Michal David

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Michal David (born as Vladimír Štancl, 14 July 1960, Prague, Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic), is a Czech hit maker. He sold over 3,000,000 records.^[1]

While studying at the Prague Conservatory he formed a jazz group.^[2] However, he was hired by František Janeček, a pop music mogul.^[3] With a hit song Nenapovídej (1982) broadcast in a popular TV show Hitšaráda (1978–1986)^[4], David became nationally famous. David's popularity culminated with the song Poupata,^[5] the most popular song of 1985 Spartakiáda. During the second half of the 1980s, he wrote music for the very popular films Vítr v kapse, Láska z pasáže and Discopříběh.

After 1989 he was regarded as a symbol of the Czechoslovak Communist régime and his popularity suffered a sudden decline. David stopped singing and concentrated on composing songs for other performers. David's popularity, restored by a nostalgia for Communist times,^[6] peaked with the 1998 Nagano ice hockey Czech team victory celebrations. In 2000, he contributed to the spectacular comeback of Helena Vondráčková by writing her hit song "Dlouhá noc". Since 2000, David has written several musicals.