Illés ( Hungarian name: ''Illés együttes'' = ''Illés Ensemble'') was a Hungarian rock/ beat band (1960–1973), and was one of the biggest groups of the 1960s and early 1970s rock boom in Hungary. The band is often compared to the

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

as regards the time period of its activity, its artistic and cultural influence and continuing popularity.

Name

The band's name was originally taken from the family name of Lajos Illés, one of the members. Later however, the band chose as its logo a

chariot A chariot is a type of vehicle similar to a cart, driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid Propulsion, motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk O ...

in the form of musical notes, drawn by two horses, riding over the name "Illés" and the sun. This logo deliberately references the chariot of the prophet

Elijah Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worsh ...

(Illés in Hungarian) in the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

, in which he was said to have been taken to

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

Members

: Levente Szörényi (b. 26 April 1945

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

) - lead guitars, lead vocals : János Bródy (b. 5 April 1946

) - rhythm guitars, recorder, flute, vocals :Szabolcs Szörényi (b. 16 September 1943

- 2 November 2024) - bass, vocals :Lajos Illés (b. 18 March 1942

- 29 January 2007) - vocals, strings, keys :Zoltán Pásztory (b. 3 October 1944 - 1 May 2005) (Later Örs Szörényi) - drums

History

Illés was founded in 1960, but did not gain wider popularity outside of students clubs until 1963. This was the time the Hungarian language programs of Radio Luxemburg, broadcast illegally to Hungary, started to influence Hungarian youth culture. They were the first wildly popular band of the "new" beat music. Their song ''Még fáj minden csók'' (Every kiss still hurts) caused quite a scandal in 1966 because of Levente Szörényi's "squeaking" singing style. Despite them being highly controversial, they were supported by the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

regime - that was trying at the time to introduce a policy of "small liberties" for the people - and received numerous awards. Nevertheless, they did not publish an album until 1967, with the film soundtrack for ''Ezek a fiatalok'' ("These young people!" or "These are the young people"). The movie was an attempt to make the general audience better acquainted with the (comparatively tame) youth culture of the time. Some of the most popular bands and singers of the time appear in the film, including Illés and Omega while the main female role is played by another famous Hungarian pop singer, Zsuzsa Koncz. By the late 1960s, a great number of beat bands had emerged in Hungary. Fans of Illés and

Omega Omega (, ; uppercase Ω, lowercase ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and last letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numerals, Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value ...

soon started rivalries, parallelling the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

rivalry in the West.

After Illés

The band broke up in 1973, possibly also due to political pressure. The Illés had been in fact barred for one year (plus a fine) from the Capital because of an interview they did release while staying in Britain and where they did criticize government. Nevertheless, the members, especially L. Szörényi and Bródy, continued to work together on other projects, notably with their new band Fonográf along with Sz. Szörényi, which tried to blend

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

elements with Hungarian

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

with hits like ''Lökd ide a sört!'' (Pass the beer!) and ''Mondd, hogy nem haragszol rám!'' (Say that you are not angry). They also continued their cooperation with singer Zsuzsa Koncz, for whom they had written songs since the first half of the 1960s. The band later re-united for high-profile concerts on different occasions, the most memorable probably being their 1990 performance in the Népstadion after the regime change in Hungary. In 2001 they also performed a common concert with the other two dominant Hungarian bands of their era, Omega and Metró. In 1983, Szörényi and Bródy wrote the

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

'' István, a király'', based on the life of Saint Stephen I, the first king of

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. It became an instant smash hit and retains a cult following to this day. After the fall of Communism in 1990, Szörényi and Bródy grew apart politically. Bródy, a secular

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

, sympathized with the liberal Free Democrats, while Szörényi became increasingly

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

and a religious

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. This was reflected in his later rock operas like ''Atilla, Isten kardja'' (Atilla, the Sword of God - 1994) and ''Veled, Uram!'' (With You, My Lord! - 2000). The latter is a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to ''István, a király''. Drummer Zoltán Pásztory left Hungary in the 1970s and went to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, where he sank into obscurity. He died in 2005 at the age of 60. For the already booked two concerts of the band in 2005 (one on the first day of the annual Sziget fesztivál in Budapest and the other in Miercurea Ciuc) his place at the drums was taken over by Örs Szörényi, the son of the band's lead guitarist Levente Szörényi. After the original Illés formation broke up, founder and keyboardist Lajos Illés kept operating a band with the same name until the early 1980s. He later retired to the small village of Kisoroszi, where he acted as the chorister of the local Reformed church (his wife being the pastor there), and continued composing music including chorals, musicals and film soundtracks. He died in 2007 at the age of 64.

Albums

Original albums: *''Ezek a fiatalok'' (1967 - film

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

) *''Nehéz az út'' (1969) *''Illések és pofonok'' (1969) *''Human Rights'' (1971) *''Add a kezed'' (1972) *''Ne sírjatok, lányok'' (1973) Compilations: *''A koncert'' (1981 - live album) *''Illés kislemezek'' (1984 - singles) *''Népstadion 1990'' (live album) *''Az Illés összes kislemeze'' (1990 - all singles) *''Az Illés másik oldalán - Válogatás'' (1996 - B sides compilation) *''Best of Illés - Balladák és lírák'' (1996) *''Best of Illés - Miért hagytuk, hogy így legyen'' (1996) *''Illés '96'' (live album)

Important songs (selection)

*''Az utcán'' (On the street) *''Itt állok egymagamban'' (I'm standing here alone) *''Még fáj minden csók'' (Every kiss hurts) *''Igen'' (Yes) *''Nem érti más, csak én'' (Nobody understand, just me) *''Oh, mondd'' (Oh, tell me) *''Ne Gondold'' (Don't think) *''Amikor én még kissrác voltam'' (When I was still a little boy) *''Sárga rózsa'' (Yellow rose) *''Keresem a szót'' (I'm looking for words) *''Little Richard'' *''Igérd meg'' (Promise to me) *''Nem akarok'' (I don't want to) *''Miért hagytuk, hogy így legyen?'' (Why did we let it happen?) *''A szó veszélyes fegyver'' (The word is a dangerous weapon) *''Kislány, add a kezed'' (Girl, take my hand) *''Good bye London''

External links

Complete discography of Illés
{{DEFAULTSORT:Illes Hungarian rock music groups Musical groups established in 1960 Musical groups disestablished in 1973