1980, the band rehearsed hard and played now and then, mostly at elementary school dances. That same year, contortionist Petar "Pera Gumeni" Krsić joined as a showman. In 1981, Radio Novi Sad producer Jovan Adamov invited them to record four demo tracks.

The next year they played the Subotica Youth Festival. After bringing in Zoran Bojčevski on bass and Vojislav "Voja Ušar" Vilić on lead guitar, the band went on hold because some members had to serve in the Yugoslav People's Army. They picked things up again in 1985 with Banjac, Većkalov, Čoka, and Vilić—Banjac now handling vocals and rhythm guitar, Većkalov switching to bass. At a studio in Bukovac they cut ten songs they hoped to release, but the recordings were too poor in quality to put out.

That year they opened for Bajaga i Instruktori on their Yugoslav tour. The audience and the headliners liked them so much that they joined the 1986 tour as well, but a fight during that tour broke the band up for good.