Dežo Ursiny

Dezider Ursiny, better known as Dežo Ursiny (; 4 October 1947 – 2 May 1995) was a Slovak musician, composer, and filmmaker. In the 1960s, he was a member of the Beatmen and the Soulmen, two bands who pioneered an Eastern European style of music called big beat, which combined rock and roll, jazz, and twist when those styles were banned in the Eastern Bloc. He subsequently launched a solo career, usually in collaboration with the poet Ivan Štrpka, and composed music for a number of films. Ursiny died of oral cancer on 2 May 1995, aged 47.

In 2019, Ursiny was ranked 83rd in the RTVS Greatest Slovak poll. In 2021, he was awarded the Pribina Cross, 2nd class, by the President of Slovakia, for "extraordinary services to the cultural development of the Slovak Republic".

Biography Early life and Beatmen Dezider Ursiny was born and grew up in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (present-day Slovakia). He began playing guitar at the age of 11, and during his studies at the Central Industrial School of Electrical Engineering in Bratislava, he was a member of the bands Fontána and Jolana. In 1964, he joined the Beatmen, who had formed shortly before, as lead guitarist and vocalist. The group released two singles, and after being named the first musical group from the Eastern Bloc to perform beyond the Iron Curtain, with a 1966 performance in Munich, as well as opening for the English rock band Manfred Mann in Bratislava, they emigrated to West Germany, though Ursiny chose to stay in Czechoslovakia.

Soulmen, New Soulmen, and Provisorium In 1967, he formed the Soulmen with bassist Fedor Frešo and drummer Dušan Hájek, a band whose style of music was similar to the Beatmen, consisting of a blend of rock and big beat. In December 1967, they performed at the first Czechoslovak Beat Festival, held at Lucerna, in Prague, winning first place in a contest of performers. They released one four-track EP, before splitting up the following year. In 1991, he released the movie O rakovine a nádeji, a documentary about his fight with the illness. In 1992, he published the double album Ten istý tanec. In 1994, his cancer returned, and he refused further treatment.

In December 2008, a film directed by Petr Krištúfek, entitled Momentky was screened at the Bratislava International Film Festival, detailing Ursiny's life and career. The film featured interviews with Ursiny's second wife, Soňa Ursinyová; his sister, Elena Ursinyová; his last girlfriend, Zdenka Krejčová; his two sons; as well Fedor Frešo, Ivan Štrpka, Marián Varga, Andrej Šeban, and a number of his former friends and collaborators. In 1995, he won Album of the Year for Príbeh at the 5th ZAI Awards.

In Radio and Television of Slovakia's 2019 Greatest Slovak poll, Ursiny was ranked 83rd.

On 27 June 2021, he was posthumously awarded the Pribina Cross, 2nd class, by then-President of Slovakia, Zuzana Čaputová, for "extraordinary services to the cultural development of the Slovak Republic".

Discography with the Beatmen Singles "Safely Arrived" / "The Enchanted Lie" (1965) "Break It" / "Let's Make a Summer" (1965) "Stand Up and Go" / "As You Love Me" (1966)

with the Soulmen EP Sample of Happiness/Wake Up/I Wish I Were/Baby Do Not Cry (1968)

Solo Studio albums Pevnina detstva (1978) Nové mapy ticha (1979) with Ivan Štrpka Modrý vrch (1981) with Ivan Štrpka 4/4 (1983) with Ivan Štrpka Bez počasia (1984) with Ivan Štrpka Zelená (1986) with Ivan Štrpka Na ceste domov (1987) with Ivan Štrpka Momentky (1990) with Ivan Štrpka Do tla (1991) with Ivan Štrpka Ten istý tanec (1992) with Ivan Štrpka Príbeh (1994) with Ivan Štrpka

English-language albums The Blue Hill (1983) Without Weather (1984) (1984) Green (1986) On the Way Home (1987)

Compilations Pevniny a vrchy (1997) Pevniny a vrchy 2 (2000)

Live albums Posledný príbeh live (2000) Tisíc izieb (2014)

DVDs Dežo Ursiny 70 (2018)

Singles "Hra je hra/Stá pieseň o daždi" (1980)

Other albums Dežo Ursiny & Provisorium (1973)