Adriatyk, ocean gorący - Lombard

The Polish band Lombard formed in 1981. Bandleader Grzegorz Stróżniak is composer, arranger, and vocalist who also plays the keyboards. For over 35 years, he has given the band its original pop-rock character, combining expressive guitar sound with a full range of keyboards and electronics. In the first decade of its activity, Lombard cooperated with many instrumentalists and two vocalists: Wanda Kwietniewska and Małgorzata Ostrowska, who then decided to pursue their solo career. In 1999, Marta Cugier became the band’s lead singer. 

The band boasts a number of well-known and well-liked hits. This single, 'Adriatyk, ocean gorący' ('Adriatic, hot ocean') was released in 1983 and also included on their second studio album 'Wolne Od Cła'.

My collection: 7" single no. 6817
Found: Received 21 November 2022
Tracks: 'Adriatyk, ocean gorący' / 'Dwa Słowa, dwa Światy'

Wciąż bardziej obcy - Lady Pank

Lady Pank is a popular Polish rock band, started in 1981 in Wrocław by Jan Borysewicz and Andrzej Mogielnicki. Their first hit was Mała Lady Punk ('Little Lady Punk'). The band's most popular songs are: 'Tańcz głupia, tańcz' ('Dance, stupid, dance'), 'Mniej niż zero' ('Less than zero'), 'Wciąż bardziej obcy' ('More and more of a stranger'), 'Kryzysowa narzeczona' ('Crisis fiancée'), 'Zamki na piasku' ('Castles on the sand'), 'Tacy sami' ('Just the same'), 'Zostawcie Titanica' ('Leave the Titanic alone') and many more. 

In 1983 alone, the group performed live 369 times. The same year they released this single, 'Wciąż bardziej obcy' ('Still more alien'). After another three years the total number of live shows grew to over 800, a record at the time in Poland. On November 30, 2000 Lady Pank played a jubilee concert in Wrocław, celebrating the group's 18th birthday. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6816
Found: Received 21 November 2022
Tracks: 'Wciąż bardziej obcy' / 'Zamki na piasku'

Zamieniam Się W Psa - Perfect

Two years after they released the EP 'Chcemy Być Sobą', Perfect came up with the single 'Zamieniam Się W Psa' ('I'm turning into a dog'), taken from their 1982 album 'Unu'.

That album was released in late 1982, in a period when martial law was introduced in Poland. A year later, Perfect released their first live album. Subsequently, they disbanded, only occasionally appearing on stage – in 1987, 1989 and in the early 1990s, when they toured in the United States twice. Before 2021, the band wanted to do a farewell tour, they released their last single 'Głos' in 2020 and started touring all across Poland. On the 27 April 2021, Grzegorz Markowski announced via the Facebook page of his daughter that his health was going down. The rest of the band said they would play on "for Grzegorz". That never happened. Instead, a few weeks later the band disbanded.

My collection: 7" single no. 6815
Found: Received 21 November 2022
Tracks: 'Zamieniam się w psa' / 'Dla zasady nie ma sprawy'

Bruce Lee karate mistrz - Franek Kimono

With this single we move firmly towards novelty repertoire. Franek Kimono is a musical character created by actor Piotr Fronczewski. His character was a parody of the disco style. The originator of the character was Andrzej Korzyński (under the pseudonym Andrzej Spol), and the co-authors were Mariusz Zabrodzki and Sławomir Wesołowski. Apart from Andrzej Korzyński, lyrics for the album were also written by Krzysztof Gradowski. 

Piotr Fronczewski was chosen as the vocalist during the recording of the soundtrack to the film Akademia Pana Kleks (1983). In 1983, a single with the songs "King Bruce Lee karate master" and "Dysk Jockey" was released, and the next year a full-length vinyl record. Over time, CD reissues of the album appeared - in 1991, in 1999 and in 2008.

My collection: 7" single no. 6814
Found: Received 21 November 2022
Tracks: 'King Bruce Lee karate mistrz' / 'Dysk Dżokej'

Zimne kino - Kapitan Nemo

Kapitan Nemo is the stage name of the Polish singer Bogdan Tadeusz Gajkowski. Having released his first singles in 1983, the year 1984 brought the greatest success in his career, when the compositions 'Zimne kino' and 'Twoja Lorelei' were released on a single. The latter was actually the B-side of the single but became his best known song.

The single actually features two very accessible synthpop songs that were probably unknown to most people on the western side of the iron curtain. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6813
Found: Received 21 November 2022
Tracks: 'Zimne kino' / 'Tvoja Lorelei'

Jezu Jak Się Cieszę - Klaus Mitffoch

Contrary to what you might think, Klaus Mitffoch is not the name of a male singer. It is the name of a Polish rock band. It was founded in 1979 by Lech Janerka and split in 1984. In those five years they only released one album and three singles. The second one was this one: 'Jezu Jak Się Cieszę' ('Jesus I'm So Happy'). 

The band consisted of Lech Janerka (bass guitar/vocals), Krzysztof Pociecha (guitar/backing vocals), Wiesław Mrozik (guitar/backing vocals) and Marek Puchała (drums/backing vocals). Janerka went on to a long-term solo career; Pociecha collaborated with Janerka on two more albums. From 1986 to 1989 Mrozik and Puchała, joined by Paweł Chyliński (guitar/vocals), Jacek Fedorowicz (bass guitar) and Zbigniew Kapturski (guitar/vocals), continued to perform under the name 'Klaus Mit Foch'; this latter line-up released the album 'Mordoplan' in 1988.

My collection: 7" single no. 6812
Found: Received 21 November 2022
Tracks: 'Jezu Jak Się Cieszę' / 'O glowie'

Brylanty - Izabela Trojanowska

Izabela Trojanowska was born on 22 April 1955 in Olsztyn (Poland). She managed to create two successful careers almost synchronously: as an actress and as a singer. Her debut album 'Iza' was released in 1981, followed by 'Układy' the next year. This single, 'Brylanty', is taken from that second album, which is described as synthpop and new wave - an accurate description as far as I can tell.

What's amazing, is that this lady is still going strong. She still plays live, performs in movies and TV series and acts as a coach in the Polish version of The Voice Senior. From what I can gather online, she still has the looks too. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6811
Found: Received 21 November 2022
Tracks: 'Brylanty' / 'Nic naprawdę'