František Ringo Čech (born 9 July 1943) is a Czech musician, songwriter, painter, actor, comedian, publicist, politician, dramatist, screenwriter, and author.
Life and career
Early musical career: 1959–1965
František Čech was born in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
in 1943 to František Čech Pražský, a musician of
Viennese Viennese may refer to:
* Vienna, the capital of Austria
* Viennese people, List of people from Vienna
* Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna
* Music of Vienna, musical styles in the city
* Viennese Waltz, genre of ballroom dance
* ...
origin.
From 1959 to 1963, he worked as a radio mechanic and television technician, while playing drums in various
Dixieland
Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ...
and brass ensembles, such as Storyville Jazz, which also included Ivan Mládek and Ivo Pešák. In 1963, he cofounded the rock band
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
together with Jaromír Klempíř, and began writing song lyrics for the first time.
He studied drums at the
Prague Conservatory
The Prague Conservatory or Prague Conservatoire ( cs, Pražská konzervatoř) is a music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, Prague Conservatory offers four or six year study courses, which can be compared to the level ...
from 1963 to 1965, as well as
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, r ...
, piano, and recorder. In December 1965, he travelled to the United States with the Jiří Srnec
black light theatre
Black light theatre (in Czech ''černé divadlo'') or simply black theatre, is a theatrical performance style characterized by the use of black box theatre augmented by black light illusion. This form of theatre originated from Asia and can be f ...
, where his wife, Magda, performed, thus ending his stint with Olympic. It was around this time that he adopted the nickname Ringo, after Beatles drummer
Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
.
Return to Czechoslovakia: 1967–1989
After fourteen months abroad, Čech returned home in February 1967. He formed his own beat orchestra, Rogers Band, which also included his brother Svatopluk, who played saxophone. The two left the band a year later and went on to start a new group called Shut Up, which acted as the house band at
Semafor
Semafor is a theatre in Prague, Czech Republic, established by Jiří Suchý and Ferdinand Havlík in 1959. Suchý has performed there for many years and is the current owner.
The theatre was a starting point for many famous Czech musicians ...
theatre until 1972 and included in its roster such musicians as
Pavel Bobek
Pavel Bobek (16 September 1937 − 20 November 2013) was a Czech singer.
Career
From 1963 to 1965 he was the vocalist of the pioneering classic rock group Olympic, and from 1967 he subsequently performed as a member of the Semafor Musical Theat ...
,
Viktor Sodoma
Viktor Sodoma (born 5 July 1945) is a Czech singer and occasional actor, considered to be a pioneer of 1960s Czech rock and roll and beat music. He began his career by performing at Semafor theatre and during the 1960s, sang with the bands Flame ...
, and
Jiří Grossmann
Jiří Grossmann (20 July 1941 – 5 December 1971) was a Czechoslovak theatre actor, poet, and composer.
Life
Grossmann was born in Prague. After his graduation, he started at the technical university ČVUT, but left in 1962 when he met Milo ...
. In 1972, the band changed its name to Skupina Františka Ringo Čecha (František Ringo Čech's Band) and became autonomous. A year later, the ill-fated Jiří Schelinger joined the group on vocals. Around this time, Čech switched from playing a standard drum kit to
bongos
Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...
, and began performing
spoken word
Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics o ...
within the band's repertoire. He also wrote lyrics for other artists, including
Karel Gott
) Sinatra of the East( cs, Sinatra Východu, link=no) Divine CharlieMladý svět''. In the 1970s, he obtained some of his first acting roles, including in the 1975 film ''Romance za korunu'' and the television production ''Na startu je delfín''. His band travelled to a number of European countries such as Russia and Poland, where they opened for Smokie in 1975.
In the early 1980s, Čech organized a number of music festivals and performed with the band Metronom. He also continued to write and began to try his hand at artistic painting. In 1983, he formed Čechovo prozatímní divadlo (Čech's Provisional Theatre), in which he held the roles of author, artistic director, director, and actor. He also appeared in several more films, such as '' How the World Is Losing Poets'', and wrote song lyrics for such productions as '' Což takhle dát si špenát'' and '' Hop – a je tu lidoop''.
After the Velvet Revolution: 1989–present
After the
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...
1996 Czech legislative election
Parliamentary elections were held in the Czech Republic on 31 May and 1 June 1996,Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p471 the first after independence. The result was a victory for the Civic Democrat ...
, he was elected to the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon ...
for the CSSD, retaining the seat until 1998. In the 1998 Czech Senate election, he unsuccessfully ran for the CSSD in the Jičín region, losing to Jiří Liška.
Čech has long supported the anti-European and anti-immigration policies of
Miloš Zeman
Miloš Zeman (; born 28 September 1944) is a Czech politician serving as the third and current President of the Czech Republic since 2013. He previously served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2002. As leader of the Czec ...
and his allies. In the
2017 Czech legislative election
Legislative elections were held in the Czech Republic on 20 and 21 October 2017. All 200 members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected and Andrej Babiš of ANO 2011, also the leader of the resultant government, became the Prime Minister. The ...
* ''Shut Up'' (1972)
* ''Báječní muži'' (1975)
* ''Ovoce z naší zahrádky'' (1975)
* ''Nemám hlas jako zvon'' (1975)
* ''Schelinger a Rezek se skupinou F. R. Čecha'' (1976)
* ''Hrrrr na ně'' (1977)
* ''Nám se líbí…'' (1979)
* ''1983'' (1983)
* ''Dívčí Válka (Historická Hra O Osmi Obrazech)'' (1999)
* ''Pra Pra Pra...'' (2004)
* ''Já Jsem Básník, Mistr Péra'' (2008)
Selected publications
* ''Půl a půl je celá'' (Albatros 1978, il. Gabriel Filcík)
* ''Tvarové hry'' (Albatros 1980, il. Gabriel Filcík)
* ''Z mého života'' (1981, il. Vladimír Jiránek)
* ''Čechovo prozatímní divadlo. Bulletin. Saison 1988/89'' (1988)
* ''Ruský týden'' (Studio dobré nálady-Kredit 1990, il. Ota Jirák)
* ''Dívčí válka'' (Severočeské nakladatelství 1990, il. Jiří Winter-Neprakta)
* ''Ringo v Annonci'' (Carmen 1991)
* ''Můj boj'' (Kredit 1993)
* ''Ringo'' (Venkov 1993)
* ''Jiří Schelinger: Život a...'' (Orba 1994)
* ''Naivní svět Františka Ringo Čecha'' (Všeobecná zdravotní pojišťovna České republiky 1994, calendar)
* ''Češi a jejich samičky 1'' (Arkanum 1995)
* ''Češky a jejich samci 2'' (Jaroslav Ředina 1996)
* ''Proč ta sova tolik houkala. Hú Is Hú is hú is hú is hú (Eminent 1998, )
* ''Dívčí válka'' (Eminent 1999, )
* ''Pra pra pra...'' (Pilsen Press 1999, )
* ''Cucurucuců'' (Ikar 2003, )
* ''Praha 2006/Prague-Prag-Praga 2006'' (Presco Group 2005, calendar)
* ''Obrazy. Výstavní katalog'' (Divadlo Hybernia 2007)
* ''Generace Beatles aneb Rok stárnoucího rockera'' (Euromedia Group - Ikar 2012, )
* ''Generace Beatles aneb Cestou do krematoria'' (Euromedia Group - Ikar 2015, )
* ''Z deníku osamělého běžce 1 / 2012'' (Galén 2016)
Co-author and contributor
* ''Čtyři hrají rock'' (Panton 1986, with Jaromír Tůma, uncredited)
* ''Verše pod osnovou'' (Panton 1986, song texts)
* ''Karel Gott'78'' (Supraphon 1978, song texts)
* ''Příběhy z divokého východu'' (Riosport-press 1991, with Ivan Mládek, foreword only)
* ''Hádej, kam půjdem na flám'' (Kredit 1992)
* ''Kde, kdy a jak knihu nejraději čtu'' (AZ servis 1993)
* ''99 písní Olympicu'' (BESTIA a MUZIKUS 1994)
* ''Snídaně s Novou'' (Forma 1995)
* ''Jedeme do Anglie'' (Forma 1996)
* ''Jiří Schelinger, Jiří Šlitr, Jiří Hrzán'' (Formát 1998)
* ''Herci malují'' (Knižní klub 1999)
* ''Amfora. Gigant na góly a fóry'' (Jota 1998, with Jaromír Tůma and Petr Salava, uncredited)
* ''Ondřej Suchý: Aluminiový klíček Felixe Holzmanna'' (MODRÝ STŮL 2006)
* ''Jako Čuk a Gek'' (Ikar 2008, with Petr Novotný, )