The right to rock 'n roll.

Today, some fierce rain showers finally interrupted the hot and humid weather. During one of those downpours I jumped into a Levné Knihy (‘cheap books’), a store of which the name says all. The tiny shop was crammed with books, cd’s and children’s toys; all dirt cheap, especially to Western European standards. After carefully choosing a plastic watch decorated with an image of Paul Gauguin’s ‘Femmes de Tahiti’ (1891), I stumbled upon some cd’s of the legendary Czech rockband Plastic People of the Universe, of which I bought two: ‘Co znamená vésti konê’ (‘Leading Horses’, 1981) and ‘Kolejnice duní’ (‘Rails rumble’, 1977-82).

The Plastic People of the Universe, which was formed in the historical year of 1968, was around for over 30 years, its history closely linked to the Czechoslovakian Communist years.
The ‘Prague Spring’ of 1968 began when Alexander Dubcek replaced Communist leader Antonin Novotny on January 5th. Novotny, a hard-line Communist, was fiercely opposed against any form of Western influence and had successfully ‘purified’ its government. Prague officials hoped that Dubcek would be a more humane leader, but his reform program proved to be too progressive for the Kremlin. The Prague Spring was put to and end in August of 1968, when Soviet tanks and soldiers invaded Czechoslovakia and headed for Prague. After three days of resistance from the people, it was all over. Czechoslovakia would live under a strict Communist regime for the forthcoming decades.
A month after the invasion, Plastic People of the Universe was formed, initially covering songs of bands like the Velvet Underground, the Doors and the Mothers of Invention. After a while, they started to write their own songs as well. Their concerts were happenings in the best 60’s tradition, complete with costumes and psychedelic light shows. During their 30-year existence, the PPU knew nothing but hard times. They were prohibited by law; their recordings, on cassette tapes, had to be smuggled out of the country to be released as records in Western Europe; the Secret Police often broke up their concerts, beating and arresting the visitors, and eventually two of the musicians (together with two other musicians from another band called DG 307) were sentenced to jail, charged with ‘organized disturbance of peace’.
Vaclav Havel, the playwright who would later on become the leader of the 1989 Velvet Revolution and the first democratic President of Czechoslovakia, took the PPU under his wing in 1977, allowing them to practice in his house in the countryside. The PPU also played shows there, while the entire place was circled by police. The band would record a few more records in the 1980’s, which were all released in other countries. PPU broke up in 1988 over a dispute, and some members continued in a band called Pulnoc (‘Midnight’). The Plastic People themselves reunited in 1993, in celebration of the reunion show of the Velvet Underground, their greatest influence so far.

A more detailed history of the Plastic People of the Universe can be read here. I had only vaguely heard of this band before, but after reading the complete story, I was baffled. For a group of people to believe so strongly in their music, to endure decades of censorship and oppression in order to play and record their songs, that is simply amazing. The Czech themselves are convinced that the existence of this band has had a huge impact on the country’s history, and that the two are strongly interwined.

(As soon as I have a solid internet connection in my room I’ll try to upload some mp3’s of the Plastic People of the Universe, and attempt to translate some of their lyrics.)