The Plastic People of the Universe is a Czech rock band from Prague. It was the
foremost representative of Prague's underground culture, which had gone
against the grain of Czechoslovakia's Communist regime. Due to their
non-conformism, members of the band often suffered serious repercussions
such as arrests. The group continues to perform despite the death of its
founder, main composer and bassist, Milan "Mejla" Hlavsa in 2001.
History 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 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 in 1968 and was heavily influenced by Frank
Zappa and the Velvet Underground. Czech art historian and cultural critic Ivan
Jirous became their manager/artistic director in the following year,
fulfilling a role similar to the one Andy Warhol had with the Velvet
Underground. Jirous introduced Hlavsa to guitarist Josef Janíček, and viola
player Jiří Kabeš. 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 invited 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 poet Egon Bondy whose work had been banned by the government. In the
following three years, Bondy's lyrics nearly completely dominated PPU's music.
In December 1974, the band recorded their first "studio" album, Egon Bondy's
Happy Hearts Club Banned, which was released in France in 1978.
In 1974, thousands of people traveled from Prague to the town of České
Budějovice to visit the Plastics' performance. Stopped by police, they
were sent back to Prague, and several students were arrested. The band was
forced underground until the Velvet Revolution in 1989. Unable to perform
openly, an entire underground cultural movement formed around the band during
the 1970s. The sympathizers of the movement were often called máničky,
mainly due to their long hair. In 1976, the Plastics and other people
from the underground scene were arrested and put on trial by the Communist
government to make an example. They were convicted of "organized disturbance of
the peace" and sentenced to terms in prison ranging from 8 to 18 months. Paul
Wilson was deported even though he had left the band in 1972. It was in protest
of these arrests and prosecution that led playwright Václav Havel and others
to write the Charter 77. In 1978, the PPU recorded Pašijové hry
velikonoční. The lyrics were written earlier by Vratislav Brabenec. In 1979,
followed Jak bude po smrti, being influenced by a Czech philosopher and
writer from the first half of the 20th century, Ladislav Klíma. In 1980, they
rehearsed and performed a new record, recorded one year later, Co znamená
vésti koně. In 1982, Vratislav Brabenec was forced by the police to leave and
emigrate to Canada. After he left, the band released its next record Hovězí
porážka and Půlnoční myš. Czech record label GLOBUS INTERNATIONAL has collected
the original work of the Plastic People as 10 CDs, and released them in various
forms several times between 1992 and 2004, with various liner notes and
photos, and also as a limited edition box set. They have also released other
PPU live and solo albums, and related work such as DG 307.
Despite their clashes with the government, the musicians never
considered themselves activists and always claimed that they wanted only to
play their music. The band broke up in 1988, with some members forming the
group Půlnoc, which recorded briefly for Arista Records in the USA. At President
Havel's suggestion, they reunited in 1997 in honor of the 20th anniversary of
Charter 77, and have performed around the world regularly since then.
In 1999, along with Lou Reed, Milan Hlavsa performed at the White House
during Václav Havel´s state visit. Milan Hlavsa died in 2001 of lung
cancer. The band wasn´t sure whether or not to continue without their frontman
and main songwriter. However, after long discussions they decided to continue in
honour of Hlavsa´s memory. Eva Turnová from the group DG 307 became the band´s
new bass player. = Post-Hlavsa era=
After Milan Hlavsa´s death, the Plastic People began to write new songs. The
also performed some of their older albums with several orchestras. This was
Milan Hlavsa´s longtime plan he didn´t have the chance to achieve. In 2004 the
Plastic People introduced an orchestral version of "The Passion Play". In 2005
and 2011 they performed "Jak bude po smrti". In 2014 they introduced an
orchestral version of "Co znamená vésti koně?", alongside the Brno Philharmonic
orchestra. Interest in the band was rekindled in
2006 thanks to a new play, Rock 'n' Roll by Tom Stoppard, in which two of their
recordings are featured. They are also playing a few songs live in Czech
performances in the Czech National Theatre. The play's characters also
discuss at length the music of the Plastics and its effects on Czech
society. The Plastics performed in London for the first time in January
2007 with Turnová on bass. In December 2009 the band released a new
studio album Maska za maskou. It's their first studio album since Líně s tebou
spím and first without the songwriting of Milan Hlavsa.
Paul Wilson later went on to become one of the major translators into English of
Václav Havel's work. Currently he is working on a new translation of The
Memorandum for the Havel Festival, which also features two other of his
translations. Personnel
= Current members= Josef Janíček – keyboards, vocals
Jiří Kabeš – electric violin, theremin, vocals
Vratislav Brabenec – saxophone, clarinet, vocals, composition, lyrics
Joe Karafiát – guitar, vocals, composition
Eva Turnová – bass, vocals, composition Jaroslav Kvasnička – drums
= Former members= Milan "Mejla" Hlavsa – bass, vocals,
composition, lyrics Michal Jernek – saxophone, clarinet,
vocals Jiří Števich – guitar, vocals
Josef Brabec – drums Pavel Zeman – drums
Paul Wilson – guitar, vocals Jan Jílek – trumpet
Jiří Šula – drums Jaroslav Vožniak – drums
Otakar Michl – guitar Jan Brabec – drums
Pavel Zajíček – vocals Jaroslav Unger – vocals
Ladislav Leština – electric violin, theremin
Ivan Bierhanzl – contrabass Jan Schneider – percussion
Josef Rössler – clarinet Petr Placák – clarinet
Václav Stádník – clarinet Jan Macháček – guitar
Vladimír Dědek – trombone Milan Schelinger – guitar
Michaela Pohanková – vocals Tomáš Schilla – cello
Ludvík Kandl – drums = Non-performing collaborators=
Managers Ivan Martin Jirous
Pavel Kratochvíl Additional lyricists
Michal Jernek Egon Bondy
Ladislav Klíma William Blake
Jiří Kolář Ivan Wernisch
Karel Hynek Mácha Christian Morgenstern
Milan Nápravník Discography
Muž bez uší Vožralej jak slíva
Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned Ach to státu hanobení
Pašijové hry velikonoční Jak bude po smrti
Co znamená vésti koně Kolejnice duní
Hovězí porážka Půlnoční myš
Bez ohňů je underground The Plastic People of the Universe
For Kosovo 10 let Globusu aneb underground v kostce
Milan Hlavsa - Než je dnes člověku 50 - poslední dekáda
Líně s tebou spím - Lazy Love/ In Memoriam Mejla Hlavsa
Pašijové hry/ Passion Play Do lesíčka na čekanou
Magor's Shem Maska za maskou
Non Stop Opera References
External links The Plastic People of the Universe -
official website The Plastic People of the Universe at
AllMusic official Facebook profile - The Plastic
People of the Universe official YouTube channel - The Plastic
People of the Universe Documentary film produced by Česká
televize: The Plastic People Of The Universe, director - Jana Chytilová
Template:Kinobox film Article from Prague Life
Interview with Paul Wilson Interview/profile from the Washington
Post's Express The Rolling Stone article