Milić Vukašinović

Milić Vukašinović
Birth name	Milić Vukašinović
Also known as	Mitch Valiant
Born	March 9, 1950 (1950-03-09) (age 61) Belgrade, FPR Yugoslavia
Origin	Belgrade, Serbia
Genres	Rock Hard rock Folk
Years active	1965 – present
Labels	Diskoton, Diskos, Goraton
Associated acts	Vatreni poljubac, Bijelo dugme, Indexi, Kodeksi

Milić Vukašinović, a.k.a. Mitch Valiant (Serbian Cyrillic: Милић Вукашиновић) (born March 9, 1950 in Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia) is a musician from Serbia of Yugoslavian ethnicity.^[1][2] He was the founder of the rock band Vatreni Poljubac and drummer of the famous Yugoslav band Bijelo dugme.

Born in Belgrade, he moved with his family to Peć when he was 6 years old. In 1963 they moved again, this time to Sarajevo where he spent most of his time until the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995.

Career

Simultaneous to his schooling, Vukašinović started drumming, first joining the band called Plavi dijamanti before switching to Čičci where Zoran Redžić played bass. Čičci folded in 1969.

During spring 1970, Željko Bebek invited Redžić to join his band Kodeksi on club & bar tour in southern Italy since they immediately needed someone to play bass. Redžić in turn brough along Vukašinović as well, since the struggling band that featured future Bijelo dugme leader Goran Bregović also needed a replacement drummer. Right after arriving in Italy, Vukašinović encouraged and eventually convinced his new band mates to make a turn towards hard rock, similar to the pioneering sound that was coming out of England at the time epitomized by acts like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.

The band's new style backfired as they got fired from most of the places they were regularly playing up to that point and eventually returned to Sarajevo. In late summer 1971, 21-year-old Vukašinović decided to leave for London where he lived for the next three years. Trying to find musical success in England proved elusive, so he mostly earned a living through a series of menial jobs. Among other things he worked as a busboy at London's Hard Rock Cafe near Hyde Park Corner.

After returning to Sarajevo in late 1974, he joined Indexi, performing with them on several singles.

In October 1976, Goran Bregović offered Vukašinović the drummer spot in Bijelo dugme since their regular drummer Ipe Ivandić suddenly had to leave for his mandatory military service. Vukašinović immediately accepted and reportedly got YUD20 million to play on the upcoming record and the subsequent tour. He appeared on their 1976 album Eto! Baš hoću! but decided to leave the group the following year.

He eventually formed the enthusiastic power trio Vatreni poljubac in 1977. After recording nine studio albums between 1977 and 1986, Vukašinović disbanded the group choosing to pursue a solo career, recording five albums. After the Yugoslav Wars he released two more albums and took part in Bijelo dugme’s 2005 farewell tour. Since November 1997 he's been living in Belgrade were he collaborates with fellow musicians.

In late 2006, he took part in a brief Vatreni poljubac reunion, the focus of which was a December 29 concert at Belgrade's SKC.

After expressing interest to appear as one of the opening acts at the Rolling Stones concert in Belgrade on July 14, 2007, Vukašinović was booked up until a couple of days before the show. However, at that time a row between him, Stones' management and local concert organizers came to a head and he ended up not playing.[1]

On March 1, 2008, he entered the Veliki brat house as part of the show's second season in celebrity format.

In March 2009 he entered again the Veliki brat

Discography

Solo albums

• Potraži me (1984, Diskoton)
• Hej jaro, jarane (1988, Diskos)
• Kao nekad (1992, Diskoton)
• Sad ga lomi (2000, Vatreni poljubac d.o.o.)

References

1. ^ Tifa: Navijam za mog Miću (in Serbian). Blic. M. Radojković; 04-03-2008
2. ^ Sve za razvrat i blud (in Serbian). Glas Javnosti. P. Dragosavac; 17-09-1999

External links

• [2]
• Milić Vukašinović interview, NaDlanu.com, December 2006
• "Vatreni poljubac" ponovo na okupu, MTS Mondo, December 12, 2006
• „Vatreni poljubac“ na okupu, Blic, December 13, 2006
• Vatreni poljubac u SKC-u, Popboks.com, December 13, 2008
• Vatreni poljubac @ SKC, concert review, NaDlanu.com, December 31, 2006

Persondata
Name	Vukasinovic, Milic
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 9, 1950
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death