Vlado Kolenic

Sacrificing FAME for FREEDOM Vlado Kolenic

Life as a musician behind the Iron Curtain is anything but free. One record company, one booking agency, one radio station, and every aspect of your life is controlled by the Government.

Before you want to play, you have to go through exams where committees of people who know nothing about music will decide if you are worthy to make a living as a musician. You can't buy a Fender, Gibson, Marshall or any other Western made instruments. You can't even print posters or anything regarding promotion because everything is Government owned. Bureaucrats rule, people spy on each other just to get ahead - you don't know who you can trust.

Despite all of these obstacles, Vlado Kolenic becomes a rock star. He cleverly maneuvers through the bureaucratic maze, coming up with improbable solutions. The stories are sometimes so ridiculous that it sounds like a fiction. He is a rebel, uncompromising in his principles, and does not sell out. His band TAKTICI makes it to the top of the music charts surpassing such acts as "Queen" "Bee Gees" and "ABBA".

They are discovered by Tony Goddard, an Englishman while visiting Slovakia. He takes one of their recordings to England and they are offered a tour as an opening act for Gary Glitter. When the Government cancels his band's tour of England, he forges his passport and defects to the United States. Everything associated with TAKTICI is banned. Songs are taken off the radio but bootleg recordings are copied and spread throughout the country. Songs that have not been played anywhere become cult hits - generations grow up listening to these songs.