Tublatanka is a Slovak rock band formed in the autumn of 1982 in Bratislava, best known for the hits "Pravda vÃÂà ¥azÃÂ" and "Dnes". The band's classic lineup consisted of Maà ¥o ÃÂurinda, Palo Horváth, and Juraj "ÃÂuro" ÃÂerný, from 1982 to 1992. In 1992, Horváth left the band. ÃÂuro left the band in 1995 due to complications with drugs. Currently, the band consists of ÃÂurinda, Juraj Topor, and Peter Schlosser.
Tublatanka was formed in 1982 in Bratislava, Slovakia, by Martin "Maà ¥o" ÃÂurinda, Palo Horváth, and ÃÂuro ÃÂerný. ÃÂurinda was a student at Comenius University in Bratislava at the time, where he met drummer ÃÂuro ÃÂerný in a wine bar called VeþkàFrantià ¡káni through a friend. The two talked about their favorite bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Nazareth, the Who, Yes, Pink Floyd, etc. After much discussion, they decided to form a rock trio similar their heroes Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and ELP (Emerson, Lake, and Palmer). They knew they would need a very talented bassist.
ÃÂerný remembered seeing a talented and charismatic bassist named Palo Horváth playing in a band called Mentol, so they decided to visit him at his flat in a district of Bratislava called Dúbravka. The three hit it off and decided to jam together for the first time, and eventually, they formed a band together. The trio began practicing and writing songs on the fourth floor of ÃÂurinda's campus building until ÃÂurinda finished his schooling. With more and more songs being written, the band wanted to sing in a style that everyone could relate to so they approached Martin Sarvaà ¡, who was a student of architecture and a good friend of ÃÂuro ÃÂerný, to help write lyrics. Sarvaà ¡ was a lyricist for a band ÃÂerný previously played in.
They began to perform in bars on most evenings around Bratislava and became quite popular with the crowds. Eventually, they made a demo tape, gave it to Sarvaà ¡, and began shopping around for a record label. Sarvaà ¡ became their manager and created the band's image. While getting intoxicated in VeþkàFrantià ¡káni, ÃÂerný and ÃÂurinda thought of their band name. ÃÂerný wanted to call the band Tublat (which is the name of an evil ape in the Tarzan books), but this name was mocked by crowds while they played. They eventually decided on Tublatanka as a combination of Tublat and Moravanka (a former local band they admired). Another version, given by ÃÂuro ÃÂerný in an interview for the newspaper SME, is that a driver for the band suggested they call themselves Tublatanka, as a combination of Tublat and a parody of local wind ensembles, whose names invariably ended in -anka.
On 30 January 1983, there was a festival for amateur bands in PKO Bratislava (park of culture and relaxation) that was organized by Richard Müller under the title "Mladá vlna 82", where Tublatanka had an opportunity to appear as an opening act. The band had a notable unexpected success and the director of the Slovak Record Label OPUS, Milan Vaà ¡ica, who was sitting in the audience, offered the boys to record their first big self-titled LP. The album sold over 100,000 copies in the first few months after it was released, so OPUS offered to record their second album, Skúsime to cez vesmÃÂr, which came out a year later. While recording that album, ÃÂurinda was called to do his basic military service, much to his dismay, since he wanted to finish recording the album. Skúsime to cez vesmÃÂr reached the number one spot on radio charts and the band started their "30-years tour", organized by Joà ¾o à  ebo (currently the manager for Jana Kirschner). The band was endowed by a wide range of fans in sold-out concerts in amphitheatres and sport halls. The boys won their first performance on the television program Triangel with their song "O nás" (About Us).
Tublatanka recorded their third album, à ½eravé znamenie osudu (Glowing Sign of Fate), in 1988, in the new digital OPUS studio. The album sold 250,000 copies in the first few months and received the "Zlatý erb OPUS-u" (Golden Crest of Opus) award. Tublatanka then played concerts all over Czechoslovakia and the song "Láska, drà ¾ ma nad hladinou" was in first place on the Czechoslovak chart Formula Pop for several months. In November 1988, the band was invited to play in a music festival in Moscow that was held at a stadium in Luzhniki, where ten shows were held with an audience of 14,000-15,000 people.
On 16 September 1989, the band held a big concert at an amphitheatre in Bratislava, recorded by a professional film crew. In November 1989, when the Velvet Revolution broke out and the first demonstrations against the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia for democracy began to occur, ÃÂurinda provided his guitar equipment and installed a sound system in Hviezdoslavovo Square in Bratislava with four PAs and two amplifiers during the first three days of the revolution. The song "Pravda vÃÂà ¥azÃÂ" became an unofficial anthem of the Velvet Revolution. The song was repeatedly in first place on the music chart of the television program Triangel, and even a videotape under the title "Pravda vÃÂà ¥azÃÂ", representing the successful concert at the amphitheater in Bratislava, appeared on the market during Christmas. The concert tape was completely sold out.
In 1990, Tublatanka left for Jevany to a studio belonging to L. Steidl to record their fourth album, Nebo â peklo â raj. Andy Hryc, an actor who put together an intro to the song "Démon pomsty", gave the album its name at a major show where thousands of people were present. In 1992, the next album was released, entitled Volanie divoÃÂiny, which not only featured the lyrics of Sarvaà ¡, but also of Whisky (a Slovak musician who was also a good friend of ÃÂurinda's).
In 1993, relations between ÃÂurinda and Horváth began to deteriorate due to creative differences. After a show in Karlsruhe, Germany, Horváth left Tublatanka. As ÃÂurinda couldn't find anybody to replace Horváth for a long time, he had to take over bass duties while he and ÃÂerný recorded their 1993 Christmas album PoÃÂme bratia do Betlehema (Let's Go to Bethlehem, Brothers), which came out during Christmas and became extremely popular around that time. The album was given its name by Silvia Lakatoà ¡ová, the last Miss Czechoslovakia (On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia formally split into two independent countries, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic). During this time, ÃÂuro ÃÂerný became addicted to drugs after trying them with his friends from a band he also played with, called Slobodná Európa. ÃÂerný was no longer able to play with Tublatanka and left the band in order to begin drug rehab.
Maà ¥o remained the only original member of Tublatanka and had to look for new musicians. He placed an advertisement in the newspaper Nový ÃÂas, which proved useless; two interviews took place but nobody from more than 60 musicians was to his liking. ÃÂurinda finally discovered a guitarist and singer named Jozef "Dodo" Dubán, a graduate of law who became available after leaving the band Money Factor, as well as the bass guitarist Juraj Topor (a fashion show designer), who, as the band's guitar tech, helped Maà ¥o set up for concerts; Topor had also previously played with the band If.
In 1994, Tublatanka began to prepare a new album under the fresh lineup, and they started practicing a new live set. A partly recovered ÃÂuro ÃÂerný rejoined the band and a new CD, Znovuzrodenie, was recorded. This album saw the band experimenting with a sound closer to pop music than their previous material. At the beginning of 1994, the band won a competition on STV and represented their country in the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, Ireland, with their song "NekoneÃÂná pieseà Â". They placed 19th out of 25, so after their return to Slovakia, only negative press and bad reviews welcomed them.
ÃÂuro ÃÂerný left the band once again in 1995 due to his drug addiction, which led to severe health problems. Martin UherÃÂÃÂk replaced ÃÂerný in 1995. Shortly after this, the band took a very long break from recording and released two greatest hits CDs that contained a few English versions of songs which had originally been intended for English editions of their classic albums Skúsime to cez vesmÃÂr and à ½eravé znamenie osudu. During this time, ÃÂurinda also released a solo album, titled Perfektný svet (Perfect World), which came out in 1997.
In 2001, the band finally recorded and released a new album entitled Pánska jazda (Stag Party). This album did not feature lyrics by their usual lyricist Martin Sarvaà ¡; instead, ÃÂurinda took over that job. The album transitioned Tublatanka into a more mainstream sound compared to their earlier work.
Martin UherÃÂÃÂk quit the band after Pánska jazda and was replaced by Peter Schlosser. Jozef "Dodo" Dubán committed suicide in 2003. ÃÂurinda never replaced him but instead decided to continue on as a rock trio once again. After another long successful run of touring, Tublatanka released Patriot in 2005, an album containing 14 new songs and incorporating lyrics by Martin Sarvaà ¡ once again. The album also contained a long-awaited tribute to the tragically deceased Dodo Dubán on the track "Pieseà  pre Doda" (Song for Dodo). A year after Patriot was released, Tublatanka issued their second Christmas album, VianoÃÂný deà  (Christmas Day), to much critical acclaim. The band's eleventh studio album, Svet v ohrozenà(The World in Danger), came out in May 2010.
Juraj "ÃÂuro" ÃÂerný, the band's original drummer, died in February 2016 at the age of 54 at his home in Hungary. The musician had struggled with health problems for close to twenty years.
Current
Past
Studio albums
Compilations
DVD