Károly Frenreisz (born 8 November 1946,

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 ...

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 ...

) is a Hungarian rock singer and songwriter.

Life

Frenreisz first studied piano and then learned to play the clarinet, saxophone, and bass. He was from 1965 to 1971 part of the band Metró. The most famous song he wrote while in the band was ''Citromízű banán''. He played a significant role in getting Metró through the end of the sixties and being part of the era of modern experimental trends in music. In 1971, he was a founding member of the band

Locomotiv GT Locomotiv GT (often abbreviated LGT, and sometimes using the nickname Loksi) was a Hungarian rock band formed in 1971. Starting out as a progressive rock band, they later experimented with many other styles including jazz, funk, and pop. During ...

, where he was the bassist, brass player, and lead singer. He wrote the band's first hits (Boldog vagyok, Érints meg), and was connected to the band's first international success. In January 1973 he left Locomotiv GT, and later he founded the band Skorpió. The band carried over Locomotiv GT's progressive sound for their first album "A rohanás" (1974), but soon after they switched to a more radio-friendly hard rock sound. They had many hit songs, such as "Így szólt hozzám a dédapám" (from "A rohanás") and later, "Azt beszéli már az egész város" (1985). He was the frontman and the leader of the band. The band is still active with some interruptions. He was the double-bass player of the Year in 1974 and 1981. His half brother was actor

Zoltán Latinovits Zoltán Latinovits (9 September 1931, in Budapest – 4 June 1976, in Balatonszemes) was a Hungarian actor. Early life His mother divorced his father Oszkár Latinovits in 1941 and married István Frenreisz, a medical doctor, with whom she ha ...

(1931–1976) and his brother was actor

István Bujtor István Bujtor (5 May 1942 – 25 September 2009), born István Frenreisz, was a Hungarian actor, director, producer and screenplay writer. He starred in the TV mini-series '' Mathias Sandorf'' based on the novel Mathias Sandorf by Jules Vern ...

(1942–2009). His maternal grandfather was restaurateur

Károly Gundel Károly Gundel (; 23 September 1883 – 28 November 1956) was a Hungarian restaurateur, business magnate, philanthropist, writer of culinary works and the former owner of the Gundel Restaurant. Family Károly Gundel was born on 23 Septembe ...

(founder of

Gundel Gundel is a well-known restaurant located in the Budapest City Park, Hungary. History A previous restaurant in the spot, ''Wampetich'', opened in 1894. In 1910, Károly Gundel took over the Wampetich's lease and operated the restaurant. Hi ...

restaurant in Budapest), and Gundel's father was

János Gundel János is a masculine Hungarian given name. It originates from the Hebrew name Johanan and is thus a variant of the English name John. People Notable people with the name include: * János Aczél (mathematician) (1924–2020), Hungarian-Ca ...

. He was a judge on the 2016 edition of

A Dal ''A Dal'' (English: The Song) is an annual music competition in Hungary organised by the national broadcaster Duna since 2012 and served as the national selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest between 2012 and 2019. The contest was i ...

, the Hungarian national selection for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2016 The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Heroes (Måns Zelmerlöw song), Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organis ...

, and he was also part of the Hungarian national jury for the jury voting. He was again a judge on A Dal for the 2017 edition and was so again for the 2018 edition.

Personal life

He is married in his second marriage. From his previous relationship he has a daughter, Zsófia, and a son, Zoltán.

Recognitions

* Budapest díszpolgára (2012) * A Magyar Érdemrend tisztikeresztje (2015) *

Kossuth Prize The Kossuth Prize (, ) is a state-sponsored award in Hungary, named after the Hungarian politician and revolutionist Lajos Kossuth. The Prize was established in 1936, by the Hungarian National Assembly, to acknowledge outstanding personal and grou ...

(2017)

Discography

Metro

* ''Metro'' (1969) * ''Egy este a Metro Klubban…'' (1970) * ''Metro koncert'' (1992) * ''A Metro együttes összes felvétele'' (1992, compilation) * ''Gyémánt és arany'' (2000, compilation of non-album singles and rarities)

Locomotiv GT

* ''

'' (1971) * '' Ringasd el magad'' (1972) * ''Búcsúkoncert'' (1992) – the band's 1992 farewell concert; his contributions can be heard on the song "Ő még csak 14".

Skorpió

* ''A rohanás'' (1974) * ''Ünnepnap'' (1976) * ''Kelj fel!'' (1977) * ''Gyere velem!'' (1978) * ''The Run'' (Swedish release in English, 1978) * ''Új! Skorpió'' (1980) * ''Zene tíz húrra és egy dobosra'' (1981) * ''Aranyalbum 1973–1983 (1983) '' * ''Azt beszéli már az egész város'' (1985) * ''A show megy tovább'' (1993) * ''Skorpió '73-'93'' Aranyalbum (1993)

Notable bandmates

* Tamás Barta (

) * Győző Brunner (

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

) * Gábor Fekete (Skorpió) * János Fogarasi (Metro) * József Laux (Locomotiv GT) * Gábor Németh (Skorpió) * Géza Pálvölgyi (Skorpió) * Gyula Papp (Skorpió) * Tamás Papp (/Új/ Skorpió) *

Gábor Presser Gábor Presser (born 27 May 1948) is a Kossuth Prize winning Hungarian musician, composer, singer. He was a band member in Locomotiv GT and Omega, and has been a prominent personality in Hungarian pop and rock music. Biography Childhood Bor ...

(Locomotiv GT) * Ottó Schöck (Metro) * Dusán Sztevanovity (Metro) *

Zorán Sztevanovity Zorán Sztevanovity ( sr-cyr, Зоран Стевановић) (born 4 March 1942) is a Serbian-Hungarian guitarist, singer and composer living in Hungary. Life and career Zoran Stevanović ( sr-cyr, Зоран Стевановић) was born in ...

(Metro) * Gábor Antal Szűcs (Skorpió) * Tibor Tátrai (Új Skorpió)

Film roles

* Mélyrétegben (1967) Ferenc Kerpán * A nagy generáció (1985) * A három testőr Afrikában (1996) zenész * Tea (tévésorozat, 2002–2003) Béla Páncél * Magyar vándor (2004) viking

Film music

* Csak semmi pánik (1982) * Az elvarázsolt dollár (1985) * Hamis a baba (1991) * A három testőr Afrikában (1996) * Zsaruvér és Csigavér I.: A királyné nyakéke (2001) * Zsaruvér és Csigavér II.: Több tonna kámfor (2002)

Family tree

References

External links

* *
A három testvér, Bujtor István, Frenreisz Károly és Latinovits Zoltán közös interjúja és dala egy 1966-os tévéfelvételen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frenreisz, Karoly Hungarian rock singers 1946 births Hungarian male composers Hungarian clarinetists Hungarian saxophonists Musicians from Budapest 20th-century Hungarian male singers Hungarian people of German descent Hungarian people of Italian descent Living people Locomotiv GT members