Died Dušan Vesić, was one of the most important chroniclers of YU rock

Dušan Vesić, one of the most influential chroniclers of the Yugoslav rock scene, has died at the age of 67 after a long battle with a serious illness, according to friends who posted on Facebook. Vesić was known for his books on the Yugoslav rock scene, documentaries about rock music, and a book about Mira from EKV. According to Danas.rs, Vesić was one of the leading Yugoslav and Serbian chroniclers of rock culture. Born in Belgrade in 1959, he wrote for nearly all relevant newspapers and magazines of the 1980s and 1990s, promoting rock culture and serving as an editor for domestic scenes in magazines such as "Rock" and "Pop Rock." He organized concerts and served as an executive producer on several rock and pop albums. From 1996 onwards, he focused intensively on video production. He was once an executive producer and manager of Marina Perazić and a musical producer for the band Instant Karma, according to Nova.rs. Znanje reports that Vesić was the director of the Belgrade Entertainment Music Festival, Manager (1993–1995). He created eight documentary TV series and films, including the cult series "Rockovnik" (40 episodes) and the film "EKV - As If It Were Once." He published three books about White Button: "The Thieves Who Were Not Caught" (1985), "What Would You Give to Be in My Place" (2014), and "White Button - 40 Years" (with Sinisa Skaric, 2014). He wrote books such as "Rebellion of the Children of Socialism," about the first generation of New Wave bands, the biography of White Button "What Would You Give to Be in My Place," and "Mira, As If It Were Once," a story about Mira Stefanović. In the book "Imagine Life... New Wave, First Generation," he presents, according to Ljevak, "the first generation of bands that changed the rock scene in Yugoslavia at the end of the 1970s, bringing new sensitivity and setting new standards of creativity." "Vesić, as usual," they add, "offered a broad analysis of both the entire movement and each individual participant, allowing us to get firsthand acquainted with Azra, Pankrti, Film, Prljavi Kazalište, Haustor, Idoli, Električni Orgazam, Peking Patk, Paraf, Šarl Akrobata, Lačni Franz, and other important figures of that generation." Vesić, who died at the age of 67 after a long and difficult illness, was more than just a journalist for the Yugoslav rock scene. He was a participant, insider, critic, and ultimately the most meticulous archivist of a cultural era whose echoes still resonate today. He belonged to the rare breed of chroniclers who did not view history from a later, secure distance, but stood right in the epicenter as it was being created, recording its triumphs and tragedies firsthand. The news of his death was confirmed by longtime collaborator and friend Sandra Rančić, whose farewell words captured Vesić's significance for many he touched: "You will miss me more than my parents. Everything I am today, I learned from you." His departure is not only a loss of a master author but also the disappearance of a living repository of stories, anecdotes, and deep understanding of music that defined generations. Born in Belgrade in 1959, Vesić, as he often liked to mention, dreamed as a child of becoming a tram driver. That dream dissolved on a fateful June day in 1972 in Tučepi, when he consciously redirected money intended for ice cream toward a ticket for a concert by the group Pro Arte, and music became his lasting fascination and life calling. Although he later tried himself as a musician, a sports injury permanently separated him from drumming, directing his energy toward studying the phenomenon of Yugoslav popular music. He briefly studied history, but his true school was the life of the scene itself, from playing records at school dances to writing for key youth magazines that were the only windows into the world of rock culture at the time. His journalistic career flourished in the 1980s, during the golden age of Yugoslav rock. He became one of the most influential pens of his generation, writing for almost all relevant publications of that time: Zdravo!, Rock, Pop Rock, Itd, Ćao, Džuboks, Politika. He was not only a journalist; he became an editor for domestic scenes in magazines Rock and Pop Rock, giving him the opportunity to directly influence the course of the scene, promoting new bands and ideas. His approach was total, immersed in the world he wrote about. He believed, as he later admitted, that this closeness to musicians, drinking with Bajaga or members of Discipline before writing reviews, compromised objectivity, but precisely this insider position allowed him to record stories that no one else could. Vesić’s engagement was far broader than journalism. He was a kind of Renaissance man of the Yugoslav music industry, working on almost everything that could be done. He sang backing vocals on albums by Krvna Grupa and Plavi Orkestar, was an executive producer and manager of Marina Perazić, a musical producer for the band Instant Karma, and an organizer of concerts. In one bizarre but symbolic chapter of his biography, he even worked as a sales representative for Sarajevo Disk, selling releases by Hanke Paldum and Vatrene Poljupce. He was also part of the "wider family" of White Button, remaining devoted to them, as noted in his biography, even in their toughest times. His full authorial maturity came in later years, when he began transforming his encyclopedic knowledge and collected archives into capital works, books and documentary series. His biography "What Would You Give to Be in My Place" is considered the most authoritative and comprehensive account of White Button. His book "Mira, As If She Were Once" paid tribute to Mira Stefanović, keyboardist of Ekatarina Velika, but also defended her image and work at a time when tabloids were dragging her through the mud, offering a humane and fact-based portrait instead of sensationalism. His book on the New Wave, "Rebellion of the Children of Socialism," was published in Croatian translation as "Imagine Life..."