Celebrating František Nedvěd of Brontosauři
In this edition of the Sunday Music Show, we pay tribute to František Nedvěd, who passed away this July at the age of 73. He was an early pioneer of Czech country, folk and “tramp” songs – best sung around a campfire in the great outdoors.
František Nedvěd was born in Prague two years after the end of the Second World War and a few months before the Communist regime took power. Throughout his life, he collaborated with his brother Jan, writing many of the lyrics.
The Nedvěd brothers began playing a style of Czech rock music known as Big Beat. They first made a name for themselves as frontmen of the group Spirituál kvintet. For two decades, they led the group Brontosauři, (originally called Toronto) before starting to perform as a duo in 1992 as Nedvědi (the Nedvěds).
Perhaps the highlight of their career came in June 1996, when the Nedvěd brothers performed for an audience of 60,000 people as an opening act for the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and U2 at Prague’s Strahov Stadium.
Among their best-known and beloved tunes is Tulácký ráno (or a wandering morning), which is the opening track on the LP entitled Nedvědi: 44 Famous Songs. We couldn’t fit all of them into this half-hour programme but hope you enjoy the selection in memory of František Nedvěd.
