Magnetic Band was an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n metal-rock and

jazz-rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...

band.

History

Magnetic Band was formed in 1976 by Gunnar Graps. They played

, which had influences of

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

. Later, after Graps graduated from

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

music school (in 1977), Magnetic Band was reformed and started to play metal-rock as well. Magnetic Band soon became one of the most popular heavy-music bands in

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 1980 Magnetic Band got first prize in the

Tbilisi Rock Festival (1980) Spring Rhythms: Tbilisi-80 (, ) was a musical event held in Tbilisi, capital of the Georgian SSR, Soviet Union, from March 8 to March 16, 1980.100 знаменитых символов советской эпохи / А. Ю. Хорошевски ...

. They performed a mixture of jazz-rock, blues and funk and was noted for their instrumental mastership. In 1982, the

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

dedicated a whole page to Gunnar Graps and the Magnetic Band. In 1983, Magnetic Band got banned by Soviet authorities and was renamed to Gunnar Graps Group (GGG). GGG performed in Estonia and Soviet Union and was very popular until the end of decade. They performed until 1989. In 1997, the GGG reunited, although they performed only about once a month.

External links

Magnetic Band's history (archived, in Russian)Magnetic Band at EstMusic.com
Estonian rock music groups Musical groups established in 1976 Musical groups disestablished in 1983 1976 establishments in the Soviet Union 1976 establishments in Estonia {{Estonia-band-stub