The original group is composed of bandleader Josef Janíček, Vratislav Brabenec, Jaroslav Kvasnička, Johnny Judl Jr, and David Babka.

The second splinter group, which performs under the name The Plastic People of the Universe/New Generation, is composed of Jiří Kabeš, Josef Karafiát, Jakub Koláček, Wenca Březina, and Vojtěch Starý.

[1] The rest of the band was composed of Michal Jernek (vocals, clarinet),[2] Jiří "Přemysl" Števich (guitar), and Josef Brabec (drums).

[3] Czech art historian and cultural critic Ivan Jirous became the band's manager/artistic director in the following year,[1] fulfilling a role similar to Andy Warhol's with the Velvet Underground.

[citation needed] Because the band was not permitted to record their music, fans circulated bootleg copies of concert material, remastered versions of which were released many years later, under the titles Muž bez uší (2002), Vožralej jak slíva (1997), Do lesíčka na čekanou (2006), Trouble every day (2002), and Ach to státu hanobení (2000).

In December 1974, the band recorded their first studio album, Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned (the title being a play on the Beatles' Sgt.

[citation needed] In 1976, the Plastics and other people from the underground scene were arrested and put on trial (after performing at the Druhý festival druhé kultury event) by the Communist government, in order to set an example.

[9] In 1978, PPU recorded the Easter-themed album Pašijové hry velikonoční (released in Canada as The Passion Play by Paul Wilson's imprint, Boží Mlýn Productions).

In 1997, Hlavsa, in collaboration with Jan Vozáry (Oceán), released the live album Magické noci 1997, which included older Plastic People songs in a modern electronic arrangement.

[1][3] Afterward, the Plastics were unsure whether or not to continue without their frontman and main songwriter, but after long discussions, they decided to honor his memory by keeping the band going.

[3] Ludvík Kandl (Hudba Praha) sat in on drums (he was replaced by Jaroslav Kvasnička in 2009) and in the years 2001–2009, double bassist Ivan Bierhanzl, who had briefly performed with the band in the 1970s, was a member of PPU.

[14] Since the concert had been rehearsed together with the two recently departed members, Kvasnička and Turnová were forced to perform, a decision Kabeš disagreed with, and which subsequently led to his departure.

[13] Kabeš and Karafiát then added bassist Tomáš Skřivánek, drummer Jan Ježek, and keyboardist Vojtěch Starý to the band's lineup and decided to continue under the name The Plastic People of the Universe/New Generation, later returning to the original name.

They embarked on a tour with Co znamená vésti koně material, performing in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on 18 October 2016, as part of the commemoration of Václav Havel's eightieth birthday.

[16] Both lineups, with bassist Johnny Judl Jr and guitarist David Babka joining Brabenec's group, subsequently performed under the same name, and arguments arose as to who the "real" Plastics were.

[17] Several previous members of the group participated, including Josef Rössler, Vladimír Dědek, Tomáš Schilla, Jan Brabec, and Petr Placák.