THE PLASTIC PEOPLE OF THE UNIVERSE

From January into August 1968, under the rule of Communist Party leader Alexander Dubček, Czechoslovakians experienced the Prague Spring. In August, Soviet and other Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia. This led to the overthrow of Dubček and to, in what came to be known as the normalization process. Less than a month after the invasion, Plastic People of the Universe was formed.



Bassist Milan Hlavsa formed the band which was heavily influenced by Frank Zappa (Plastic People being a song by Zappa and the Mothers of Invention) and the Velvet Underground in 1968. Czech art historian and cultural critic Ivan Jirous became their manager/artistic director in the following year, fulfilling a similar role the one Andy Warhol had with the The Velvet Underground. Jirous introduced Hlavsa to guitarist Josef Janicek, and viola player Jiri Kabes. The consolidated Czech communist government revoked the band's musicians license in 1970.



Because Ivan Jirous believed that English was the lingua franca of rock music, he employed Paul Wilson, a Canadian who had been teaching in Prague, to teach the band the lyrics of the American songs they covered and to translate their original Czech lyrics into English. Wilson served as lead singer for the Plastics from 1970 to 1972, and during this time, the band's repertoire drew heavily on songs by the Velvet Underground and the Fugs. The only two songs sung in Czech in this period were "Na sosnové větvi" and "Růže a mrtví", lyrics of both being written by Czech poet Jiří Kolář. Wilson encouraged them to sing in Czech.



After he left saxophonist Vratislav Brabenec joined the band and they began to draw upon Egon Bondy whose work had been banned by the government. In the following 3 years Bondy's lyrics nearly completely dominated the PPU music. In December 1974 the band recorded their first "studio" album, Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned (the title being a play on The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band), which was released in France in 1978. (o resto aqui)



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A REPÚBLICA CHECA É UM PAÍS
DE PESSOAS MUITO SIMPÁTICAS


Eva Herzigova

(mais aqui)



(2008)

RECORDANDO ENCONTROS HISTÓRICOS:
LOU REED E VACLAV HAVEL (ex-Presidente
da REPÚBLICA CHECA)



Havel, Lou Reed: A friendship goes public for art

Former President Vaclav Havel points out that when he meets with seminal rock star Lou Reed, they never get much private time. "There are always people present", Havel told a crowd of reporters before the two had a public discussion in front of a standing-room-only crowd at Svandovo divadlo, in Prague's Smichov neighborhood.

Reed, not known for being extremely chatty, did most of the talking at the Jan. 10 show and at the press conference that preceded it. Much of the discussion was about art instead of politics - Havel is, of course, also a playwright. The evening also included music from the Plastic People of the Universe and the Velvet Underground Revival Band.

Reed did condemn U.S. President George W. Bush for planning to spend $40 million (920 million Kc) on his inauguration, when the money could go to support relief efforts in countries devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunamis.

The only disagreement of the evening was over pop star Michael Jackson. Reed said, "I think Michael Jackson is one of the greatest dancers in the world ... the Fred Astaire of our generation".

Havel hosted Jackson at Prague Castle during the singer's 1996 History tour. "I recognize his skills, but I must say I am not a fan", Havel said. He said he had a brief conversation with Jackson and found him to be uninteresting.



At the end, Havel had a chance to ask Reed a question. He asked whether Reed would ever want to be president. Reed said that he wouldn't. "I lack certain people skills", he said. "I'd like to be a kingmaker instead of king".

Reed's question for Havel was much simpler. He asked if Havel still wrote in longhand or uses a computer. Havel now uses a computer. "But I'm afraid if I hit the wrong key I'll delete everything", the playwright admitted.

Reed told Havel, "Remember rule No. 1: Back up, back up, back up". He also recommended that Havel switch to Apple computers.

Earlier, Havel commented that he now has fatigue from writing because he did so much as president, including writing his own speeches. He also worries people would expect too much from a new play.

After the discussion, Havel asked Reed to play "Perfect Day," one of his more moving songs. After a solo rendition of that, Reed joined the Velvet Underground Revival Band for "Sweet Jane". He concluded with "Dirty Boulevard", one of the songs he played when he visited the White House with Havel in 1998. He said he had to provide the lyrics to the White House for advanced screening and that this song caused the most trouble. (The Prague Post, Jan. 13, 2005)

(VÍDEO da Columbia University - em nove partes - onde Lou Reed fala sobre os seus encontros com Vaclav Havel ---> aqui)



(2008)

DIA DA RAÇA


Hino nacional da República Checa (país irmão da Abkhazia)



(2008)