Tublatanka

The band was formed in 1982 in Bratislava, Slovakia by Ma?o ?urinda (also known as Martin ?urinda), Palo Horv?th, and ?uro ?ern?. ?urinda was a student at Comenius University in Bratislava at the time where he met drummer ?uro ?ern? in a wine bar called Ve?k? Franti?k?ni thanks to a friend of his. The two talked about their favorite bands such as: Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Nazareth, The Who, Yes, Pink Floyd, etc.

After much discussion the two decided to form a rock trio much like their heroes Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and ELP (Emerson, Lake, and Palmer). But they would need a very talented bassist.

?ern? remembered seeing a talented and charismatic bassist named Palo Horv?th playing in a band called Mentol so they decided to visit him at his flat in a quarter of Bratislava called D?bravka. The three hit it off and decided to jam together for the first time, eventually, they decided to form a band together. The three began practicing and writing songs on the fourth floor of ?urinda's campus building until ?urinda finished his schooling. With more and more songs being written, the trio wanted to sing in a style that everyone could relate to so they approached Martin Sarva?, who was a student of architecture and good friend of ?uro ?ern? to help write lyrics. Sarva? was a lyricist for a band ?ern? was previously in.

The band began to perform in bars on most evenings around Bratislava and became quite popular amongst the crowds. Eventually they made a demo tape, gave it to Sarva? and began shopping around for a record label. Sarva? became their manager and created the image of their band. While getting intoxicated in Ve?k? Franti?k?ni, ?ern? and ?urinda thought of their band name. ?ern? wanted to call the band TUBLAT (which means Bad Monkey a reference to Tarzan) but this name was mocked by crowds while they played. They eventually decided on Tublatanka as a combination of TUBLAT and Moravanka (a former local band they admired).

On January 30, 1983, there was a festival of the amateurish bands in PKO Bratislava ( park of culture and relaxation) that was organized by Richard M?ller under the title of "Mlad? vlna 82", where TUBLATANKA had an opportunity to appear as an opening band. The band had a notable unexpected success and the director of the Slovak Record Label OPUS, Milan Va?ica, who was sitting among audience offered the boys to record theirfirst big Self-Titled LP. The album sold over 100,000 in the first few months after it was released so OPUS records offered to record their second album which came out a year called entitled Sk?sime to cez vesm?r (Flying to the Universe). While recording that album, ?urinda was called into his basic military service and reported to Kl?tov much to his dismay since he wanted to finish recording the album. Sales for Sk?sime to cez vesm?r charted at the number one spot and the band started their "30-years tour" that was organized by Jo?o ?ebo (now he is a manager of J.Kirschner.) The band was endowed by a wide range of fans in sold out concerts in the amphitheatres and the sport halls. The boys won their first performance on the television program Triangel with their song "O n?s" (About Us).

The band recorded their third album ?erav? znamenie osudu (Bitter Destination) in 1988 and got the opportunity to recordthe album in OPUS record's new digital studio. The album sold 250,000 copies in the first few months and received the Zlat? erb OPUS-u (Gold Shield of Opus). Tublatanka then did concerts all over Czechoslovakia and the song "L?ska, dr? ma nad hladinou"(Support Me, My Love) was in first place of Czechoslovak chart of Formula Pop for several months. In November 1988, the band was invited to play in a music festival in Moscow that was held at the stadium Lu?ianky where ten shows were held with an attendance of 14-15 thousand of people in attendance.

On September 16, 1989, the band had a big concert at the amphitheatre of Bratislava, that was recorded by professional film crew. In November 1989, when the "Velvet Revolution" broke out and the first demonstrations against the Communist Party for democracy began to appear, ?urinda provided his guitar equipment and he installed a sound system in SNP square in Bratislava by four reproboxes and 2 amplifiers during the first three days of revolution. The song "Pravda v??az?"(The Truth Wins) became an unwritten anthem of Velvet Revolution. Repeatedly was this song was in first place of music chart on the television program called Triangel and even a videotape under the title "Pravda v??az?" that represented the successful concert at the amphitheater in Bratislava, appeared at the Christmas market. The concert tape was completely sold out.

In 1990, the band left for Jevan to a studio of L.Steidl in Czech Republic to record their fourth album "Nebo-peklo-raj" (Heaven-Hell-Paradise). Andy Hryc, an actor who prepared also an intro to the song "D?mon pomsty" (Devil of Revenge), christened the album at a significant debut where thousands of people were present. In 1992 the next album was released, entitled "Volanie divo?iny" (Call of the Wild) in which not only featured the lyrics of Sarva?, but also of Whisky (a Slovak musician who was also a good friend of ?urinda's).

In 1993, the relations between ?urinda and Horv?th began to diminish due to creative differences. After a show in Karlsruhe, Germany, Horv?th left Tublatanaka due to creative differences with ?urinda. As ?urinda couldn?t find anybody who would replace Horv?th for a long time, he had to take over bass while he and ?ern? recorded their 1993 Christmas album "Po?me bratia do Betlehema" (Let?s go to Bethlehem, My Brothers) that appeared at the Christmas market and it became extremely popular around that time. This album was christened by Silvia Lakato?ov?, the last Miss Czechoslovakia. At that time, ?uro ?ern? became addicted in drugs after trying them with his friends from a band called Slobodn? Eur?pa (which he played often apart from Tublatanka with) offered him them. ?ern? was no longer able to play with Tublatanka and left to be cured.

Ma?o stayed alone and had to look for new musicians. The advertisment in a newspaper Nov? ?as was useless, two interviews took place but nobody from mroe than 60 musicians were suitable to his liking. So he discovered a guitarist and singer named Jozef "Dodo" Dub?n, a graduate of law who became available because he left his band "Money Factor", as well as a bass guitarist Juraj Topor (designer of a fashion show), who, as the guitar technician, helped Ma?o to prepare the concerts and before he had played together with the band "If."

In August 1994, the band attended a music show in the Polish city of Sopoty with its song "Ja sa vr?tim"(I will Return). For the first time a drummer, Du?an Giertl, and their new band manager at the time managedthe band from 1993 until 1997. So the new lineup of Tublatanka was formed and they began to prepare a new album and started practicing a new concert repertoire. Even a partly cured ?uro ?ern? re-joined the band and there was recorded a new CD "Znovuzrodenie"( Rebirth). At the beginning of 1994, the band won a competition on STV and in March they left to represent Slovakia in a great festival "Ve?k? cena Eurov?zie"(Grand award of Eurovision or Eurovision Song contest) in Dublin, Ireland with their song "Nekone?n? piese?" (Neverending Song). This festival was watched live with a total of 300 million viewers. The band was placed at the 17th place of 25, so after their return to Slovakia only negative press and bad reviews welcomed them.

?uro ?ern? left the band once again in 1995 due to problems with drugs that led to severe health problems. Martin Uher??k replaced ?ern? in 1995. Shortly after this the band took a very long break from recording and released two greatest hits CDs that contained a few english versions of their songs originally intended for English Versions of their classic albums "Sk?sime to cez vesm?r" and "?erav? znamenie osudu."

In 2001, the band finally recorded and released a new album entitled "P?nska jazda" (Stag Party). This album did not feature and lyrics by their usual lyricist Martin Sarva?, instead, ?urinda took over that job. The album transitioned Tublatanka into a more mainstream sound as opposed to their earlier work.

Martin Uher??k quit the band after "P?nska jazda" and was replaced by Peter Schlosser. Sadly, Jozef "Dodo" Dub?n tragically died by suicide in 2002. ?urinda never replaced him but instead to continue on as a rock trio once again. After another long successful run of touring, Tublatanka released "Patriot" in 2005 which contained 14 new songs and contained some lyrics by Martin Sarva? once again. A year after it was released, Tublatanka released their second Christmas album Viano?n? de? to much critical acclaim. Currently the band continues to tour all over Slovakia and Czech Republic.