Kocourkov Teachers

The Singers' Association of Kocourkov Teachers or the Kocourkov Teachers (Pěvecké sdružení učitelů kocourkovských (PSUK), Kocourkovští učitelé) were a Czech parody all-men's vocal group active during 1914–1959, with breaks, which enjoyed high popularity, both in the interwar Czechoslovakia, as well as in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, despite being frowned upon by the Communist powers in the latter. The name was a parody to the names of some teachers' singing groups, such as Singers’ Association of Moravian Teachers, and Kocourkov is a fictional Czech "town of fools". Despite the name nobody (with a brief exception) was a teacher. The name of the town derives form the word kocour, "tomcat", therefore they were informally referred to as Kocouři (Tomcats) and the cats featured on their posters.

History
The singing group was formed in 1914 by gymnasium students from Rychnov nad Kněžnou as a casual fun and they did some performing around for a little while, until World War I broke. After the war they got together again and managed to join the programme of the famous cabaret Červená sedma in Prague. At the audition nine "Kocourkov teachers" presented their act Balada na Váhu, a paraphrase of the work of Vítězslav Novák, only Novák's was a serenade about the Slovak river Váh, while the "teachers" sung about váha decimálka (decimal balance). They also performed in some other venues. Their composition varied at that time. After the demise of the cabaret due to lack of interest, the group broke up again, but in 1926 they resumed their performances until 1940s. After World War II they continued to work together until 1954. The height of their career was between 1931 and 1949. over that time they played in four films and recorded over forty songs. In 1947 they were among invited to a film festival in London. Their last official performance was in 1949, after that they mostly performed on various smaller occasions at weddings, birthdays, etc. After 1953, i.e., with the fall of Stalinism, they were allowed to present their program in various places in Bohemia and Moravia. Their definitely last performance was in Dobruška in September 1959.

Throughout all this time they were amateur singers, and they had other regular professions.

Discography

 * 1955: Kocourkovský kongres duchů, Supraphon
 * 1979: Kocourkovští učitelé, Supraphon

Filmography

 * 1931 Kariéra Pavla Čamrdy
 * 1934 U nás v Kocourkově
 * 1940 The Catacombs
 * 1941 Z českých mlýnů

Other
In 1939 they published a book about themselves, Kocourkovští učitelé se zpovídají aneb Chudí hoši, kteří se proslavili.