Boldog Ötvenedik Születésnapot, ‘Je mu pět’!

Here at ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’ we have reached the stage of the song that Valinka uniquely recorded in Brno, as opposed to Prague, celebrating ten times what the title means, ‘Je mu pět’ meaning ‘He’s Five’, such that ‘He’s Five’ is Fifty today. Of course – and I have raised this before at the predecessor Fan Blog to ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’, ‘Bananas For Breakfast’ – this means, in turn, that we are celebrating the ‘birthday’ of the song that was the only one of Valinka’s repertoire ‘born’ in an anagram of the word ‘born’.

As befits a song with origins in a more ‘informal’ city than a nation’s capital would be, there is a carefree feel to it, in total contrast to the song that would follow it onto the ‘Písničky pro hvězdu’ (‘Songs For A Star’) record two days afterwards, ‘Pokloň se, lásko’ (‘Love, Take A Bow’), recorded in Prague and, I would say, one of Valinka’s most serious songs of her recording career and quite a hefty way in which to sign off what I call ‘The Herbert Strutt Days’ of that recording career.

To get an idea of that contrast, if one cannot wait until two days’ time to play that, please take a virtual trip on the virtual horse tram over to Brno and Prague at the ‘Valérie Čižmárová: A Life In Sound’ page of ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’.

Eva Kindová/Čižmárová: 29.03.1932 – 18.04.2004

Today is the ‘Name day’ of the variants of Valerie, which should be a cause for celebration here at ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’, but today is also a full two-decade anniversary of the passing of Valinka’s mother, buried as Eva Kindová with her daughter, who soon followed her still less than a year thereafter, the mother living practically two decades longer than the daughter, at seventy-two years to Valinka’s fifty-three, which is not how one would have expected those two generations to have panned out, where one expects the younger generation to live longer than the older. Here is that grave at the Nový židovský hřbitov (New Jewish Cemetery) in Prague that I visited on a snow-bedecked day in January 2017.

As its lyrics deal with the mother/daughter relationship, Valinka’s cover of a song originally by Romania’s Dida Drăgan, for which she also composed the music, with those Czech-language lyrics by Miloš Dražil perhaps today would be an opportune juncture at which to embed Valinka’s performance of ‘Věřím’ (‘I Believe’) on the television show, ‘Interparáda č. 9’ on 15^th August 1974. I think I might have brought this song up before in the context of this event, but that would, of course, have been at the predecessor Fan Blog to ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’, ‘Bananas For Breakfast’, so at least this won’t be a repetition. Here are those lyrics courtesy of Aleš Korábek’s Fan Site, translated with the assistance of ImTranslator.

Sama si odpověď najít správnou
Dalekou jsem prošla cestu sráznou
Věřím i když dál mám náruč prázdnou

Find the right answer yourself
I have traveled a long and steep road
I believe even if my arms are still empty

Snad jednou sny vrátím
Zpátky ke svým stráním
Zase chci být se svou mámou
A slyšet znít píseň známou
Poběžím jak vítr za svým přáním
Dojetím se slzám neubráním
Poletím jak pták si cestu zkrátím
Ráda ráda mámo já se vrátím

Maybe one day I’ll get my dreams back
Back to my district
I want to be with my mum again
And hear a familiar song
I will run like the wind after my wish
I can’t help but cry with emotion
I will fly like a bird to shorten my journey
I’m happy mum I’ll be back

Křídla dám svým přáním
Vráskám a šedým skráním
Až budu stát před svou mámou
A slyšet hrát píseň známou
Poběžím jak vítr za svým přáním
Dojetím se slzám neubráním
Poletím jak pták si cestu zkrátím
Ráda ráda mámo já se vrátím ….

I will give wings to my wishes
Wrinkles and gray hair
When I stand in front of my mum
And hear a familiar song playing
I will run like the wind after my wish
I can’t help but cry with emotion
I will fly like a bird to shorten my journey
I’m happy mum I’ll be back ….

Seeing the avatar of the video reminds me that this is a product of the ‘RETRO SLOVAK’ YouTube channel, run by Tomáš Hurtešák, who passed away, as reported on at this ‘Girls Of The Golden East’ Blog post, nearly another two decades short of how long Valinka lived. It is also a reminder that Slovaks resolutely stick to their particular variant of the name for which today is the ‘Name Day’, Valérie having originally been Valéria. It’s particularly striking that Alena Tichá, mentioned at that ‘Girls Of The Golden East’ post, has recently celebrated her eightieth birthday, the occasion being marked at this other ‘Girls Of The Golden East’ post. Possibly, she’ll add approximately another two decades to her life-span over that of Eva Kindová’s/Eva Čižmárová’s, so there’s circa two decades between Tomáš and Valinka, then circa another two between Valinka and Eva and finally circa another two between Eva and Alena.

As it is as good an excuse as any to do so I suppose I might as well embed the album below at my ‘The Curves Man’ Flickr of some truly staggering stills of Valinka and Bobina Ulrichová at the head of the backing vocalists, Jezinky from that performance of ‘Věřím’.

Flickr

Boldog Ötvenedik Születésnapot, ‘Slova kolem nás’!

Here at ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’ we have now reached the end of the ‘Golden Anniversaries’ of the recordings of the tracks for the ‘Valerie Čižmárová’ album, in the case of the fittingly concluding track of that album, ‘Slova kolem nás’ (‘Words Around Us’), which has both a final celebratory feel and a slightly melancholic one, at once, from the pen of Jan Obermayer, as if to say that this is the last track on a studio album that Valinka would ever record.

To hear what is meant by that statement ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’ Blog readers are directed to the ‘Valérie Čižmárová: A Life In Sound’ page of the Blog, where there will also be the additional recording details and credits.

As part of my Tenth Anniversary celebrations of YouTube membership on the 1^st April just gone I showcased my vintage Pye VHF3D ‘Stereophonic’ valve radio, purchased at an old second-hand shop in Belper in the early 1980s. Inspired by that last night I thought, while it was in a co-operative mood – it is rather temperamental! – that I’d take some recordings variously from Amber Sound FM and BBC Radio 1 further to showcase that ‘rare beast’, as Simon Geraghty, AKA ‘The Wobbly Camera Guy’ on YouTube described it – even though I think it’s a beauty! One of the records played on Mark Mason’s ‘Soul and Boogie Show’ happened to be Billy Stewart’s ‘Sitting In The Park’, which I have on vinyl together with the cover version thereof by Georgie Fame, which had me thinking straight away of Vladivoj Burjanek’s photo for the rear of the cover of ‘Valerie Čižmárová’, so I put my hands on it and displayed it to the camera while ‘Sitting In The Park’ was playing! Here is that video embedded below!

Valinka: ‘Sitting In The Park’!

Boldog Ötvenharmadik Születésnapot, ‘Za sluncem, za vodou’/’Borůvek pár’!

Inspired by the recent celebration of my Tenth Anniversary on YouTube, where I did a rare to-camera piece for my channel, I thought I’d go a little further in that vein on the Fifty-Third Anniversary of the recording of Valinka’s ‘Za sluncem, za vodou’/’Borůvek pár’ (‘In Sunshine, In Water’/’A Few Blueberries’), so this ‘mini-vlog’, as it were, has saved me a whole load of writing in celebration of this anniversary! People I know have been wondering what I call ‘Eastern Soul’ – music composed entirely in the former Soviet Bloc that is eminently danceable in a Northern Soul style – is all about and it has been immensely gratifying that the author of such a prestigious blog as ‘Shady’s Place’ has apparently backed me up on the impression that my idea of ‘Eastern Soul’ actually does exist.

Below is embedded this change from the usual linking off to the ‘Valérie Čižmárová: A Life In Sound’ page of ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’, with the following recording details and credits.

Music: Ivan Šendera.

Lyrics: Jana Hornofová.

Accompaniment: Karel Vlach se svým orchestrem.

Backing Vocals: Sbor Lubomíra Pánka.

Venue: Dejvice, Prague.

‘Eastern Soul’ in live action!!!

As I say in the video, I hope all viewers are suitably impressed!

Boldog Ötvenedik Születésnapot, ‘Směs písní’!

Today is the ‘Golden Anniversary’ of the recording of the ‘Směs písní’ (‘Medley’) of four ‘Oldies’ associated with Valinka that formed the opening track of the ‘Valerie Čižmárová’ LP – starting with her cover of The Sweet’s ‘Co-Co’, ‘Koko’, continuing with her cover of Giorgio Moroder’s ‘Looky, Looky’, ‘Léta letí’ (‘Time Flies’), then with her cover of Bobby Hebb’s ‘Sunny’ under the identical title and concluding with the Petra Černocká-composed (both music and lyrics) ‘Koukej, se mnou si píseň broukej’ (‘Look, Hum The Song With Me’), which Valinka had performed in the absence of the composer, due to being indisposed, at the Bratislavská Lýra fesitval of 1973, coming a very respectable fourth!

Since I had missed the ‘Golden Anniversary’ of the recording of the original, just under a year before this cover of ‘Koukej, se mnou si píseň broukej’ was recorded, I thought that today would be the ideal juncture at which to make up for that omission and that occasion has been belatedly celebrated over at the ‘Sister Blog’ to ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’, ‘Girls Of The Golden East’ at this post. The lyrics, together with the translation thereof, are available there, so I think that the post here would also be the best ‘excuse’ to have those for both ‘Koko’ and ‘Léta letí’, the latter courtesy of the Aleš Korábek Fan Site for Valinka. In both cases there are ImTranslator-based translations into English.

‘Koko’

Koko už má let víc než náš dům
není to vůbec znát
už příliš dlouho vládne mým snům
nedá mi spát

Koko is already years older than our house
it is not known at all
he’s been ruling my dreams for too long
it won’t let me sleep

není už žádnej kluk a já vím
že skráně bílý má
proč právě já mám trápit se tím
kdo ví proč právě já

there is no boy anymore and i know it
that in short white has
why do I have to worry about it?
who knows why me

2 x REF:
Muži nestárnou, Koko
tvou tvář nezdárnou, Koko
léta vobcházej, Koko, Koko

2 x REF:
Men don’t age, Koko
your face will fail, Koko
years go by, Koko, Koko

Koko se nežení prej nemá čas
prej má jen jeden klíč
když láska rozhodí sítě v ten ráz
Koko je pryč

Koko doesn’t get married because she doesn’t have time
prej has only one key
when love casts its nets just like that
Koko is gone

Svůdnici svůdně nakroutí
vrací se domů sám
každej den s písní kohoutí
vratkej jak v bouři prám

The seductress twists seductively
he returns home alone
every day with the rooster’s song
back and forth like in a storm

REF:
Muži nestárnou, Koko 
tvou tvář nezdárnou, Koko 
léta vobcházej, Koko, Koko 

REF:
Men don’t age, Koko
your face will fail, Koko
years go by, Koko, Koko

3 x REF:
Muži nestárnou, Koko 
tvou tvář nezdárnou, Koko 
léta vobcházej, Koko, Koko 

3 x REF:
Men don’t age, Koko
your face will fail, Koko
years go by, Koko, Koko

‘Léta letí’

Léta letí a já denně
Čekám kdy se vrátíš ke mně
S pokáním

Time flies and I daily
I’m waiting for you to come back to me
With repentance

Za pár let už budeš kmet
A já se sotva svodům světa
Ubráním

In a few years you’ll be a farmer
And I barely succumb to the temptations of the world
Defense

Léta letí, už Ti moli snědli celou skříň
Léta letí, boží mlýny sotva melou míň
Léta letí a Tvůj syn
Už mám hlas jak Šaljapin

Time flies, moths have already eaten your entire closet
Time flies, the mills of God barely grind less
Time flies and your son
I already have a voice like Shalyapin

Léta letí jako cvoci
A já vařím ve dne v noci
Co máš rád

Time flies like clockwork
And I cook day and night
What you love

Už ti hochu není dvacet
Už by ses měl občas vracet
Domů spát

You’re not twenty anymore, boy
You should come back now and then
Go home to sleep

Léta letí, už Tě občas někde zapíchá
Léta letí a čas pospíchá
A Tvůj syn se pořád ptá
Proč jsem sama samotná

Time flies, sometimes you get stuck somewhere
Time flies and time rushes by
And your son keeps asking
Why am I alone alone?

Pro Tvůj věk už není v louži spát
Ani živit se listím jívovým
Vím, že by ses dávno vrátil rád
Bál ses mě, já vím

Because of your age, there is no more sleeping in a puddle
Nor feed on willow leaves
I know you would like to come back long ago
You were afraid of me, I know

Léta letí a já denně
Čekám kdy se vrátíš ke mně
S pokáním …

Time flies and I daily
I’m waiting for you to come back to me
With repentance…

To play this four-part track and to get the full recording details and credits please fly over to the ‘Valérie Čižmárová: A Life In Sound’ page of ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’ and hum along!

Boldog Ötvenedik Születésnapot, ‘Proč si to brát’, ‘Démantová zem’ és ‘Byl’s má bój’!

A week on from possibly recording what could have been described as the ‘A-Side’ of a single on the ‘Valerie Čižmárová’ album in the shape of ‘Koňskou dráhou’ (‘On The Horse Tram’), amongst the three recordings Valinka made on 13^th March 1974 I think it is a fair comment, that, in ‘Byl’s má bój’ (‘You Were My Buoy’), she came up with a ‘B-Side’. Still lacking a playable vinyl copy of the LP off which I could take a celebratory recording to mark the ‘Golden Anniversary’ of its recording I had a different ‘insurance policy’ from the ‘Léta letí’ (‘Time Flies’) ‘Greatest Hits’ cassette off which I took a recording a week ago of ‘Koňskou dráhou’ with being in possession of the ‘Various Artists’ compilation LP, ‘Czech Up Vol. 2: We’d Be Happy’, on which ‘Byl’s má bój’ appears, so this time the ‘insurance policy’ has come with an additional bonus that it is still off vinyl! The other two tracks recorded on this date in 1974 were the hugely entertaining ‘Proč si to brát’ (‘Why Get Married To That’) in a duet with Petr Janda and ‘Démantová zem’ (‘Diamond Earth’), the tune from the then still-teenaged Zdeněk Němeček, having been some months earlier behind no less a tune than ‘Malý princ’ (‘Little Prince’) while he was eighteen years old, so that itself was a pretty impressive ‘supporting cast’ to that ‘B-Side’.

Since this is such a special occasion here are Ronald Kraus’ lyrics, courtesy of Aleš Korábek’s Fan Site for Valinka, translated by ImTranslator.

Slza bývá jako dým štiplavá,
když nevěřím v návrat Tvůj

A teardrop is like a pungent smoke,
if I do not believe in Your return

Sladká přání se solí,
jednoho dne přebolí

A sweet wish with salt,
one day is passing

Stůj co stůj

Come what may

Včera dlaň má plná hvězd,
dneska bláto dlouhých cest,
vzdušné zámky na pět západů

Yesterday, a palm full of stars,
tonight the mud of long journeys,
castles in the air at five at sunset

Možná zítra jasný den,
vykouzlí zas nový sen z mých snů

Maybe tomorrow a clear day,
conjures up a new dream again of my dreams

Byl’s má bój,
snad dříve byl’s mým přáním,
byl’s má bój,
teď sbohem dát Ti smím

You were my buoy,
perhaps sooner wert my wishes,
you were my buoy,
now I may bid You goodbye

Jdi si dál po cestě sám,
vyřiď známým pěšinám pozdrav můj

Go on down the road alone,
convey my greetings to the familiar footpath

Řekni koutku s lavičkou,
že vzpomínky odejdou

Tell the corner with a bench,
that will leave memories

Stůj co stůj

Come what may

Oschne bláto na cestách,
a má dlaň zas ve hvězdách,
do vlasů si pár z nich rozhodím

The mud dries on the road,
and my hand again in the stars,
a few of them sprinkled on my hair

Mraky shodí zimní plášť,
po těch cestách každý zvlášť jít smí

Clouds shedding their winter coat,
after those travelling separately must go

Byl’s má bój,
já teď už mám kam jít,
já o smích ani o pláč neprosím

You were my buoy,
now I’ve got nowhere to go,
I do not need any help for my laughing and crying

To play those three tracks, including the fresh recording of ‘Byl’s má bój’ and to get the additional details and credits I’m sure that all ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’ Blog readers would be very happy to go over to the ‘Valérie Čižmárová: A Life In Sound’ page of the Blog to check up that update thereto!

Boldog Ötvenedik Születésnapot, ‘Námořník šel cik cak’ és ‘Šer-chán’, és Boldog Negyvenhetedik Születésnapot, ‘To je zvyk’ és ‘Návrat uvítám’ !

This date of the year has so many links to Valinka’s life, work and death and today is a ‘Golden Anniversary’ on top of all that, in that case for the very humorously entitled ‘Námořník šel cik cak’ (‘The Sailor Went Zig-Zag’) and ‘Šer-chán’ (‘Shere Khan’) from her 1974-recorded, 1975-released eponymous album and a forty-seventh anniversary of the recordings of ‘To je zvyk’ (‘It’s Habit’) and ‘Návrat uvítám’ (‘I Welcome The Return’), that being a Czech-language cover of the Hungarian, Kati Kovács’ ‘Télutó’ (‘The End Of Winter’), which is remarkable that there is a Hungarian connection, as 7^th March just happens to be the birthday of that other female Hungarian star, Zsuzsa Koncz. In that context, although it has sad overtones, perhaps the Hungarian-speaking Valinka chose the best date of the year to pass away – now nineteen years ago, with the two-decade anniversary coming up this time next year – and I chose the second best date of the year behind her birthday of 29^th January to have arrived in Valinka’s home town of Michalovce back in 2016, which was, like in 2005, a Monday.

Although, as ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’ Blog readers will have already been aware, there has been no vinyl off which I could take a celebratory recording on the ‘Golden Anniversary’ and neither of those tracks feature on the ‘Léta letí’ (‘Time Flies’) ‘Greatest Hits’ cassette I have I can bring something special to bear on this post inasmuch as I have compiled an album of stills from the Dušan Klein-directed policier of 1975, set on the mean streets of Ostrava, ‘Město nic neví’ (‘The City Knows Nothing’) at my ‘The Curves Man’ Flickr and here it is embedded below with Milada Janderová playing Hedvika Miloňová in the scenes on the (non horse-drawn!) tram, at the Ostrava hlavní nádraží and in the telephone kiosk and Evelyna Steimarová playing Libuše Zahradníková and Josef Šebek playing Nadporučík (First Lieutenant) Stanislav Bauch of the Veřejná bezpečnost (Public Security) in the bistro in the Gottwaldova třída. Why this is significant in the context of one of the four recordings associated with this date is that ‘Šer-chán’ is played in the background.

Flickr

To play those songs and to get the recording details and credits please alight at the ‘Valérie Čižmárová: A Life In Sound’ ‘stop’ of ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’.

Boldog Ötvenedik Születésnapot, ‘Koňskou dráhou’ és ‘Žokej’!

Today is a very special day for ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’ as it is the ‘Golden Anniversary’ of the recording of the song that has inspired the replacement for ‘Bananas For Breakfast’, ‘Koňskou dráhou’ (‘On The Horse Tram’), together with what I will forever know as its ‘stable-mate’, ‘Žokej’ (‘Jockey’). It was intended to make a couple of recordings, variously of ‘Koňskou dráhou’ and ‘Žokej’ from the vinyl in celebration of this occasion and I ordered in very good time copies thereof from the Muzeum Hudby site, but they never arrived. It was, therefore, a very good thing that there was an ‘insurance policy’ in place in the shape of the ‘Léta letí’ (‘Time Flies’) ‘Greatest Hits’ cassette compiled by František Rychtařík with the co-operation of Aleš Korábek, off which I could take a recording of ‘Koňskou dráhou’ at least. This is now at my YouTube channel and has been embedded at the ‘Valérie Čižmárová: A Life In Sound’ page of ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’.

Also courtesy of Aleš Korábek and his Fan Site dedicated to Valinka, here are Petr Markov’s lyrics to the outstanding tune from Vítězslav Hádl and Ladislav Pikart that is ‘Koňskou dráhou’, translated thanks to ImTranslator.

Jedu městem tramvají jak v divokých snech
Auta kolem houkají a kdekdo má spěch
Město známé kouzlem svým
Souží rámus, smog a dým

I’m going to the city by tram in wild dreams
Cars honk their horns around me and everybody is rushing
A city known for its magic spell
Pesters with noise, smog and smoke

Kde je něžná poezie prastarých míst
Dnes už o ní jenom v knihách můžeme číst
Město známé kouzlem svým
Souží rámus, smog a dým

Where is the gentle poetry of ancient places
Only read about in books today
A city known for its magic spell
Pesters with noise, smog and smoke

Koňskou dráhou toužím jet
A mít bílý klobouk do očí
Koňskou dráhou zašlých let
Kde můj děda býval průvodčím
Koňskou dráhou šťastných dní
Kdy pan Kašpar hlásil – poletím
Koňskou dráhou parádní
Slavně vítat konec století a snít

I long to go on the horse tram
And wear a white hat over my eyes
On the horse tram, bygone years
When my grandfather used to crew
On the horse tram, happy days
When Mr. Kašpar reported – I will fly
On the horse tram, wonderful
Gloriously welcomed the end of the century and to dream

Po chodnících proudí lidí neklidný proud
V přeplněných tramvajích se není kam hnout
Město známé kouzlem svým
Souží rámus, smog a dým
Kde jsou kola nejistá a slamáčky dam
Čas, kdy pojem turista byl nepříliš znám
Město známé kouzlem svým
Souží rámus, smog a dým

On the pavements a torrent of people flows
In the crowded trams there is nowhere to move
A city known for its magic spell
Pesters with noise, smog and smoke
Where the wheels are uncertain and slamáčky dam (this bit didn’t automatically translate!)
The time when the concept of a tourist was not too well-known
A city known for its magic spell
Pesters with noise, smog and smoke

Koňskou dráhou toužím jet
A mít bílý klobouk do očí…

I long to go on the horse tram
And wear a white hat over my eyes. . .

To make up for the fact that, for this new video of ‘Koňskou dráhou’, I omitted to have my copy of ‘Die Pferdebahn-ära’ (‘The Horse Tram Era’) in shot here is the cover thereof, from the time of my Final-Year Project at the University of Derby, where I was studying Geography with German as a part-time mature undergraduate in the Nineties and decided to combine my two subject strands by investigating the possibilities of comparing the public transport system in and around my home city of Derby with three cities in Germany of a comparable population – Aachen, Hagen and Krefeld. Hagener Straßenbahn very kindly left me with a copy of the aforementioned book as a souvenir of Hagen, which was a very evocative picture of the beginnings of the tramways and very appropriate to include in the celebration of the ‘Golden Anniversary’ of ‘Koňskou dráhou’.

Turning my attention to ‘Žokej’, as the lyrics make reference to the epic Velká Pardubická steeplechase that takes place on the second Sunday in October, as I was where the aforementioned Aleš Korábek currently lives, Brno, on the second Sunday in October here is an album at my ‘The Curves Man’ Flickr of the photos I took on a walk in the Pisárky Woods on that day before I settled down in my room at the Hotel Garni to watch the Velká Pardubická on the television. As can be seen, there is a sort of tramway-related element to that walk, with the city’s tramway depot being on the way between the Hotel Garni and the Pisárky Woods – no trams of a horse-drawn variety, sadly!

Flickr

To play both ‘Koňskou dráhou’ and ‘Žokej’ and to get the additional details and credits to those recordings please take a ride over to ‘Valérie Čižmárová: A Life In Sound’!

Boldog Negyvenharmadik Születésnapot, ‘Rokenrol si mě získal’ és ‘Zůstaneš tu sám’!

Today is the day of the year on which ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’ Blog readers find out the lowest figure for the Hungarian for ‘Happy Birthday!’ of the whole lot throughout the year as the almost autobiographical ‘Rokenrol si mě získal’ (‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Got Me’), together with ‘Zůstaneš tu sám’ (‘You’re Staying Here Alone’) were Valinka’s final recordings on 17^th February 1981 as her recording career came to an end on that day at the age of twenty-nine years and nineteen days. So, it’s a Happy Hungarian Forty-Third ‘Birthday’ to that pair of concluding recordings. In the case of ‘Rokenrol si mě získal’ the lyrics from Jaroslav Machek are available on Aleš Korábek’s Valérie Čižmárová Fan Site. Here is an ImTranslator-based translation thereof.

Už jako malou holku lákaly mě sály 
Kde se tančil rokenrol 
Byl silnější, stačil útok a dal mi gól 

Even as a little girl I was attracted to halls
Where Rock ‘n’ Roll was danced to
It was stronger, it was enough to attack and it scored for me
  
A na mém noční stolku muzikanti stáli 
I když jenom na fotkách 
A začli hrát, když klímala jsem v mrákotách

And musicians were on my bedside table
Even if only in photos
And they started playing when I was nodding off in the gloom 
  
Rokenrol si mě získal, vzal mi klid 
V duši mám dynamit 
Když ho neslyším, je to k zbláznění, jak se mi stýská 

Rock ‘n’ Roll got me, took my peace
I have dynamite in my soul
When I don’t hear him, it’s crazy how much I miss him
  
A jak běžely roky zmáhala mě touha 
Zazpívat si rokenrol 
A jednou jen, aspoň náhodou, dát mu gól 

And as the years went by, I was tormented by desire
Sing Rock ‘n’ Roll
And just once, at least by chance, score him a goal
  
On dal mi ale pokyn, že se nesmím rouhat 
Zatím ať jen poslouchám 
Až přijde čas, dá mi znamení klidně sám

But he told me not to blaspheme
For now, let me just listen
When the time comes, he will give me the signal calmly himself 
  
A tak léta už trpělivě vyčkávám, kdy mě chytne v zápěstí 
A právě teď ten pocit mám 
A kdo ne, ať mi odpustí 

And so for years I’ve been patiently waiting for him to grab my wrist
And right now I have that feeling
And who doesn’t, forgive me
  
Rokenrol si mě získal 
Když ho neslyším, 
Je to k zbláznění, jak se mi stýská …

Rock ‘n’ Roll got me
When I can’t hear it
It’s crazy how much I miss it…

To play that final pair of recordings please head right down to the very bottom of the ‘Valérie Čižmárová: A Life In Sound’ page of ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’.

Boldog Negyvennyolcadik Születésnapot, ‘Správnej hoch’ és ‘Mám už toho dost’!

After ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’ Blog readers finding out what the Hungarian is for ‘Fifty-First’ on the day before yesterday’s recording anniversaries for ‘Pojď jen dál’ (‘Just Come On’) and ‘Sbohem, školní bráno’ (‘Farewell, School Gate’) they now get to discover the Hungarian for ‘Forty-Eighth’, as today is the day of the forty-eighth ‘birthdays’ of ‘Správnej hoch’ (‘Office Boy’) and ‘Mám už toho dost’ (‘I’ve Already Had Enough Of That’). Valinka performed ‘Správnej hoch’ on the Slovak television show, ‘Našich deväť’ (‘Our Nine’) on an unspecified date in the spring of 1976 and here is a ‘The Curves Man’ album of the stills from that performance in a very striking green checked jacket, complete with a telephone as a prop.

Flickr

The Czech-language lyrics by Karel Šíp to Valinka’s cover of Krzysztof Krawczyk’s ‘Halo, co ty o tym wiesz’ (‘Hello, What Do You Know About That’) are available, courtesy of the song lyrics section of Aleš Korábek’s Valérie Čižmárová Fan Site so here they are translated with ImTranslator. It can be seen that there is a sort of oblique reference to part of the name of the new Fan Blog in the translation of those lyrics!

Pátý den zvoní telefon
A v něm jen brouká ten známý bas
Pátý den stejný basbaryton
Ty můj typ nejsi a ztrácíš čas

On the fifth day the phone rings
And it just hums the familiar bass
The fifth day, the same baritone
You’re not my type and wasting time

Správnej hoch
Má snědou pleť
Máchův Máj zná nazpaměť
Zná tanců pár obstojně
Správnej hoch byl na vojně

Office boy
He has dark skin
Macha’s Maj knows by heart
He knows a few fairly dances
Office boy was in the army

Správnej hoch
Má pevnou dlaň
Vousy jak sám D’Artagnan
Na toho já čekám dál
No čekám dál

Office boy
He has a firm hand
Has D’Artagnan’s beard
The one I keep waiting
Well, keep waiting

Pátý den stejné legrácky
Jsem z nich už málem šílená
Vím, jak jsi světácký
Ty Don Chuany už dávno znám

The fifth day of the same horseplay
I am of those who are almost crazy
I know how you are urbane
You Don Juan had long known

To (horse-)play those two songs and to get the further details on the recordings and credits please ‘trot’ over to the ‘Valérie Čižmárová: A Life In Sound’ page of ‘Hotlips On The Horse Tram’.