THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,705) Neoton — “Bolond Város”/”Crazy City”
“[S]uperb popsike from behind the iron curtain!” (MushroomMachineClub, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u86CeLcUSAs) — from the band that would become Hungary’s ABBA!
Mikhail Badanin and Kirill Babanin tell us (translated by Andrey Sinelnikov):
The history of Neoton Familia started long ago in 1965 with several young musicians forming a rock band called Neoton (Newton). That was one of the many Hungarian rock bands that played heavily progressive rock at the turn of the 1970s. It was founded by László Pásztor (guitars & vocals . . . ) and Lajos Galácz (guitars & vocals), who recruited other musicians to complete the band; however, its line-up was subject to continuous changes. They were joined by Fecó Balázs (vocals, keyboards, organ . . . ) in 1967, and Ferenc Debreczeni (drums, vocals . . . ) one year later. In 1968 the band appeared on a Ki Mit Tud? Hungarian TV talent show, emerging victorious with a song titled “Nekem eddig Bach volt mindenem”/“Bach Still Means Everything to Me”; another song with lead vocals by Lajos Galácz titled “Kell, hogy várj” (“You Must Wait”), released on a single and broadcasted on radio, brought them their first success. One year later the band recorded one more successful single “Virágének/A fal” (“Singing Flower/The Wall”). Lyrics of Neoton songs were contributed at that time by a Hungarian poet István S. Nagy. The band performed together for a while with an up-and-coming Hungarian singer Klári Katona, who was Lajos Galácz’s wife at the time. They were also working closely with a rock band Omega [see #195, 644, 766, 832], participating in their 1970 tour as a supporting act. The same year Lajos Som . . . , formerly a member of Record and Tűzkerék, became the band’s bass player. In 1971 the band’s debut album “Bolond város” (“City of Loons”) came out, getting a warm public reception; it was even released in USSR. This album contained twelve rock music tracks, which were innovative for the time, skillfully arranged and characterized by sweet melodies and smooth rhythms. Album sales weren’t really good though, so the band decided to go on African tour to promote it, playing shows in Nigeria and Ghana. An English version of “Kell, hogy várj” titled “You Must Wait” got broadcasted on Nigerian radio. However, this didn’t bear a desired fruit and some of the band members went back to Hungary even before the tour ended. The band, struggling to maintain popularity, released a few more singles and participated in Táncdalfesztivál music festival with a song titled “Miért van ez így?” (“Why Is That So?”) in 1971. The band’s breakup became inevitable though: the same 1971 year Ferenc Debreczeni left the band for Omega and was replaced by Zoltán Ambrus . . . . One year later Fecó Balázs and Lajos Som also left the band to create the first Hungarian hard rock band Taurus, putting a question mark over the future of Neoton. However, the band has found replacements for them . . . . The real boom happened in 1981 with the release of the band’s most impressive album titled “A Família”, which contained . . . superhit “Kétszázhúsz felett” (“Over 220 kmh”), ultimately securing “Neoton Família”‘s stardom and title of the best disco band in Eastern Europe.
Wikipedia adds:
Neoton Família (also known in some countries as Newton Family) was one of the most successful Hungarian pop-bands, their career spanning several decades, with changes in line-up. Most active from 1977 to 1989, they released albums and singles and toured in 25 foreign countries . . . also producing many of the best-known hits in the country. From 1979 to 1989, the band sold over 6 million records in Hungary and about 1.5 million records in other countries . . . . The band was founded in 1965 by László Pásztor and Lajos Galácz, studying economics in Budapest, in order to enter the school’s annual Santa Claus music contest. Out of the two bands entering, Neoton . . . finished second. Three years passed until their first major success . . . .
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