Olympic

You can't talk about the Czech rock scene and not mention this group. It may seem unbelievable, but the most famous Czech band, Olympic, has been around for almost 45 years. If only for the sheer length of time they've been around, Olympic are indeed legendary.

The band got together in 1963 and started as a backing group, playing with pop singers at the Semafor theatre where many famous Czech musicians and singers began their careers. Soon their first hit was born, called “Dej mi víc své lásky” [Give Me More Love] and in 1968, the band released their first album, called “Želva” [The Turtle].

In 1978 the band celebrated their 3000th concert after fifteen years playing together, at the famous Lucerna concert hall in Prague and the band's fan club was founded.

In 1981 they were voted the best Czechoslovak band in the “Zlatý slavík” [Golden Nightingale] competition.

In 1983, after twenty years together Olympic won the Golden Nightingale for the third time in a row.

In 1992, front man Petr Janda decided to break up the band after 30 years of their existence. Not for long however, in 1995 the musicians got together to record an unplugged album. In 1996 although they formally did not exist anymore, they were voted the best band again. The itching to play was getting hard to bear and in 2000 Olympic set off on their first American tour.