He will be seventy years old on August 15th, which is hard to believe. Even the fact that he doesn't have a single state award... Interview.
Why no?
I don't know the answer, but I'm not looking for it either. I spent 51 of my seventy years on stage. The public likes me, I have professional recognitions, I have been left out of state awards so far. If I receive it, I accept it with thanks, if not, nothing happens either. I've always walked on the ground with two feet, it's hard to shake my world.
He was born in Sashalmon. Under what circumstances?
We were poor, the seven of us lived in a house with a room and kitchen, my parents, my three brothers, my sister, and me.
But we didn't deal with the difficulties, a child perceives the world differently anyway. My father was a shoemaker, and my mother cleaned day and night for the sake of the family. I loved him. He was wise, although due to his family situation he only got to the third grade. I inherited my Karakanship from him.
Among his four brothers, Gábor Antal Szűcs also became a recognized musician. And the others?
They also played music when they were young, it was natural for us to play music. For example, our father plays the mandolin. Maybe that's where the love of music came from. It couldn't come from our mother, the poor thing didn't have any time for it. He cleaned three places and distributed lunch next to him. I'll never forget, I was five years old, when he once told me, you'll see, you'll be famous!
In the beginning, he also played the piano in addition to singing. Where did the idea come from?
You should know, my mother also worked in Mátyásföld for a while, and I always went to see her a little after elementary school. There, in the basement of the building, was a piano. I liked it. Later, I received a piano for my home, the price was paid off monthly. It was a serious financial difficulty for them to buy it, but they did it. I attended the Táncsics Mihály music elementary school in Mátyásföld from the second grade, I was a soloist in the choir. Once I was even able to shake hands with Zoltán Kodály. I had a very good singing teacher. Her name was Aunt Ili, who, when she heard her sing for the first time, said to my mother, this child has gold in her throat!
He played the piano, sang in a choir, and could have taken a straight path to classical music...
Classical music was also important later in my life, but due to family circumstances I had to work, I had no other choice. That's how I went to the hairdresser. Then came the 1972 Who Knows? where we won with the Fodrász Egyesület Tavasz 67 choir, and I won solo in the pop music category. I was nineteen at the time.
Who Knows What? did it make a big difference in your life?
Not at first. I lived in the same room and kitchen apartment as before, we didn't have a phone, of course.
I always went out to the phone booth on the corner and threw tantuses while discussing my possible performances.
Of course, people got to know me, opportunities came, but the real milestone came in 1977, when at the Metronóm festival Táncolj yet! I came third with the number Before that, even though I had success at foreign festivals, even though I collected many notes that could have been made into a record, Péter Erdős, the director of the Hungarian pop music scene, did not allow it.
Did he hate you?
She didn't hate him, she just held him back. But by 1978, he already felt that after so much success, it would be weird if Szűcs Judith didn't have a record and finally the disc could be released. It became a platinum album, which meant that 250,000 copies were sold. By the way, Erdős also tried to get me to perform with Neoton and go to Japan with them for the Yamaha Festival. Since I had already been on the Yamaha, where I had shared a stage with Bonnie Tyler, I managed to take it off without him taking offense to me. Of course, I knew from the first moment that I shouldn't enter Neoton, because I would have been in the back bench in no time, as a vocalist.
Are you satisfied with your career?
I have no reason to complain. I was able to perform in countless places abroad. In East Germany, the Soviet Union, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, and not to mention Switzerland, a serious music publisher insisted that I appear on their disco album with two songs. They liked it, since in 1979 I was already on the album cover under the stage name Judith. I have had twenty albums so far, many hits, I was the singer of the year four times in my country. What I regret, however, is that if I didn't have a red passport and I didn't need a visa for many places, maybe I could have found a career in West Germany. The manager of Boney M., the cool band of the time, Frank Farian, believed in me and wanted a LP with me, but due to constant visa problems, nothing came of it.
You didn't think about defecting?
It did not even occur to me. I am Hungarian, the Hungarian public loved me, and this love cannot be left here. And I wouldn't have gone to the West because of my family either. The vulnerability made me tougher, after a while I took care of everything myself. I became my own manager of performances, contracts. Still.
Who named the disco queen?
I don't know, it came automatically, obviously Dance more! because of
In the meantime, let me quietly note that Sashalmon is not an honorary citizen either...
I moved from there in 1983, although I lived there until I was 30 years old. When my mom died, I left Sashalm because everything reminded me of her.
By the time I was growing up, my mom was like my girlfriend. We made the world laugh together. His death, however, was overlooked.
I just got divorced, I was left there alone with my little daughter, Timi, and the following year, when I turned 40, my mother also left. I started a new life, and I sang out my pain in the car while driving...
Have you been performing often lately?
I don't accept every invitation, and even if I'm invited to TV, I choose where I go.
What does your little girl, Timi, do?
She makes mineral jewelry and holds flower therapy. He is already living an independent life. He found himself and I also found my partner, with whom we have been together for 13 years. We thought about the wedding for a while, he also asked for my hand in marriage, but in the end we decided against it, we are still happy. At least I can say about myself that I am still a bride at the age of 70...
Mandarin
Featured image: Photo: Ringier/Csaba Oláh
