Blue Effect | Artist
Blue Effect was a Czech progressive rock band formed 1968 in Prague, Czechoslovakia, by Radim Hladík (guitar), Vladimír Mišík (vocals, flute), Miloš Svoboda (guitar), Jiří Kozel (bass), and Vlado Čech (drums). Lešek Semelka joined on keyboards and vocals in 1970. There were further lineup changes throughout the band's history but guitarist Radim Hladík remained the core member, and the band split after his death in 2016. As a result of government censorship, Blue Effect also operated under the names M. Efekt, Modrý efekt, and The Special Blue Effect. The band changed their musical style several times, ranging from rhythm & blues in the early days, to jazz fusion and progressive art rock as they matured. Blue Effect was founded by former members of Czech garage rock band The Matadors, who were joined by guitarists Radim Hladík and Miloš Svoboda. At the 2nd Czechoslovak Beat Festival, in December 1968, the band was named Discovery of the Year. Their first release, 1969's "Slunečný hrob / I've Got My Mojo Working", met with great success and sold more than 50,000 copies. The EP The Blue Effect, from the same year, did equally well. At this point, Svoboda left the band and Hladík remained the only guitarist for a long time. With the advent of "Normalization" (ie. the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968) came the repression of rock music, and in 1970, Blue Effect released their first full-length album, Meditace. Many of the album's lyrics had to be rewritten as their original versions were censored. The band began to lean more towards instrumental jazz rock and in late 1970 Blue Effect, together with the band Jazz Q recorded the album Coniunctio, a blend of jazz and rock inspired by Ornette Coleman's album Free Jazz. This album sparked the attention of music critics, raising the band's profile as one of Europe's leading progressive rock bands. Over the following decade, Blue Effect went on to release a total of nine studio albums of consistently excellent calibre. Standouts include Coniunctio (1970), Nová syntéza [Parts I & II] (1971), Modrý Efekt & Radim Hladík (1975), Svitanie (1977), and Svět hledačů (1979). The original band name "Blue Effect" came from a reference to the "Blue Booklet" (Czech: Modrá knížka), a certificate of exemption from compulsory military service, which most members of the band had obtained. The name was soon shortened to The Blue Effect.
Artist Website: wikipedia/Blue_Effect
Featured Albums: Blue Effect
Related Artists: Collegium Musicum, Fermata
