S2L2G&G -- Bohemian version

'Jak se Mas?' as Borat greets, bohemian he sorta is. There are other 'sorta's on this list, but I'll start with the newest, truest Bohemian in our very own Josef, who is too modest to post his band's first video but has given me his blessing to post it here.

1. Get Lost, "Creepy Step" (2016), a satire on the trends of social media courtship. Joe wasn't thrilled to play the 'banana' and I'm not thrilled that his new bass is too soft in the solo at the 2-minute mark, but otherwise, we're thrilled: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGcS3AAhXMY

2. Justin Lavash, "Avalanche" (2010ish), a Brit who's lived in Prague a long time, playing in Roztoky once or twice a year, echoing his electric acoustic up and down the Vltava River: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmcMC81WGuY

3. The Cars, "It's All I Can Do" (1979), because a) Ric Ocasek married Paulina Porizkova and b) Ben and I play this song when we're in a chess bind, like when a queen-for-a-queen move is "all I can do": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZAkOSpVumw

4.  Blue Effect, "Slunecny hrob" [Sunny tomb] (1970), a resonant 'keep up what we've done since the Prague Spring' that the communists couldn't quite suppress. They've also played recently on Roztoky's riverbank: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckNMjjxNWGk

5.  Queen, "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975), a classic I couldn't believe coming out of the radio while living on Parkwood Avenue. A 3rd-grade friend named Marco Timm did a presentation on Czechoslovakia and should have featured this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ

6. Reduza, "Studeny nohi" [Cold feet] (2003), a gift from Katerina that I gifted to the Song Club I've enjoyed every month this school year. Reduza represents the deep tradition of gypsy music in our region: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2F4diR7zZc

7. Antonin Dvorak, "Song to the Moon" (1899), an aria from the opera Rusalka, a water sprite reflective of the bucolic interests in both Dvorak and Smetana, among other Bohemian artists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHM3zMBQxTQ

8. John Lennon, "Mind Games" (1973), a coda to the 'give peace a chance' theme that simultaneously smacked as cliche in the cynicism of the Cold War but inspired Bohemians to keep grafitti-bombing a wall on Prague's west bank: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhhJqJV_u6M

9. Jana Lewitova and Vladimir Merta, "Durme, Durme" [Sleep, Sleep] (2005), a rendition of this ageless Sephardic song, established in Spain from the Jewish diaspora, performed often in Prague: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awzYCrLqUKM

10. Frank Zappa, "Muffin Man" (1975), a favorite performer of Vaclav Havel (who also loved the Velvet Underground, coming up); his song "Plastic People" (also coming up) connects him firmly to the dissident movement in Czechoslovakia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jh6wnmRbvQ

11. Plastic People of the Universe, "Toxika" (1974), an entrancing band that loved the direction of Pink Floyd and did their best to play underground gigs; unlike Blue Effect, who also had their edge, the communists could not stomach this act: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y7qJ2G8BMQ

12. The Velvet Underground, "Venus in Furs" (1967), a clear influence on the Plastic People and probable inspiration of two 'velvet' transitions politically--the Velvet Revolution of 1989 and Velvet Divorce with Slovakia in 1993: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLQzaLr1enE&nohtml5=False

13. Tony Ackerman, "Danny Boy" (2012), a fitting end to this list for family-obvious reasons; Tony was my colleague for 17 years and fellow 'Bop'. He is playing from his northern Bohemian cottage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwVFlWz0vnM&nohtml5=False