A Velvets-Beefheart-Zappa stew with Czech lyrics, free jazz saxophone, grungy viola, crunchy guitar solos, etc., but what makes it unique is the applause. This audience knows that rock & roll can start a revolution and set you free: It happened. (Steven Merritt, Time Out NY)

They've been called "the greatest obscure rock band of all time." Their name comes from a Frank Zappa song, their fame from being suppressed and jailed by Czechoslovakia's communist regime. PPU was just a psychedelic '60s band until the government took exception to their music. Forced underground in 1976, they played concerts at such venues as the barn at Vaclav Havel's country cabin. Their persecution was one of the factors that generated Charter 77, the manifesto criticizing the government and advocating for implementation of human rights, which gave its name to the dissident movement that swept the communists from power in 1989.