Great comp of Czechoslovak freak-beat • fuzz-soul • female-pop • disco-fancy • jazz-funk • 1966–1978
The subtitle says it all: “Czechoslovak freakbeat, fuzz-soul, female pop, disco-fancy, jazz-funk, 1966-78”. Drawn from the treasury of the Supraphon and Panton labels, Czech Up! is a headstrong thrill. Whatever the sub-genre, Czech musicians went at it like terriers ripping up a lottery ticket, even after 1968’s Soviet invasion.
You won’t find subversives like The Plastic People Of The Universe here, but what you will find – in profusion – is a defiantly unquenchable joie de vivre. The Golden Kids, for example, appear literally orgiastic on the ravening Don’t Stand Aside And Come In (We’re Having A Party), even if it’s the kind of party you can’t leave because people keep humping on top of your duffle coat. Meanwhile, Jedeme Dál by Bezinky could be Agnetha and Anni-Frid fronting The Meters, while moonlighting schlager vocalist Karel Gott yelps I’ve Never Been So Young as though he’s being spit-roasted by two lit sticks of dynamite. Then there’s Blue Taxi by Blue Effect – a motorway pile-up orchestrated by wah-wah pedals – and a brace of hustling, Hammond-stoked rave-ups: Kočičí Král Felix by Pavel Novák & Vox, and Zlom Vaz by Flamingo. Add in the wide-collared, car-chase jazz-funk of Jazz Celula and Václav T.fa, then stage your own Prague Spring.
RECORD COLLECTOR