Konečně Rockfest! Proměny mechanismů kontroly amatérské rockové hudby v 80. letech 20. století
Rockfest, finally! Changes in control mechanisms aimed at amateur rock music in the 1980s

Summary/Abstract: The study uses archival documents and other materials to track the changes in the conceptual approach of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (CPC) dictatorship in the 1980s towards amateur rock music and social groups (subcultures) that surrounded it. The focus is on the dynamics of the years 1983–1986. In 1983, state authorities’ repressive approach towards the subculture culminated with the “New Wave – Old Content” campaign. Three years later, the first year of the Rockfest festival took place. The festival was an official platform for amateur rock music modelled after Porta, a folk music festival. The as yet undocumented reasons and circumstances surrounding the change in state authorities’ approach to rock music lie at the core of the research presented in the study. The paper also discusses the inconsistence of procedures applied by state authorities (e.g., Tribuna, a periodical of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia v. Socialist Youth Union). The paper also reflects upon disputes among representatives of rock music concerning the Rockfest festivals and the impact its establishment had on the breakup of the legendary band The Plastic People of the Universe.

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