The Matadors

The Matadors were among the finest & most celebrated beat combos to emerge from Eastern European countries in the 1960s; these were a feeling in their indigenous Czechoslovakia, and toured regularly in Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, and additional nations before ultimately relocating to Munich. The 1st edition from the Matadors shaped in early 1964, when bassist Otto Bezloja and sax participant Jan Farmer Obermayer of the first Czech rock and roll group Komety (aka the Comets) teamed up with Wilfried Jelinek, drummer using the Czech/German combo Pra-Be. Implementing the name Fontana, the group became a quintet with the help of business lead guitarist Radim Hladik and tempo guitarist Vladimir Misik, who also sang business lead. Fontana’s early gigs had been in East Germany, where Jelinek, who was simply doing double responsibility as the group’s supervisor, had booking cable connections; in the springtime of 1965, he struck an endorsement cope with a musical apparatus producer, and Obermayer transferred from sax to a Matador-brand digital organ, using the group renaming themselves following the device. In nov 1965, Jelinek quit drumming to control the Matadors full-time, as well as the music group recruited brand-new percussionist Miroslav Schwarz (aka Tony Dark) aswell as Karel Kahovec, a tempo guitarist and vocalist, both previous members from the combo Hell’s Devils. In 1966, the Matadors started producing a name for themselves on Prague’s music picture; their hard, imaginative interpretations of American and English hits (frequently with amusingly misheard British vocals) and solid original material produced them probably one of the most well-known acts around. The Czech Supraphon label got notice, which yr, the group produced their documenting debut, issuing a Czech-language solitary and a four-song EP in British. In nov 1966, the Matadors had been booked to try out a music event in Belgium; nevertheless, Misik and Obermayer had been carrying out their state-mandated assistance in the Military, and the music group played the display like a four-piece. By 1967, Obermayer was back the Matadors, but Misik and Kahovec had been out, as was supervisor Jelinek; Viktor Sodoma, previous of Flamengo, got over as business lead singer. By this time around, bassist Bezloja got end up being the group’s innovator, and with Sodoma’s help he started revamping the Matadors’ picture, as psychedelic rock and roll and more daring sounds became the brand new trend all over the world. When the Matadors documented their 1st full-length record in 1968, they’d started incorporating expanded psychedelic jams to their set, like the unforgettable and effects-laden “Removal,” while Hladik was maturing into a fantastic guitarist. The record was well-known in the home and in European countries, but fate acquired its own programs for the group. In the summertime of 1968, Sodoma and Obermayer still left the Matadors, and Milos “Reddy” Vokurka became their brand-new business lead vocalist, while Jiri Matosek became their brand-new keyboard man. Using the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in past due August 1968, the Matadors noticed little potential in Prague, plus they recognized an provide to provide as the musical ensemble for the Munich creation of the rock and roll musical Hair. Shortly before their departure, Radim Hladik still left the Matadors to create his have group, the greater experimental respond the Blue Impact, with previous bandmate Vladimir Misik; Petr Netopil agreed upon on as guitarist for the Matadors’ last Czech shows and their operate in Munich with Locks. Following the Munich creation of Hair shut in 1970, the Matadors had been performed, and Bezloja, Vokurka, and Matosek became a member of pushes with Hanus Berka (a Czech sax participant who had joined up with the Locks ensemble) and drummer Udo Lindenberg to create a prog rock and roll outfit called Crisis. In 1991, Hladik and associates of Blue Impact teamed with Sodoma, Obermayer, and Misik for the Matadors reunion present, as well as the group offers played periodic live gigs since. Creator and bandleader Otto Bezloja passed away in 2001.