Full-On Decade: Launch of Book on 1990s Czech Pop

Freedom, euphoria, the whole world opening up. The 1990s represented an extraordinary time in the Czech Republic. And, perhaps for the last time ever, popular music played a major role. Dekáda naplno (Full-On Decade), the first comprehensive book on the Czech music scene in the wake of the Velvet Revolution, tells the story of the Czech music scene post-1989. Radek Diestler, a music historian who experienced those times at first hand, describes with erudition, insight and wit the creation of a club and festival network, the building of a record industry and concert agencies, changes in the perception and sale of music, the fate of metal and folk and the emergence of Czech indie and dance scenes. “We’ve already got the necessary time gap. And, unfortunately, the first protagonists of those times are slowly beginning to pass into the hereafter,” he comments, explaining why the time is now ripe to evaluate a period characterised by freedom, courage and improvised rules.  The book contains unique photographs and interviews with important figures of that period.