Karel Francis Fialka is an Indian-born British singer, songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his 1987 single, "

Hey Matthew "Hey Matthew" is a song by British musician Karel Fialka, released as a single in 1987. It was later included on his 1988 studio album, ''Human Animal''. The song has minimal instrumentation with only synthesizers and a drum machine being used. I ...

Career

He was born Karel Francis Fialka in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

, India, to a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

mother and Czech father. Fialka was launched in 1980 as "the street poet of the 1980s." Fialka's debut studio album ''Still Life'' was well received. The single "The Eyes Have It" received

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

play. Fialka had a top 10

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization in ...

in 1987 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

with the single "

", (on

I.R.S. Records I.R.S. Records was an American record label founded by Miles Copeland III, Jay Boberg, and Carl Grasso in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock, new wave ...

). Fialka works mainly as a conceptual songwriter and record producer with occasional and infrequent live appearances. "The Things I Saw" was released on the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

based Studio !K7 label, as part of Booka Shade's

DJ mix A DJ mix or DJ mixset is a sequence of musical tracks typically mixed together to appear as one continuous track. DJ mixes are usually performed using a DJ mixer and multiple sounds sources, such as turntables, CD players, digital audio players ...

album '' DJ-Kicks: Booka Shade'' in October 2007. This came as a

mashup Mashup may refer to: * Mashup (culture), the rearrangement of spliced parts of musical pieces as part of a subculture * Mashup (education), combining various forms of data and media by a teacher or student in an instructional setting * Mashup (mus ...

with another track by Akiko Kiyama. Fialka released the studio album ''Film Noir'' in March 2009. Featured guest artists included

Tilda Swinton Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...

and Paul Roberts ( Sniff 'n' the Tears).

Bootleg recording A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...

s include the titles ''Morrison Cafe'', a

deconstruction The term deconstruction refers to approaches to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. It was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who defined it as a turn away from Platonism's ideas of "true" forms and essences w ...

of songs by

the Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

, and ''To Live Outside the Law You Must Be Honest'', where he has done the same to songs written by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Songwriting and production credits

Fialka has written songs recorded and/or

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed by other artists, as follows: * "Maybe Someday" –

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

– '' Dressed for the Occasion'' (1983) * "In the Silence of the Night" – Sniff 'n' the Tears – ''Underground'' (2001) * "Lip Service" – Sniff 'n' the Tears – ''Underground'' (2001) * "The Misidia Monarchy/The Things I Saw" – Booka Shade – '' DJ-Kicks: Booka Shade'' (2007) * "Thru the Gate... Every Step of the Way" – Martin Stephenson – ''Collective Force'' (2002) * "Today Is Yesterday" – Simeone – ''An Introduction to Simeone'' (2011)

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Still Life'' (1980) * ''Human Animal'' (1988) * ''Film Noir'' (2009)

Singles

References

External links

Personal website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fialka, Karel Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British new wave musicians British male singer-songwriters British record producers British electronic musicians British synth-pop new wave musicians British people of Czech descent British people of Scottish descent