Saturday, May 8, 2010

Czechoslovakia
Albatros ••• Apollobeat ••• Atlantis ••• Beatings ••• Beatmen ••• Blue Effect ••Blues Five ••Bluesmen ••• B-Side ••• Cardinals ••• Collegium Musicum ••• Crystal ••• Eminent ••• Five Travellers ••• Flamengo ••• Flamingo ••• Fontána ••• Fortuna ••• Four Meditation ••• Framus Five ••• Gattch ••• Gentlemen ••• George & Beatovens ••• Golden Kids ••• Junior ••• Juventus ••• Komety ••• Marta Kubišová ••• Majestic ••• Markýz John ••• Martha & Tena ••• Matadors ••• Jaromír Mayer ••• Meditating Four ••• Mefisto ••• Metronom ••• Václav Neckář ••• Petr Novák with George & Beatovens ••• Olympic ••• Players ••• Progress Organization ••• Prúdy ••• Rebels ••• Marie Rottrová & Flamingo ••• Samuels ••• Saze ••• Pavel Sedláček ••• Sally Sellingová ••• Shut Up ••• Soulmen ••• Petr Spálený & Apollobeat ••• Speakers ••• Synkopy 61 ••• Helena Vondráčková ••• Vúlkan ••• Hana Zagorová •••

— MUSIC TO HEAR —
BEAT & PSYCHEDELIC MUSIC IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA
(1965 - 1972)

Some may think that Czechoslovakia was a Beat and Psychedelic wasteland with a few exceptions like The Matadors and Olympic. Wrong! They HAD their underground scene behind the iron curtain and also some mainstream singers who presented a handful of good songs (although I'm not sure if they know what they did).

Tracklist:
1. Blue Effect - Sun Is So Bright (Prague - Panton 03 0203 - 1969)
- Late sixties psych à la Fleur de Lys "Try A Little Sunshine". Not comparable to their later progressive work.
2. Flamengo - Co skrýváš v ocích (Prague - Supraphon 0 43 0457 - 1968)
- Great singles band that finally made a highly regarded progressive album in 1972. "Co skrýváš v ocích" is an excellent psychedelic trip, not far away from the Electric Prunes.
3. Olympic - Telefon (Prague - Supraphon 1 13 0412 LP »Želva« - 1968)
- R&B stomper with lots of fuzz from the debut-album by famous Czech-band.
4. Sally Sellingová - Chmýrí (Prague - Supraphon 0 43 0549 - 1968)
- Groovy garage-track overlayed by Sally Sellingová's solemn vocals. Reminds me somehow to The Disturbers' "Coming To Your World" (if that helps). Miss Sellingová did also some singing for Apollobeat.
5. Juventus - Procitnuti (Prague - Supraphon 0 13 0525 LP »V.A. - Beat-Line Supraphon 1968« - 1968)
- Karel Černoch's cool singing gives this late sixties Beat number a hypnotic character.
6. Prúdy - Pod so mnou (Bratislava - Opus 9013 2237 LP »Zvonte Zvonky« - 1969)
- From their excellent debut-album comes this slice of demented Freakbeat.
7. George & Beatovens - Dívky Z Perel (Prague - Panton 0 40 203 - 1969)
- Hip-shaker from a band that had more to offer than only this song.
8. Marta Kubišová - Balada O Kornetovi A Dívce (Prague - Supraphon 1 13 0587 LP »Songy A Balady« - 1969)
- Mighty and mystic folk-psych ballad with sitar/tablas ect. One of the best Mrs. Kubišová ever did. "Tak Dej Se K Nám A Projdem Svět" is the other song which is worth seeking out. Both were from her debut-album "Songy a Balady" (1969).
9. Soulmen - I Wish I Were (Bratislava - Panton 03 0108 EP - 1968)
- Great song that makes its way through a driving "Harlem Shuffle" Beat. Their only E.P. is pretty much in the Clapton/Bruce/Baker mould that also contains the outstanding "A Sample Of Happiness".
10. Rebels - Definitivní konec (Prague - Supraphon 0 43 0536 - 1968)
- Much of their material is weak but "Definitivní konec" comes in a slightly psychedelic and heavily orchestrated guise. At the beginning of the new decade they were involved into the "Fairy-Tales in Beat" album which is well worth hearing and better than the material they've did earlier.
11. Five Travellers - Midsummer Night (Prague - Vega 2329 M EP - 1969)
- This wild R&B/Garage pounder was released on the fench Véga label. The Five Travellers were in fact Olympic, who choose this moniker for one E.P.
12. Golden Kids - Women's Day (Prague - Bonton 710505-2 - 1997 [rec. 1969])
- This was a collaboration between Czech solo singers Marta Kubišová, Václav Neckář and Helena Vondráčková. "Women's Day" is the english version of "Den žen", a track from Neckář's first album, and finally released as a bonus track on the Micro-Magic-Circus-CD on Bonton in 1997.
13. Atlantis - Don't You Break It Again (Brno - Supraphon 0 43 0891 - 1970)
- Cool funky dance-floor number with shades of Julie Driscoll/Brian Auger.
14. Beatmen - Let's Make A Summer (Bratislava - Supraphon 013842 - 1965)
- Moody laid-back Mersey-Beat. All their 3 singles are worth a listen.
15. Modus - Smutok (Bratislava - Bonton BON 4917222 - 1998 [rec. 1970])
- Their breakthough came at the end of the seventies but they had unreleased material recorded earlier. "Smutok" is from 1970 and a nice pop tune. If Ray Davies would sing instead than this song could be the twin of "Dead End Street".
16. Framus Five - Hold On I'm Comin' (Prague - Supraphon 1 13 0578 LP »Blues In Soul« - 1968)
- Michael Prokop's band did a competend version of the Sam & Dave classic. Their album "Blues in Soul" lives up for its name.
17. Hana Zagorová - Svatej kluk (Ostrava - Supraphon 0 43 0489 - 1968)
- Excellent psych-pop tune from her first single. The follow-up "Prý jsem zhýralá" is great Girl-Pop.
18. Matadors - Get Down From The Tree (Prague - Supraphon 0 33 0211 EP - 1967)
- The Matadors were together with Olympic the poster children of the Czech Beat scene. They were also one of the first groups that released an album with predominantly R&B/Beat/Garage music. "Get Down From The Tree" from their second E.P. was also the opener of their only longplayer and it is a wild R&B/Freakbeat track.
19. Speakers - Mlha se ztrácí (Brno - Discant 0 43 0046 - 1970)
- This powerful pop song has all the ingredients to make my day: A swirling bass, an appealing piano in turn with a cool organ solo and a great hookline. They later evolved into Junior.
20. Jaromír Mayer - Slunce za oknem (Czechoslovakia - Supraphon 013852 - 1965)
- Unexpected tough Beat blast from mainstream pop singer Jaromír Mayer.
21. Synkopy 61 - Lady Godiva (Brno - Panton 080248 Mini-LP »Festival« - 1972)
- Fine baroque psych-pop by anyway good Brno band.
22. Bluesmen - Zpívej Mi Dál (Olomouc - Panton 03 0123 EP - 1968)
- Hana Ulrychová, Jaroslav Vraštil and Vladimír Grunt teamed up later with Atlantis, which were not unlike in sound like The Bluesmen.
23. Pavel Sedlácek & The Colour Images - Hádej (Prague - Supraphon 0 43 0813 - 1969)
- Pavel Sedlácek gives this cover version of Les Sauterelles' "The Heavenly Club" a new pretentious coat.
24. Marie Rottrová & Flamingo - Bílá pláž (Ostrava - Supraphon 0 43 0912 - 1970)
- Basically they were a soul band but "Bílá pláž" is a sweet pop period piece.
25. Beatings - We'd Be Happy (Prague - Panton 03 0224 EP - 1970)
- For a moment they forgot their mainstream Pop-Rock scheme and bang the drums with this excellent Freakbeat grenade.
26. Progress Organization - Snow In My Shoes (Brno - Discant EP - 1970)
- This respected progressive band wade with "Snow In My Shoes" through early Soft Machine territory.
27. Fortuna - Snad Už Zítra (Prague - Supraphon 0 13 0536 LP »Fortuna« - 1969)
- A dreamy folk-song from their only platter.


Get Part 1 here
Get Part 2 here

(Artwork included)

16 comments:

Markyz said...

Great work! Better than any czech music website! By the way, I have all these songs from your czech discography from sixties and more. Let me know if you are looking for something from 60s czech rock music. Contact: markyzjohn@gmail.com

montysmusic said...

hi is there any chance to upload the czech comp again please nice looking site look forward to more comps
phil

Buffalo Billycan said...

Ahem, Monty...
...I haven't post the Czechoslovakian compilation yet. It's just finished and you can expect it in a few days.

lost in salt said...

what a project.keep on the good work.thanks thanks thanks
jonathan from israel

Aitor Alejandro said...

Great idea pal! I can imagine this takes a lot of time and work so I just want you to know I thank you.
I'm still amazed by Belgium comp. Outstanding!

montysmusic said...

many thanks for this great double set
best regards monty
ps where to next on your travels?im hoping italy

Aitor Alejandro said...

I expect Denmark because it appears an alphabetical order, doesn't it?

Buffalo Billycan said...

Yep, if you all take a look at this page you will see what's next.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the effort you're putting into this page. I've not listened to the comps yet but am looking forward to it. One question, though, where's Bulgaria?

Anonymous said...

.. a great set as always, perfect picks, all tracks are simply superb, I 've specially appreciated the "non-garage" tracks..

cheers
MichaelVee

Anonymous said...

Ah, having read the comments to the other posts I now see that you're not yet doing countries with non-Latinate alphabets, including Bulgaria, hence it's absence.

Aitor Alejandro said...

Hey, how'd you doin'? It seems that Denmark takes too long, isn't it? But don't worry, take your time and think twice or third because it'll worth it.
Thanx again.

Buffalo Billycan said...

I'm half the way through the danish discographies. At the moment I upgrade and expand the austrian site. All is much work but also much fun. In a few days I'm on vacation 'til early August.

Anonymous said...

This is an brilliant compilation, every song is excellent. Just when I was thinking the well of great 60s music may be running dry. Ever thought about doing a second volume?

Really looking forward to the rest of these, and really appreciate all the effort that must be going into this project.

Anonymous said...

Fascinating project. The hard work and eye-opening concept are much appreciated.

Anonymous said...

Many thanks. Great compilation!