The Day After The Sabbath 157: Hungary pt 2: Death's Dark Heralds

Download from: [mf] or [mg]
password:  tdats

Welcome to volume 157 of TDATS. As promised at the beginning of this year, here is part 2 of Hungarian heavy rock of the '60s–'70s. The full set of Eastern European volumes is now:
41: Eastern Roc | 101: Poland | 120: Serbia | 134: Macedonia | 153: Hungary 1 | 157: Hungary 2

I set the scene in the introduction to my first Hungarian collection, and you read that in detail in volume 153 (link). In summary:
–  The 1973 Miskolc Diósgyőr Pop Festival was "Hungary's Woodstock" and some of the names appearing here were involved in it.
–  The communist government of Hungary did not seemingly have quite as much detrimental affect on rock music as authorities in other communist states, but the state-owned record label Magyar Hanglemezgyártó Vállalat (M.H.V.) did have complete record-publishing control, and occasionally used it to stifle bands which they took stylistic or ethical dislike to. For instance, one of the most successful bands, Illés, was banned from performing or releasing records for a while after saying unfavorable things to "the enemy" in a BBC TV interview in London.

This volume brings five new artists to TDATS, brooding blues rock from Gemini, fantastic funky prog from Juventus, Kex and Korong, and a groovy psych stomper from the pairing of Koncz Zsuzsa & Illés. The quality of musicianship from Hungary is stunning, everything presented here can easily stand up to the best rock from the UK, USA, Germany or anywhere else. Music seems to be in the bones of Eastern Europe and I look forward to visiting this part of the world again in future volumes!

The cover art for this volume is inspired by Busójárás, a festival where Šokci inhabitants in the town of Mohács, Hungary, parade in horned monster disguises, celebrating a time when it is said that ancestors used the same tactic to scare-off scouts of the Ottoman Empire, looking for new conquests...


TRACKS

01. Sarolta Zalatnay & Skorpió - The Freak (1975)
                        from album Sarolta Zalatnay
02. Hungária - Harom Szeplany Ejszakaja (1971)
                        from album Hungaria
03. Piramis - Rocket (Short And Sweet) (1979)
                        single
04. Korál - Válaszra Várva (1978 version) (1978)
                        from album Korál IV
05. Juventus - Akit Feikapott A Szél (1972)
                        single
06. Kex Együttes - Elszállt Egy Hajó A Szélben (1970)
                        single
07. Kati Kovács & Juventus - Add Már Uram Az Esőt! (1972)
                        single
08. Skorpió - Előre Nézz! (1979)
                        single
09. Korong Együttes - Magyarország 1945 [I. Rész] (1975)
                        single
10. Omega - One Man Land (1975)
                        from album The Hall Of Floaters In The Sky
11. Corvina - A Tűz (1974)
                        from album Corvina
12. Hungária - Doktor Schizofrén (1971)
                        single
13. Koncz Zsuzsa & Illés - Visz A Vonat (1970)
                        from album Szerelem
14. Tolcsvayék És A Trió - Reggel (1972)
                        from album T&T
15. Taurus Ex-T 25-75-82 - A Kõfalak Leomlanak (1973)
                        single
16. Gemini - Nem Nyugszik A Szívem (1972)
                        single

Sarolta Zalatnay LP (1975)

Sarolta Zalatnay & Skorpió - The Freak (1975)
Here's an original song from the pairing of Sarolta Zalatnay & Skorpió. Sarolta is one of Hungary's famous pop singers, and her material included a number of psychedelic songs of interest to TDATS. This track appeared in its original form on her 1973 album "Hadd Mondjam El" sung in Hungarian, and then again on her 1975 self-titled LP, in English. Discerning readers will be interested to know that the backing group on both these albums was no less than the awesomely fun and quirky rockers Skorpió, (see vols 13 & 41) who are close to a TDATS institution by this point.

Hungária 1971 Lang Klub

Hungária - Harom Szeplany Ejszakaja (1971)

I had not heard of this band until earlier this year but i'm sure anyone in or near Hungary has, as they are described as the most successful rock n roll band of the country.

I really like their sound! They definitely drew influence from The Beatles, in terms of production and vocal style at least, but much of their second album verges on hard rock, with warm, over-driven bluesy guitar. This melding of pop and heaviness is instantly likable, and if you dig "Harom Szeplany Ejszakaja" included here, the album it's from is equally good and consistent. Later in this set is another Hungária song, the fantastic psych blues "Doktor Schizofrén" from 1971, which was only on a single.

Self-Titled LP 1971

According to beatkorszak.hu (link), after the initial '60s beat/psych-pop period of the early singles and first album, they made a decisive move towards hard rock in 1971, introducing covers of Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Steppenwolf and Uriah Heep to their live shows. Of the core members at this time, singer/keys man Fenyő Miklós, bassist Peter Sipos and guitarist Csomós Péter were also in Syconor (coming up soon) and Juventus, guitarist Tamás Barta was also in Locomotiv GT, Syconor and Syrius, and drummer József Tóth also played in Juventus.

Early '80s Hungária

After 1971, there was a long period with no albums, but frequent singles, some on the GDR's Amiga label. According to Wikipedia, the all-powerful state-owned record company M.H.V. was to blame for refusing to let them make albums, as they did not approve of the band's hard rock direction but were scared that they would still out-sell bands that were more agreeable to them, which may explain why around 1980 it seems the band had been through an overhaul, with major line-up changes and an album that reverted to a traditional rock n roll sound and rockabilly appearance.

At this point Hungária became very successful, breaking records in terms of sales and popularity, but broke-up in 1983 for the first time, due to internal disagreements. They have re-formed at various times since then, and last year it was announced that in this year (2024) the band will reunite for a concert in the Puskás Arena, with the four surviving members of the most successful line-up. Further info: Wikipedia (link), beatkorszak.hu (link). There is a huge article that goes into details of their post-'70s career at recorder.hu (link).

Piramis - Rocket 45 (1979)

Piramis - Rocket (Short And Sweet) (1979)

Since Piramis's previous appearances on TDATS, here is another great slab of metallic hard rock, from one of Hungary's premier heavy bands during the latter part of the seventies. Bass player Som Lajos came from Taurus who are coming up. Drummer Köves Miklós and guitarist Závodi János both came from Non-Stop, and singer Sándor Révész came from a great hard rocking pop group called Generál. The latter two bands will feature in a future Hungarian TDATS.

According to Wikipedia, one contributing factor to the demise of Piramis in 1982 was the conviction and prison time for Lajos Som, for gold smuggling! Apparently, members of communist area bands that were internationally popular sometimes took advantage of their travel permissions to smuggle gold out of the Soviet Union, which must have been an attractively lucrative pursuit. More Piramis info at Facebook (link), Wikipedia (link).

Korál - Válaszra Várva (1978 version)
Here's one of the heavier tracks in the set that begins with an abrasive hammond organ attack, clearly a preference of heavy Hungarian bands in the seventies. This 1978 single b-side is a re-recording from the second incarnation of the band, of what was originally the a-side on a 1975 single from the original band.

All the Korál biographies state that the band first came into existence to serve popular performer Zsuzsa Koncz when she was looking for a new backing band. Ex-Taurus members; singer/keys Ferenc Baláz and drummer Brunner Győző, were joined by Pál Makrai (guitar, also of Apostol & Atlas) and András Kozma (bass - also of Apostol) in 1974. While working with Zsuzsa they also released a few singles of their own. This formation of the band was very brief, and broke up within two years or so.

In 1977 a concert occurred with Piramis and legacy performances from defunct bands Taurus & Tûzkerék. Taurus's positive reception compelled Ferenc to start up a hard rock band again, so he revived Korál along with an all-new lineup of László Fischer (guitar), Zsolt Scholler (bass) and István Pados (drums). This proved to be a good decision as Korál then became one the most successful Hungarian rock bands of the '80s, making albums until the '90s, and playing big re-union shows up until the untimely death of Ferenc from Corona virus in 2020. More Korál info at: Wikipedia (link), koral.hu (link), koralforever.hu (link) and Facebook (link).

Juventus

Juventus - Akit Feikapott A Szél (1972)
Here we have a short & sweet side of funky bass and flute and some pretty wild guitar. Juventus sprang from artistic disagreements within the initial formation of the band Syrius, who appeared in my previous Hungarian TDATS. Various Syrius members split to form Juventus. As with most of the bands here, all the players were associated with other acts, examples being Péter Csomós and Péter Sipos, who were in Hungária. Juventus never made an album in their nine-year existence but made high quality singles, including some in support of the ubiquitous Kati Kovács.

Kex Együttes

Kex Együttes - Elszállt Egy Hajó A Szélben (1970)
Here's another funky jazz prog side from a short-lived band that only made one single, but luckily we can hear a lot more of them on a 1999 retrospective collection called "Kex 1969-1971", the bulk of which is radio recordings. Some members of note from bands that will appear later are Földes László, better-known later as "Hobo" of the Hobo Blues Band, Tamás Somló of Omega, Locomotiv GT and Non-Stop, and Závodi János of Hobo Blues Band, Non-Stop, Piramis and '90s supergroup TRB.

Kati Kovács

Kati Kovács & Juventus - Add Már Uram Az Esőt! (1972)

Kati is a famous pop singer in Hungary, who gladly for us made a few heavy songs in co-operation with rock bands like Locomotiv GT, Juventus, Gemini, Hungária and Tolcsvayék És A Trió, bands who all appear in this volume or later in TDATS regarding Hungary.

Kati won TV & Radio's "Táncdalfesztivál ’72" with the song "Add Már Uram Az Esőt!" (Lord, give me the rain!), with Juventus backing her. It was released on single the same year and she was popular in East Germany where it was released in German, as were many of her songs. It became one of her perennial favourites and she performed it on stage as recently as this year 2024 (link). Later she made an English version on a curious album in 1996, which also includes interpretations of Vangelis's 1492 soundtrack. You can hear that version on my youtube (link).

Korong Együttes

Korong Együttes - Magyarország 1945 [I. Rész] (1975)

Here's a great side of prog featuring another of the four female singers in this volume. Bódy Magdi was in a trio of girls called Mikrolied Vokál, who won a TV talent show in 1972 and sang with bands that I have already mentioned such as Generál, Juventus and Beatrice. I was particularly impressed by Generál's hard rocking pop and look forward to including them on the next Hungarian volume. Korong made only three singles and the final one, which comprises "Magyarország 1945" parts 1 & 2, is a very different proposition to the earlier pop efforts. Seemingly a piece of concept prog, it plays like a mini album, no doubt with a heavier subject matter considering the name (translated: "Hungary 1945" parts 1 & 2).

Bódy Magdi

Korong appears to be an evolution of a previous band called Sakk-Matt, with three of the same members, Csuha Lajos (gtr,vox), Hőnig Rezső (drums) and Miklóska Lajos (gtr,bass). Sakk-Matt only lasted a couple of years with no releases, which is a shame as they delighted in covers of the likes of Hendrix, Cream and Blue Cheer, so they may have made some heavy records. Korong member Radics Béla (gtr) is also of note, being a formative member of Taurus Ex-T 25-75-82, in this and the previous Hungarian volume.

Skorpió - Előre Nézz! 45 (1979)

Skorpió - Előre Nézz! (1979)
Although Skorpió's presence has often loomed on this site since it started, I have yet to write anything substantial about them. I guess a good place to start is with the review of their first album that I put on RYM recently (link): "Probably the best album from this Hungarian band, the musicianship is hard-riffing, funky, super-tight and proggy while maintaining a relentless sense of fun & exhilaration, with about half of the album rocking surprisingly hard, while somehow never becoming too much or too cheesy. You could say it has the same type of appeal as good heavy glam rock, but the music itself is more technical than most '70s glam. All this makes for a very refreshing sound that should still appeal to fans of hard rock / early metal, especially fans of bombastic, keys-heavy bands like Deep Purple."

Skorpió's debut album lineup was band-leader Károly Frenreisz (bass/sax), Szücs Antal Gábor (guitars), Papp Gyula (keyboards) and Fekete Gábor (drums). They were all experienced players, with Károly coming from Locomotiv GT,  Szücs & Fekete coming from Hungária (in this volume) and Papp from Mini. They are one of the country's most successful bands with the debut album alone selling over 300,000 copies. Last year (2023) Skorpió played a 50th anniversary tour with Károly, Szücs and Papp still rocking the stage.

From a 2008 interview with Szücs (link): "- You were an active part of two of the three acts of Skorpió. How do you remember those years?

- The band has always worked a lot, we played 360-400 concerts a year: we toured in Germany, Poland was almost our second country. Karesz [Károly Frenreisz] and I gave interviews in Polish on the live TV broadcast there. I don't think there was another band in Hungary that spent so much time abroad. Karesz, as I already mentioned, is a very good organizer, a real international figure. Not to mention that he invested a lot of money in the band. He traveled to London and bought equipment for the band with his own money."

Skorpió on Wikipedia (link).  Károly Frenreisz on facebook (link). More info about Károly (link).

Omega - The Hall Of Floaters In The Sky

Omega - One Man Land (1975)

The previous Hungarian volume was book-ended by two excellent heavy prog tracks from Omega, and here is one from the 1975 album "Hall Of Floaters In The Sky", which is the English lyrics version of their 6th album, "Nem Tudom A Neved". By this time the band's international fame meant they were recording albums in multiple languages.

One of the most important and widely recognised Hungarian bands of all time, having existed since 1962, Omega survived the various epochs of rock music. They touched on all combinations of beat, psych, hard rock, progressive rock and space rock, so there's something in their huge discography for everyone, what ever they did was always good, and often great. This is shown by the fact they have appeared in TDATS no less than five times previously, in volumes Two, Twenty Two, Forty One, Eighty Seven and #149, phew! They remained active until 2021, at which time a second founding member had sadly passed away, singer János Kóbor, so easily recognisable on album covers with his huge mane of hair. At this they called it a day. Omega shared members with a number of other bands which will be mentioned again, including Locomotiv GT, Kex and Non-Stop, plus Syconor, who appeared in the previous comp (#153).

Corvina LP 1974

Corvina - A Tűz (1974)

This is a jaunty, funky album cut. Corvina created four albums in the seventies and around ten singles. Their output remained largely at the accessible, pop end of pastoral prog but they could funk it up for a few tracks on each album. At all times though the music was of a high standard. The track used here is from 1974's self-titled album. This LP, and their next in 1975, are the records i'd recommend to check out for anyone looking for their heavier cuts.

A member of note that played on this LP was guitarist Ferenc Szigeti, who founded Karthago, a band I have lined up for the next Hungarian TDATS. More Corvina info at Wikipedia (link).

Koncz Zsuzsa És Az Illés Zenekar
Szerelem LP (1970)

Koncz Zsuzsa & Illés - Visz A Vonat (1970)

Here's a groovy psych mover from the pairing of Koncz Zsuzsa & Illés. Koncz is a very successful pop singer to this day. She often worked with the band Illés, who will get more coverage in the next Hungarian volume. This track is from her third album, 1970's "Szerelem" (Love).

Since appearing in one of Hungary's first beat generation movies "Ezek A Fiatalok" (These Are The Young People), she became something of a representative for youth, which I assume meant her songs were scrutinised to a high degree. Koncz and her main song writer János Bródy, used to speak their minds on issues of young people and at one time around half her songs were blacklisted by state radio. Koncz is still performing at the age of 78 and her next show is in December 2024.

Tolcsvayék És A Trió - Reggel (1972)
Here's a propulsive little number that rocks as much as prime James Gang! At the time of this album, entitled "T&T", the titular "Trio" was the Tolcsvayék brothers, Béla and László, on guitars/keys, and Czipó Tibor on bass, although many other players are credited on the album, such as Németh Oszkár on drums and Móricz Mihály on guitar. On the album they also had vocal contributions from no less than three of the girls who I have featured in these Hungarian comps, Zsuzsa Koncz, Kati Kovács and Sarolta Zalatnay.

Tolcsvayék És A Trió's music often rocked in a US country rock type way and I enjoyed a lot of what I heard while making this volume. More about them at: Wikipedia (link) 

Taurus

Taurus Ex-T 25-75-82 - A Kõfalak Leomlanak (1973)
A Kõfalak Leomlanak (Stone Walls Falling Down) opens in ethereal, stately fashion, and soon ramps things up with superb performances from the whole band over this tumultuous six minute trip, lead by Balázs Ferenc's stunning organ work. Taurus, one of the first bands in Hungary formed with the express intention of making hard rock, was started in 1972 by a bunch of guys from established bands. The full name was inspired by the Taurus constellation, combined with the phone number of drummer Brunner Győző, as he was the only member with a phone! They released only two singles in their short existence, which is a shame as both are excellent!

The band was founded by guitarist Lajos Som and singer Ferenc Balázs, who went on to success in Piramis and Korál respectively, both of which feature in this set. It is suggested in Wikipedia that one reason for the band's demise was Brunner Győző's open criticism of the communist regime, which made him a subject of surveillance by the authorities. Brunner did however also become a member of Korál later. More Taurus info at: Wikipedia (link) and Wayback Machine (link).

Gemini

Gemini - Nem Nyugszik A Szívem (1972)

Here's a cool bluesey slowburner to end the set. To me it seems a strange choice for the a-side of a band's debut single, it's more like something you place in the middle of an album. Listening through their work its very clear they are talented musicians and they were a commercially-orientated band that played any style of rock adeptly, from pop / schlager music to hard rock. Along with many bands here they also performed as the backing band for female pop singers of the time, such as Kati Kovács. Gemini only released one album but they made many singles during '72 to '81 of varied styles, and most of the members were playing in other popular acts of the time, such as Apostol, Neoton Família and Generál.

Köszönet a következő alkalomig, hogy meghallgattál, és tovább!

'Till the next time, Rich.

----------------------------

Further listening:

The Day After The Sabbath 124: Dimmar Nætur [Iceland special]

The Day After The Sabbath 135: Der Herrscher [Mega producer Dieter Dierks part 1]
The Day After The Sabbath 146: HALLO Nr. 1 - DDR Rock part 1 [Rock of Communist Germany]

The Day After The Sabbath 149: HALLO Nr. 2 - DDR Rock part 2 [Rock of Communist Germany]

[Summary of all previous volumes]

TDATS social links

BuyMeAcoffee | Facebook | Instagram | Youtube | Mixcloud | Twitter | RateYourMusic

Share via: