A yoghurt not until another time

Combo FH - Jogurt až jindy [sample]
from 7 inch EP "Mini Jazz Klub č. 11" a.k.a. "Kopytem různě", 1977 , Panton 330415
produced by František Horáček


original 1977 EP sleeve

Combo FH, originally known as Combo Franty Hromady (Franta Hromada Combo), appeared on the Czech amateur jazz scene in 1974. The members were young students aged twenty and their music sounded fresh and humorous, not always following the usual jazz-rock conventions of that era. Combo FH was conceived and lead by keyboard player, composer and Frank Zappa admirer Daniel Fikejz, son of the well known Czech pop lyricist Jiřina Fikejzová. The original line-up included Bořivoj Suchý on saxophone, Milan Sládek on bassoon, Oldřich Svoboda on flute, the bass player Peter Hájek, Richard Mader and Jaroslav Hönig on guitars and the drummer Vít Ondráček. Franta Hromada never was a real member of the combo though, most likely due to his physical non-existence...

Combo FH debuted on wax in 1977 with an instrumental three-track EP, the release no. 11 from the Panton Mini Jazz Klub series. Panton was, besides Supraphon, the "other" Czech record label, starting in 1967 until the early 1990s with focus on less commercial releases. With the Mini Jazz Klub series on 7 inch records Panton tried to document - within their possibilities - the active Czech jazz scene from 1976 until the mid 1980s while covering all possible facets of the genre; get ready for more Mini Jazz Klub examples here on the Funky Czech-In blog, like Jana Koubková's Hot Breath (no. 23) or the legendary Luděk Hulan's Jazz Sanatorium (no. 2).

After Fikejz' reggae excursion on another 7" featuring the vocal group Yo Yo Band (obviously the very first Czech reggae record ever), in 1980 Combo FH recorded their ultimate scurrilous album Věci (Things), which even came to distribution in Western Europe, becoming at that time one of the very few Czechoslovak jazz/rock records known to at least some music collectors in front of the Iron Curtain. Thanks to their rather unobtrusive look and apolitical message the group was permitted to appear on Czech TV a couple of times. They were also the first Czech group to experiment with laser weapo..., er, lighshow on stage. Through the 1980s Fikejz continued to record sporadically as Combo FH with ever changing personal line-ups. However, he dropped the jazz entirely, switching to a more "commercial" vocal new-wave-pop and initially adopting slight ska influences, documented on a few single sides. He then released the synth laden second Combo FH album Situace na střeše (A Situation On The Rooftop) in 1985, which actually was a pretty good pop record. But one year later Fikejz disbanded the group for good, concentrating on his work as a scenic music composer.

Jogurt až jindy (A Yoghurt Not Until Another Time) is the b-side track from the first EP and one of the rather "conventional" Fikejz compositions from their weird 1970s repertoire. After a bluesy prelude (edited out from this MP3) it takes off with a fast modal fusion groove full of funky Fender Rhodes riffs, blubbering synths and Caravan-alike slide guitar and soprano sax melodies leading into a straight guitar solo, followed by a moody intermezzo borrowing from medieval music. For the last one and a half minutes the group slows down to a melancholic jazz-rock tune and a brief epilog repeats the prelude blues theme as a duet for double bass and a whistler with background noises of someone crumpling a snack wrapping paper (hence the yoghurt reference in the song title).

As far as I can tell, none of the Combo FH recordings have been reissued on CD yet. A few not-so-cheap vinyl records are usually available online, e.g. via gemm.com, or they appear on eBay occasionally. This particular EP is now also for sale here or there. Much cheaper copies can be found in second hand stores in the Czech Republic, of course.

The circle of light

Marie Rottrová & Flamingo - Kruh světla [sample]
from album "Marie Rottrová", 1972, Supraphon 1131268
arranged by Richard Kovalčík, produced by František Řebíček


original 1972 LP sleeve (front/back)

Marie Rottrová, born 1941 in Ostrava, started to sing with the beat group Samuel in the mid 1960s. Then she joined the soul group Majestic and since 1969 she worked professionally with its successor Flamingo - not to be confused with the famous beat/prog group from Prague called Flamengo. Flamingo recorded a couple of soul and R&B singles, their first long play album came out in 1970. It was one of the very few pure soul albums ever recorded in Czechoslovakia. Actually there were two Flamingo debut albums if you also count the very popular export edition This Is Our Soul which contains basically the same tracks but sung in English. Rottrová soon started to record as a solo artist as well. Nice is e.g. the up-tempo duet with superstar Karel Gott Mít pouhej tejden (Having Only A Week), a 1971 cover version of Good Morning Freedom, turning it into one of the better songs that Gott recorded in the 1970s. (Although it needs to be noted that Gott's Czech repertoire - especially the 1960s beat stuff - was always of much higher quality than his German schlager crap.)

Flamingo, who were later forced to change their name to the Czech equivalent Plameňáci, was a very tight combo with its own horn section. Some members were at the same time the nucleus of the Czechoslovak Radio Ostrava Orchestra which was recording with various other local pop artists like Pavel Novák. The group was originally lead by trumpet player Richard Kovalčík who was also responsible for most of the arrangements. After his death in 1975 the keyboardist Vladimír Figar took over the leadership. Other longtime members were bass player Jiří Urbánek, Rudolf Březina on tenor sax, Jan Hasník on guitar and the "funky drummer" Radek Dominik. Despite further personal changes, Flamingo/Plameňáci remained Marie Rottrová's main backing group until Vladimír Figar's death in 1989.

Kruh světla (The Ring Of Light) is the dramatical opener from Rottrová's first solo album which has been recorded while Flamingo's second lead singer, Petr Němec, had to serve his two years in the Czechoslovak army. The song was written by Karel Svoboda with Michael Prostějovský's lyrics. Yes, that Karel Svoboda who wrote Lady Carneval and Biene Maja for Karel Gott as well as probably hundreds of other maddening "normalized" Czech pop and schlager songs, including the title melody from the famous Xmas fairy-tale movie Tři oříšky pro Popelku (Three Hazelnuts For Cinderella). But that doesn't mean that Svoboda didn't have any flair for some funk here and there; watch out for some more Svoboda penned disco grooves in the Funky Czech-In pipeline.

The rest of the album sounds a lot softer, but there's also a funky cover version of Zawinul's Mercy Mercy Mercy with Czech lyrics, called Nechci (I Don't Want). This album sort of sketches the path that Rottrová was about to take for her future career, being a soul influenced pop singer with class. Compared to other Czechoslovak top entertainers of that era, Rottrová was one of the few who were able to maintain a very high standard without actually selling out to the apathetic real-socialistic TV-consuming masses. Even some of her later ballads still sound very tasteful after thirty years. In other words, this entry won't be her or Flamingo's only appearance on this blog.

I don't know Marie Rottrová's records after 1983, but she keeps on recording and performing actively.
If you're interested, I have five of her 7" singles from the seventies for sale (items no. 479, 843, 1070, 1193 and 1219). On cdmusic.cz you can also buy some CDs, search there for "rottrova".

Join us and we'll travel the world

Marta Kubišová - Tak dej se k nám a projdem svět [sample]
from album "Songy a balady", 1969, Supraphon 1130855 and 100587-1311
also on Golden Kids album "Micro-Magic-Circus", 1969, Supraphon, reissued 1997, Bonton 710505-2
The Golden Kids Orchestra conducted by Josef Vobruba, produced by Bohuslav Ondráček and Vladimír Popelka


the original 1969 LP, the 1990 LP/CD reissue sleeve and the Golden Kids LP/CD sleeve

Let's start the Funky Czech-In blog with the probably best known funky Czech song, the soulful Tak dej se k nám a projdem svět (Join Us And We'll Travel The World). It's the song that makes Marta Kubišová's first - and for twenty years her only - solo album appear on so many funk collectors' want lists. Marta Kubišová, born 1942, was probably the most popular Czech female pop singer between 1965 and 1970.

Written by the guitarist Otakar Petřina with lyrics from bass player Zdeněk Rytíř, the song literally kicks off with a funky drum break, most likely played by Petr Hejduk. Soon thereafter we'll get all pop ingredients that were "in" in late 1968 when the track was recorded: a funky bass line, a fuzzy guitar, a swirling organ, a swinging punchy horn section (probably played by members of the Czechoslovak Radio Prague Dance/Jazz Orchestra - TOČR/JOČR) and on top of it Marta's deep and urgent voice, indirectly reflecting the cheerless situation of the country occupied by Soviet tanks, while offering the listener a glimpse of hope.

The album itself is slightly uneven as it contains some "fillers" which sound like being intended for the German schlager market, after all Kubišová always was a pop singer in the first place. However, the majority of the songs are simply great, although not necessarily funky. The album begins with a solid cover of Beatles' Hey Jude, which basically follows the original version except that it's sung in Czech just like the rest of the record. Another climax of the album is the intense psychedelic sitar folk song Balada o kornetovi a dívce (The Ballad Of The Cornette And The Girl). I own the 1990 LP reissue which obviously omits Zlý dlouhý půst (Bad Long Fasting) and Kdo ti radu dá (Who Gives You An Advice) (a song I have never heard yet) in favor of a re-arranged version of her biggest hit Modlitba pro Martu (A Prayer For Marta) and another Petřina/Rytíř-penned up-tempo soul-beat protest song Ne (No). It's likely that those two crucial songs had to be removed from the early 1970 pressing due to their political message; that used to happen quite often in that part of the world. However, I'm not sure if they were ever included on the original issue at all. Whatever, according to a recent online interview with Marta, Tak dej se k nám as well as Ne were her favorite songs from the album, while the single-only Tajga-Blues '69 is obviously her favorite song ever. (I might feature Tajga-Blues in a future post as it's quite a funky psychedelic beat song.)

At the time when Songy a balady has been recorded and released, Kubišová was also a member of the Golden Kids, a vocal trio with Helena Vondráčková and Václav Neckář who were then already pop stars with their own solo albums, too. (Neckář was even starring in the main role in the 1968 Oscar winning movie Ostře sledované vlaky (Closely Watched Trains) directed by Jiří Menzel.) The Golden Kids were extremely popular in 1969 and they also performed in West Germany and in France. Many songs from Songy a balady were actually a part of the Golden Kids live show and both Vondráčková and Neckář sang background vocals on Marta's album. So watch out for a Golden Kids, a Neckář and a Vondráčková Funky Czech-In post, too.

In 1969 Kubišová's future was looking very bright, she had signed a record contract with Polydor and a couple of her and Golden Kids singles were already released in West Germany. But obviously she went "too far" with her political engagement. In 1970 Marta's voice has been silenced by the "normalizator" Husák's regime and all records with her name on the label had to disappear from Czech record stores. You can read more details on a Marta Kubišová fan site in English, including a detailed although not complete discography and a lot of other trivia. Unlike Vondráčková and Neckář, she was not allowed to record or perform in public for almost 20 years, until her appearance at a huge demonstration against the communist regime in November 1989 where she sang the Czechoslovak national anthem and her "signature" song, the ballad Modlitba pro Martu (A Prayer For Marta) [external audio link]. I can remember that while I was listening to her performance live on the Czech AM radio that I had tears in my eyes. And this particular song still moves me, despite the "cheesy" organ sound on the album version (but hey, the original 1968 single version with the Václav Hybš orchestra sounds even cheesier). It's the message that counts.

Marta Kubišová still - or rather: again - performs and records today, all of her recordings are available on CDs. Unlike the original, the 1990 vinyl reissue of Songy a balady isn't very hard to find in online auctions or in second hand record shops in Prague. If you're interested, I have four of her 7" singles from the sixties for sale (items no. 284, 963, 1068 and 1194). On cdmusic.cz you can also buy some CDs, search there for "kubisova".

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The funky Czech-in (an introduction)

Welcome to this new MP3 music blog. It's dedicated to funky pop and jazz music from former Czechoslovakia, focusing mainly on the late 1960s and the 1970s.

At that time there were not many Czech or Slovak performers who were playing primarily soul or even funk music, and only a few of them who did have ever made it to record and release it. So don't expect no animalism of a James Brown or any freak-outs à la George Clinton. Nonetheless quite a lot of rock, pop and jazz artists have included funk and soul influenced songs on their singles or albums at one time or another, be it their own compositions or cover versions of international hits. In the past 20 years I have collected enough Czech and Slovak vinyl records and a few CDs to feed this blog with a weekly dose of funk for at least one year, although my collection is by no means complete. Not all of those recordings are "über-rare", many have been reissued on CDs in the past 15 years. And if you are a vinylist and plan to travel to Prague, you also have a good chance to find some of the items at reasonable prices in one of the Prague's second hand record shops; I might publish a list of good stores in a future post.

To understand the whole musical situation in Czechoslovakia of the 1970s, you need to remember that soon after the invasion of the Warshaw Pact armies in August 1968 the times became very tough for rock oriented musicians. After 1970 they were not allowed to sing in English anymore and the groups had to give up their English names. They were not allowed to wear long hair or fancy clothes or behave too extravagantly. All concert venues were seated and often controlled by the police. Each and every musician and group has been forced to perform at annual musical and political "exams" in front of communist commissions who then gave them a permission to perform in public - or sometimes they did not. The internationally best known victims were of course the psychedelic Plastic People Of The Universe who refused to participate on those humiliating exams and went strictly underground. Eventually in the mid 1970s they were jailed for political reasons which inspired intellectual dissidents around Václav Havel (later Czech president in the 1990s) to form the Charta 77 organization as a protest against the communist regime. So, while rock music was booming in the free world, many Czechoslovak entertainers and musicians switched to harmless mainstream pop in order to stay on the safe side of the business. Others have changed their occupation and quitted playing music altogether, professionally at least. And many jazz and rock musicians have chosen - some were even forced - to emigrate after 1968: Miroslav Vitouš, Jan Hammer (yes, the one of Miami Vice fame), George (Jiří) Mráz, Ivan Král (who joined the Patti Smith Group), Jaroslav Šedivý, Jiří Kozel, later also Jan Kubík, Laco Déczi, Petr Klapka, Jana Kratochvílová (aka Jane Pope), Pavel Trnavský, Jiří Hrubeš, Oskar Petr, Plastic People's Vratislav Brabenec and Pavel Zajíček, Vlasta Třešňák or even pop/C&W singer Waldemar Matuška just to drop a couple of more or less known names.

Absurdly - as the communist ideology is absurd anyway - one of the widely tolerated musical genres was disco, although there's probably no other genre that is in fact more "capitalistic" than that. Possibly it was considered ideologically "safe" due to the lack of any serious verbal message and its "feel-good" nature. Disco got adopted quite quickly in Czechoslovakia, the first records started to pop up around 1976. Many major international disco hits were also re-recorded with Czech or Slovak lyrics within a year or two after its original release. Today, when I'm observing the Czech and Slovak 1970s "disco scene" from the safe distance of thirty years, some of the output actually still sounds quite fresh. At least, for the first time since 1968 they again caught up musically with the rest of the (free) world.

Rock groups on the other hand often ended up playing mostly instrumental jazz rock or large art rock compositions. Not all of it was bad but for today's listeners it might sound rather uninspired. At that time though, in the late 1970s, it made sense because the communist control commissions demanded "composed programmes" with a strict dramaturgy to allow rock groups to play in public at all.

Classically educated jazz musicians often had their daily jobs in various orchestras or in bands accompanying pop singers. Some of them enjoyed quite a lot of freedom and were allowed to study in the USA: Martin Kratochvíl, Emil Viklický and others. They managed to record many great jazz albums. Unfortunately, those records were often released in an insufficient edition and were very hard to obtain anyway. Many of them were only available to members of the "Gramofonový klub". Some of them are still sought-after collector items because they haven't been reissued on CDs yet.

In the early 1980s punk and new wave have infected the young generation (myself included: I was born in 1967 and lived in Czechoslovakia until 1981) and the whole Czechoslovak music scene began to wake up. And while the mid 1980s were again a tough period for many musicians as the communist regime once again tried hard to keep the independent pop music under its control, by the end of the decade there was just no stopping anymore. In 1988 even the original Plastic People musicians were allowed to perform in public again, albeit under their new name Půlnoc (Midnight). In November 1989 the communist regime finally collapsed. From then on the Czechs and Slovaks have joined the worldwide music industry with all its heights and lows. And despite all the negative effects that followed, compared to the scary communist era that's actually a Good Thing...

Personal note: English is not my native language, so please excuse that my vocabulary is somewhat limited or that some phrases that might sound rather strange to you. But I'm sure you're smart enough to figure it all out. :)

Technical notes:
Being a vinyl collector in the first place, most songs are recorded from good old wax. I for one love the sound of vinyl. However, due to the age of some of the records, the sound quality may vary despite powerful noise filters in modern digital audio editing software; some of my treasures have been literally pulled out of a stinking pile of old rubbish... Additionally, songs which are available on CDs that you can buy online (as far as I might be able to find out) will be "crippled" to an approx. 2 minutes edit, in order to encourage you to support the artists and composers by buying their records.

Regarding the blog design, I'm not going to cripple the Czech grammar by omitting Central European characters with diacritics, like žščřďťňůý. Please make sure that you are using a modern Unicode-aware web browser and that you have installed some sort of a font with CE characters on your computer. Users of Mac OS X with Safari don't need to worry at all, others are left on their own, however...
(Also, please note that the page layout will change in the near future to match and integrate into my regular site design. But at the time of publishing this post I'm still using one of the default Blogger layouts.)

Disclaimer: Each MP3 file will be available for a limited time only, generally not longer than for two weeks. The files are presented as a "specimen" to encourage readers to buy the artist's albums. If you are an owner of the publishing rights to a particular song and you don't want to see it here on this site for the short period of public download at all, please contact me (česky, deutsch or English) and I will remove the download link immediately.