Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned
Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned is an album by Czech underground band The Plastic People of the Universe. It was recorded in 1974/75, mainly at Houska Castle, enabled by the castle's then warden Svatopluk Karásek, with some songs being recorded in Prague.[2] The album could not be officially released and distributed under the former Communist regime in Czechoslovakia; instead fans duplicated tapes with one another, often resulting in poor technical quality. It was released in 1978 in France by SCOPA Invisible Production.[3] In the Czech Republic a remastered version was published in 2001 by Globus Music.[4] The album title is a parody of The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Most of the songs on the record are settings of poems by Egon Bondy. The author of the album title is Ivan Hartl, a Czechoslovak emigrant living in London.
Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1978 | |||
Recorded | 1974–1975 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 52:54 | |||
Label | Globus Music | |||
The Plastic People of the Universe chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic |
Music critic Robert Christgau named the album one of the few import-only records he loved yet omitted from Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).[5]
Track listing
All music composed by Milan Hlavsa; texts are listed.
- "Dvacet" (lyrics: Egon Bondy)
- "Zácpa" (lyrics: Egon Bondy)
- "Toxika" (lyrics: Egon Bondy)
- "Magické noci" (lyrics: Egon Bondy)
- "M.G.M." (instrumental)
- "Okolo okna" (lyrics: Egon Bondy)
- "Elegie" (lyrics: Egon Bondy)
- "Podivuhodný mandarin" (lyrics: Egon Bondy)
- "Nikdo" (lyrics: Egon Bondy)
- "Jó-to se ti to spí" (lyrics: Egon Bondy)
- "Já a Mike" (lyrics: Kurt Vonnegut; translated to Czech by Jaroslav Kořán)
- "Ranní ptáče" (lyrics: Egon Bondy)
- "Francovka" (lyrics: Egon Bondy)
- "Jednou nohou" (instrumental)
- "Spofa blues" (lyrics: Egon Bondy)
- "Apokalyptickej pták" (lyrics: Pavel Zajíček)
- "Píseň brance" (lyrics: František Pánek)
Personnel
- Milan Hlavsa – bass guitar, vocals
- Josef Janíček – claviphone, guitar, vibraphone, vocals
- Jiří Kabeš – violin, vocals
- Vratislav Brabenec – alt saxophone
- Jiří Šula – drums
- Jaroslav Vožniak – drums
- Vasil Šnajdr – flute
- Zdeněk Fišer – theremin
References
- Dougan, John. "Egon Bondy's Happy Heart Club Banned". Allmusic. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
- "Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned". PlasticPeople.eu. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
- "Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned". Progboard.com. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
- "Plastic People Of The Universe, The – Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned". Discogs.com. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
- Christgau, Robert (1981). "The Guide". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 0899190251. Retrieved 30 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.