1996 - 79th Segment: “You’re My Master”

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 1996.

On May 5th, Czech hockey players won the World Championship in Vienna.

On June 30th, Czech football players won silver medals at the European Football Championship in England.

On the 15th and 16th of November, the first Senate elections took place in the Czech Republic.

In 1996 many international performers came to Prague; Tina Turner sang at the Bohemians Stadium, Michael Jackson performed in Letná Park and the bands Prodigy and AC/DC performed at the Exhibition Grounds in Holešovice.

After a five-year break, the Czech popularity poll the Golden Nightingale reappeared under a new name, the Czech Nightingale. One hundred and thirty-seven thousand valid ballots were received in 1996, breaking previous records. Most votes were sent in by people between the ages of twenty and forty, and twice as many votes were submitted by women. There were three categories; the most popular group in 1996 was the band Olympic, and the most popular singers were Karel Gott and Lucie Bílá.

Lucie Bílá won not only the fans’ votes but also those of the experts. The song “You’re My Master,” written by Karel Svoboda and Zdeňek Borovec, was sung by Lucie Bílá in the popular musical “Dracula,” and won the Anděl ‘Song of the Year’ Award.

Vote for the best song of the century!