Hungarian Pop Band 100 Folk Celsius Puts Accent on American Music

Ever think that behind the Iron Curtain, citizens under Soviet control are forced to listen to balalaika music on government radio stations?

Not so, according to Littvay Imre, who plays guitar in a Hungarian pop band called 100 Folk Celsius. He said: “We in Hungary listen to all types of music--heavy metal, rock ‘n’ roll. . . . We buy records and make tapes and go to concerts. We have seen Phil Collins, Tina Turner, Santana.”

Imre and his band are in the United States for a month, playing in and around Los Angeles on a tour that’s being filmed for European TV. So far they have appeared at such clubs as McCabe’s in Santa Monica and Club Lingerie in Hollywood; they’ll be at Promises in Cypress on Sunday night.

And how are Americans reacting? “They do not believe we are from Hungary,” Imre said. “They think it is a publicity trick and that the language we speak is--you know, blah blah blah--nonsense.”

100 Folk Celsius (the name is a play on the Hungarian word “ Fok ,” which means “degrees”) plays a hybrid of country-Western music, swing and rock ‘n’ roll. Its newest material is more rock oriented.

The band has released seven albums in 11 years. Two of the albums have gone gold (with sales in Europe of 250,000), and one has gone platinum (sales of 500,000). One of the albums, “Red Grass,” is in English. It was recorded and released in Holland. (Another album is called “Ohio” but is in Hungarian.)

The band plays about 300 concerts a year in venues ranging from clubs of 200 to 300 seats to large sports arenas and stadiums, on both sides of the Iron Curtain, Imre said. Richard Rifkin, a Los Angeles-based actor and manager who is promoting the U.S. concerts, said the band members are “recognized on the street in Budapest. They’re like the Willie Nelsons of Hungary.”

Imre said he formed the band with fellow fans of U.S. country-Western music who had met by exchanging tapes. Imre, who had studied music in high school, was in college studying to be a music teacher. He left school when the band became popular enough to support him.

He said his favorite things about America have been 18-wheel trucks, the weather in Los Angeles and Thai restaurants. But there is one drawback: “No one here even knows where Hungary is. We asked the waitress at Bob’s Big Boy, and she couldn’t even tell us if it was in Africa or Europe! She had no idea.”

The band has been so busy performing that it hasn’t had time to see any U.S. country-Western bands. But Imre takes the long view. “Jerry Lee Lewis will play in Hungary soon,” he said. “I’ll see him then.”

100 Folk Celsius will be appearing at Promises, 6197 Ball Road, Cypress, Sunday at 9 p.m. No cover charge. Phone: (714) 995-3755.