Yvonne Prenosilova

Biography

At one time regarded as the Eastern bloc's answer to Brenda Lee -- and a definite candidate for the Communist bloc's first rock & roll singer -- Yvonne Prenosilova was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1947, and her singing career began while she was in her mid-teens. She apparently had an affinity for rhythm & blues from an early age, and a willingness to pursue it and a parallel appreciation of rock & roll, which was regarded officially as a byproduct of capitalist decadence (whereas in America, there were those who regarded the music as part of a Communist plot....). She emerged as the winner of a singing competition in Prague. This eventually led to a series of recordings for the state-run Supraphon label, the powers-that-were apparently having decided that a girl rock & roller from Czechoslovakia might keep the lid on youthful restlessness at home and show the West that the state did, after all, have its lighter side. Prenosilova's repertory included covers of Brenda Lee and other girl singers of the era, as well as duos such as Paul & Paula, and one song, "When My Baby Comes," was issued in England. She went into exile from her homeland after the 1968 Soviet invasion, and -- now based in Germany -- worked under the name Silova. She returned to Prague after the fall of the Communist regime in 1990, and was still singing in the decade that followed. Prenosilova may have come to rock & roll from a long distance away, but critics have compared her favorably at her best to Wanda Jackson. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide