Locomotiv GT (often abbreviatedLGT, and sometimes using the nicknameLoksi) was a Hungarian rock band formed in 1971. Starting out as aprogressive rock band, they later experimented with many other styles includingjazz,funk, andpop. During their heyday they were one of Hungary's most popular rock bands.[1] The band broke up in 2016 after the death of longtime singer/bassistTamás Somló.
The band was formed in April 1971 by members of previously successful Hungarian rock bands. A poll inHungarian Youth magazine listing the nation's favorite rock musicians inspired several of the winners to form a new band together.[2] Singer/keyboardistGábor Presser[3][4] and drummer József Laux had been members ofOmega,[5] singer/bassistKároly Frenreisz had been a member ofMetró,[6] and singer/guitarist Tamás Barta had been inHungária.[2] They played their first concert in Budapest in July 1971.[7] Much of their early activity was as a backing band for pop singers, due to Hungary's restrictions on employment for rock musicians; they gained notice in particular for backingSarolta Zalatnay[8] andKati Kovács[7] during their first few years of existence.
Theirself-titled debut album was released in December 1971, and their second albumRingasd el magad was released the following year. They received coverage inNew Musical Express, which called them “The new rock sensation [that] could come from the East!”;[9] traveled to Japan to play at theWorld Popular Song Festival;[10] and were invited to perform at the Great Western Express Festival in England.[11]
In 1973, the band wrote the music for the politicized theater productionAn Imaginary Report on an American Pop Festival.[1] This endeavor frustrated Frenreisz who left to form his own band Skorpió; he was replaced byTamás Somló, another former member ofOmega.[7] The band's third albumBummm! was released in 1973. Tamás Barta left the band and defected to the United States, which then caused the Hungarian government to banBummm! for the next ten years in retaliation.[9] (Barta was murdered in the United States under mysterious circumstances in 1982.)[12][13][14][2] Barta was replaced by János Karácsony. The band's first three albums were compiled in 1974 for an American/British release titledLocomotiv GT (not to be confused with their first Hungarian release), which included some new material produced byJimmy Miller and a guest appearance byJack Bruce on harmonica.[15]
Their first album with Karácsony,Mindig magasabbra, was released in Hungary in 1975. During this period, the Hungarian government suppressed much of the band's work, followed by the governments of neighboring countries like Romania and Czechoslovakia, because the band's rock music was considered subversive; most of their sales and acclaim were gained in English-speaking countries.[7] The English-language songs recorded with Jimmy Miller for the 1974 international compilation were not released in Hungary until 1988. Their 1976 release, the double albumLocomotiv GT V., was also banned in Hungary.[citation needed] József Laux then left the band, also to defect to the United States.[citation needed] After the band received help from two temporary drummers, Laux was replaced by János Solti.[1]
The lineup of Presser, Somló, Karácsony, and Solti remained intact for forty years until the group disbanded. The band released the albumsZene – Mindenki másképp csinálja in 1977,Mindenki in 1978, andLoksi in 1980. The latter album was the first for which they were paid royalties for retail sales.[7] They toured the Soviet Union in 1980 and were offered an international contract byEMI the following year, with an invitation to record atAbbey Road Studios in England.[7] The EMI albumsLocomotiv GT X. (1982) andEllenfél nélkül (1984) were unsuccessful and the band gave up their international touring ambitions to focus on the Hungarian market.[1]
The band ceased regular activity in 1986 but re-emerged in 1992 for a major concert in Budapest celebrating the downfall of Communism.[7] They released the reunion album424 – Mozdonyopera in 1997. They then became a nostalgia touring act, appearing regularly at festivals and holding their own event, the LGT Festival, annually from 1999 to 2007.[1] Former members József Laux and Károly Frenreisz made some special appearances with the band during this period. The band continued touring until the death of Tamás Somló at age 68 in 2016.[16] Laux also died in 2016 at age 73.[17]
Locomotiv GT (Dunhill Records 811)[15] (made in 1973 with songs mainly of the three first LPs; was released in 1974 in the UK and the US)
All Aboard (follow-up to the previous album; shelved, never released in the UK or the US due to poor sales of the previous album; released remixed and omitting two of the original Barta penned tracks in 1988 in Hungary only under the titleLocomotiv GT '74 USA)
Motor City Rock (recorded inPrague and released in 1976, without a title; it was re-released in 1978 with a title and was exported to many Eastern bloc countries)
Locomotiv GT (recorded in Hungary in 1980, without a title; was exported to West Germany and Sweden)
Too Long (English version of their tenth Hungarian LPLocomotiv GT X (if double albums are counted as two albums); it was recorded in Budapest and London in 1982–83 and was released in the UK in 1983)
Boxing (made for EMI of songs on their 1984 maxi single "Első magyar óriás kislemez" and the albumEllenfél nélkül in 1985; refused by EMI)
Locomotiv GT '74 USA (remixed and edited version ofAll Aboard, compiled by Laux in Budapest in 1987 and released in 1988)
Locomotiv GT In Warsaw (recorded live in Poland in 1976)
None of Locomotiv GT's Western European or American releases charted.
"Touch Me, Love Me, Rock Me" / "Silver Summer" (1971; the existence of this single is not proven, but it is mentioned in theLexicon of Rock Music by Péter Tardos; "Touch Me" was later released on a compilation)
"Serenade" / "Give Me Your Love" (Netherlands, 1972)
"Hilf mir einzuschlafen" / "Ich wart' auf dich irgendwo" (East Germany, 1973; German version of the single "Segíts elaludni" / "Mindig csak ott várok rád")
"Eine kuckucksarmbanduhr" / "Mondschein im haar" (East Germany, 1973; the A-side is the German version of the song "Kakukkos karóra", while the B-side is the German version of the song "Ksiezyc we wlosy" by Polish band Skaldowie [on the single they are called Die Skalden])
"Rock Yourself" / "Serenade (To My Love If I Had One)" (U.S., 1974; first single off the first English LP released in the same year; includes an edited version of "Rock Yourself", both in mono and stereo version)
"She's Just 14" / "Free Me" (US, 1974; second single of the LP; includes an edited version of "She's Just 14")
"Ringasd el magad" / "The World Watchmaker" (Poland, 1973/1974 (?); includes a live version of "Ringasd el magad" ("Rock Yourself"), probably from the festival in Sopot, 1973; the other song "The World Watchmaker" was written by Polish songwriter Tadeusz Woźniak, an original song called "Zegarmistrz Światła")
"Higher and Higher" / "Lady of the Night" (live versions of the songs "Mindig magasabbra" and "Álomarcú lány", performed in Hungarian, only the single has an English title; released around 1975/76, probably when the LPLocomotiv GT in Warsaw was released)
"Rock Yourself" / "Serenada — Blues" (came into being under circumstances similar to the previous; the second song is not "Szerenád" but rather "Arra mennék én" which is followed by a blues song exclusive to this release; here "Rock Yourself" can be heard in English, and within it a few lines from "Mindenki")
"Vengerszkájá esztrádá" (Soviet Union, 1978; part of the soundtrack to Zsombolyai János's filmA kenguru which contained music by LGT as well as Omega, Gemini, Skorpió, Fonográf, Bergendy, M7, Koncz Zsuzsa, Bódy Magdi, Kovács Kati, and Sarolta Zalatnay; LGT's contribution was the English version of "Álomarcú lány" ("Lady of the Night") but the title, "Kák ti zsivjos?", appearing on the disc is in error)
"I'll Get You" / "Star" (1979; a promotional single prepared for MIDEM, with English versions of "Engedj el" and "Elkésett dal"; only the lyrics were newly recorded, the background music was copied from the original LP,Zene – Mindenki másképp csinálja)
"Tantas cosas que no queria" (1980, Spain; a single from the Todos sampler including the two songs "Annyi mindent nem szerettem" and "Egy elfelejtett szó")
TwoKrugozor 45s (1980 and 1981, Soviet Union;Krugozor was a Soviet youth magazine which appeared monthly with an included 45; the 1980 single (issue 2, number 11) includes the songs "Rajongás" (Russian: "Vosztorg") as well as "A Kicsi, a Nagy, az Arthur és az Indián" (Russian: "Mális, Velíkán, Artúr í Indéjec"); the 1981 single (issue 11, number 9) includes the songs "Cabolo" (Russian: "Kabolo") and "A dal a miénk" (Russian: "Pésznya nása"))
"I Want to Be There" / "Portoriko" (1983, United Kingdom; the first promotional single fromToo Long)
"Too Long" / "Surrender to the Heat" (1983, United Kingdom; the second promotional single fromToo Long)
"Too Long" / "Surrender to the Heat" (1983, United Kingdom; the promotional maxi fromToo Long on which can be heard the extended version)
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