Transsylvania Phoenix, or, more commonly, just Phoenix, is one of the most prominent Romanian rock bands of the latest decades, and also the first one to inspire their music from ancient Romanian folk themes.

Phoenix was started off in the cosmopolitan town of Timişoara, in 1962, by a group of schoolboys: Nicu Covaci, Moni Bordeianu , Bela Kamocsa , Pilu Ştefanovici, Doru Creşneac, under the name of Sfinţii (The Saints). In their first years they performed in school contests and at local clubs, covering Western music hits from the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Who, etc., and they quickly became very popular amongst the youth. In 1965 the Communist authorities demanded that the band stop performing under the name The Saints, because of the religious innuendo that the name carried. Forced to comply, the band took the name Phoenix.

After winning a few prizes in national students' contests, in 1968 they recorded their first EP, Vremuri (Old Times), containing two original songs, Vremuri and Canarul (The Canary), and two covers. A second EP would follow one year later, named Floarea stâncilor (The Flower of the Rocks), with all four songs being original compositions. Both albums sport a sound reminiscent of the beat style popular in that era.

In 1970, Moni Bordeianu emigrated to the US, and, for a brief period of time the band suspended its activity. Phoenix was born again the same year, with Covaci, Josef Kappl , Mircea Baniciu , Günther Reininger , Costin Petrescu (replaced in 1974 by Ovidiu Lipan , nicknamed "Ţăndărică") and Valeriu Sepi .

But the Communist officials were not very comfortable with the Western-style music that they were singing, and kept creating them problems. So Phoenix abandoned the beat and instead turned to archaic Romanian music as their source of inspiration. The first outcome would be the 1972 LP Cei ce ne-au dat nume (Those Who Gave Us Our Names) - the first LP to be recorded in Romania by a Romanian band. Two years later, Mugur de fluier (Flute Bud) followed. Both albums underwent severe censorship.

In 1975 they recorded Cantafabule, a poem dedicated to mythical creatures: Unicorn, Scarab, Dragon, Mermaid, and, of course, the Phoenix bird itself. By this time, the popularity of Phoenix had grown huge; people loved their songs not only for what they were, but also because they contained thinly-veiled allusions to the Communist regime. The band members, especially Nicu Covaci, found themselves increasingly harassed by the Securitate. Covaci married a Dutch woman and left the country in 1976. He returned in 1977, bringing in relief aid for those struck by the powerful earthquake on March 4. After two grandious concerts in Constanţa and Tulcea, Covaci surprisingly left the country again, this time with all the band members (except Baniciu) hidden inside their Marshall speakers - a huge undertaking, since in Communist Romania it was extremely difficult to obtain approval to travel abroad, and illegal border crossing carried the death penalty.

After arriving in Germany, Phoenix disbanded. Kappl and a few others (who?) formed a new band, Madhouse and released a not very successful album named From East... to West. In 1981, Covaci co-opted Neumann and Kappl under the name Transsylvania Phoenix (since a band named Phoenix already existed) and released an LP named Transsylvania, containing mostly old Phoenix songs translated into English to target the Western audience. Covaci also released two EPs on his own.

In 1990 Phoenix made a triumphant comeback to Romania, with a highly emotional concert in their hometown Timişoara, the city that sparked the popular revolt in December 1989 that eventually led to the downfall of the Communist regime. In the following years, Phoenix toured a lot and released a few compilations of their older recordings. Internal frictions, especially between Covaci and Baniciu, were making headlines in the media. A new album appeared in 2000, the first, and so far the only original album after their 1990 comeback; with the exception of Covaci, the lineup comprised none of the members from the '70s.

As of 2004, the band still performs at live events, albeit quite rarely.

Discography:

In Romania:

• Vremuri (Old Times), 1968, EP
• Floarea stâncilor/Totuşi ca voi sînt (The Flower of the Rocks/Yet I'm Just Like You), 1969, EP
• Cei ce ne-au dat nume (Those Who Gave Us Our Names), 1972, LP (re-edited on CD in 1999)
• Meşterul Manole, 1973, EP
• Mugur de fluier (Flute Bud), 1974, LP (re-edited on CD in 1999)
• Cantafabule (Cantafables), 1975, LP

In Germany (under the name Transsylvania Phoenix):

• Transsylvania, 1981, LP
• Ballade For You/The Lark, 1987, single
• Tuareg/Mr. G's Promises, 1988, single

In Romania:

• Ciocîrlia/Perestroika (The Lark/Perestroika), 1990, single
• SymPhoenix/Timişoara, 1992, CD/MC/LP
• Evergreens, 1993, CD/MC
• Cantafabule - Bestiar, 1996, CD
• Aniversare 35 (35th Anniversary), 1997, CD/MC
• Vremuri, anii '60 (Old Times, The 60s), 1998, CD/MC
• Ora-Hora, 1999, Maxi-CD
• În umbra marelui urs (In the Shadow of the Big Bear), 2000, CD/MC, re-edited in 2003 as În umbra marelui URSS (In the Shadow of the Big USSR)

Members:

• Nicolae (Nicu) Covaci - lead guitar, vocals
• Manfred (Mani) Neumann - violin, flute
• Mircea Baniciu - vocals
• Ovidiu Lipan (Ţăndărică) - drums

Some of the former members:

• Florin (Moni) Bordeianu (1962-1970) - vocals
• Kamocsa Béla (1962-1970) - drums, bass guitar
• Josef (Joschi) Kappl (1971-1999) - bass guitar, vocals
• Günther Reininger (1966-1974) - piano, keyboards
• Costin Petrescu (1972-1974) - drums
• Valeriu Sepi (1971-1973) - percussion
• Erlend Krauser (1976-1978) - violin, guitar
• Volker Vaessen (1992-2000) - bass guitar
• Tom Buggie (1980-1981) - bass guitar

External links

• Phoenix's official website
• The Romanian Phoenix fan site