Milan Hlavsa

Milan "Mejla" Hlavsa (Prague, 6 March 1951 – 5 January 2001) was the founder, chief songwriter, and original bassist of the Czech band the Plastic People of the Universe, which was part of the inspiration for the anti-establishment movement Charter 77.

Hlavsa himself labored as a butcher's apprentice before he founded the Plastic People of the Universe (PPU) in 1968.

[2] Due to oppression by Czechoslovakia's communist regime, access to Western music was limited.

Native Czechs maintained a link to the Western music world by obtaining albums from friends and family abroad.

In 1968, Hlavsa abandoned The Primitives and joined with Michal Jernek, Jiří Števich and Josef Brabec to form the Plastic People of the Universe.

[4] Following their release from prison, the PPU would continue to perform discreetly until the government permitted them to play publicly in 1988.

In 1997, at Havel's suggestion, Hlavsa reunited with the other Plastic People of the Universe and performed a series of concerts to mark the 20th anniversary of Charter 77, the Czech declaration of human rights.

Lou Reed traveled to Prague in April 1990 to interview Czech president Vaclav Havel.

They were playing Velvet Underground songs „ beautiful, heartfelt, impeccable versions of my songs.To say I was moved would be an understatement."

Metal box at the entrance to the house in Ječná street in Prague, where Hlavsa lived for most of his life and where all the important people of the "underground" culture had been meeting. If you insert a 10 crown coin into the slot, the biggest hit song of Milan Hlavsa, Muchomůrky bílé on YouTube , will start playing.