OMEGA RED STAR: TROMBITÁS FRÉDI ÉS A RETTENETES EMBEREK [Ω I]

At a Budapest concert with the bands "Spencer Davis Group", "Traffic" and "Omega" the manager of the Spencer Davis Group, John Martin, discovers Omega and invites them to a tour through England. At Concerts in London among others Eric Clapton and George Harrison congratulate them. Martin arranges the production of an album at the London label Decca who change the bandname to "Omega Red Star". They work 3 days on the album, then Mecky has to return to Budapest because he has to write examina for his studies. The album is never completed in London, so Decca releases it uncompleted with lead vocals sung by Misi. The title : "Omega Red Star from Hungary". Later in Hungary the recordings are completed but only some songs are released on singles. A second tournee through England is following and although the group has enough material for a second album it is not recorded because they are instructed to go home for political reasons. After the success in London the first Hungarian LP is published by the Hungarian label Qualiton (Hungaroton) under the titel "Trombitás Frédi és a rettenetes Emberek". The album is sold over 100,000 times in the same year and therefore provides the first golden LP for the band.

This record is an early psychedelic pop album and obviously the very first one by this talented Hungarian band. Maybe a nice listen for a release from this era but nothing special really. Nevertheless at some places like in track 4 featuring some nice flute they are anticipating what to come from them later on. Else a nice mix of some more mellow and some more up-tempo folk inspired pop rock songs. One could rate it almost as fairly good but it's definitely not a good place to start with this band.

Formed in 1962 Omega began releasing singles in 1966 which featured covers of The Rolling Stones, The Hollies and Herman`s Hermits as well as their own original material which reflected these and other western influences. By 1968 they had briefly toured England and released an album on the UK Decca label under the title Omega Red Star From Hungary which included some of these singles as well as other tracks which were to appear on Trombidas Fredi es rettenetes emberek, their first Hungarian release on the government owned label Hungaroton.

The themes and messages in the songs were typically sixties about love & peace and had various appraoches to the contemporary sixties rock composition some sounding like Peter, Paul & Mary ( If I Were The Wind ) others like early Rolling Stones ( A Girl Hasn`t Gone Home) with trippy guitars and the title track even having a ragtime feel with a honky tonk sounding piano and a horn section. For the most part though, the album is drenched in psychedelia and has little interest for the fan ofprogressive rock but interestingly employs horns, strings and a recorder on in some freaky ways which are of passing interest.

Not the progressive rock Omega of the seventies with whirling synths and mellotrons, but for those who are curious about what developments were taking place in popular music in Eastern Europe behind the veil of the Iron Curtain in the mid sixties, Trombidas Fredi es a rettenettes emberek should provide a good insight into this music scene . The 1992 remastering is a remarkable improvement over the now scarce original Qualiton vinyl edition.

Debut album of OMEGA is a curious early release of the band where they acted as Hungary's answer to THE BEATLES. Mixing psychedelic and beat pop with hints of folk, this album only shows the bits of what would later follow. Performance is rather amateurish and songwriting underdeveloped but for the socialist country of the era, it is also an important document. Several songs did have hit potentials, notably the title tracks "Trombitas Fredi" and "Rettenetes Emberek". "Egy lany nem ment haza" contains excellent fuzzy guitar solo, while the closing ballad "Kis karacsony-Nagykaracsony" resembles gospel melody.

PERSONAL RATING: 3/5

P.A. RATING: 2/5

It's a very unusual to listen a rock-group without understanding what they are singing about. But I don't speak Hungarian. Interesting language and very good music. However, the taste of 60s music is definitely there. In some places the band sounds like a mix Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and the Rolling Stones (Szeretnék visszamenni hozzád), something like Cream or Yardbirds (Azt mondta az anyukám), typical folk (Kállai kettõs, Ha én szél lehetnék). And Rózsafák is a confident imitation of the Beatles. Before recording Ismertem egy lányt, young musicians probably listened to Simon&Garfunkel - very similar.  There is nothing new or progressive here (or later either). But the musicians created an interesting eclecticism, a beautiful mix of different styles, and at the same time they sound very organic.  A wonderful debut and the beginning of a long career one of the best rock band from Hungary.