Petr Novák (6 September 1945 – 19 August 1997) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

rock musician. He is best known for his romantic

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

inspired pop songs with his bands George and Beatovens and

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in the late 1960s.

Biography

Born in

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 ...

, at the age of six, he began playing the piano. He originally aspired to become an actor, until hearing the Beatles and their lively Mersey sound music and starting a band with his friends. This band was briefly named The Beatles, but soon renamed George and Beatovens. Their western style music was popular with the Czech youth and they quickly rose to popularity as one of the nations most popular bands. especially during the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...

. Their success was short-lived. Soon the allies of the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...

invaded and the Warsaw Pact occupation began. Afterwards, he began a solo career and his fame continued to grow, despite strict government regulations. The new, more conservative administration, who frowned upon Petr's western influenced music and his notorious hard partying and heavy drinking, encouraged venuesm local and national gigs not to hire Petr to perform. His career reached its peak c. 1975 with the release of his last truly successful album "Kráska a zvíře", and afterwards it led to a slow decline along with his growing alcohol problems brought his days as a popular and influential musician to a halt. His music suffered after longtime collaborator and lyricist Ivo Plicka fled the country in the late seventies, therefore the quality of his music, his voice, and his songs deteriorated. Although he continued until his death, his musical output never reached the critical success of his earlier work. In fact, many of the albums released in the 1980s proved to be both critical and commercial failures. There was renewed interest in his music 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 ...

, but he was too ill to re-establish himself in popular culture. He died in 1997, with his

death certificate A death certificate is either a legal document issued by a medical practitioner which states when a person died, or a document issued by a government civil registration office, that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death, a ...

stating "suspect poisoning by unidentifiable poison X-49".

Bands

*George and Beatovens *

Discography

Albums * – 1970, Panton * – 1970, Panton, prod. Jiří Smetana * – 1971, Panton * – 1975, Panton * – 1980, Panton * – 12/1982, Panton * – 1983, Panton * Greatest Hits – 1984, Panton/Artia * – 1985, Panton * – 1986, Panton, prod. Ladislav Klein * Memento – 4/1989, Panton * Petr Novák Live – 12/1992, Monitor, live * – 2/1996, Monitor * – 10/1996 * – 2/1996, Bonton * – 7/1999, Sony Music Bonton Singles * (1968, Panton) * (1968, Panton) * (1968, Panton), & L. Ročáková * 2. čs. beat-festival 68 (1969, Panton), (I Must Go From You / Be My Daughter) * (1969, Panton) * (1969, Panton) * (1969, Panton) * (1969, Panton) * (1969, Panton) * Be My Daughter / You Leave Me (1969, Sonet) * (1970, Panton) * Esther / (1970, Panton) * (1970, Panton) * (1970, Panton) * / Happy end (1970, Panton) * (1971, Panton) * (1971, Panton) * (1971, Panton), & Jazzinky * (1972, Panton) * (1973, Panton) * (1975, Panton) * (1976, Panton), & Věra Mazánková * (1977, Panton) * (1979, Panton) * (11/79, Panton) * (4/80, Panton) * (7/80), & Pavel Dydovič Orchestrion & Katapult & Ladislav Smoljak * (12/80, Panton), & Věra Wajsarová * (12/81, Panton) * (12/82, Panton) * (6/83, Panton) * (1983, Panton) * (1985, Panton) * (1987, Panton)

References

External links

Cojeco.cz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Novak, Petr 1945 births 1997 deaths Czech rock singers Czechoslovak Big Beat groups and musicians Musicians from Prague