Magyar Posta is continuing its series on Hungarian rock classics by presenting the band EAST, which is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its foundation in 2025. Forty thousand copies of the black-numbered perforated souvenir sheets and 4,000 copies of the red-numbered imperforated souvenir sheets designed by the Munkácsy Mihály Prize winning graphic artist and Artist of Merit József Szurcsik were produced by ANY Security Printing Company. The new issue goes on sale at Filaposta, philately specialist services, certain post offices and www.posta.hu from 21 October 2025.
The roots of EAST go back to the band Angyalok in Szeged, where Péter Móczán and István Király played in the early 1970s. The band rose to prominence at national festivals, and János Varga joining the line-up gave the band additional strength. EAST was formed in 1975, and their first concert was in Szeged, achieving great success. Originally, Béla Szakcsi Lakatos was the keyboard player, then Ferenc Császár took over as a permanent member in 1977. In 1979, they released their first single, “A valóság hangjai” (Sounds of Reality), and in 1980 the singer Miklós Zareczky joined the
formation, which launched the band’s second era. Their first album, “Játékok” came out in 1981, followed by the English version, “Blue Paradise”. In the 1980s they also performed in Japan, the Netherlands and West Berlin as well as on Warsaw TV. Their major albums were “Hűség” (Faith, 1982), “Rések a falon” (Cracks in the Wall, 1983), “Az áldozat” (Victim, 1984), and “1986” (1986). During the period when singer Tamás Takáts was part of the band, they had two successful albums in Hungary, “A szerelem sivataga” (The Desert of Love, 1988) and “Radio Babel” (1994), and abroad “Taking the Wheel” (Switzerland, 1992). Their best-known song is “East ‘56” (1989). They released their albums abroad in the 1990s and gave their last major concert in 1994. In the period 2012-2017, they reunited: they released “Csepel felett az ég” (The Sky over Csepel, a 1981 concert recording, 2012), and performed a concert with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Palace of Arts, Budapest (2014, MTVA recording).
The souvenir sheet and the related publications were created by graphic artist József Szurcsik, who also designed many of the band’s album covers. On the special souvenir sheet, the designer fuses human motifs with elements of the environment in a unique way. The special first day cover (FDC) features an abstract artwork by the graphic artist, and a human face complementing the inscriptions appears in the postmark.
