Vinyl Nostalgia 
The Hungarian supergroup Locomotiv GT was formed in 1971 by musicians previously playing in Omega, Hungária, and Metro. Their debut album, „Locomotiv GT,” was released that same year, instantly catapulting them to stardom.
Locomotiv GT became very popular in Poland in the 1970s, where they toured extensively. Unfortunately, I never managed to attend a single concert, even though I owned several vinyl records and listened to them often.
Locomotiv GT (1971) – First Edition
I don’t know how a 49-year-old copy of the original (in Hungarian) pressing of the band’s debut album ended up in a small second-hand record shop in town of Czestochowa (Poland), but for obvious reasons, I snapped it up for a mere… $5, and needless to say, it’s one of the best albums of that era. If it were released by a local artist in the UK or overseas, it would be a progressive rock hit (with elements of jazz and blues).
The album was released in December 1971 on the Pepita label under the catalog number SLPX 17435. Interestingly, two versions were released simultaneously, with labels in two languages: Hungarian and English (under the same number). My copy is in Hungarian, but I’m looking for the English version. Matrix numbers from the end caps (the so-called runout area): SLPX 17435-A I. E01 (side 1) and SLPX 17435-B I. E01 (side 2). Original release label:It’s believed that due to its ambitious repertoire, the album didn’t achieve significant commercial success and didn’t spawn any major hits. However, some Hungarian sources claim that less than a year after its release, „Locomotiv GT” achieved gold status according to the Hungarian charts of the time, meaning it sold over 100,000 copies. And that was enough to get the locomotive going again.
