1955 – 38th Segment: “Ships Sail into Triana”

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 look forward to your vote! We continue with the year 1955.

1955

On January 10th, the so-called Barák’s Investigation Commission for the revision of political processes was established.

On February 11th, the first direct TV broadcast in Czechoslovakia was aired – a hockey game between Czechoslovakia and the Swedish club IF Leksand.

In May, Czechoslovakia became part of a military-political pact called the Warsaw Treaty.

On April 14th the Olympic medalist, athletic world champion and discus thrower Imrich Bugar was born.

In addition to theater and amateur ensembles, radio and emerging television stations also contributed to the popularity of musical comedies or “singing and dancing games” released in the 1950’s. The straightforward melodies used in these productions were mainly based on swing music. At this time state borders were nearly sealed off and for ordinary citizens songs like this had an exotic touch.

Triana

This was the case of the Spanish folk song translated by Olga Fischerová and her husband, the well-known music composer Jan F. Fischer, for the new production of Cervantes’ comedy “Lišák Pedro.” Soon after it aired on Czechoslovak Radio in the fall of 1955, requests for the record began to pour in from the public.

In short, the song “Ships Sail into Triana” immediately sold over 220 thousand records.

Vote for the best song of the century!