1997 - 80th Segment: “I’m Looking, I’m Looking”

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 1997.

On January 4th, the Czech President Václav Havel and Dagmar Veškrnová were married.

On February 3rd, writer Bohumil Hrabal died.

On March 24th, Jan Svěrák’s film received an Oscar.

The year 1997 brought a number of interesting musical experiences to the Czech listeners, including Sting and Phil Collins.

The legendary underground Czech rock band Plastic People of the Universe reunited in 1997 to perform in concert; the heavy metal band Arakain celebrated its fifteenth anniversary; on his fiftieth birthday, the folk songwriter Jaroslav Hutka announced the end of his concert career; and lastly, the famous Prague rock club Bunkr was closed after disagreements with the authorities.

Photo: Supraphon

Czech media mostly played hits such as Chinaski’s song “Long Smoke,” the band Wanastowi Vjecy’s song “Magic” and the songs “Trumpet” and “Mole” by the band Buty. The group Liquid Harmony appeared that year on the Czech dance scene.

The song “I’m Looking, I’m Looking,” written by Michal Horáček and sung by Petr Hapka and Lucie Bílá, rose above all others. The song was appreciated not only by the Anděl Awards, but also by radio listeners. It became the hit of 1997.

Vote for the best song of the century!