I
Peter Nagy

About:

9 April 1959

Nagy started his musical career as a folk singer after he graduated high school in the Slovak place of Presov. He recorded his first single at the age of 17 after which he joined the band Fultura with guitar player Karl Witz.

The first successful solo single was ‘Professor Indigo’ in 1983 recorded at Košice radio studio with guitarist Karl Witz (from the group Modus). At the same time Nagy was in his military service where he was the primary vocalist in the Military artistic ensembles in Bratislava. He also founded the band Indigo. At this time he received an offer to sing with the group Mood. Finally he was invited by Julo Kinček, who was editor at the local television, to record a videoclip for of ‘Professor Indigo’ for his music channel. Director of music clip in which he played the character Professor Andy Hryc was Joseph Kaiser. This rocketed Nagy’s career in Czechoslovakia.

In 1984 he released his debut album ‘Chráň svoje bláznovstvá’, which sold 620.000 copies. The second album ‘Mne sa neschováš’ won the Czechoslovak Golden Nightingale. A string of hits, among them ‘Už je tu láska‘ (I love it here), ‘Sme svoji‘ and ‚Kristínka iba spí‘  (Kristínka is only sleeping) (Nagy spoke with her on Bratislava lýre 84 and won audiences and journalists) created a situation that some refer to as "Nagymánia”.

With his third album ‘Myslíš na to na čo ja?’ Peter Nagy kept his popularity going. 1987 was the year he celebrated the fourth anniversary of Indigo with 500 concerts, two of which were played in Prague. The album, which came out this year under the name "Ale", featured a successful duet with Jožom Rážom ‚Psi sa bránia útokom‘ (Dogs to prevent attacks). In 1987, Peter Nagy won again in the charts with the single "When the reborn". At the end of the year gave his first concert Acoustic (Unplugged).
In 1989 he started to work on a project together with then popular singers Beata Dubasová and Vaclav Carlebach which was released under the title ‘Peter Vašo a Beáta deťom’. In 1992, Peter worked with Michaela Paštéková  for a song called ‘Mandarínka Darinka‘. After this Nagy kept a sabbatical for a few years as a recording artist. His return to the stage came in 1996 with ‘008’. Again made with his loyal band Indigo. He released two more albums, in 98 and 2002. In 2006 he re-recorded some of his hits as duets with other Slovakian and Czech singers like Zuzana Smatanová, Miroslav Žbirka and Jozef Ráž (singer of the band Elan) which stresses Nagy’s role in Czech and Slovakian pop.

To celebrate his 25th Anniversary released a new double album in 2009 called ‘Labute a havrany’ (Swans and ravens). In addition to twelve new songs the album features an  unplugged concert.

On the web:

- Peter's website: http://www.peternagy.sk/

If you like this, you probably like... / european counterparts:

Miroslav Žbirka (Slovakia)

What do we think:

DB: Actually i only know Peter Nagy's eighties which is very anchored in the sound of the eighties. Viewed in perspective his first three albums all must have been very hip at the time and you can hear the craftmenship in his songwriting. Don't think however that Nagy copied western new wave bands. He may sometimes sound like that but his roots are obviously folk and straight forward rock. It's that slavic new wave sound that you hear more with eighties acts from Poland and Hungary. Curious about what he sounds like today.

Recommendations:

♪♪♪ - Chráň svoje bláznovstvá - 1984

♪♪♪ - Mne sa neschováš - 1985

♪♪♪ - Myslíš na to na čo ja? - 1986

- Duety - 2006

- Labute a havrany - 2009

Further listening (selected works):"ale" - 1987; Šachy robia človeka - 1989; Finta - 1990; Revolver a Muzika - 1991; Jamaica Rum - 1992; Peter Nagy 008 - 1996; 99 WAT - 1998; Nové Svetlo - 2002

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided