Transsylvania Phoenix

Phoenix (music group)
From top-left, clockwise: Nicu Covaci,Cristi Gram, Costin Adam, Lavinia Săteanu, Vlady Săteanu, Flavius Hosu
Background information
Also known as	The Saints
Origin	Timișoara,Romania
Genres	Rock blues rock psychedelic rock symphonic rock beat rock and roll ethnic rock folk rock folk metal progressive rock hard rock heavy metal pop rock garage rock jazz rock rock opera
Years active	1962–present
Labels	Electrecord Bellaphon Records Bacillus Records Extra Records & Tapes Eurostar Genius CD Unimedia Records Cat Music Phoenix Records Zone Records Roton Fangorn Acoustic DB Schenker
Members	Cristi Gram Costin Adam Flavius Hosu Vlady Săteanu Lavinia Săteanu
Past members	See:List of Transsylvania Phoenix band members
Website	formatia-phoenix.ro

Phoenix(also known asTrupa Phoenixin Romania) or for a short timeSfinții( The Saints) is aRomanian rockband formed in 1962 inTimișoaraby guitaristsNicu CovaciandKamocsa Béla.GuitaristClaudiu Rotaru,vocalistFlorin "Moni" Bordeianuand drummerIoan "Pilu" Ștefanovicicompleted the early lineup. The group became famous inRomaniain the 1970s when it started fusing their 1960srock and rollsound withtraditional folk music,thus pioneering the "ethno rock"subgenre.

After gaining popularity in Romania during the so-calledBritish invasionin the mid-60s, the group changed its style to integrateRomanian folkloreelements after vocalist Florin "Moni" Bordeianu emigrated to the United States. A newLPwas released in 1972 and the band represented Romania in variousEastern Blocmusic festivals throughout the 1970s. The group disbanded in 1977, when they illegally fled toWest Germany.Latter attempts to regroup the members, both in West Germany and in Romania after 1990, failed to achieve the original success. They have been estimated to have sold over 2 million albums inRomania.

History

Origins

Phoenix was launched in the cosmopolitan city ofTimișoarain 1962 by a pair of schoolboys:Nicu Covaciand Béla Kamocsa, under the name ofSfinții(The Saints). In their first years, together withFlorin "Moni" Bordeianu(born 1948), they performed in school contests and at local clubs, covering Western music hits fromThe Rolling Stones,The Beatles,The Who,etc., and they quickly became very popular among the youth. In 1965 theCommunistauthorities demanded that the band stop performing under the nameThe Saints,because of the religious innuendo that the name carried. Forced to comply, the band took the namePhoenix.Nicu Covaci also changed the composition of the band, around 1963, by adding Claudiu Rotaru, Ioan "Pilu" Ștefanovici (born 1946) and Günther "Spitzly" Reininger (born 1950) to the lineup.

In 1965 they had their first big concert inBucharest.Their performance brought a collaboration withCornel Chiriacto record some of their songs. The first songs they recorded were "Știu că mă iubesti și tu" ( "I Know You Love Me Too" ), "Dunăre, Dunăre" ( "Danube, Danube" ) and "Bun e vinul ghiurghiuliu" ( "Good is the Red Wine" ). The same year also marked the beginning of their collaboration with Victor Suvagau, who went on to write many of their most famous songs, such as "Vremuri" ( "Old Times" ), "Și totuși ca voi sunt" ( "And Yet I Am Like You" ), "Nebunul cu ochii închiși" ( "The Fool with Eyes Closed" ), "Floarea stîncilor" ( "Mountain Flower" ) and "Canarul" ( "Canary" ).

In December 1967 Phoenix had their first major series of concerts in many western cities, capped off by two huge concerts in Timișoara. After winning a few prizes in national students' contests, held atIașithe following year, in 1968 they recorded their first EP,Vremuri,containing two original songs,VremuriandCanarul,and two covers (Lady Madonna– The Beatles and "Friday on My Mind"–The Easybeats). A second EP would follow one year later, namedFloarea stîncilor(The Flower of the Rocks), with all four songs being original compositions. Both albums sport a sound reminiscent of thebeatstyle popular in those days.

They then started working on a rock theater play "Omul 36/80" (The Man 36/80) which won several prizes for originality.

In 1969 Ioan "Pilu" Ștefanovici was replaced by Dorel "Baba" Vintilă Zaharia (born 1943). For the next year the band became more and more popular, frequently visiting Bucharest and being invited onto talk shows about music.

The 1970s

In 1970,Moni Bordeianuemigrated to the United States. 1970 was the blues period of the band. The band was Nicu Covaci, guitar, Günther "Spitzly" Reininger, piano and vocals, Zoltán Kovács, bass guitar and Liviu Butoi, oboe and flute.Phoenixwas born again the next year, with Covaci,Josef Kappl,Mircea Baniciu,Costin Petrescu(replaced in 1974 byOvidiu Lipan,nicknamed "Țăndărică" ) andValeriu Sepi.

But the Communist officials were not very comfortable with the Western-style music that they were singing, and kept creating problems for them.SoPhoenixabandonedbeatand turned toRomanian folklore,paganrituals, mystic animals and old traditions. In this same year, Phoenix started a collaboration with the Institute of Ethnography and Folklore and the Folklore section of Timișoara University on an ambitious project, a rock poem that combined traditional wooden instruments with modern sounds. During this project the band also started collaborating with Valeriu Sepi (born 1947), who eventually joined the band. The first outcome would be the 1972 LPCei ce ne-au dat nume(Those Who Gave Us a Name) – the second LP to be recorded in Romania by a Romanian band. Two years later,Mugur de fluier(Flute Bud) followed. Both albums underwent severe censorship.

Phoenix – 1974. From left to right: Costin Petrescu, Valeriu Sepi, Nicu Covaci, Ioji Kappl, Corneliu „Schwartz” Calboreanu (up), Günther Reininger, Mircea Baniciu (down)

In 1973 Phoenix represented Romania at the "Golden Harp" festival inBratislava(Slovakia), and then at the "Disc festival"inSopot(Poland). Also, they wanted to record a new rock-opera, named "Meșterul Manole", but the communist officials censored it all, by "losing" the unique book with costume sketches and lyrics given to them for official approval. The result was only an EP with an extract from the opera,Meșterul Manole, uvertură(Master Manole, overture) and two older songs,Mamă, Mamă(Mother, Mother) andTe întreb pe tine, soare...(I'm asking you, sun...).

On Monday, 19 November 1973, Phoenix held a concert in Bucharest, presenting their new hits "Andrii Popa", "Pavel Cneazul", "Mica Țiganiadă" and "Strunga" which composed the new disc "Mugur de fluier". The new songs were still influenced byfolkloreyet had a new style. This style was the result of the collaboration with new songwriters Andrei Ujică and Șerban Foarță. Based on those new songs Nicu Covaci created a new show "Introducere la un concert despre muzica veche la români" ( "Introduction to a concert about old Romanian music" ) in which he introduced violins, flutes, archaic percussion and other traditional instruments. The show was never finished due to a new collaboration with "Cenaclul Flacăra".This period is considered the peak for Phoenix.

Every winter the members of the band would retreat toMount Semenicand plan their upcoming songs. That winter the show "Zoosophia", a title that would later change to "Cantafabule", was created. The show began by "calling" all mythic animals and continued by dedicating a song to each of them, finishing with thePhoenix,the band's symbol. The year 1975 brought a newcomer to the band, Ovidiu Lipan "Țăndărică" (born 1953). The "Cantafabule" show was first presented in Timișoara in February 1975. The disc was recorded in a short time and was published the same year with a misspelling in the title: "Cantofabule."

By this time, Phoenix had become quite popular, both for the songs and the thinly-veiled allusions to the Communist regime. The band members, especially Nicu Covaci, were increasingly harassed by theSecuritate.Covaci married a Dutch woman and left the country in 1976. He returned in 1977, bringing in relief aid for those struck by the powerfulearthquakeon 4 March. After two grandiose concerts inConstanțaandTulcea,Covaci left the country again, this time with all the band members (except Baniciu) hidden inside theirMarshallspeakers: at the time it was extremely difficult to obtain approval to travel abroad and illegal border crossing was punished by imprisonment.

The 1980s

After fleeing Communist Romania in 1977 via Yugoslavia and after ultimately arriving inWest Germany,Phoenix shortly thereafter disbanded. Kappl and a few other members (i.e.Erlend Krauser and Ovidiu Lipan) formed a new band calledMadhouseand released a less successful album entitledFrom The East.In 1981, Covaci co-opted Neumann and Lipan and English bassist Tom Buggie, under the nameTranssylvania Phoenix(since a band namedPhoenixalready existed) and released an LP namedTranssylvania,containing two old Phoenix songs translated into English to target the Western audience and five new ones. Covaci together with Kappl also released two EPs and one maxi single as Transsylvania-Phoenix.

Comeback

The band's official logo (since 1994) depicting themythological bird Phoenixwas created byNicolae Covaci.

In 1990, Phoenix made a modest comeback to Romania. Although they were expected to sing their first song in their hometown Timișoara, the city that sparked theRomanian Revolution of 1989that eventually led to the downfall of the Communist regime, their firstpost-1989concert took place inBucharest,the capital ofRomania.Internal conflicts, especially between Covaci and Baniciu, were making headlines in the media.

A new studio album was released in 2000, the first original album after their 1990 comeback attempt; with the exception of Covaci, the lineup comprised none of the members from the '70s.

In 2002, the 40th anniversary of the band brought together some of the former members.

At the end of 2005 the band released a new album, namedBaba Novak,in its classic gold lineup.

As of 2010, the band still performed at live events. In 2014, they recorded the album called "Vino, Țepeș!".

Band members

For more details on this topic, seeList of Transsylvania Phoenix band members:

• Costin Adam – lead vocals(2014–present)
• Dan Albu – rhythm guitar, backing vocals(2014–present)
• Dzidek Marcinkiewicz – keyboards, backing vocals(1983, 1985–1999, 2008–present)
• Marc Alexandru Tinț – lead guitar(2014–present)
• Volker Vaessen – bass guitar(1992–1993, 1999–2000, 2002–2005, 2008–present)
• Flavius Hosu – drums(2014–present)

Current touring musicians

• Sergiu Corbu Boldor – violin(2014–present)
• Andrei Cerbu – guitar(2014–present)

Discography

• Vremuri(Old Times), 1968, EP
• Floarea stîncilor(The Flower of the Rocks), 1969, EP
• Cei ce ne-au dat nume(Those Who Gave Us a Name), 1972, LP (re-edited on CD in 1999)
• Meșterul Manole,1973, EP
• Mugur de fluier(Flute Bud), 1974, LP (re-edited on CD in 1999)
• Cantofabule(Fablesongs), 1975, 2LP
• Transsylvania,1981, LP
• Ballade For You/The Lark,1987, single
• Tuareg/Mr. G's Promises,1988, single
• Tuareg,1988, maxi-single
• Ciocîrlia/Perestroika(The Lark/Perestroika), 1990, single
• Remember Phoenix,1991, LP
• SymPhoenix/Timișoara,1992, CD/MC/2LP
• Evergreens,1993, CD/MC
• Cantafabule – Bestiar,1996, CD
• Anniversare 35(35th Anniversary), 1997, CD/MC
• Vremuri, anii '60...(Old Times, The 60s), 1998, CD/MC
• În umbra marelui urs,2000
• Baba Novak,2005
• Back to the Future,2008
• Vino, Țepeș!,2014

External links

• Phoenix's official website
• Old Phoenix's official website
• Nicu Covaci's personal website
• Farfarello homepage
• Transsylvania Phoenix – Cantafabule promo downloadArchived24 September 2014 at theWayback Machine
• Transsylvania Phoenixdiscography atDiscogs