Igra Staklenih Perli is a Serbian and former Yugoslav progressive/psychedelic rock band from Belgrade.
History
Early years (1976-1985)
The band was formed in 1976 by old school friends, Zoran Lakić Vojkan Rakić and Predrag Vuković. The band was named after Hermann Hesse's book The Glass Bead Game with musical influences by Can, early Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, Tangerine Dream and Jimi Hendrix. Until the arrival of the bass guitarist and vocalist Draško "Dracula" Nikodijević, the band did not appear live. Their first live appearances were at the Amateur Theatre Tokovi festival in Voždovac and in the Dadov Theatre. In 1977, drummer Dragan Šoć was included into the lineup. Having played numerous free concerts at Belgrade's SKC and Belgrade's Block 45, the band established a cult status and was offered to record an album. In 1978, they entered the studio and recorded their debut, self-titled album which featured the tracks "Gušterov trg", "Solarni modus", "Putovanje u plavo", "Pečurka" and "Majestetski kraj". They described their music as "the music of the stream of consciousness". The cover was designed by Vuković. By then, the group was appearing with Goran Cvetić, a disk jockey and a journalist, who was in charge of the light show, slide shows and film projections during the performance. Their appearance at the Belgrade's College of Dentistry was bootlegged by Cvetić on a simple tape recorder for his personal archive. Before the release of the second album, Draško Nikodijević left the band and was replaced by Slobodan Trbojević, who was an electric bass player from jazz band "Ptica" and Džuboks magazine journalist, as well. The second album was recorded from August 1979 until January 1980. Vrt svetlosti was produced by Aleksandar Pilipenko. Cover art was designed by Vuković and designer Dejan Popov, but the first version of the cover was refused by PGP-RTB. The album featured five tracks: "Igrač", "Čarobnjaci", "Vrt svetlosti", "Lunarni Modus" and "Sanjaš". "Vrt svetlosti" was promoted live on TV at fashion show in hall Beko in Belgrade. In 1982 director Stanko Crnobrnja make a short movie about them called "Na svoj način". Their last public appearance was in 1985, in the Sava Center Concert Hall in Belgrade, on the occasion of the celebration concert dedicated to the anniversary of the music magazine ITD with music critics Aleksandar Žikić on guitar and Slobodan "Boba" Trbojević on bass/vox. Recordings for the third album with the working titleISP III were never released, but can be heard on the band's official MySpace.
Post-breakup (1986-2010)
Nikodijević formed the White Rabbit Band and in the late 1980s moved to United States of America where his band was renamed to White Rabbit Cult. Nikodijević, with Ekatarina Velika drummer Ivan Fece, former Luna and Pekinška Patka guitarist Zoran "Bale" Bulatović and Električni Orgazamkeyboard player Ljubomir Ðukić, formed the super group Collateral Damage. During the summer of 1991, the remaining members, with Thomas Werner, the owner of Kalemegdan Disk record label, released three Igra Stalkenih Perli LPs. The first one, Soft Explosion Live, was Cvetić's recording of the Belgrade's College of Dentistry. In 1993, the album was re-released, reproduced and some of the tracks were shortened and the track "Majestic End" was replaced by "Soft Explosion". The next release was Inner Flow which featured unreleased material recorded in the 1976 - 1979 period. The third and final German release was Drives, which featured recordings from a four hours session recorded in April 1977, backed with rerecordings made by Rakić, Vuković and keyboard player Zoran Zagorčić. Most of the album covers were designed by Vuković. In 2005, Austrian record label Atlantide reissued both Igra Staklenih Perli and Vrt Svetlosti on vinyl. In 2007, remastered editions of both Igra Staklenih Perli studio albums appeared in Serbia and Germany. PGP-RTS label Retrologija, under which remastered albums were released, published both studio albums on one CD entitled Igra Svetlosti. German label Second Harvest remastered and expanded both albums on separate CDs. The first LP was expanded with live tracks from Soft Explosion Live, while Vrt svetlosti was expanded with the recordings from Inner Flow.
Igra Staklenih Perli reunited in 2011, featuring old members Draško Nikodijević, Zoran Lakić and Predrag Vuković, and young musicians Ivan Stanković and Sinister Borg. After two concerts in Belgrade club Žica, Draško Nikodijević, Predrag Vuković and Ivan Stanković continued to work under the name Igra Staklenih Perli Next Generation. In November 2012, Igra Staklenih Perli The Next Generation released the studio album Apokaliptus, available for free download through Exit Music. The album, produced by Dušan Kojić "Koja" and recorded by Boris Mladenović, featured guest appearances by Dejan Utvar, Ljubomir Đukić and Spomenka Milić.
Collaborations
During the 1970s and the 1980s, many Belgrade musicians played with the band as guests. Out of the official members, the following took part: guitar players Goran Vejvoda, Ivan Pajević, Aleksandar Žikić, guitar player and poet Bojan Kveder, keyboard player Zoran Zagorčić, and drummer Ivica Vdović Vd. The only female vocal as guest, on the second Igra Staklenih Perli album Vrt svetlosti, was Dragana Šarić, later known as Bebi Dol.
