The Rangers or Plavci is a Czech pop folk and country music band formed in 1964 by Milan Dufek and AntonÃÂn Hájek. Its classic ensemble consisted of Milan Dufek (1944âÂÂ2005; tenor), AntonÃÂn Hájek (1944âÂÂ1989; baritone), Miroslav à Âihoà ¡ek, Jan VanÃÂura (countertenor), Jià ÂàVeisser, and Radek TomÃ¡à ¡ek. The band sold over one million records.
The Rangers quickly became famous for the singing qualities of its members, from the bass of Jià ÂàVeisser to the countertenor of Jan VanÃÂura. The musical repertoire of the Rangers at that time consisted of Anglo-American traditionals, folk pop and country music with Czech lyrics.
Between 1966âÂÂ1969 Jarka Hadrabová sang in the band and they won the first two Portas (1967 and 1968) in the category Country & Western. The Rangers' hits were cover versions of "The Water Is Wide" (1724, RákosÃÂ), "Cotton Fields" (1941, Pole s bavlnou) sung as Gospel music, "King of the Road" (1965, Král silnic), "Come the Day" (1966, Ave Dies), and "Nose For Trouble", (1966, Nos pro trable). An exceptional success was Milan Dufek's VysoÃÂina (Highlands).
In 1971 the Rangers were forced to rename into Plavci (Swimmers). The official reason was that a Czech band name could not be the same as that of "American killers in Vietnam" (the United States Army Rangers). Rivalry between Milan Dufek and Radek TomÃ¡à ¡ek caused TomÃ¡à ¡ek to leave the band in 1973. The host Petr Nároà ¾ný left the band as well and was replaced by LudÃÂk Nekuda (1942âÂÂ1988). Plavci were often part of TV shows and their popularity became nationwide. Although between 1974âÂÂ1976 Nekuda was not with the band, the enormous success of Plavci continued. After he rejoined Plavci they became the number one music band in Czechoslovakia. Nekuda definitively left the band in 1978 and the popularity of Plavci suffered a steady decline.
On 17 November 2005 Milan Dufek died while scuba diving. Radek TomÃ¡à ¡ek explicitly ruled out a reunion with the rest of the band.
only Czech sung LPs.