BB Gabor -

BB Gabor — aka Gabor Hegedus (1948 — Jan. 17, 1990) — was a Hungarian-born/Canada-based singer, guitarist, and songwriter who released two albums in 1980/81 on Anthem.

Background

BB Gabor was born Gabor Hegedus in 1948 in Hungary. The Hegedus family fled Hungary during the Soviet suppression of the 1956 uprising and settled in London. Gabor attended St. Benedict’s School in Ealing from 1957 to 1964, where he sang as a boy soloist during Catholic mass.

In 1972, Gabor moved to Toronto and settled near the Bay–Bloor district after a short stay with his brother Istvan. By early 1973, he worked as a singer and guitarist in Toronto bands, including Instaband and Misfits. Instaband placed him in the suburban pub circuit and the Queen Street orbit around Grossman’s Tavern.

ATV Music Publishing signed Gabor as a songwriter before Pye and Blueprint issued his early British singles. Pye issued “Nyet Nyet Soviet” by B.B. Gabor + Instaband on the British market. Blueprint followed with “Laser Love” b/w “All the Time” in Britain. Members of Rush heard “Nyet Nyet Soviet Jewellery” on CFNY-FM and urged Anthem to sign Gabor. Radio Free Europe broadcasts later carried “Nyet Nyet Soviet” and “Moscow Drug Club” to Hungary.

BB Gabor

BB Gabor released his self-titled debut album in spring 1980 on Anthem.

The album contains nine Gabor originals and one Joni Mitchell cover. Leon Stevenson co-wrote four titles. Gabor recorded the main sessions with flutist Simon Stone, backing singers Polly T. & The Buros, drummers Paul Armstrong and Mike Sloski, guitarists David Bendeth and Peter Follett, bassists Tom Griffiths and Jim Jones, and keyboardists David Stone and Rob Gusevs. The sessions also feature David Stone on synthesizer, synthesized bass, and clavinet.

“Metropolitan Life” skitters through bright electric figures and jagged rhythm bits, with Gabor projecting the city-life phrases in a dry, declarative line. “Consumer” bounces through polished mall-rush patter, with a mild chorus lift after the verses’ crowded ad-copy images. “Nyet Nyet Soviet (Soviet Jewellery)” races on tight riff pivots, with the anti-KGB chant pressed through harshened singing.

“Laser Love” twitches through low-octave repeats, techno accents, synth-bass throb and talkbox-like guitar. “Moscow Drug Club” tramps through polka turns, accordion swells and barroom callouts around its underground-jazz scenario. “Underground World” returns to a brisk urban stomp, with a hard riff answering Gabor’s deadpan lines.

“All the Time” glides from angular lounge verses into a broader chorus, with a long solo riding over the polished backing. “Hunger, Poverty & Misery” coils around tight jazz-funk changes and a talkbox solo, with the lyric turning money anxiety into plain statement. “Ooh Mama” stomps through clavinet accents and short hard-rock phrasing. “Big Yellow Taxi” drifts through slow chorused haze, then revs the Joni Mitchell cover into a late full-band climax.

A1. “Metropolitan Life” (2:41) – Gabor, Stevenson
A2. “Consumer” (2:48) – Gabor, Stevenson
A3. “Nyet Nyet Soviet (Soviet Jewellery)” (2:38) – Gabor, Armstrong
A4. “Laser Love” (4:10) – Gabor, Stevenson
A5. “Moscow Drug Club” (4:25) – Gabor, Stevenson, Keldie

B1. “Underground World” (3:09) – Gabor
B2. “All the Time” (5:06) – Gabor, Scott
B3. “Hunger, Poverty & Misery” (3:46) – Gabor
B4. “Ooh Mama” (2:16) – Gabor
B5. “Big Yellow Taxi” (5:43) – Mitchell

Sessions occurred in June 1979 at Beach Recorders, Eastern Sound, Soundstage, Phase One, and Manta in Toronto, with additional work at Mercey Brothers Recording Studio in Elmira, Ontario. Terry Brown produced and engineered the main sessions with assistant production and engineering by Gabor, who produced “Moscow Drug Club” at Mercey Brothers, where Larry Mercey engineered the title. Brown entered the project after Seventies production work with Rush, Max Webster, and Klaatu.

BB Gabor appeared in a sleeve directed and designed by Martin Soldat with photography by David Street.

Anthem lifted “Nyet Nyet Soviet (Soviet Jewellery)” as a 1980 single (b/w “Moscow Drug Club”), followed by “Metropolitan Life” (b/w “Hunger, Poverty, Misery”). A later Anthem re-press coupled “Metropolitan Life” with “Ooh Mama.”

Girls of the Future

BB Gabor released his second album, Girls of the Future, in 1981 on Anthem.

Girls of the Future contains ten Gabor-linked originals and the Basman–Stevenson song “Jealous Girl.” Gabor retained Sloski and Gusevs from the debut sessions. The smaller studio core centers on guitarist Ken Basman and bassist Howard Ayee, with Eugene Martynec on production and synthesizer programming.

“Keep On Dreaming” springs through an upbeat line, with Gabor tightening the phrasing into a compact single-length cut. “Girls of the Future” jitters under a glossy finish, with the lyric fixing its fantasy of programmed women in cellophane and fear. “Othello” smooths the sharper edges into a more direct 1981 single-side arrangement.

“Shake” darts through uptempo, tightly set material, with short phrase turns carrying the track’s motion. “Simulated Groove” fractures the B-side into odd, experimental turns, with Gabor leaning into plastic-dance satire. “When You’re the Only One I Love in This World” glides through a mid-paced A–F♯–B–C♯m cycle, with the last single settling into a steadier harmonic loop.

A1. “Keep On Dreaming” (3:39) – Gabor
A2. “Little Thing” (4:18) – Gabor
A3. “Fidgety Pete” (5:40) – Gabor, Stevenson
A4. “Girls of the Future” (2:48) – Gabor
A5. “Othello” (4:13) – Gabor, Basman

B1. “Jealous Girl” (2:37) – Basman, Stevenson
B2. “Outsider” (3:25) – Gabor
B3. “Shake” (2:54) – Gabor, Bertucci
B4. “Simulated Groove” (3:31) – Gabor, Ayee
B5. “Turn, Table, Turn” (3:16) – Gabor, Basman
B6. “When You’re the Only One I Love in This World” (4:11) – Gabor

Gabor recorded and mixed Girls of the Future during 1980 and 1981 at Master’s Workshop and Manta Sound in Toronto with Martynec, a prior soundman for Edward Bear and Rough Trade.

Girls of the Future appeared in a sleeve directed and designed by Soldat with photography by Patrick Harbron.

Anthem issued “Jealous Girl” as a 1981 single (b/w “Simulated Groove”), followed by “Little Thing” (b/w “Othello”). In early 1982, “When You’re the Only One I Love in This World” became the third single from the album (b/w “Keep On Dreaming”).

Postlude

After Girls of the Future, Gabor separated from SRO Management and worked Southern Ontario dates while he prepared additional studio material. By early 1982, he reported session work with Chris Hall and lyric work for a forthcoming Kim Mitchell album. In 1981, Gabor also produced Bangkok’s Thai-Fi single “Eve of Destruction” b/w “Planet of My Own” for the Canadian market.

After Anthem dropped Gabor from its roster in 1983, he relocated to British Columbia. In 1986, Gabor worked on unreleased material with Todd Rundgren during sessions tied to Vancouver and Woodstock, New York. The sessions included guitarists Ken Basman and Ted Quinlan, bassist Mike Lent, drummer Don Powery, and percussionist Andre Grigoriev.

In 1987, Gabor assembled a touring band with keyboardists Phil Dwyer and David Stone, drummer Tony Toly, guitarist Kim Keyser, bassist Tom Christianson, and percussionist Mr. X. He reactivated Equalised Music during the same period and continued production work for Ron Hedland and Jimi B.

On January 17, 1990, Toronto police found Gabor dead in his apartment. The coroner ruled the death a suicide.

Discography: