Shagger Norris still not in jail

A man cannot live by bread and poetry alone. The more rounded individual must, by definition, have other interests. One of mine is Britain's toy transport infrastructure.

Like other human beings, I simply cannot understand how train operators think they can get away with leaves on the line, or the wrong kind of snow, as credible excuses for rail delays. My current favourite comedy excuse was provided by Eurostar during one of the many cold snaps this winter. Apparently such cold temperatures were not anticipated....o deary me! This is funnier than Obama winning the nobel peace prize.

Today, the news was released that Jarvis, once Britian's largest construction company, has brought in the administrators, which is code for they've gone bust. Some of us with memories, will recall their involvement in a number of fatalities on the railways in recent years. They and Balfour Beaty between them created the need for corporate manslaughter legislation in this country after deaths caused by poor maintenance work carried out at Potters Bar, Hatfield and other places.

Jarvis chairman, Shagger Norris blamed the recession, a well-worn narrative that strangely ignores the fact that Jarvis's three main competitors have managed not to go bust in the same tough trading conditions.

One wonders not only how he found time to make this statement, as he seems to be a director of many other companies, but how on earth does this idiot remains out of jail? Other companies that have killed people simply fire their board, change their name and carry on counting their profits. (I think of Union Carbide and the Bophal disaster in particularly here). Alas, Shagger didn't even have the wit to do that and neither did the Jarvis shareholders despite years of manipulating trading statements.

No amount of obfuscation was able to persuade Jarvis's creditors from forcing settlement of their debts and yet Shagger still remains in charge. How can this be?

As none in the media seem surprised by Jarvis going bust, none ask why this fool remains out of jail. Then again, there are more deserving cases to pursue and those felons remain outside jail, too.

Joe Karafiát speaks about the Plastics, Havel, Stoppard, Rock ‘n’ Roll and audience antics at the National Theatre in Prague.

This is a translation of an interview which appeared in the Czech national daily newspaper, Právo, on 9 February 2010 under the headline "Joe Karafiát from the Plastic People: Vaclav Havel is a non-playing member of the group". The Original Czech version can be found here.

You launched your new album on 15 January in London, before the home launch. Why?
It was more to do with PR, nothing else. Our English fan, Mike, decided to organize the concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. It is the kind of big theatre where the audience is seated. We played there three years ago and it sold out. Now we’ve played there again. Our friend, Tom Stoppard, the English playwright, also came to see us that night.

We sang in Czech, despite the largely British audience. Since we had sold quite a few copies of our new CD, and it contains a booklet with our new lyrics, also in English, so the language barrier was partly resolved. However, I think that the Czech language is interesting for foreigners.

Since February 2007, you have been performing in the old National Theatre building in Stoppard’s play “Rock and Roll”. What is it like performing under the inscription “The Nation for Itself”?

Personally, it was quite a shock. I have played in dingy dives my whole life and all of a sudden I was standing on the stage of the National Theatre. I felt proud. The first performance in particular was quite a triumph. The preview show was even seen by the sort of elderly ladies who go to almost anything the National Theatre puts on. One of them shouted at me from the front row to keep the noise down. I told her to complain to the sound engineer.

It happened again later on, during the performance proper. I think that a lot of season ticket holders weren’t expecting a rock ‘n’ roll band to play on that stage. But that space isn’t very suitable for rock music. The show is now moving to the New Stage. [i.e. the new Nat The. bldg., the glass cube (see top photo), as opposed to the old one referred to in an earlier question]. We begin rehearsals in February.

Former president Václav Havel also attended the Czech launch of the new CD in the Akroplis Palace Club at the end of January. He has never made a secret of his affection for the group. How do you feel about his presence?

Václav Havel declared himself to be a non-playing member of the band, recently, at the Meet Factory in Prague. He took a chair and sat with us on the stage, where he was like a non-playing member of the band for about half-an-hour. The relationship between the band and Václav Havel is a long-standing one; he knows the pre-(Velvet) Revolution members of the Plastics very well, they’re good friends. We enjoy meeting up.

Has he made any comments about your music?

Absolutely none. Under the communist former regime, when intellectuals like Havel and Jirous often talked about culture and politics with rock musicians like Mejla Halvsa. In those days that made sense, today there’s no need for it.

The Mask Behind The Mask is the first Plastics album for eight years. Why did it take so long?

In those eight years, we’ve not only done masses of concerts together, but we’ve also been involved in three huge projects with the Agon Orchestra. We’ve had a hectic schedule, even touring in America several times. Personally, I always wanted to make a new record. Mejla’s stuff is great, but I was convinced that the band should record something new. I’m glad it that it has been released.

You are responsible for the music for six of the tracks on the CD. Was it important for you to match their feel with the traditional sound of The Plastics?

Certainly. Though my main objective was to do what Mejla Hlavsa wanted at the end of his life – write songs. By then he wasn’t quite so keen on writing long serious compositions; he felt more like doing ‘songier’ things, things people would find more digestible. I still write for my other groups, Garage and the Joe Carnation Band. I always respect each group’s sound. When The Plastics started playing my songs, they attacked them with that traditional “creaky” sound of theirs, which was always their hallmark. Though I must say that in this respect, our association with the brilliant musicians of the Agon Orchestra has helped us a lot.

Was Mejla Hlava, who died in January 2001, present in some symbolic way during the production of the new record?

Not so much now; but it felt more like that in the years shortly after his death. But later the group moved on a bit. His influence remains, of course, though we don’t feel it so intensely. However, Mejla Hlavsa was a brilliant composer.