Ambrus

National Socialism had devised its own notion of the value of German art and culture. This was ruthlessly put into practice when the Nazis took over power in 1933. The more than 175 "degenerate" recorded musical items in this extraordinary 10-CD box set, 'Forbidden But Not Forgotten', relate to the shocking consequences due to that "cleansing". The burning of the Reichstag (7th April) provided the pretext for the prosecution of all who held other political opinions, for the burning of books (10th May) whose authors were on the index of disfavoured and banned writers, for the law that amended entry to the civil service (7th April) that excluded all non-Aryans and led to wholesale dismissals of Jews, especially in orchestras, the administration, among singers, conductors and instrumentalists. By means of the exhibitions "Degenerate Art" (Munich, 1937) and "Degenerate Music" (Düsseldorf, 1938) art and artists who were now to have no place in Nazi Germany were pilloried.

In recent years Ace Records has released a successful series of compilations spotlighting 1960s girl-pop recordings from Japan, France, Italy, Sweden and Spain. Here they visit Hungary, a country whose young female singers performed beat music every bit as bold and brazen as their male counterparts. Spanning the years 1966 to 1971, the collection features feisty freakbeat, folk rock, funky pop and more from 14 of Hungary’s foremost female recording stars, with musical accompaniment provided by some of the nation’s leading beat groups.