World Tour #23 - Bachelors From Prague
Here's our fond tribute to one of our favourite bands from yesteryear - whose music now feels remarkably prescient!
Bachelors from Prague were an iconic Australian band formed 1985, whose music was described by vocalist Henry Maas as "jazz meets dance."
The band featured - Russell Cook (drums), George Friml (bass), Bruce Haymes (keyboards), Henry Maas (vocals), Chris Minko (trumpet), Andrew Philipp (saxophone), Jeff Raglus (trumpet), Tom Roberts (guitar), Justin Stanford (percussion).
Discogs lists four studio albums, two compilations and seven singles: Studio Albums
The Energetic Cool (1988) 3333 Records
Birth Of The Fool (1989) Mercury
Live At Sing Sing (1009) 3333 Records
Great!(1991) 3333 Records
Compilations
The Essentials (1990) Mercury
Bachelors From Prague / BFP (1992) 3333 Records
Singles and EP's
Go (1988) 3333 Records
Tightrope (1989) 3333 Records
Get Smart (1989) 3333 Records
Trouble / Irvin Rockman Affair (1989) Mercury
Golden Arm (1990) Phonogram, 3333 Records
Great (1991) Phonogram, 3333 Records
Doin' The Same Thing (1991) Mercury
Context
The band was part of the post-punk cultural renaissance in Melbourne and the emergence of its "inner-northern" urban aesthetic, characterised by black-on-black fashion, graffitied-laneways, bespoke coffee-houses, DIY media, warehouse subcultures, quirky retail, Community Radio (RRR, CR, SBS) and cheap urban living. Just as Henry Maas helped invent Melbourne’s nocturnal, bohemian identity in Fitzroy and Brunswick venues (from the Black Cat to The Night Cat), the current crop of instrumental Naarm bands operates within that exact same hyper-local, community-driven ecosystem, now migrated north from its spiritual home in the gentrifying suburbs of Fitzroy and Collingwood, to be based around Coburg, Northcote, and Brunswick.
Legacy
Looking back, a line might now be drawn from that time, straight to the modern Naarm/Melbourne inner-north scene today - represented by the music of Surprise Chef, Karate Boogaloo, Mildlife and the like. While the tempos have slowed down from the frantic, high-octane, hard-bop and jump-jazz of the late '80s/early '90s to today's unhurried, low-fi cinematic grooves, the underlying DNA and aesthetic ethos remain strikingly similar. Bachelors from Prague were early pioneers in treating mid-century style as a serious, curated art form, drawing heavily on hard bop, noir film themes, Beatnik subculture, and retro crime soundtracks - while mainstream at the time regarded such an approach as a novelty act. Similarly, the independent framework of the time - establishing venues, fashion, and aesthetic spaces - laid the groundwork for today’s artist-run boutique labels like College of Knowledge Records and Hopestreet Recordings. So while the current sound is more relaxed, funk-anchored, and studio-focused compared to the Bachelors' energetic, brass-heavy live show, their role as prescient architects of Melbourne's cool, genre-blending jazz-funk underground is undeniable.
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