Beatrice (or simply Ricse, sometimes referred to as Nagy Feró és a Beatrice or Nagyferó és a Beatrice) is a Hungarian rock band. It was founded in 1969 as a women's band, and played mostly cover songs. In 1971, Nagy Feró joined the band as a frontman. In the following years, the members were gradually replaced, and from 1974 they began to write their own songs in the then popular glam rock style. In order to get a record deal the band became oriented towards disco music from 1976.
The group disbanded in 1977, and in the following year, Beatrice was reunited as a rock band by Nagy Feró with bassist Miklóska Lajos, guitarist Lugosi László, keyboardist Gidófalvy Attila, and drummer Donászy Tibor, and started playing rock in a similar style to AC/DC. At this time they wrote songs that have since become classics, about the hopelessness of everyday life, such as Jericho, the Metropolitan Wolf, and the Angel Land. The party-state culture policy consistently hampered the "unmanageable" band, which eventually disbanded in 1981.
Beatrice, after its reunion in 1987, became a success in an atmosphere of regime change. In 1988, they self-published their first album. Their second album, Utálom az egész XX. századot (1991), was featured on the Mahasz disk sales top list for 40 weeks, at some point reaching first place. Beatrice's biggest hit to date is 8 óra munka. During this period, their concerts would all sell out. By 1994, the band was practically depleted: besides Nagy Feró, only guitarist Brúger László remained in the band. For this reason, Nagy Feró reorganized the orchestra, which was from 1994 officially called New Beatrice, and had a constantly changing lineup. The "new" attribute was later abandoned, however, and in recent years their concerts have often been advertised as "Nagy Feró és a Beatrice". Released in 2010, the concert video of the band's 30th anniversary was ranked 1st in the Mahasz DVD list.
History
The early Beatrice (1969–1977) Beatrice was founded in 1969 as a women's band, with members Csuka Mónika (vocals, guitar) Nagy Katalin (keyboards), Hamar Krisztina (bass guitar) and Csuka Mária (drums). At a point Szűcs Judith played the organ as a member of the band. They played mostly cover songs, but sometimes performed original songs such as Jóbarátom, written by Csuka Mária and Komár László, for release as single.
In 1970, the band found a permanent home at the Telephone Factory in Kőbánya. They didn't play their own songs, they had a repertoire mostly consisting of covers: Hendrix - Fire, Shocking Blue - Venus, Middle Of The Road - Chirpy Chirpy Chip-Chip, The Equals - Michael And The Slipper Tree, I'm a man (Joe Cocker version). In 1971 Feró Nagy married Mónika Csuka and joined the band as a singer at the end of the year. As a result of the continuous changes in the lineup, the women of the band were gradually replaced. Kati Nagy went on to be in Tűzkerék and Mária Csuka became a member of the Vadmacskák. In 1972 Sándor Bencsik joined the band as a guitarist, he was later followed by András Temesvári (bassist), Péter Temesvári (drummer), Károly Nagy (keyboardist). After Bencsik's departure Zoltán Gáti became the guitarist.
In the aftermath of Károly Nagy's leaving, the band continued their concerts without a keyboardist. They did not write any songs during this period, instead they played other performers' songs, such as Sweet, Mud, Gary Glitter, Suzi Quatro and other, mostly glam rock songs. Nagy Feró's unique style and their humorous, improvised design elements, which were considered a novelty in Hungary at the time, created a distinctive atmosphere at their events.
After several months of reorganisation, the new and improved Beatrice was introduced in the summer of 1974 at the Kőbánya Youth Club. Sándor Cziránku became the band's guitarist, Barile Pasqualé replaced Péter Temesvári at the drums, and after the departure of András Temesvári, Mónika Csuka played the bass in addition to her role as a vocalist. After this, they played mainly their own songs, their first demo recordings were made, the song titled "One Word" sung by Csuka Mónika was also broadcast by the Hungarian Radio, but they had no records released. Beatrice's concert at the FMH on October 10, 1976 was recorded by the Hungarian Radio.