Flamengo (rice Czech Republic prog)

[Brian Griffin]

Czech'd out Kure V Hodinkach this AM for the first time

Surprised I hadn't seen this one mentioned here - definitely has it's moments

Fingered as jazz rock / fusion but a lot of different styles actually

Anyone like this, and has anyone heard the singles comp also available?

BG

[nosebone]

Good album, more proto-prog with jazzy leanings like Diabolus.

[Progbear]

Didn’t sound so proggy to me, more like an unholy mix of Chicago and Uriah Heep. Incidentally, I understand Flamengo ran into trouble with the Czech authorities over this album, which was banned for many years. I have no idea what could be in the lyrics that the State found so offensive, as I don’t even come close to speaking Czech.

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MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

"'Thin Thighs For Your Man.' But I don't *like* men with thin thighs" --Daria

N.P.:“Daybreak”-Mirror

[Scrotum Scissor]

Hm. Actually, this album HAS been mentioned here several times. In the OLD PE days, that is.

Miroslaw Wanek, leader of Uz Jsme Doma, has stated on more than one occasion that among domestic music aficionados this title is usually weighed the greatest Czech rock album ever made (and no, it's rarely considered "Jazz-rock/fusion" in this context, even though they employed a saxophone). And yes, it was banned for nearly a decade due to allegations of "subversive messages" in the lyrics.

No matter how "prog" or "non-prog" it conveys its contents, Kure v Hodinkach remains a seminal artifact from the post-68-rebellion days, and thus in effect a link between the politically charged underground (Plastic People of the Universe, Extempore, DG307, Prazsky Vyber, MCH Band, Ser Un Peyalero, Dunaj etc.) and the more "headup" progressive scene with early acts such as Framus Five, Blue Effect and Dezo Ursiny/Provisorium (who shared bassist with Flamengo in Vladimir Kulhanek, who later turned up in Bohemia, Stromboli and numerous other Czech progressive groups). These were all great artists with a quite innovative take on the "proto" thing of the day.

[Trane]

Didn’t sound so proggy to me, more like an unholy mix of Chicago and Uriah Heep. Incidentally, I understand Flamengo ran into trouble with the Czech authorities over this album, which was banned for many years. I have no idea what could be in the lyrics that the State found so offensive, as I don’t even come close to speaking Czech.

Flamengo reminds me more of the first album of Colosseum (pre-Valentyne Suite)

Yeah, but what group didn't have problem with the local stasi/securitate

Plastic People Of The Universe members spent a few months in jail on more than one occasion

[Progmatic]

If Proggy means symphonic, the album is definetely not proggy! Otherwise it is very much a progressive album with all the right hooks reminding me little bit of Van Der Graaf the way they used sax.

The "subversive message" in lyrics is kind of odd thing to stamp on Flamengo, as they really did not write a single word of album lyrics. They just used the poems by Josef Kainar who was Czech poet and not a Flamengo lyricist (He actually passed away in 1971 whereas album was completed in 1972)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKLLyS0KGlM

[Scrotum Scissor]

If Proggy means symphonic, the album is definetely not proggy! Otherwise it is very much a progressive album
Historically speaking, progressive rock was never synonymous with "symphonic rock" (other than perhaps for the folks introduced to the term through discovering it exclusively by way of said style) in the first place. Of course Flamengo were a progressive band; that's what they were namechecked as even back then, when the concept itself was very much alive (which I suppose it is to some minimal extent even today, though on completely different semantic points).

Josef Kainar, the renowned poet whose works were used for the lyrical content of the Flamengo album, was also directly involved in the great Mesto Er album by Michael Prokop and Framus Five, which even bore some slight musical resemblance to Kure v Hodinkach although being somewhat less aggressive in approach. BTW, I'd say its sonic force is the very "rock alibi" of the album at large, and probably one of the reasons why the record was perceived as potentially "corruptive". The analogy towards early Colosseum (plus early Spooky Tooth, then current The Who etx.) is certainly apt as well.

Like I said, it's simply a great record - both as period piece and as testament to the true underground spirit of the later so maligned and allegedly servile "prog".

[mellotron storm]

Jan Kubik the clarinet/flute/sax player also played on JAZZ Q's Symbiosis record. This album was banned by the government because of the lyrics apparently. Vocals are in their own language and i love how upfront the bass is.

[Progmatic]

I found interesting article regarding the album in Englishhttp://www.praguepost.com/tempo/14732-preview-kure-v-hodinkach-live.html

[Brian Griffin]

Even better on the second listen - thanks for all the info and that article

BG

[oregonalex]

As luck would have it, while visiting the Czech Republic last month I noticed a poster for the 40th Anniversary of Kure v Hodinkach concert featuring the original Flamengo group reunion. So I bought a ticket for an equivalent of US$15 and went.

The venue was a small club/pub, pretty much standing room only with a few tables around. By the time the concert started, the place was packed solid, and I do mean solid. As the club was located in a residential neighborhood, the windows and shutters had to stay closed during the concert and the temperature must have been at least 100F inside and not much in a way of oxygen available. The pub did brisk business in beer :). I arrived early and was able to see the concert propped against the edge of the stage. The audience was of all ages, many clearly born well after the initial release of the Kure album.

The first half of the concert was performed by Etc - the former Flamengo frontman Vladimir Misik's successor group, playing mostly old favorites and a couple of newer pieces. The group was a mix of old hands and younger musicians. Misik, due to his fragile health, alternated singing with a younger guy that did a very good job on Misik's old pieces.

The second half was the Flamengo reunion proper, with three members of the original group:
Vladimir Misik - vocals
Pavel Fort - guitar
Vladimír "Guma (The Rubber)" Kulhánek - bass
supplemented by several members from Etc. The notable absences from the original group were keyboardist Ivan Khunt who died in 2002, reeds/woodwinds player Jan Kubik, and drummer Jaroslav Erno Sedivy. Their replacements did a very good job, esp. the young sax/flute player.

The group performed the entire Kure v Hodinkach album, with the exception of, as Misik said, a "couple of things that are hard to do outside a studio". The encore consisted of Jumping Jack Flash and Oye Como Va, as they said, their classic encore pieces from the early seventies.

Despite the sauna-like conditions in the club and the age and health of some of the musicians, we were in for almost 3 hours of raucous masterfully performed rock. I feel extremely lucky to have stumbled upon it.
Alex

[JKL2000]

What does this have to do with rice?

[Brian Griffin]

What does this have to do with rice?

Rice Chex, as in cereal

BG

[Progmatic]

I feel extremely lucky to have stumbled upon it.
Alex

wow....it is like a FarFest, only for real;)

[Progmatic]

What does this have to do with rice?

rice rhymes with nice ...

[Progbear]

rice rhymes with nice ...

The inevitable response:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm7FWb1HuwU

:lol

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MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

"It is not an obscenity to be free. It is a divine right." --Annette Peacock

N.P.:“Waterfall”-Jade Warrior/Floating World

[batis]

[What] "subversive messages" [?]

Rock 'n' Roll, man! or in Czech: Bigbít, vole, ne?

... haven't heard it in years, but I still like this album a lot!!!