They almost killed him before he was born, or Start in the shadow of Olympik and self-taught in Semafor. Celebrity Secrets

29/03/2024

VIDEO Kubelík’s disciple and charismatic sovereign threw himself headlong into the rock scene. The charismatic sovereign always knew exactly what he wanted, and Lady Luck wished him well. In addition to the older brother, who always drives at full throttle, she also passed Karl in his way.

The legendary musician, bandleader, composer and lyricist was a typical man of his generation when he started, wild parties after concerts with streams of alcohol and in the arms of passionate female fans were “normal”. And women willingly forgave their stars for transgressions for which they would have beaten their partner with a noodle rolling pin in everyday life. It’s not obvious from the photos, you had to meet him. Charismatic, self-confident, a great companion… Ladislav Štaidl always knew what he wanted, and if he was ever uncertain, he could at least masterfully mask it. “Whenever he came to a meeting, everyone knew that Mr. Someone had arrived! He had a demeanor, spoke English, German and Russian fluently, and was well versed in his field. Always impeccably dressed, pleasantly smelling, with well-groomed hair, clean shoes…” the legendary drummer and co-founder of the Prague selection Jan Žižka wrote about him in his book Golden Years with Karl Gott.

Recital 64:

Hell over Prague

It was very close to not being born at all. It was shortly after noon, February 14, 1945, when the sirens sounded in Prague. But late. In about five minutes, 62 American B-17 bombers dropped their deadly cargo. The number of civilian victims of the terrifying inferno, which lasted only two minutes, was high, the material damage enormous, the military minimal. Among the destroyed buildings was house number 233 in Mánesova Street in Vinohrady, in which Miloslava Štaidlová and her two-year-old son Jiří, who was heavily pregnant, miraculously survived the raid. Firefighters rescued them from the bombed-out house and took them to Česká Skalica, where less than a month later, on March 10, she gave birth to a younger son, Ladislav. The end of the Second World War was already approaching, and as soon as it was possible, she returned to the huge four-story villa at number 14 Šrobárova Street, which had already belonged to the family before the war.

Like twins

Father Ladislav Arnošt Štaidl was the successor of a family of wholesalers who owned sawmills and forests. After the coup d’état in February 1948, he lost his property, but he did not let himself be broken and liked to say that the communists actually relieved him of his worries. First, he loaded rubble from demolition sites, then he delivered candy, and finally he worked as a taxi driver. And despite the problems, he managed to keep the house in Vinohrady. His two sons were like twins from an early age, although they were separated by two years, but they had rooms above each other, which was said to later not suit Ladislav very much. “I only needed a piano and peace to compose. But I rarely had it, because my brother organized parties. Jirka had it easier. He lit a pipe, drank a glass of whiskey, then played the music two or three times and the text was ready,” he recalled later in his book Wine from the Grapes, which Karel Gott declared to be his “mental striptease”.

Duj duj deshuduj – Montreal 1967:

Basics from Kubelík

He was guided to music at home from an early age, at the age of twelve he began studying piano and composition with professor František Kubelík, brother of the world-famous violin virtuoso Jan and uncle of the equally famous conductor Rafael. And at home, among other things, he strummed the guitar. After graduating in 1962, he started in one of the first Czech rock’n’roll groups, Crazy Boys, in which he played, among others, Miki Volek on lead guitar, Ondřej Suchý on bass and Mirek Berka on keyboards. It ended in 1963 when Volko and Berka left for the Olympic group, and Ladislav and his brother Jiří participated with her in the activities of the famous club in Spálená Street. They also participated in the program of the Karlín cultural cabaret led by Jiří Brabec, which was called Karkulka, led by Jiří Brabec, and played in the Semafor theater.

Enterprising trio

In 1964, Ladislav first appeared in front of a film camera as one of the soldiers in the legendary semaphore musical If a thousand clarinets. Although he composed his first song for Waldemar Matuška, it was mainly thanks to this that he met Karl Gott and in 1965 the enterprising trio founded the Apollo Theatre. The artistic director and main lyricist was Jiří, the music group was led by Ladislav, and the ensemble featured increasingly popular performers, from Pavlína Filipovská to Yvonne Přenosilová to Karel Hála. The core of the repertoire was scenic music shows, they also introduced new faces to the stage in the show Apollo presents, so thanks to them Hana Zagorová or the sisters Martha and Tena Elefteriada were introduced to the audience for the first time. They organized tours around the country and abroad, Jiří’s unpretentious and catchy lyrics, orientation to current American pop and Gott’s ever-growing popularity contributed to their success.

To be continued on Monday, April 1

(sources: Wikipedia, Czech Radio, Czech Television, Supraphon, Blesk, Aha!, pluska.sk, Ladislav Štaidl: Wine from grapes, Jan Žižka: Golden Years with Karl Gott, Encyclopedia of Prague 2)

Posted by: Adina Janovská