Socialist era pop enjoys a revival
Tuning into a Czech music station these days, it's hard not to notice that the music that ruled the airwaves before 1989 is enjoying something of a revival. The sounds of the 1970s and 80s definitely seems to be enjoying a resurgence in popularity. We went to a "socialist pop" concert in Prague recently to see if we could find any reasons behind this trend.
It seems that the music of the past is back with a vengeance. Bands from the socialist era such as Olympic are still going strong and now seem more popular than ever. This might seem like a harmless fashion trend to most people, but perhaps there is something deeper behind this phenomenon. After all, at a time when the Communist Party is riding high in the opinion polls, perhaps there is something more sinister about this upsurge in nostalgia for the soundtrack of socialism.
A concert was recently held in Prague's Lucerna music bar by the band Hraci Skrin, whose name translates as "Jukebox" in English. They promised punters that they would be treated to socialist "big beat" or pop. We went along to see why people would be interested in this sort of show. First of all, we went backstage and asked one of the band's singers why they liked this music:
Backing singer: "We play music that's as old as we are. We play this music because we like it very much and there is no other place where we could hear this music so that's why we play it. We are more of a fun band."
The band, it seems, are in no doubt as to why they play this music. For them, it's just pure harmless fun. But what about the people who came to the show?
Man 1: "I'm 26 and this music was on the radio when I was a child, so I know it."
Man 2: "I think that many young people take this old music as something that's funny and make jokes about it."
Woman 1: "It's very funny, it's crazy, it's a circus!"
Woman 2: "I don't know how to explain it very well but everything that is connected to Communism is something special for young people. That's probably why [they like it]."
Why is it 'special'?
Woman 2: "Because it's our childhood, but now we live in an absolutely different world and under a completely different system... so maybe it's a kind of nostalgia."
If the reaction of the people I talked to is anything to go by, the current love of seventies' and eighties' pop is nothing more than pure nostalgia. It's interesting that I could not see anyone under thirty years of age at the concert, which perhaps indicates that anyone old enough to really remember socialism has no great love of this music. Instead the people who came were those who were children at the time of communism. To them, this music reminds them of their childhood, which was a happy time for them. It appears that for most of us, our childhood is something of a golden age, which is untouched by the social or political circumstances that prevail at the time.
