Grupa 220

Grupa 220 was a rock band from Zagreb, formed in 1966 when two local groups merged: guitarist and singer Vojko Sabolović and drummer Ranko Balen came from Ehos, and singer and guitarist Drago Mlinarec, who also played harmonica, and bassist Vojislav "Mišo" Tatalović from Jutarnje zvijezde. They first played on 15 October 1966 in the new community hall of Poljane-Vrbik, which soon became the best-known dance venue in 1960s Zagreb.

That December they recorded Mlinarec's "Osmijeh", which became a big hit and is counted as the first original song of the domestic rock scene. Jugoton released their first EP in 1967, with "Uvijek kad ostanem sam", "Grad" and a cover of the polka "Večer na Robleku", and it sold 50,000 copies. With their long hair and colourful shirts they were the local face of the flower-power generation. Director Fadil Hadžić used "Grad" in his film Protest, and the band appeared in his next film, Tri sata za ljubav, with music by Mlinarec. In 1968 they sang "Razgovaram sa morem" in Split together with Arsen Dedić.

Their LP Naši dani, released in November 1968, was the first album of original songs of its kind in Yugoslavia. Mlinarec left for military service, the members drifted apart, and the band stopped in 1970. Mlinarec revived it with young musicians, and the singles "Povratak" and "Prva ljubav" brought back their popularity, but in 1971 the album A ti se ne daj came out as his solo debut.

The new line-up, with bassist Nenad Zubak, drummer Ivan "Piko" Stančić and guitarist Husein "Hus" Hasanefendić, opened in Yugoslavia for Marmalade, Status Quo and Mungo Jerry and moved towards a harder sound. From 1972 the band carried on without Mlinarec, with Hus's "Kiši i malo je hladno" and "Pop pjevač", played at the BOOM festival in Ljubljana. The album Slike followed in 1975, and singer Aki Rahimovski joined, but in October Zubak and Stančić left for Time and the band ended. The remaining members went on to found Parni valjak.