more reports on U Supa

From Bruce, fellow American and musician, who paid a visit to our favorite Smichov saloon a while back – he provides video, photos, and culinary rating

http://czechoutchannel.blogspot.com/2008/02/u-supa-country-saloon-bluegrass-jam.html

popmuzeum

2008-4-16

The requirement for this afternoon was something fun that was marginally related to my work. So Em and I went to the pop muzeum, an organization motivated by Czech pop music scholarship godfather Aleš Opekar, who I interviewed in 2002 about country, etc. … and it just happens to be in our Praha 6 neighborhood, in the basement of the former Kulturni Dum “u Kast’anu.”

On their web site I saw that they are carrying out some detective work, and – like I do – are farming it out to web readers – here’s the link and blurb:

The Matadors – can you help fans in Czech Republic?
We have 3 mystery tracks of this legendary Czech group from 1966, but we don’t have know where the originals are from. Singer is Czech who didn’t know English well.
His English is something like “czenglish”, so only the melodies (tunes) are a clue (guidepost).
If you think you know, please write your suggestions to info@popmuseum.cz.

Come on, pop knowledge-ists – help a brother out.

PS – In addition to an informative exhibit on the Czech new wave of the 1980s, illustrating the last gasps of a governmental ideological/aesthetic control apparatus, there’s a stage setup of instruments that are turned on and ready to play….we had fun:

Elusive Fox

2008-4-15

I heard tell of a Czech version of “fox on the run” (US pop-country song, now a bluegrass standard) by a gent named Vacláv Neckař – all this from a friend who just got together a piece on him that she is airing on Radio Praha. She was giving an idea of some of his songs–having heard them too much editing the sound files–and sang one that was unmistakeably “like a fox.” (This is Rosie, who interviewed me a while back for Radio Praha, and after I loaned her “Limonadovy Joe” went to interview the actress that played the luscivious Tornado Lou, Květa Fialová – see that page HERE )
Back to Neckař; he was the antiheroic “star” of Jiri Menzel’s “Closely Watched Trains” (1968 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, from the eponymous novel by Bohumil Hrabal) and the (front) man of pop (power) trio “Golden Kids.” (it’s not kids as in boys and girls, but as in juvenile goats. Thanks, Czechs! ) Interestingly enough, Vacláv was recently accused of reporting on colleagues to the StB ( the former state security apparatus: http://www.radio.cz/en/news/92777 – the ghosts of communism still haunt…)

For the media-minded of you, here’s a GK hit:

…and a gratuitous though contemporaneous Mannfred Mannnn version of “fox” that is nice (and perhaps sparked a Czech version?):

Sorry for all the tangents – it’s all just to good….

My main point: Anyone know more details on a Neckar (czech-texted) version? (instead of “like a fox,” is the refrain “kolem nas”…? or “jako slon” …? )

I’ll be tuning in to Rosie’s feature once it’s up online, and you can too – after Sunday, head to www.radio.cz and then click through to music features, down the menu on the left side of the page.