The Plastic People of the Universe are a Czech underground rock band, experimental and strongly influenced by The Velvet Underground and Frank Zappa. The band was formed in 1968 in Prague by Milan Hlavsa less than a month after the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Soviet forces. Along with artistic advisor Ivan Martin Jirous, Josef Janíček and Jiří Kabeš they began staging concerts while the USSR was trying to "normalize" the Czech rock scene. Their