Garage is a Czech

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band from

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, formed in 1979 by Ivo Pospíšil under the name Garáž. In the 1980s, the band included guitarist

Milan Hlavsa Milan "Mejla" Hlavsa (Prague, 6 March 1951 – 5 January 2001) was the founder, chief songwriter, and original bassist of the Czechoslovakia, Czech band the Plastic People of the Universe, which was part of the inspiration for the anti-establish ...

, from

the Plastic People of the Universe The Plastic People of the Universe (PPU) is a Czech rock band from Prague. They are considered the foremost representatives of Prague's underground culture (1968–1989), which defied Czechoslovakia's Communist regime. Members of the band o ...

. After the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

in 1989, Garage played concerts abroad, including in New York City, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and France. In 1994, the group released the album ''Garage'', produced by

Ivan Král Ivan Král (12 May 1948 – 2 February 2020) was a Czech Americans, Czech-born American composer, filmmaker, guitarist, record producer, bassist, and singer-songwriter. He worked across genres including pop music, punk rock, garage rock, Rock mus ...

History

Formed in 1979 by Ivo Pospíšil of

DG 307 DG 307 was a Czech underground rock band founded in 1973 in Prague by Milan Hlavsa and Pavel Zajíček. The group has been inactive since 2016. History Bass guitarist Milan Hlavsa and poet Pavel Zajíček launched DG 307 in 1973, taking the nam ...

, the band was initially called Garáž. In 1982, they were joined by singer Tony Ducháček, who became their primary songwriter. In the years 1983–84, the group's first demo tapes, ''Garáž... byla a je'' and ''Garáž? Na tu nemáš!'' emerged, and

, founder of

, joined up. Under the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

during the 1980s, Garáž was rarely allowed to play officially, and they were mainly relegated to the

underground scene Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, Popular music, mainstream popular music culture. Underground styles lack the commercial success of popular music movements, and may involve the use of avant-g ...

. As they weren't allowed to release official albums at the time, their recordings circulated as

samizdat Samizdat (, , ) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the documents from reader to reader. The practice of manual rep ...

on cassettes. After the

of 1989, all restrictions on the group were lifted. During the next few years, Garáž experienced the peak of their popularity. They performed across Czechoslovakia as well as overseas, including at clubs in New York City, Switzerland, and Germany and at festivals in Belgium and France. At that time, the band included guitarist

Joe Karafiát Joe Karafiát (born 1957 in Prague) is a Czech singer and guitarist. In 1980, he emigrated from Czechoslovakia to London and he left England after two years. Settled in Canada, he played with various musicians and also recorded an album with anoth ...

, who lived in Canada for ten years and returned to Czechoslovakia after the revolution. In 1993, following member disagreements, Garáž separated from founder and manager, Ivo Pospíšil, who continued performing under the band's original name. The remaining musicians adopted the English version of their old name and continued as Garage a Tony Ducháček. In 1994, they released the album ''Garage'', produced by

Band members

Current * Tony Ducháček – vocals * Jan Macháček – guitar * David Fikrle – bass * Honza Pokorný * René Starhon Past * Ivo Pospíšil – bass *

– bass * Karel Habal * Tomáš Volák * Ian Losz * Ivan Cifrinec * Zdeněk Smetana * Josef Vondrášek * Antonín Pěnička – drums * Jaroslav Jeřábek – saxophone *

– guitar * Jaroslav Kvasnička – bass * Robert Jína – guitar * Vladimír Zatloukal – guitar

Discography

* ''Garáž... byla a je'' (1984) * ''Garáž? Na tu nemáš!'' (1988) * ''The Best of Garáž'' (1990) * ''Vykopávky Praha'' (1990) * ''Garáž – Demo'' (1991) * ''Garáž – Praha'' (1991) * ''Garáž No. 1-1981'' (1993) * ''No Parking'' (1993) * ''Garage'' (1994) * ''Apogeum'' (1996) * ''Nepohádka'' (2000) * ''BLACK!'' (2009) * ''Live 2011'' (2012)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Czech rock music groups Musical groups from Prague Musical groups established in 1979 1979 establishments in Czechoslovakia Czech underground music groups