Elán is a Slovak

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, ear ...

band founded in 1968 by elementary school classmates Jožo Ráž, Vašo Patejdl, Juraj Farkaš, and Zdeno Baláž. They became one of the most popular Czechoslovak bands during the 1980s, releasing ten successful albums between 1981 and 1991. In 1993, the group represented Slovakia in the preliminary round of the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

but having finished in fourth place, failed to qualify for the finals in Ireland. Elán performed at the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 ( cs, Mistrovství světa v klasickém lyžování Liberec 2009) took place 18 February – 1 March 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic. This was the fourth time these championships were hosted either in ...

Liberec Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well prese ...

, Czech Republic, as part of the championship's entertainment festivities. The band has toured internationally throughout their career. They have produced many well-known hits and won several awards, such as the

Slávik Awards Slávik ( en, Nightingale) was a music poll established by the FORZA company, which had been the main promoter of such poll in Slovakia. The annual awards were permitted live through one of the CME networks, Markíza (1998– 2010), and TV JOJ ...

, Slávik, and Zlatý slavík, which they won four years in a row.

History

Elán began by playing in high-school and university clubs in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...

, and later got the opportunity to play overseas, in such places as Tunisia, Bulgaria, and Sweden. Their first original compositions were the songs "Dám ti všetko čo mám" (I'll Give You Everything I Have), "Semafór" (Semaphore), and "Bláznivé hry" (Crazy Games), with which the band performed at the Bratislavská lyra festival in 1979, and which won Patejdl the award for best arrangement. The group became known to the general public in 1980 after winning the silver prize with the song "Kaskadér" (Stuntman) at Bratislavská lyra. During the 1980s, Elán gained in popularity with their original Slovak songs. A significant change in the band's direction was the arrival of Ján Baláž, previously with Modus, in 1981. Their debut album, ''Ôsmy svetadiel'' (Eighth Continent), was released the same year. It was followed by ''Nie sme zlí'' (We Aren't Mean) in 1982, ''Elán 3'' in 1983, and ''Hodina slovenčiny'' (Slovak Hour) in 1985. In the second half of the 1980s, Zdeno Baláž, Vašo Patejdl, and Juraj Farkaš left the group. Ján Baláž, together with Jožo Ráž, completed the group's lineup with drummer Gabriel Szab and keyboardist Martin Karvaš. The personnel change also heralded a new phase in the band's career. They released the album ''Detektívka'' (Detective Story) in 1986, followed by ''Nebezpečný náklad'' (Dangerous Goods) in 1988 and ''Rabaka'' in 1989. ''Rabaka'' was accompanied by an eponymous film, which included production work by Boris Filan and Dušan Rapoš. At the end of 1989, Martin Karvaš and Gabo Szabó left the group. At the start of the 1990s, the group's lineup consisted of Jožo Ráž, Ján Baláž, Peter Farnbauer, Ľubomír Horňák, and Juraj Kuchárek. They recorded the album ''Netvor z čiernej hviezdy Q7A'' (Creature from Black Hole Q7A) and released it in 1991. The following year, the band issued a greatest hits compilation titled ''Legendy 1'' (Legends 1). The album ''Hodina angličtiny'' (English Hour) came out in 1994. In 1996, Patejdl returned to Elán and the band announced the recording of a new album, which was released under the title ''Hodina pravdy'' (The Hour of Truth) in 1997. Two more commercially successful albums were subsequently released, ''Elán 3000'' (2002) and ''Tretie oko'' (Third Eye) (2003). Elán went on an extended hiatus in the mid-2000s, returning in 2010 with the album ''Anjelska daň'' (Angel Tax). In 2014, they signed a record deal with

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and th ...

and released the album ''Živých nás nedostanú'' (They Won't Take Us Alive). The band's fifteenth album, and to date latest, was released in 2019, and titled ''Najvyšší čas'' (About Time). Vašo Patejdl died of an undisclosed illness on 19 August 2023.

Band members

Current members

* Jožo Ráž – lead vocals, bass (1968–present) * Jano Baláž – guitars, lead vocals (1981–present) * Peter Farnbauer – guitars, keyboards, saxophone, vocals (1990–present) * Ľubo Horňák – keyboards, vocals (1991–present) * Štefan Bugala – drums (2016–present)

Horn section

* Richard Šimurka – saxophone, flute (2014–present) * Martin Haas – trombone (2014–present) * Samuel Šimek – trumpet (2014–present)

Past members

* Juraj Farkaš – guitars, vocals (1968–1985), lead vocals on "Belasý let" (1981) * Zdeno Baláž – drums (1968–1985) * Juraj Fábry – keyboards, vocals (1968–1969) * Vašo Patejdl – guitars (1968–1969), keyboards (1969–1985, 1996–2023), lead vocals (1968–1985, 1996–2023) * Pavol Šikula – saxophone, clarinet (1972–1974) * Štefan Horný – trumpet (1972–1973) * Hana Horská – percussion, lead vocals (1972) * Peter Kollárik – trumpet (1973–1975) * František Poul – trombone, flute (1973–1974) * Boris Kopčák – trombone, vocals, violin (1974–1978) * Fero Turák – trumpet, vocals, violin (1975–1978) * Jozef Tekel – saxophone, flute, vocals, violin (1975–1979) * Júlia Feketeová – percussion, flute, vocals (1975) * Dalibor Moyzes – percussion (1977–1979) * Peter Šišma – trumpet (1977–1978) * Marián Broušek – trombone (1977–1978) * Milan Jendruch – saxophone, clarinet, percussion (1977–1979) * Pavol Duga – trumpet (1977–1978) * Martin Karvaš – keyboards, vocals (1985–1989) * Gabo Szabó – drums (1985–1989) * Vladimír Jánoš – guitar (1990–1991) * Juraj Kuchárek – drums (1991–2002, 2004-2007) * Henry Tóth – guitars (2003-2014) * Marcel Buntaj – drums (2003) * Boris Brna – drums (2008-2016)

Guest studio musicians

* Piešťanská folková skupina Slniečko – vocals on "Mláďatá" and "Belasý let" (1981) * Viera Briestenská – vocals on "Nie sme zlí" (1982) * Ladislav Briestenský – vocals on "Nie sme zlí" (1982) * Ľuboš Stankovský – drums (1985) * Vašo Patejdl – synths, vocals (1986) * Štefan Nosáľ –

fujara The fujara () is a large wind instrument of the tabor pipe class. It originated in central Slovakia as a sophisticated folk shepherd's overtone fipple flute of unique design in the contrabass range. Ranging from 160 to 200 cm long (5'3" ...

, vocals on "Tanečnice z Lúčnice" (1986) * Anton Jaro – fretless guitar on "Neobzerajte sa pani Lótová" (1986), bass (1988, 1989) * J. Ťapák – vocals on "Tanečnice z Lúčnice" (1986) * P. Holík – vocals on "Tanečnice z Lúčnice" (1986) * M. Hesek – vocals on "Tanečnice z Lúčnice" (1986) * Dušan Huščava – tenor saxophone (1986, 1988) * J. Fabrický – drums (1988) * Marián Kochanský – vocals (1988) * Eva Balážová –

cimbalom The cimbalom (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by V. Josef Schunda in 1874 in ...

on "Od Tatier k Dunaju" (1989) * Roman Grešák – vocals on "Hostia z inej planéty" (1991) * Jaroslav Dudík – violin on "Hostia z inej planéty" (1991) * Peter Abrahám – violin, strings (1997) * Pavol Jursa – vocals (1997, 2019) * Juraj Burian – acoustic guitar on "O láske" (2002) * Erik Boboš Procházka – harmonica on "Nežný a plný energie" (2010) * Lenka Lo Hrůzová – lead vocals on "Neodchádzaj" (2014) * András Madarász – harmonica on "Sto životov" (2019)

Guest live musicians

* Fero Turák – keyboards, vocals (1978-1980, 1990–1991) * Viktor Hidvéghy – bass (1990–1991, 1998), organ (1998) * Július Petrus – drums (1990–1991) * Fero Oláh – keyboards, vocals (1990–1991) * Juraj Farkaš – solo guitar (1996) * Zdeno Baláž – drums (1996) * Juraj Burian – acoustic guitar, vocals (1998) * Tony Benedek – percussion (1998, 2004-2005) * Ľuboš Stankovský – drums (2001) * Gapeel's vocal group – vocals (2003) * G-Strinx – violins (2007-2008) * Lenka Lo Hrůzová – vocals (2014) * Nina Kraljić – vocals (2016) * Kristína Mihaľová – vocals (2018-2019) * Laura Wengová – vocals (2018-2019) * Zuzana Ďurdinová – vocals (2018-2019) * Marián Svetlík – violin (2018-2019) * Juraj Madari – viola (2018-2019) * Petra Pálková – violin (2018-2019) * Júlia Mušáková – violin (2018-2019)

Timeline

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text:Zdeno Baláž bar:Szabó text:Gabo Szabó bar:Kuchárek text:Juraj Kuchárek bar:Buntaj text:Marcel Buntaj bar:Brna text:Boris Brna bar:Bugala text:Štefan Bugala bar:Horská text:Hana Horská bar:Feketeová text:Júlia Feketeová bar:Moyzes text:Dalibor Moyzes bar:Šikula text:Pavol Šikula bar:Tekeľ text:Jozef Tekeľ bar:Jendruch text:Milan Jendruch bar:Horný text:Štefan Horný bar:Kollárik text:Peter Kollárik bar:Turák text:Fero Turák bar:Šišma text:Peter Šišma bar:Duga text:Pavol Duga bar:Poul text:František Poul bar:Kopčák text:Boris Kopčák bar:Broušek text:Marián Broušek bar:Šimurka text:Richard Šimurka bar:Haas text:Martin Haas bar:Šimek text:Samuel Šimek PlotData= width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Ráž from:01/01/1968 till:end color:vocals bar:Ráž from:01/01/1968 till:end color:bguitar width:3 bar:JBaláž from:01/01/1981 till:end color:guitars bar:JBaláž from:01/01/1981 till:end color:vocals width:3 bar:Patejdl from:01/01/1968 till:01/11/1969 color:guitars bar:Fábry from:01/01/1968 till:01/01/1969 color:keys bar:Fábry from:01/01/1968 till:01/01/1969 color:vocals width:3 bar:Patejdl from:01/01/1968 till:01/11/1985 color:vocals width:3 bar:Patejdl from:01/01/1969 till:01/11/1985 color:keys bar:Karvaš from:01/12/1985 till:01/12/1989 color:keys bar:Karvaš from:01/12/1985 till:01/12/1989 color:vocals width:3 bar:Horňák from:01/01/1991 till:end color:keys bar:Horňák from:01/01/1991 till:end color:vocals width:3 bar:Patejdl from:01/01/1996 till:end color:keys bar:Patejdl from:01/01/1996 till:end color:vocals width:3 bar:Farkaš from:01/01/1968 till:01/11/1985 color:guitars bar:Farkaš from:01/01/1968 till:01/11/1985 color:vocals width:3 bar:Farnbauer from:01/01/1990 till:end color:guitars bar:Farnbauer from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/1996 color:vocals width:3 bar:Tóth from:01/01/2003 till:01/11/2013 color:guitars bar:ZBaláž from:01/01/1968 till:01/11/1985 color:drums bar:Szabó from:01/12/1985 till:01/12/1989 color:drums bar:Kuchárek from:01/01/1991 till:01/12/2002 color:drums bar:Buntaj from:01/08/2003 till:01/12/2003 color:drums bar:Kuchárek from:01/01/2004 till:01/01/2008 color:drums bar:Brna from:01/01/2008 till:01/08/2016 color:drums bar:Bugala from:01/09/2016 till:end color:drums bar:Horská from:01/01/1972 till:01/12/1972 color:percussion bar:Horská from:01/01/1972 till:01/12/1972 color:vocals width:3 bar:Feketeová from:01/01/1975 till:01/12/1975 color:percussion bar:Feketeová from:01/01/1975 till:01/12/1975 color:horns width:5.5 bar:Feketeová from:01/01/1975 till:01/12/1975 color:vocals width:2.5 bar:Moyzes from:01/01/1977 till:01/12/1979 color:percussion bar:Šikula from:01/01/1972 till:01/12/1974 color:horns bar:Tekeľ from:01/01/1975 till:01/12/1979 color:horns bar:Jendruch from:01/01/1977 till:01/12/1979 color:horns bar:Jendruch from:01/01/1977 till:01/12/1979 color:violin width:3 bar:Horný from:01/01/1972 till:01/06/1973 color:horns bar:Kollárik from:01/07/1973 till:01/06/1975 color:horns bar:Turák from:01/07/1975 till:01/12/1978 color:horns bar:Turák from:01/07/1975 till:01/12/1978 color:keys width:7.5 bar:Turák from:01/07/1975 till:01/12/1978 color:violin width:5 bar:Turák from:01/07/1975 till:01/12/1978 color:vocals width:2.5 bar:Šišma from:01/01/1977 till:01/12/1978 color:horns bar:Duga from:01/01/1977 till:01/12/1978 color:horns bar:Poul from:01/01/1973 till:01/06/1974 color:horns bar:Kopčák from:01/07/1974 till:01/12/1978 color:horns bar:Kopčák from:01/07/1974 till:01/12/1978 color:violin width:3 bar:Broušek from:01/01/1977 till:01/12/1978 color:horns bar:Šimurka from:01/01/2014 till:end color:horns bar:Haas from:01/01/2014 till:end color:horns bar:Šimek from:01/01/2014 till:end color:horns LineData = at:01/10/1981 color:black layer:back at:01/10/1982 color:black layer:back at:17/12/1983 color:black layer:back at:01/10/1985 color:black layer:back at:01/11/1986 color:black layer:back at:01/10/1988 color:black layer:back at:01/10/1989 color:black layer:back at:18/12/1991 color:black layer:back at:01/11/1994 color:black layer:back at:13/10/1997 color:black layer:back at:24/06/2002 color:black layer:back at:22/09/2003 color:black layer:back at:20/10/2010 color:black layer:back at:22/10/2014 color:black layer:back at:18/10/2019 color:black layer:back

Discography

Studio albums * 1981 - ''Ôsmy svetadiel'' * 1982 - ''Nie Sme zlí'' * 1983 - ''Elán 3'' * 1985 - ''Hodina slovenčiny'' * 1986 - ''Detektívka'' * 1988 - ''Nebezpečný náklad'' * 1989 - ''Rabaka'' * 1991 - ''Netvor z čiernej hviezdy Q7A'' * 1994 - ''Hodina angličtiny'' * 1997 - ''Hodina pravdy'' * 2002 - ''Elán 3000'' * 2003 - ''Tretie oko'' * 2010 - ''Anjelska daň'' * 2014 - ''Živých nás nedostanú'' * 2019 - ''Najvyšší čas'' English studio albums * 1982 - ''Kamikadze Lover'' * 1984 - ''Nightshift'' * 1985 - ''Schoolparty'' * 1987 - ''Missing'' * 1989 - ''Midnight in the City'' Live albums * 1998 - ''Elán Unplugged'' (2 CD) * 2004 - ''Elán: Megakoncert'' * 2005 - ''Elán na Hrade'' * 2007 - ''Elán Unplugged, Carnegie Hall, New York'' * 2013 - ''Elán v divadle'' * 2016 - ''Elán Live'' (Best of Vol.2) Compilations * 1987 - ''Neviem byť sám'' * 1992 - ''Legenda 1'' * 1992 - ''Legenda 2'' * 1995 - ''Hodina nehy'' * 1997 - ''Classic'' * 1997 - ''Legenda 3'' * 1998 - ''Legenda 4'' * 1999 - ''Jožo...'' (2 CD) * 2000 - ''Láska je stvorená'' * 2000 - ''Legenda 5 - Posledná...'' * 2001 - ''Neviem byť sám 2001: roky a rock'' * 2001 - ''Otázniky/Všetko čo máš'' * 2009 - ''Hodina Rocku'' * 2015 - ''Kamaráti'' * 2019 - ''Zlodej slnečníc''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elan (band) Slovak rock music groups Slovak pop rock music groups Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1993 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Slovakia Zlatý slavík winners 1968 establishments in Czechoslovakia