Ivo Pospíšil

"I went there in my car and I was carrying some big drum of Dégéčka [DG 307] and some other things. It took place on the outskirts of Budejovice and we went straight to the Na Americe pub, where the “máničky” were already gathering. We unloaded it all and while we were getting ready, some spooky blues band was playing. The cops came in and said it was over. We contemplated it for a while, but eventually we got everything back in the car. In the meantime, the atmosphere started to grow tense, so we headed back to Prague. At the last minute, Knížák jumped into my car and said: 'Go! They're after me!' He must have had some kind of a breakdown from the cops coming after him. I was also driving Mejla and others. We got back to Prague and we didn't know anything. The next day we met at the U slunců pub, Mejla had a tragic look on his face and began to describe what had happened in Budějovice."

"Ivo Zázvorka corresponded with the head of the Velvets fan club, Mr Kostek. Like most people at that time, he didn't speak much English. One day he received a letter from which he deduced that there was to be an Andy Warhol exhibition in Paris, which the Cartiers were doing, and that Půlnoc with Lou Reed was to play there. He went to Mejla and told him, but I, as the manager of Půlnoc, had no information about it. So I called Jirka Smetana in Paris and told him what the rumor was. He, as an impresario, went to the Cartiers and told them that he had news about an upcoming Andy Warhol exhibition where a band of his friend from Prague was allegedly supposed to play. They replied that they were planning an exhibition, but they had no idea that anyone was supposed to play there. He told them that Lou Reed would be playing there, and they again replied that they didn't know about that either, but that they could call Mr. Reed and ask him. Lou Reed had had previous experience with Půlnoc in Prague, and I guess he wanted to go to Paris to see the Cartiers too. So he said that it was a great idea and that he would arrange with Cal to play five songs together from an album dedicated to Andy Warhol. Finally, he added that Půlnoc was a good band and that they could be there too. Then Jirka called me and said that it worked and that he would be the producer. He ordered the stage, I loaded eleven people and the stage equipment into my Fiat Ducato. I drove to the chateau in Paris, the local notables were already there, and by then all the Velvets and other people from America had shown up. In the afternoon the exhibition opened. Before that, Půlnoc played five songs, and then Lou Reed and Cal played five songs too. Finally, he said he had a surprise and invited Moe Tucker and Sterling Morrison on stage and they played Heroin for the first time in twenty-five years. People were crying because it was an incredible thing for them, because the very same afternoon Lou Reed said that under no condition would he meet Morrison, whom he was suing over copyright. But in the end, this is what happened, which was a half-miracle."

"They were a bit impractical, but I was practical. So starting with them was pretty easy for me. I mainly offered them a rehearsal room and the opportunity to play in Klukovice at the pub where my mother worked. In the meantime, she'd stop working as a clerk and decided to accept the offer for one person in a type four pub [pause]... so, they [the Plastics] probably felt I could arrange everything. They used to come to see me in the military and say they were going to do a gig on a steamer. I was stationed just outside Dejvice towards the airport at the time. One day Magor came with Pavel Zajíček and Franta Maxera. I came to them at the gatehouse and they immediately said, 'Hey, can't you borrow a generator here?' So I told them: 'Guys, you’re a bit delusional.' However, they invited me to the streamer later. My friend and I changed into civilian clothes and went there. It worked out well, because if I'd been caught there, I'd have been in big trouble. Fortunately, nothing like that happened and we went back to the barracks."