Kabát
Encyclopedia
Kabát is a hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 band hailing from Teplice
Teplice
Teplice , Teplice-Šanov until 1948 is a town in the Czech Republic, the capital of the Teplice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region. It is the state's second largest spa town ....

, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

. The group is composed of Josef Vojtek (lead vocals), Milan Špalek (bass guitar), Tomáš Krulich (guitar), Ota Váňa (guitar) and Radek Hurčík (drums). Kabát have enjoyed major popularity in their home country since the 1990s. They represented the Czech Republic as the country's first entry in Eurovision Song Contest 2007
Eurovision Song Contest 2007
The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It was won by first-time appearance as an independent country Serbia and was held at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland from 10 May to 12 May. The host broadcaster was YLE.Finland earned the right to host...

 in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, in the semi-final on May 10, 2007, but failed to reach the final.

History

Kabát ("The Coat") was formed in 1983 by Milan Špalek and Tomáš Krulich. They were later joined by Radek Hurčík and the frontman Josef Vojtek, and finally Ota Váňa. The band has had the same line-up since 1990. Kabát released their first album Má ji motorovou ("She Has It Engine Driven") in 1991. It was followed by ten more successful albums, the last being Corrida in 2006. Their 2002 album Suma sumárum ("All Things Considered") sold 128 000 copies, and thus became the best selling Czech album ever. The single titled Malá dáma ("Little Lady") from Corrida was selected as their competition song for the national final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007
Eurovision Song Contest 2007
The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It was won by first-time appearance as an independent country Serbia and was held at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland from 10 May to 12 May. The host broadcaster was YLE.Finland earned the right to host...

.

Band was founded in Teplice (a 50,000-citizen spa city situated 75 kilometres (46.6 mi) northwest of Prague) in 1983 by bassguitarist Milan Špalek and guitarist Tomáš Krulich. Drummer Radek "Hurvajs" Hurčík and singer Josef Vojtek joined the band later on. Another guitarist Ota Váňa completed the line-up in 1990. It is working to date.

In the beginning, Kabát operated as a local rock band just in hometown Teplice and its neighbourhood. The breaking point came in 1991, when the first album "Má ji motorovou" (She has it engine-driven) was released, followed by "Živě" (Live). On grounds of fan response, the band signed exclusive contract with the Monitor/EMI ČR publishing.

"Děvky ty to znaj" (Whores, they know it) was the first regular album produced under its belt. "Colorado", "Země plná trpaslíků" (A country full of dwarfs), "Čert na koze jel" (A devil rode a goat), "Mega Hu", "Go Satane Go", "Suma Sumárum" (best of) and "Dole v dole" (Down in the mine) have succeeded.

Until the "Best of" digest, "Colorado" album was the top-scoring release, retailing almost the 100,000 edition. Kabát celebrated 10th anniversary of its first album release with the best of double-album "Suma Sumárum" in November 2001. It gained platinum within the first month on the market and there was unbelievable 128,000 items of that album sold in the Czech Republic and Slovakia up to date. "Suma Sumárum" was among ten music bestsellers according to the IFPI ČR chart and ranked as one of the top all-time Czech music market hits.

The 10th Anniversary culminated with the "Suma Sumárum 2002" concert tour, containing 12 technically entirely unique shows, visited by total of more than 60,000 spectators. On October 7, 2003, Kabát band started the long-awaited Tour 2003 as a forerunner of the new-released album "Dole v dole". After three very successful concerts in Slovakia, the tour crossed the Czech border on October 12. "Dole v dole" record was released two days later and became triple-platinum within three days of sale, what is really rare.

The tour was the most prosperous concert trip in the Czech music modern history. While being held at icehockey stadiums, concerts were desperately sold out in each site beforehand, including Prague. Only Robbie Williams had similar success in the Czech capital that year, selling out the big T-Mobile Arena in Prague as the only performer in advance in 2003.

Kabát is currently considered as the most popular music band on Czech market by music experts and by public as well. As an illustration, the first regular tour after a change of band's promoters was held in 1999. Total of 20,000 spectators visited seven shows in big Czech cities. A GSG Tour held in 2001 attracted more than 30,000. Over 110,000 fans visited the 2003 Tour.

The "Suma Sumárum" CD became quintuple platinum and the band was honoured by 2002 Anděl Award for the best selling album in all categories. Kabát finished third in the Golden Nightingale Award poll for the best band of the year. Josef Vojtek was honoured as top breakthru performer of the year in singer's category.

During 2002, the band introduced videoclips of songs "Pohoda" (Ease) and "Šaman" (Shaman) in prestigious chart of TV Nova - ESO (Ace). Both titles captured "Red Ace" (for six straight wins) and "Pohoda" became the most successful clip of the year reaching the all-time record of votes within competition's existence. In terms of it, the videoclip was reset in the ranking and won "Red Ace" once more. Another videoclip "Dole v dole" was introduced after release of the next album also captured the "Red Ace".

Following year was even more successful for the group. Mofre than 110,000 people visited the 2003 Tour. Kabát won the "Golden Nightingale" Award as a band of the year with a total of 10,000 votes, 4,000 ahead of the runner-ups Lucie. "Dole v dole" was voted best video of the year.

Kabát received even more credits for that clip. It was the top-played Czech video of Slovakian music channel TV Music Box. It won a chart of Czech music TV Óčko in hard and heavy category while Kabát finished second overall among bands in fans´ vořiny, trailing only Linkin Park
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries...

. Josef Vojtek and Milan Špalek also presented the 2003 "Český lev" (Czech Lion) Award in the best sound category.

The band had three nominations before the 2003 Czech Music Academy Awards: Group of the Year, Rock Album and Music Videoclip of the Year (Dole v dole). Furthermore, its management (Pink Panter Agency) was nominated for the Promoter of the Year Award.

In spring 2004, the group underwent another concert tour, promoting its album "Dole v dole". Its above-standard show withstood comparisons to similar rock-band shows elsewhere in the world.

Studio Albums

  1. Má jí motorovou (1991,EMI
    EMI
    The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

    )
  2. Živě! (1992,EMI
    EMI
    The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

    )
  3. Děvky ty to znaj (1993,EMI
    EMI
    The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

    )
  4. Colorado (1994,EMI
    EMI
    The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

    )
  5. Země plná trpaslíků (1995,EMI
    EMI
    The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

    )
  6. Čert na koze jel (1997,EMI
    EMI
    The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

    )
  7. MegaHu (1999,EMI
    EMI
    The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

    )
  8. Go satane go (2000,EMI
    EMI
    The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

    )
  9. Suma sumárum (2001,EMI
    EMI
    The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

    )
  10. Dole v dole (2003,EMI
    EMI
    The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

    )
  11. Corrida (2006,EMI
    EMI
    The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

    )
  12. Banditi di Praga (2010,EMI
    EMI
    The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

    )

DVDs

2002. Kabát - Best of Video & Koncert Praha

2004. Dole v dole (2-discs)

2007. Corrida Turné

2009. Po čertech velkej koncert

Charts

Kabát - Corrida
Chart (2007) Peak
position
Czech Albums Chart 1

External links and references

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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