Michal Prokop - Ztráty a návraty – Bystrov Michal (2020)

The title of rock singer Michal Prokop's memoirs, LOSSES AND RETURNS, perfectly captures his more than fifty-year career. Journalist Michal Bystrov met with him for almost two years, resulting in a book that thoroughly maps the musician's personal and artistic life. It includes a look at Prokop's ten-year involvement in politics and his hosting of the television show Beautiful Losses. However, music and the people around it remain central. The book-length interview describes an admirable arc from the English-sung debut album Blues In Soul through collaboration with Josef Kainar on the album City of Er and years of wandering in 'pop' until the happy discovery of the right singing style. In the gray Husak-era Czechoslovakia, in 1984, a 'new' Michal Prokop was born, whose songs full of urban lyricism became popular. Thousands of concert-goers still sing along with him today, not only to 'Funebráky' and 'The Battle for Charles Bridge' but also to other hits that have resonated with several generations of listeners. The book, designed by Karel Haloun and Luděk Kubík, begins with a foreword by Jiří Černý. It also includes comments from Prokop's colleagues, a discography, numerous photographs, and period documents. Michal Prokop concludes it succinctly: 'I was probably lucky in life because…'