Biography
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Born
23 July 1952 (age 71)
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Born In
Praha, Czech Republic
To the general public, Michal Horáček is known mainly as a lyricist; he wrote words for all the songs and produced seven albums. The most important occurence of his artistic life is the beginning of co-operation with the acclaimed composer Petr Hapka, in 1984.
By 1987 the two released the album Sly Guest (Potměšilý host), which was eventually voted the Album of the Year and contained the Song of the Year; all the songs were sung by Czechoslovakia's legendary chanteuse, Hana Hegerová. In 1988, Hapka & Horáček opened what was to become their trademark: an album transcending the sum of individual songs and aspiring to give an artistic testimony to an era; singers were chosen according to their ability to render a particular song better than anyone else. The resulting record, Boarding-house World (V penziónu Svět), is a Czech evergreen. The songs are still played on the radios and so far the latest edition was released in June, 2007. It won both an untold numbers of fans, and a tremendous critical acclaim.
In 1996 the third H&H album was released: Emotional Investment (Citová investice). Again, it won both Album of the Year and Song of the Year awards. Record number four came out in 2001, We Could Have It Even Better (Mohlo by tu být i líp), while the fifth hit the counters in November 2006 - The Flamekeeper (Strážce plamene). Quite like all H&H records both of these albums topped the charts and contained huge hits.
In May, 2007, Michal Horáček produced, on DVD, a "picture version" of The Flamekeeper - all the songs were offered to yound film directors; each chose one and made a film version of it. The last of the songs was filmed by the grand old man of the Czech film history, 95-year-old professor Otakar Vávra. Apart from the co-operation with Peter Hapka, M.H. was involved in two other projects - in 2000 he wrote all the lyrics for the record named Richard Müller - sings, Michal Horáček - writes. This one also went to the top of the charts and contained at least three hit song, played on the radios almost daily ever since. More experimentally inclined was Michal Horáček in producing an album with the then little-known singer/composer Jarda Svoboda. Called So It Goes (Tak to chodí, 2002), it never appeared on the charts, but was critically acclaimed.
In 2007-8 Michal Horáček is produced his eighth album, tailor-made for female vocalists. The record Ohrožený druh (Endangered Species) was released in October 2008.
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