Alisa (Serbian band)

For the Russian hard rock band of the same name, see Alisa.

Alisa
Alisa in the 1980s
Background information
Origin	Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Genres	Rock, pop rock, folk rock
Years active	1984 – 1991 2001 – 2002
Labels	Jugodisk, PGP-RTB, Raglas Records, PGP-RTS
Associated acts	Slađana Milošević, Vožd
Past members
Miroslav Živanović Predrag Cvetković Aleksandar Kićanović Zoran Jančeski Marko Glavan Jovan Stoiljković Saša Gnus Dušan Karadžić Dejan Rešanović Bojan Mišković Predrag Stojković Miloš Đurić

Alisa (Serbian Cyrillic: Алиса; Slavic analogue to the female name Alice, referring to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) were a Serbian and former Yugoslav rock band.

Band history

1984 - 1991

Alisa was formed in 1984 by Miroslav "Pile" Živanović (vocals), a former Zvučni zid (Sound Barrier) and Jedan smer (One Way) vocalist, Predrag Cvetković (drums), a former member of Slađana Milošević's support band Ljudi (People), Aleksandar Kićanović (keyboard), Zoran Jančeski (guitar), a former Sedmi krug (Seventh Circle) member, and Marko Glavan (bass guitar), a former BG 5 member. They released their debut self-titled album in 1985. All songs were written by the keyboardist Jovan Stoiljković, leader of Živanović's former band Zvučni zid, some of them during the 1970s while Stoiljković was the leader of band Bicikl (Bicycle). Stoiljković decided not to become an official band member, but rather an author of Alisa's fairy tales-inspired songs. Although poorly produced, album brought hits "Sanja" and "Vojskovođa" ("Warlord") that made Alisa teen stars in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The album featured Saša Gnus on flute and saxophone as a special guest.

Their second album Da li si čula pesmu umornih slavuja (Have You Heard the Song of Tired Nightingales), released in 1987, was heavily influenced by the Sarajevo school of pop rock. All the songs were once again written by Stoiljković. This album also featured Saša Gnus, now as an official band member. Main hits were the songs "1389." and "Posle devet godina" ("After Nine Years"), the latter featuring folk music singer Lepa Brena on vocals. The album also featured re-recorded "Vojskovođa". In 1988 Glavan left the band, and was replaced by Dušan "Golub" Karadžić. Alisa's third album Hiljadu tona ljubavi (Thousand Tons of Love), released in 1988, featured similar folk rock sound. For the first time Živanović wrote part of the songs, including the album's main hit "Kesteni" ("Chestnuts"). After releasing the album Glupo je spavati dok svira Rock 'n' Roll (It's a Dumb Thing to Sleep while Rock 'n' Roll Is Playing) in 1989 and several concerts held, the band disbanded at the outbreak of Yugoslav wars.

2001 - 2002

Živanović and Cvetković reunited Alisa in 2001. This lineup of the band also featured Dejan Resanović (bass guitar) and Bojan Mišković (guitar), Predrag Stojković (keyboards) and Mloš Đurić (percussion). They released the album Alisa, also known as Boško Buha (a former Yugoslav World War II hero) which featured new versions of the band's old hits and new songs. Alisa disbanded once again shortly after and Živanović formed the band Vožd.

Discography

Studio albums

• Alisa (1985)
• Da li si čula pesmu umornih slavuja (1987)
• Hiljadu tona ljubavi (1988)
• Glupo je spavati dok svira Rock 'n' Roll (1988)
• Alisa (2001)

Compilations

• Zlatna kolekcija (1996)

References

• EX YU ROCK enciklopedija 1960-2006, Janjatović Petar; ISBN 978-86-905317-1-4