1993 – 76th Segment: “Rybitví”

In this series we present 100 songs which have gone down in the history of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic. On Czech Radio’s web pages you can find a poll, in which you can vote for the best hit from the past century. We continue with the year 1993.

On January 26th, Václav Havel was elected as the first president of the Czech Republic.

On February 22nd, the Czech Republic became a member of UNESCO.

Starting on the 29th of July, basic military service was reduced from 18 months to 12 months.

In 1993, the Czech Republic experienced its first year of independence after its separation from Slovakia. An unprecedented number of foreign stars came to perform concerts in Prague and in other cities, including Suzanne Vega, Robert Plant, the Velvet Underground, Depeche Mode, Joan Baez, Deep Purple and Iggy Pop.

Photo: Bonton Music

After many years of performing on the Czech music scene, the Yo Yo Band finally got the recognition that it deserved. Their LP album Karviná was already their fourth album, and while Yo Yo Band’s albums all contained hits, proper media coverage finally gave their hit a chance to turn into a widespread phenomenon.

Besides the title song “Karviná,” the most popular song from their 1993 album was “Rybitví,” featuring Richard Tesařík's exciting wordplay and the rhythmically exuberant music of Vladimír Tesařík. It was played on the radio, on TV, in discos and it even received the top national award for the most popular musical hit of the year.

Vote for the best song of the century!