Also known as: Blue Effect, The
Origin: Prague, Czech Republic
This Eastern European band originally formed as a 5-piece, blues-rock outfit in the fall of 1968 in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now known as the Czech Republic), which was well within the Iron Curtain of the former Soviet Union. Original members included their leader Radim Hladík (guitar, vocals) along with Vladimír Mišík (vocals, flute), Miloš Svoboda (guitar), Jiří Kozel (bass) and Vlado Cech (drums). From listening to banned bootleg western rock and roll albums from the free world, they quickly evolved their sound into the prog-psych genre and then jazz fusion. Most of their songs were titled a…