The Matadors were a

beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

band from

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 ...

, Czechoslovakia active between 1965 and 1968, and intermittently between 1991 and 2008. Their most memorable lineup consisted of Otto Bezloja (bass guitar),

Radim Hladík Radim Hladík (13 December 1946 – 4 December 2016) was a Czech guitarist, composer, and producer known primarily for his trademark rock and jazz-fusion electric sound, although his early style was more blues-oriented, and Hladík also played ...

(lead guitar), Jan "Farmer" Obermayer (organ), Miroslav "Tony Black" Schwarz (drums), Karel Kahovec (vocals, rhythm guitar), and

Vladimír Mišík Vladimír Mišík (born 8 March 1947) is a Czech musician and politician. He is the founder or co-founder of the bands The Matadors, Matadors, Blue Effect, and Etc (band), Etc.... Career Music Mišík founded his first band, Uragán, as a teena ...

(vocals, blues harp). The latter two were replaced in 1966 by ex-

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football t ...

vocalist Viktor Sodoma. The Matadors released only one studio album during their career, the 1968 self-titled ''The Matadors'', shortly before the band's breakup.

Career

The Matadors originally formed in early 1965 under the name Fontána. The band had coalesced a year prior from two other groups: Pra-Be ("Praha - Berlín"), made up of Czechoslovak and German students, and

Komety Komety is one of Poland's most popular and distinctive alternative groups. Its line-up: Lesław (voice, guitar, music, words), W. Szewko (bass, voice) and Arkus (drums, voice). The group has created a characteristic musical/lyrical style all thei ...

. Pra-Be gave Fontana bassist Otto Bezloja and organist Jan "Farmer" Obermayer, while guitarist

and vocalist

came from Komety. Fontána's manager and former drummer, Wilfried Jelinek, who had been replaced on drum duties by Miroslav "Tony Black" Schwarz, secured the band a promotional deal with Demusa, an East German manufacturer of sound equipment and music instruments. Since the group began to use an

electronic organ An electric organ, also known as electronic organ, is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally designed to imitate their sound, or orchestral sounds, it has since developed ...

named Matador, they changed their name accordingly, to promote it. The Matadors performed exclusively in East Germany until April 1966, their live repertoire consisting mostly of cover versions of songs by beat groups such as

the Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

the Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...

, or

the Small Faces Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The ...

. In the spring of 1966, the group returned to Czechoslovakia and took on a second vocalist and guitarist, Karel Kahovec. Later that year, Mišík left to perform military service. Kahovec also departed the band, joining

, whose vocalist, Viktor Sodoma, traded places with him in the Matadors. The most successful Matadors lineup split up in the summer of 1968, shortly after releasing their debut studio album, the self-titled ''The Matadors''. The group had received an offer to perform as the house band on a German edition of the musical ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

''. Hladík, Obermayer, and Sodoma refused the offer and chose to leave instead. They were replaced by ex-Komety lead singer Miloš "Reddy" Vokurka, Jiří Matoušek on keyboards, and Petr Netopil and Michail Vračko on guitars. Together with Otto Bezloja and Tony Black, the band moved to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. In the early 1970s, the nucleus of that band evolved into the Germany-based progressive rock group

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

. Radim Hladík went on to establish

Blue Effect Blue Effect was a Czech rock band, also operating under the names M. Efekt, Modrý efekt, or The Special Blue Effect, since their formation in 1968. The band's main and only permanent member, from its founding until his death in 2016, was guitar ...

(later also known as Modrý Efekt or M Efekt) with the original Matadors lead singer, Vladimír Mišík. Jan Obermayer joined Petr Novák's George and Beatovens. Viktor Sodoma pursued a solo career as a pop singer, backed by various groups and orchestras. Best remembered was his 1971–1973 collaboration with Shut Up, later known as the František Ringo Čech Group, with whom he recorded numerous " bubble-gum" singles and one side of his only solo album. The Matadors reunited in 1991 and made rare public appearances until 2008. Otto Bezloja died in 2001, Radim Hladík in 2016.

Band members

* Wilfried Jelinek – drums * Otto Bezloja – bass guitar *

– lead guitar * Jan "Farmer" Obermayer – organ *

– vocals, rhythm guitar, blues harp * Miroslav "Tony Black" Schwarz – drums * Karel Kahovec – vocals, rhythm guitar * Viktor Sodoma – vocals * Miloš Vokurka – vocals * Jiří Matoušek – keyboards * Petr Netopil – guitar * Michail Vračko – guitar

Discography

* ''The Matadors'' (EP, 1966) * ''The Matadors'' (EP, 1967) * ''The Matadors'' (LP, 1968) * ''Matadors Live 1966'' (Live album, 2008) * ''Classic'' (Compilation, 2010)

References

External links

Vladimír Mišík's official website

Jan F. Obermeyer's official website

Detailed discography of The Matadors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matadors, The Beat groups Czech rock music groups Musical groups established in 1965 Czechoslovak Big Beat groups and musicians Czech rhythm and blues groups Czech blues musical groups 1965 establishments in Czechoslovakia Musical groups disestablished in 1968