Czechoslovak Pop Music in Young People’s Lifestyle Magazines in the “Anti-Decade”, 1985–1995
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Czechoslovak Pop Music in Young People’s Lifestyle Magazines in the “Anti-Decade”, 1985–19951 Tomáš Kavka ABSTRACT: This article analyses the coverage of pop music in two magazines for older children and young adults during the transition from late socialism to post-socialism in Czechoslovakia or what has been called the “anti-decade” of 1985–1995. By revisiting Pionýr, amagazine for adolescents aged 12 to 15 and Mladý svět, amagazine for young adults aged 15 to 30, Iuncover the gradual transformation of Czechoslovak pop music from agenre for Mladý svět’s broad young audience to one aimed specifically at teenagers after 1989. These teens were the target readers of Pionýr and its post-socialist successors, Filip and Filip pro-náctileté (Filip for Teenagers). Pop music was connected with social capital and incorporated into the lifestyles of Mladý svět’s readers. However, it gradually disappeared from the pages of the magazine and became increasingly visible in Pionýr and its post-socialist counterparts. This study argues that this connection of pop music with teen lifestyles and values had profound social impacts between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s. KEYWORDS Czechoslovak pop music; late socialism; post-socialism; generation magazines; transformation; Mladý svět (Young World magazine); Pionýr (Pioneer magazine) “Czechoslovak pop music is of marginal cultural interest, and thus, not very exciting for Mladý svět’s current readers. That doesn’t mean that we plan to avoid pop music or ignore it altogether but we don’t need to keep covering it in away that’s lost meaning. In the 20th century, 30 years is avery long time in which continents have changed and things more momentous than one reader poll in one little country have become insignificant.”2 In January 1992, Mladý svět editor Josef Chuchma used these words to farewell the magazine’s Zlatý slavík (Golden Nightingale) poll, which was then in its 30th year. Since 1962, this poll had named the most successful female and male singers and bands in Czechoslovakia. Chuchma was clear that after the transformations of the Velvet Revolution, Czechoslovak pop music would be 1 This study draws on research funded by Czech Science Foundation as part of project GA ČR P410/20-24091S, Brave New World: Youth, Music and Class in the Czech Post-socialist Era. 2 Mladý svět, vol. XXXIII, No.4, 1992, p.8.
30 PRAGUE PAPERS ON THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1/2020 disappearing from the media scene at least in the form it had been known to date. It was no longer the progressive force that had boosted the readership and exclusive content of Mladý svět, which organised the contest. For the editors, this pop music legacy had become aburden. This can be seen from Zlatý slavík’s shrinking participant numbers. In the 28th poll in 1989, more than 90,643 readers voted.3 In contrast, in 1992, the year’s ten most successful performers received fewer than 20,000 votes between them.4 The decline of public interest in Czechoslovak popular music in the first years after the revolution is hardly anew discovery. Several studies and documentaries about early post-socialist Czech(oslovak) pop music have reached similar conclusions.5 This makes it all the more striking that in 1996, the Zlatý slavík— now known as Český slavík (Czech Nightingale)— awards resumed with great success at Mladý svět, which was now only aco-organiser. Among the winners were artists similar to those who had been celebrated in the last years of Zlatý slavík. Although the competition only focused on the Czech scene, the very first year saw the record participation of 137,000 voters.6 The aim of this study is to map the changing interest in Czech pop music during what Pavel Vančát has called the “anti-decade” of 1985–1995. Vančát described this epoch in the context of changes to visual culture that were explored in an exhibition at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague from 2019 to 2020.7 The current work arises from my research with selected print periodicals that used texts and visual content to incorporate music into readers’ lives. In particular, Ihave focused on Pionýr and Mladý svět, two of the best-selling magazines for older children and young adults in the Czech part of the former Czechoslovakia. Within these publications, Iidentify pop music-related articles, short commentaries and visual materials and then subject these to content analysis. Iexamined copies of Pionýr and its early post-socialist successors, Filip and Filip pro -náctileté in the library of the journals department at the Czech National Museum in Prague.8 Mladý svět is available online through the Czech National Digital Library.9 My primary criterion for selecting these magazines was that they were cultural products with abroad focus, which can be described as lifestyle or influencing their readers’ lived experience. Pop music belonged to aset of interests that shaped read3 Mladý svět, vol. XXXI, No.4, 1990, p.18. 4 Mladý svět, vol. XXXIII, No.4, 1992, p.8. 5 C.M.ELAVSKY, “Musically mapped: Czech popular music as asecond ‘world sound’”, in: European Journal of Cultural Studies Vol.14, No.1, 2011, pp.3–24; Pop Story 4/4, 2016, https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/11066934013-popstory/215542151320004/, accessed 5.1.2021. 6 www.ceskyslavik.cz , accessed 15.1.2021. 7 For more details, see https://www.upm.cz/obrazy-koncu-dejin-ceska-vizualni-kultura-1985-1995/, accessed 1.3.2021. 8 For more information about the journals department of the National Museum library, see: https://www.nm.cz/en/national-museum-library/library-service-department/national-museum-library-study-room-of-the-journal-department, accessed 1.3.2021. 9 Mladý svět can be accessed virtually via https://ndk.cz/periodical/uuid:9a032970-1c9911e4-a8ab-001018b5eb5c, accessed 1.3.2021.
TOmáš KAvKA 31 ers’ lifestyles. Given the popularity and broad coverage of social issues in these magazines, they may be seen as representations of the world of young people of the time. In the context of studies of everyday life, these were successful attempts to enrich the lives of part of agenerationally defined group. While scholars like Alexej Yurchak have focused their research on the entire “last Soviet generation” of (mainly) young people who were Soviet citizens from the 1950s to the 1970s,10 my work addresses amore limited young cohort. These individuals lived in the Czech part of the former Czechoslovakia between 1985 and 1995 and read the most popular magazines aimed at their generation. CZECHOSLOVAK POP MUSIC DURING THE “ANTI-DECADE” As concerns my definition of popular music, this study does not consider or analyse individual genres. Rather, Iam interested in what is generally called mainstream music, which describes alarge number of currently popular music genres and songs and their performers. Ihave focused on both the presentation of this music and the extent of its magazine coverage. This discussion, thus, uses the established term “pop music”, which can be defined as music (of any kind) that is submitted deliberately and as intensively as possible to mass distribution systems and mass media coverage.11 In terms of its time frame, this research covers visible trends between 1985 and 1995. From apolitical standpoint, the year 1985 marked the beginning of the end of the government’s hard-line normalisation measures. This may be attributed to the acceptance in socialist Czechoslovakia of Mikhail Gorbachev’s policy of perestroika and glasnost in the USSR, which was seen as apath to reconstruction. This brewing change reached aclear boiling point in the 1989 revolution and continued until the mid-1990s. The “anti-decade” exhibition at the Museum of Decorative Arts characterised the post-revolutionary period in Czechoslovakia as not only anew beginning but an era in which networks and systems established in the 1980s were adapted and transformed. This methodology is more conducive to revealing the precursors, causes and consequences of what happened at the end of 1989.12 The exhibition’s starting place was the expansion and support of new media technologies and formats (video, video clips) by the Czechoslovak socialist state, and it ended with the debut of the first commercial TV station in the Czech Republic in 1994 and 10 A.Yurchak, Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More, Princeton University Press, 2006, p.31. 11 For asimple definition of pop music, see, for example, B.Lamb, What is Pop Music?, 2018— https://www.liveabout.com/what-is-pop-music-3246980, accessed 1.3.2021; for more detail, see: J.SHEPPERD— D.HORN— D.LAING— P.OLIVIER— P.WICKE, Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 1. Media, Industry, Society, Continuum, London— New York, 2003. For the Czech context including pop music during the normalisation period, see P.BÍLEK, ,Kpráci ioddechu: Znakový systém normalizační pop music‘, in: P.Bílek-K. Činátl, Tesilová kavalérie, Praha 2011 p.58, pp.57–74. 12 P.VANČÁT (ed.), Obrazy konců dějin 85–95, Big Boss-Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, 2020, unpg.
32 PRAGUE PAPERS ON THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1/2020 the adapting of public spaces to Western visual design. In contrast, my research examines selected socialist magazines and their post-revolutionary successors, and Ifocus on mass-distributed pop music. The story of Czech teen magazines often ends with their demise and replacement by new titles, whether in the form of national versions of global publications or home-grown ones with strong financial backing. Mladý svět’s fortunes also shifted and by 1995 it had lost both its popularity and social relevance. LIFESTYLE MAGAZINES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE ANTI-DECADE Lifestyle is defined as behaviour derived from aset of attitudes, norms and shared values, and it is usually reflected in consumption patterns. Today it is, thus, profoundly influenced by various mass media, whose importance change over time.13 In Czechoslovakia in the 1980s, the medium that most dramatically shaped attitudes was television.14 However, this coverage was not only censored but also limited in variety due to the existence of only two TV stations. Print periodicals therefore played akey role. Under state socialism, these magazines reflected awide range of hobbies and activities. And indeed by the end of the socialist period, the children’s periodicals market included more diverse formats than it had at any point in history.15 While Czechoslovak state television broadcast only afew music programmes and these aired monthly in the 1980s, magazines offered more extensive coverage that included broader lifestyle issues. In principle, the Czechoslovak print media market was subject to state control. Supervision was conducted by the censorship department of the Federal Office for the Press and Information (FÚTI), which also examined and assessed the press. However, in the late 1980s, these press restrictions eased in Czechoslovakia. This was reflected in the growing demand for magazines compared to the situation in the early 1980s. Shopkeepers often reserved the most popular issues for favoured customers because of paper shortages.16 During the first phase of the post-1989 reforms, magazines broke free from state ownership. Up to the end of the anti-decade, foreign investors predominated and the neoliberal market affected media content. After 1990, publications were no longer legally required to promote citizens’ socialist consciousness. Censorship was abolished and the FÚTI dissolved.17 In magazines of this era, existing editorial teams often had the main say in the early post-revolutionary years. However, these teams also lacked 13 For aclassic definition, see B.D.ZABLOCKI— R.M.KANTER, “The Differentiation of LifeStyles“, in: Annual Review of Sociology, vol.2, 1976, pp.269–298. 14 For an overview, see P.BREN, The Greengrocer and His TV. The Culture of Communism after the 1968 Prague Spring Cornell University Press, 2010. 15 Š.ŠVEC, Dějiny českojazyčných časopisů pro děti vletech 1850–1989, PhD. Thesis, Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, p.180. 16 P.BEDNAŘÍK— J.JIRÁK— B.KÖPPLOVÁ, Dějiny českých médií: od počátku do současnosti, Grada publishing, Prague, 2010, p.341. 17 P.BEDNAŘÍK— J.JIRÁK— B.KÖPPLOVÁ, Dějiny českých médií: od počátku do současnosti. 2., upravené adoplněné vydání, Grada publishing, Prague, 2019, pp.396–408.
TOmáš KAvKA 33 management experience and the funds required for essential upgrades to content management systems, print technology and distribution networks.18 Against this background, my research focuses on two of the period’s most popular magazines that together reached abroad cross-section of younger people: this group began with pupils in approximately the second half of primary school and extended to young adults aged 30. The monthly Pionýr was aimed mainly at children in the higher grades of primary school. Under state socialism, it was produced by the Pioneer Organization of the Socialist Youth Union (SSM) and published by Mladá fronta publishing house; it was meant to provide aforum for young Pioneers, members of the state-sponsored organisation for children under the age of 15. In the 1980s, Pionýr’s monthly print run reached 130,000 copies.19 In February 1990, not long after the post-socialist transition, Pionýr was renamed Filip based on an acronym for its main themes: film, literature, songs (in Czech: film, literatura, písničky). After asplit in the editorial department, the project continued after April 1991 with two competing magazines. The first, Filip was published by the original Mladá fronta publishing house; the second, Filip -pro náctileté (Filip for Teenagers) was produced by Prostor, aprivate publisher. Between 1991 and 1993, Filip -pro náctileté was one of the most widely read periodicals for young people. Its target audience was no longer Pioneers but, as its name implies, teenagers in general. The final issue appeared in mid-1994 when the magazine had already been ousted from the market by the local versions of multinational publications like Bravo and Popcorn, which benefited from their access to global expertise and international sources. In what follows, Icontrast the music-related content of Pionýr and its successors with that of Mladý svět. The latter weekly had been produced since 1959 by the official state-run organisation for Czechoslovak young people aged 15 to 30 (until 1968, this was the Czechoslovak Youth Union while from 1970, it was the Socialist Youth Union). In the early 1990s, the magazine was taken over by some of its editorial team through their company Print média. In 2003, it was bought by FTV Premiéra media group, and it was wound up in 2005. From the very beginning, music was astaple of Mladý svět but it also covered and contributed to lively debates on many current social issues. The magazine continued to appear in the final years of state socialism when it purportedly reached up to half amillion readers.20 Pop music’s appeal was confirmed in the magazine and throughout Czechoslovak society by the success of Zlatý slavík, which was the most widely followed musical popularity contest until its cancellation in 1991. Under state socialism, Mladý svět focused mainly on the concerns of young people including family, school, work, relationships and social issues like drug addiction and crime. In addition, there was reports on tramping culture, military service and, last but not least, music, which was aspecial interest of several editors.21 At aglance, then, as Iwill argue, after the 1989 revolution, Mladý svět was well-placed 18 Idem, p.407. 19 Š.ŠVEC, Česky psané časopisy pro děti (1850–1989), Karolinum-Národní muzeum, Prague 2014, pp.453–456. 20 A.KALOUSKOVÁ, Postavení týdeníku Mladý svět vČeskoslovensku v70.a80.letech, MA thesis, Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Prague 2009, p.70. 21 Idem.
34 PRAGUE PAPERS ON THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1/2020 to become the most popular weekly in the emerging Czech Republic. Around 1991 or 1992, it was, however, overtaken by new weeklies such as Respekt and Reflex, which would set the terms of public debates in the 1990s.22 FROM PIONEER SONGS TO CELEBRITY CULTURE In the mid-1980s, Pionýr magazine was atraditional venue for leading experts on children and authors of works for young readers.23 The magazine’s advisory board included writers, artists and teachers but no musicians, and this also influenced its content. The annual publication schedule followed the school year. The first issue appeared in September and the last one coincided with the summer holidays in August. Many of the magazine’s sections focused on issues for Pioneer organisation members. This included club events but there were also references to party politics, the anniversary of the regime and the activities of peers in other Eastern bloc states. Readers communicated with the editors through polls that asked questions about children’s lives as well as the “Confession” (Zpovědnice) section where apsychologist answered their letters; sex-related questions were noticeably absent. Even in these years, the magazine highlighted audio-visual material (TV shows and films) for children, and reports and scripts for local children’s TV series and films were often divided across consecutive issues.24 Music-related content made up just 5-to-10 percent of the magazine’s content in the school years between 1984 and 1986. These estimates include not only pop music content but also more general music coverage.25 Among the latter was aseries from 1985 to 1986 about children and adults who played various instruments. At the same time, pop music performers featured regularly in the “Písničky sautogramem” (Autographed Songs) section. The focus was usually on acurrently active artist and their recent work. The section always included several questions for the interviewee. Their autographed photo and apiece of music with lyrics appeared in the one-page feature. Between 1985 and 1990, about 40 singers were profiled in this way. Only afew of the most popular artists received repeat profiles. By 1989, attention was turning increasingly to emerging young performers and genres like disco and rock.26 Another permanent section highlighted the new releases of the two official record labels in the Czech Socialist Republic: Supraphon and Panton.27 The former’s LPs were 22 https://www.reflex.cz/clanek/causy/73836/mlady-svet.html, visited 7.2.2021. 23 Until 1981, Pionýr’s editor-in-chief was the writer Vojtěch Steklač. From 1981 to 1991, it was Vladimír Klevis, apublic commentator and prose writer. Both of them published short stories for teens. 24 In 1983 the series Létající Čestmír (Flying Čestmír) ran in the magazine. Lucie postrach ulice (Lucie, Menace of the Street) also featured in 1983. Other series included Rumburak (1984) and Circus Humberto (1988). 25 Each magazine issue had 40 pages. 26 Around this time, the section covered new bands like Precendens, Team and Panika, for example; see Pionýr, vol. XXXIV, No.11, July 1988, pp.17–18. 27 Between 1970 and 1989, there were three music labels in Czechoslovakia. In the Czech part of the country, Panton specialised in authorised music in more alternative genres.
TOmáš KAvKA 35 listed under the headline “Supraphonská škola gramodesková” (Supraphon School of Records) while those of the latter appeared under “Haló, tady Panton” (Hello, this is Panton). This section was maintained in the magazine for the entire period of my survey. Both labels announced their new releases but the contributions of Supraphon, the larger company predominated. In 1988, for example, Supraphon’s column ran in half the issues and gave details about its latest Czech pop releases including music from both established and relatively new young artists. At the same time, it noted new recordings and reissues of classical music, children’s audiobooks28 and wellknown theatre performances.29 Up to the end of the 1986 school year, the other music content in the magazine was minimal. If music was mentioned, this was generally confined to afew paragraphs in the “Pionýrská klubovna” (Pioneer Club) section about anew album or the results of the Zlatý slavík poll. In addition, atwo-page section on official Czechoslovak music festivals highlighted events like Bratislavská Lyra,30 Prague’s Intertalent, folk Porta and the Political Songs Festival in Sokolov.31 This section alluded occasionally to international performers. The first report on Anglophone music appeared in the May 1988 issue on the anniversary of the release of the first Beatles LP.32 In the “Listárna” (Correspondence) section of the next issue, the editors responded to apoll about the music performers that readers most wanted to read about: “while some confused original and unique artists with the latest fads, most of the requests referred othe Anglo-American and also French, German and Italian music scenes.” The next page contained ashort report on the band Depeche Mode’s Prague concert.33 In August 1988, anew section “Hvězdy na přání” (Stars by Request) appeared and offered introductions to the international musicians named most often in readers’ request letters.34 By the time of the 1988/89 issues, reports on international stars had become aregular feature of the magazine. At first, these references were somewhat tentative and based on the artists’ connection with other topics. This was the case, for example, with the English singer Sting, who participated in the Budapest Festival on the 40th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights. His songs, it was reported, “were not about Hawaiian holidays but revolution and not about which girl to take to the disco but about Chilean widows who longed to dance on their husbands’ murderers’ Supraphon led the market in classical music recordings, spoken word performances and Czech pop releases. The Opus label operated in Slovakia. 28 These children’s titles included František Nepil’s Tělověda pro dorostence, Markéta Zinnerová’s Indiáni zVětrova and Rudolf Kučera’s Pestrý život jedné kočky; see PIONÝR, vol. XXXIV, No.7, p.47. 29 One such theatrical recording was the double LP To bylo Osvobozené divadlo; see PIONÝR, vol. XXXVI, p.47. 30 Pionýr, vol. XXXII, No.12, p.31. 31 Idem, vol. XXXIII, No.2, pp.30–31. No.5, pp.34–35, No.9, pp.40–41. 32 Pionýr, vol. XXXV., No.8, p.31. 33 Idem, vol. XXXV, No.10, June 1988, pp.28–31. 34 The debut instalment featured short reports about Whitney Houston, the Pet Shop Boys, Madonna, George Michael and Sandra along with colour photos; see Pionýr, vol. XXXV, No.12, August 1988, pp.22–23.
36 PRAGUE PAPERS ON THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1/2020 graves; he sang about the war in Vietnam, about war in general.” 35 These descriptions gradually disappeared, however, and were replaced with more superficial reports on performers’ lives. Apiece about the Irish singer Enya, for example, highlighted her convent school education while later articles covered the love affairs of Kylie Minogue and claims that the singer Falco’s mother had expected him to be born agirl. Along with “Hvězdy na přání”, the magazine launched “Populární hudba” (Popular Music), amore educational and polished series in the year before the revolution. This section covered developments in world pop music and was written by renowned critic Petr Dorůžka.36 The series culminated with apiece in the end-of-year August 1989 issue that described the new punk wave and included local punk bands whose releases had not been state-approved.37 In the 1989/90 issues, the section changed its name to “Pop rock folk pro pokročilé” (Advanced Pop Rock Folk), and Dorůžka gave readers definitions of different genres and scenes. Meanwhile pop music became more prominent elsewhere in the magazine with reports on the Prague concerts of international stars like Stevie Wonder and reviews of the performances of Ray Charles and Sandra at the Intertalent festival in October 1989.38 In 1989, larger and more colourful photographs began to appear in the magazine. The interest in music also grew with the appointment of anew advisory board member, Bára Basiková, apopular young singer from the rock band Precedens. The “Hvězda sautogramem” section covered her band, while the new 1989/90 school year issue included atwo-page poster of Basiková with acalendar of the musical “ABCs”. Each subsequent issue of the magazine would include at least one full-page colour poster of apopular star. By the end of the year, music accounted for 15 percent of the magazine’s content. In the last few issues before the revolution, anew format was established in the most important Czech teen magazine: it emphasised visual over written content and made clear that the image was the main message. Colour posters and sought-after celebrity images were at least as significant as any text. More changes followed with the 1990 issues of the publication that was now no longer known as Pionýr but Filip. The switch to an attention-grabbing cover came shortly after the revolution; the one for the June 1990 issue flagged the magazine’s content: “Michael Jackson, Bros, Jason Donovan, Milli Vanilli, Madonna, in the flesh!”39 Some two months later, the cover of Filip featured its first ever photo of an international celebrity, the movie star Tom Cruise. It was accompanied by the headline “Filip se ptá” (Filip asks): “Who are you thinking about?”40 35 Pionýr, vol. XXXVI, No.3, November 1988, p.34. 36 Dorůžka’s father was also the author of the first episode of the series Lubomír Dorůžka. Both father and son were prominent music critics in Czechoslovakia; see https://www. ceskyhudebnislovnik.cz/slovnik/index.php?option=com_mdictionary&task=record.record_detail&id=8742 37 “Co doporučit kposlechu zdomácí tvorby? Vkaždém případě LP desky Výběru, koncerty skupiny Už jsme doma, Hrdinové nové fronty, Zóny Aařady dalších!“ In: PIONÝR, vol.XXXVI, No.11, July 1988, p.33. 38 Pionýr, vol. XXXVI, No.5, January 1990, pp.23–26. 39 Pionýr, vol. XXXVII, June 1990, p.1. 40 Pionýr, vol. XXXVII, August 1990, p.1.
TOmáš KAvKA 37 Filip gave more space to pop music and also film in its 1990/1991 issues. By that time, the magazine has made acomplete shift to provocative covers with images of local and international stars. The editors were now also communicating with readers through apoll of the top 20 music and movie stars called “Starparáda Filipa” (Filip’s Star Charts). Generated from votes mailed in by readers, these charts of the most popular stars evolved from month to month. By the second half of 1990, the magazine had, thus, effectively established its own Zlatý slavík-type poll that also incorporated votes for international artists. These alternative charts by Filip pro -náctileté readers included ratings for the most popular actors. They may, thus, be seen as lifestyle records similar to the surveys of mass media consumers often used in western Europe. In 1991, as the magazine prepared for its partial takeover by aprivate publisher, the inclusion of photos and at least two posters of artists, music or movie stars in each issue became de rigueur. Starting in April, when Filip pro –náctileté debuted, music content– including both texts and images— represented more than 25 percent of the entire magazine. Each issue usually contained around 50 pages and had photos of music or movie stars on the cover. The Star Charts followed along with reports on emerging music stars. Throughout the issue, there were also articles accompanied by photos of bands or solo artists who were sometimes Czechoslovak and sometimes of international origin. Filip pro – náctileté’s new musical direction was, however, best illustrated by aseries of new features. To begin with, the editors launched anew post-revolution music contest called “Zlatý Ambrož” (Golden Ambrož) that was dedicated to discovering new talent. The conditions of entry and an application form first appeared in the final issue of Filip in March 1991. The newly separate Filip pro -náctileté editorial team then took over the planning and arrangement of Zlatý Ambrož. The contest offered “achance to anyone who dreams of singing or playing pop, rock, folk, metal or classical music!”41 The winner of the first annual contest had the chance to record an album at the Czechoslovak state TV studio and was welcomed on the local scene.42 The magazine continued to underwrite the contest for the next three years, providing winning bands with positive publicity and the opportunity to release their own LP.43 At the same time, the editors tried to succeed in the new market by drawing on their music industry connections. Acontest called “Formule firem Filipa” (FFF) (The Filip Formula) highlighted the magazine’s links to record labels, which submitted their albums for evaluation. Readers were asked to award them points, and every three months, the magazine staged acar race among the labels, whose LPs were their “drivers”. During the year, the FFF held four rounds, and as in astandard Formula 1 race, the individual winners went on to compete in the overall annual championship. The first round was announced in the magazine in October 1991, and six Czechoslovak music labels sent in their candidates.44 The editors aimed to make the magazine an 41 Filip pro -náctileté, vol. I, No.1, April 1991, p.2. 42 The first winner of the Zlatý Ambrož (Golden Ambrož) was Rap Masters, aCzech dance music band. 43 Subsequent winners included the groups Burma Jones and Nastřižené vlasy. The former had been active on the Czech pop music scene for more than 25 years. 44 The participating labels were Monitor, Popron, Multisonic, Bonton, Tommü records and Globus International; see Filip pro— náctileté, vol. I, No.7, October 1991, pp.40–41.