Psí vojáci (lit. Dog Soldiers) was 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 ...

, fronted by singer, pianist and songwriter

Filip Topol Filip Topol (12 June 1965 – 19 June 2013) was a Czech people, Czech singer, songwriter, pianist and writer. He was best known as leader of the alternative rock band Psí vojáci (''Dog Soldiers''), but he also performed as a solo artist. Topol w ...

, son of playwright Josef Topol and brother of writer

Jáchym Topol Jáchym Topol (born 4 August 1962) is a Czech Republic, Czech poet, novelist, musician and journalist who became a laureate of the Czech State Award for Literature in October 2017 for his novel ''A Sensitive Person'' and his life work to date. ...

. Topol formed the band in 1979 with drummer David Skála and bassist Jan Hazuka, his elementary school classmates. It disbanded in August 2011, then reformed in October 2012 with the original line-up and finally ceased to exist in June 2013 with Topol's death. The band was named after the

Dog Soldiers The Dog Soldiers or Dog Men (Cheyenne: ''Hotamétaneo'o'') are historically one of six Cheyenne military societies. Beginning in the late 1830s, this society evolved into a separate, militaristic band that played a dominant role in Cheyenne r ...

, a Cheyenne military society that appeared in Thomas Berger’s novel ''Little Big Man''. They were a part of the Prague underground countercultural movement, and were influenced by

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

as well as

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

and classical music including composers of the second half of the 18th century. Topol also performed solo on the piano and played songs from his solo albums, often with confessional lyrics.

History

Psí vojáci first performed publicly in 1979 at the IX. Prague Jazz Days and they soon drew attention of the

secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...

. At the time, the band members were 13 years old. When Filip Topol was questioned by police for the first time, he was not even fifteen years old. The band was not allowed to perform publicly and it only played at private underground events (e.g. at

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

’s cottage in Hrádeček). In the course of several years the band repeatedly changed style as well as members. At first, Filip’s brother Jáchym cooperated in song writing for the band. Later on, Filip started writing lyrics himself. In late 1980s the band started to perform under a pseudonym P.V.O. (Dog Soldiers in Person) and the Prague Junior Club Na Chmelnici became their home stage. After 1989 Psí vojáci became popular concert performers and they started playing at many clubs as well as music festivals. They toured clubs in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and they performed at music festivals in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Their songs were used in films (e.g. ''

Žiletky ''Žiletky'' is a Czech language, Czech drama film directed by Zdenek Tyc. It was released in 1994. Cast * Filip Topol as Andrej Chadima * Markéta Hrubešová as Kristýna * Iva Janžurová as Chadimova * Tomáš Hanák as Míra * Barbora Luk ...

'' by the director

Zdeněk Tyc Zdeněk is a Czech language, Czech male given name derived from the Latin name Sidonius. contested the relation with the Latin name, and an alternative etymology is a diminutive of Zdeslav (disambiguation), Zdeslav.Jan Svoboda, Staročeská osobn ...

, where Filip Topol played the main role) and they also participated in creating scenic music for several theatre plays. .

Members

– vocals, piano (1979–2011, 2012–2013) *David Skála – drums (1979–?, 2012–2013) *Jan Hazuka – bass guitar (1979–?, 2012–2013) *Vít Krůta – guitar (1980–81)

Discography

Studio albums

* ''P.V.O. (Rock debut 6)'' (Panton, 1989) * ''Nalej čistého vína, pokrytče'' (Globus International, 1991) * ''Leitmotiv'' (Globus International, 1991) * ''Baroko v Čechách'' (Black Point, 1993) * ''Sestra'' (Indies Records, 1994) * ''Brutální lyrika'' (Indies Records, 1995) * ''Sakramiláčku'' (Indies Records, 1995) * ''Hořící holubi'' (Indies Records, 1997) * ''Myši v poli a jiné příběhy'' (Indies Records, 1999) * ''Studio 1983-85'' (Black Point, 2000) * ''U sousedů vyje pes'' (Indies Records, 2001) * ''Slečna Kristýna'' (Indies Records, 2002) * ''Těžko říct'' (Indies Records, 2003)

Live albums

* ''Vol. 1'' a ''Vol. 2'' (Black Point, 1990) * ''1979/80 Live'' (Black Point, 1991) * ''Live I.'' a ''Live II.'' (Gang Records, 1993) * ''Nechoď sama do tmy'' (Black Point, 1995; Recorded in January 1987 in Junior klub) * ''Mučivé vzpomínky'' (Black Point, 1997) * ''Psi a vojáci'' (Black Point, 2000)

Compilation albums

* ''Národ Psích vojáků'' (Indies Records, 1996)

Single

* ''Žiletky'' (1994)

Literature

* ''Národ Psích vojáků'' (Maťa, 1999) * Jirsa, Tomáš
Charting Post-Underground Nostalgia: Anachronistic Practices of the Post-Velvet Revolution Rock Scene.
''Iluminace'', vol. 29, no. 3, 2017, pp. 65-86.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Psi vojaci Czech underground music groups Czech experimental rock groups Czech alternative rock groups Czech art rock groups Czech experimental music groups Czech punk rock groups Czechoslovak rock music groups Musical groups from Prague 1979 establishments in Czechoslovakia 2010s disestablishments in the Czech Republic Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups disestablished in 2011 Musical groups reestablished in 2012 Musical groups disestablished in 2013 Czech musical trios