Your License Has Been Revoked, Comrade

PLASTIC PEOPLE OF THE UNIVERSE - Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned

Y'know, for years I always thought the "Velvet Revolution" was when Lou Reed wrote "Sister Ray." Turns out there was a little more to it than that (though that was pretty damn revolutionary). See, in former Communist Czechoslovakia, ya needed a "license to rock," if ya weren't playing "State-Approved" swill that'd embarrass Dean Martin. Needless to say, Prague's Plastic People of the Universe didn't play that shit, had their R&R privileges revoked, and were thrown in jail. The band themselves wanted nothing more than to be famous for playing the music that they loved; they had no desire to be revolutionaries. However, after their arrests, an entire community of dissidents sprung up around the band, many of whom-- like future Czech President Vaclav Havel-- would be instrumental in the overthrow of communist rule.

Formed in 1968 as a Fugs/Velvets cover band by bassist Milan Hlavsa, they were approached by art historian and cultural critic Ivan Jirous, who convinced them to concentrate on writing original material-- he also became their manager (he had Warholian aspirations), hiring Paul Wilson, a Canuck teacher stationed in Prague, to translate their lyrics into English. Wilson, who became their vocalist from 1970-72, encouraged them to revert to their native tongue before his departure. Taking his advice to heart, they began working on a series of songs based around the words of Egon Bondy, a Czech poet/philosopher whose work had recently been banned by the government. Thus, Hlavsa, with bandmates Vratislav Brabenec (sax), Josef Janíček (guitars/keys), Jiří Kabeš (violin/viola) and Jan Brabec (drums) entered the studio in 1974 to record this LP, their first "proper" release.

More than two decades has not diminished the Freak Appeal of "Banned"-- as steeped in Eastern European Classical composers as it in the Mothers/Fugs/VU triumvirate . This is doom-laden music infused with black humor and impeccable musicianship. Opener "20" with its Van Vliet-like meter sets the tone:

Today when one is twenty
He would vomit with repulsion

But those of forty even more
Would puke in sheer revulsion

Only those of sixty have it easier
They sleep in peace with their amnesia

"Toxica" has a spider-running-across-the-fretboard guitar solo that dukes it out with some wigged-out theremin abuse-- two-tone squalls of sound battling for skronk supremacy. "Okolo Okna," features a sinister bass line augmented by some positively creepy violin-sawing that resembles Jean-Luc Ponty-- if he'd ever been taught the art of restraint. Brabenec's demented, Peter Brötzmann-esque saxophone excursions will liquefy your gray matter immediately-- not only is his work on par with any "free" player you care to name, his hellacious honking is soaked in reverb, giving it a detached, otherworldly quality not captured before or since.

PPU would disband in 1988, with some members forming Pulnoc. Their visionary leader, Milan Hlavsa, died in 2001 of lung cancer, aged 50.

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VARIOUS - Surfbeat Behind the Iron Curtain

Another example of musicians in need of a "license to rock," this compilation, part of the "Planetary Pebbles" series, has a title that is a bit misleading: Not only is this not really surf music, a sizable chunk o' the artists featured aren't/weren't from Commie-ruled lands. So you end up with a Battle Royale of early 60's Eastern and Western World musicians enamored of the Ventures and pristine, Joe Meek-style production -- especially the Tornados' "Telstar". Many of the Eastern Bloc entries are also the most absorbing-- in particular, Czechoslovakia's Slava Kunst Orchestra's "Lucifer in Coelis," one of the most deranged ditties recorded in ANY era. It has not so much a lead vocal as a narration, that brings to mind Mike Myers' "Sprockets" character, underlaid with blasting horns and alien, gypsy-like folk melodies adapted for fuzz guitar. East Germany's Thunderbirds serve up a heapin' helpin' of ultra-compressed, Duane Eddy-style twang on "African Guitar," and Poland's Alarm contribute some groovy, ivory-tinklin' fun on "Nocny Alarm."

Tracks:

1. Pe Linga Plopee Fara Sot - Sincron
2. Beginning Of Autumn - Capras
3. Theme From Unfinished Symphony - Bunnys
4. Komandosi - Black 'N' Whites
5. The Saint - Eliminators
6. Return Of Gemini - Mefisto
7. Sputniks Thema - Die Sputniks
8. African Guitar - Thunderbirds
9. Nocny Alarm - Alarm
10. Crazy Guitars - Boomerangs
11. Leicht Verdreht - Trocadero Sextett
12. The Bumble Beat - Orchester Charles Blackwell
13. Corso - Klaus Lenz Sextett
14. Lucifer In Coelis - Slava Kunst Orchestra
15. Twistin Safari - Thunderbirds
16. Aladin - Theo Schumann Combo
17. Take Blya Moja - Black 'N' Whites
18. In Gara La Leordeni - Sincorn
19. Werwo's Rock - Gisha Brothers
20. Colorado - The Constellations
21. Javalins Rock - Javalins
22. Melodie Fur Barbara - Franke Echo Quintett
23. Wipe Out! - Eliminators
24. The Coach - Karel Duba & His Guitar Men

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