Pop Mašina

Pop Mašina (Serbian Cyrillic: Поп Машина; trans. Pop Machine) was a Yugoslav progressive rock band formed in Belgrade in 1972. The group blended hard rock sound with blues, psychedelic and acid rock elements and is considered one of the most prominent bands of the 1970s Yugoslav rock scene. The band was formed by bass guitarist and vocalist Robert Nemeček, guitarist and vocalist Zoran Božinović, drummer Ratislav "Raša" Đelmaš and vocalist Sava Bojić. Đelmaš and Bojić left Pop Mašina soon after its formation, and the band continued as a trio with the drummer Mihajlo "Bata" Popović. The lineup featuring Nemeček, Zoran Božinović and Popović was the longest lasting, the most successful and the best-known Pop Mašina lineup. One of the first bands on the Yugoslav rock scene to move from jazz- and classical music-influenced progressive rock towards heavier rock sound, Pop Mašina managed to gain large popularity as a live act. The band released two studio albums and a live album—their debut Kiselina (Acid) today widely considered one of the most notable records in the history of Yugoslav rock music—before Nemeček left the band in 1976 for his mandatory army stint. Zoran Božinović continued to lead Pop Mašina, the new lineup featuring his brother Vidoja "Džindžer" Božinović on guitar. The new lineup of Pop Mašina saw little success, and the band officially disbanded in 1978. In 1980, Nemeček and the Božinović brothers formed the short-lasting hard rock and heavy metal band Rok Mašina (Rock Machine). The band was formed in Belgrade in 1972 by Robert Nemeček (a former member of the bands Dogovor iz 1804., Džentlmeni, and Intro, bass guitar and vocals), Zoran Božinović (a former member of Excellent, Rokeri, Džentlmeni, and Intro, guitar and vocals), Ratislav "Raša" Đelmaš (drums) and Sava Bojić (vocals). Very soon, Bojić left the band—in 1974 he would join the progressive rock band Tako— and soon after Đelmaš also left, joining YU Grupa. Đelmaš was replaced by a former Rokeri, Intro, and Siluete member Mihajlo "Bata" Popović, Pop Mašina continuing as a power trio. Pop Mašina was one of the first bands on the Yugoslav rock scene to move from the late 1960s and early 1970s jazz- and classical music-influenced progressive rock towards heavier rock sound. They often held free concerts, and in 1972 they organized a free open-air concert at Hajdučka česma in Belgrade, which featured, alongside Pop Mašina, performances by S Vremena Na Vreme, Porodična Manufaktura Crnog Hleba and other bands. During the same year, the band released their debut record through PGP-RTB record label – a 7-inch single with the songs "Sjaj u očima" ("Glowing Eyes") and "Put ka Suncu" ("Road to Sun"), which had both already gained attention of the audience on their live performances, the recording of the latter featuring Porodična Manufaktura Crnog Hleba flutist Branimir Malkoč. Good reception of their debut single provided them with an opportunity to record new material. Their following 7-inch single, released in 1973, featured the songs "Promenićemo svet" ("We'll Change the World") and "Svemirska priča" ("Space Tale"), both inspired by hippie movement and featuring members of the Indian music band Ganeša Ljubomir Ristić (on sitar) and Bojan Kveder (on tabla). During the same year, on 25 May, which was celebrated as Youth Day in Yugoslavia, Pop Mašina organized another free concert at Hajdučka česma, which featured the bands Jutro, Grupa 220, Vlada i Bajka, Med and other acts. In 1973, Pop Mašina released their debut album, Kiselina (Acid), through PGP-RTB. The album featured hard rock sound with psychedelic and acid rock elements, but also featured acoustic sections in the tracks like "Mir" ("Peace") and "Povratak zvezdama" ("Return to the Stars"). The album's main theme was a psychedelic experience; originally, the opening track should have been "Tražim put" ("I'm Searching for a Trip"), allegorically describing narrator's attempts to find a drug dealer. In a 2011 interview, Nemeček stated that he wrote the original lyrics for the album after some notes he made while being under the influence of LSD. However, the band realized the censors in the state-owned PGP-RTB might refuse to approve the release of the album and decided to cover up the album concept. They made changes to the songs and altered the original track listing. The original album cover, designed by cartoonist and graphic designer Jugoslav Vlahović, who was aware of the album concept, featured psychedelic artwork inspired by the psychedelic portraits of The Beatles. However, realizing that the artwork might reveal the album's theme to PGP-RTB censors and editors, band members and Vlahović decided to put a simple photograph of the band on the cover. Kiselina featured numerous guest musicians: Pop Mašina former member Raša Đelmaš on drums, a former Porodična Manufaktura Crnog Hleba member Branimir Malkoč on flute, Sloba Marković on keyboards, SOS member Miša Aleksić on bass guitar, and singer-songwriter Drago Mlinarec, S Vremena Na Vreme members Ljuba Ninković and Vojislav Đukić and the members of the trio DAG on backing vocals. Pop Mašina and S Vremena Na Vreme would continue to cooperate in studio and on live appearances, and in 1975 Nemeček would appear as a guest on S Vremena Na Vreme self-titled debut album. Despite Pop Mašina members' efforts to cover up the album theme, after its release a journalist for the Ilustrovana Politika magazine who spent some time in the United States revealed the true meaning of the album title to PGP-RTB editors. After the release of Kiselina, the band held a large number of concerts across Yugoslavia. They had numerous performances in Belgrade Sports Hall. These concerts were organized with the help of Aleksandar Tijanić, at the time a journalism student, and other Yugoslav progressive rock bands were often invited to perform. Pop Mašina had an attractive on-stage appearance: Božinović was one of the first Yugoslav guitarists that played long guitar solos and used to play guitar with a bow and behind his back. On one of these concerts Nemeček smashed his bass guitar and threw it into the audience; it was caught by young musician Miroslav Cvetković, who fixed it and later used it on live performances. Cvetković would later himself become a member of Pop Mašina. At the beginning of 1975, in Akademik Studio in Ljubljana, the band recorded their second studio album, Na izvoru svetlosti (At the Spring of Light). The album was produced by Ivo Umek and Nemeček. It featured Ljuba Ninković and Sloba Marković as guest musicians. The album featured one live track, the blues song "Negde daleko" ("Somewhere Far Away"), recorded on the band's concert held in Belgrade Sports Hall on 2 January 1974. The song "Rekvijem za prijatelja" ("Requiem for a Friend"), with lyrics written by Ljuba Ninković, was dedicated to Predrag Jovičić, the vocalist of the band San, who earlier that year died from an electric shock on a concert in Čair Sports Center in Niš. The song was musically inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach's choral composition and featured a string quartet. The album also featured a new version of the song "Zemlja svetlosti" ("Land of Light"), previously released on a 7-inch single. After the album release, the band was joined by the keyboardist Oliver Mandić. However, he left the band after only several performances, later gaining fame as a solo artist. He was replaced by former Moira member Dragan Velikić, whose stint with the band was also short, from May 1975 until the beginning of 1976. Due to their reputation of a band with attractive live performances, Pop Mašina members decided to record a live album. In 1976, the band released the live album Put ka Suncu, recorded on three different performances in Belgrade Sports Hall, thus becoming the first Yugoslav band to release a solo live album (as prior to Put ka Suncu only various artists live albums—usually recorded on Yugoslav rock festivals—were