Polish rock bands (the popularity game)

[Latta198]

Hi, this is my second thread. I'm Italian, that's why I'm writing in English.

Please tell me if I bother you, I really don't want to!
I'm just trying to understand the Polish rock situation, since I like it a lot and I would love to get informations directly from Polish guys.

I want to propose you a game, it would help me a lot.
I'm writing the name of some of Polish pop, folk & rock bands, you have to put them in one of these "fame categories".

1. One of the most popular bands (everybody knows them, they have sold a lot of records)
2. Popular (not one of the most popular bands, but still well known, with some famous songs)
3. Popular in the past (but not so much today)
4. Popular in the underground (everyone who listen to alternative music knows them, but they are not mainstream)
5. Totally underground (bands for a few people)

The names you have to place are:
Klaus Mitffoch, Maanam, Lady Pank, Republika, Siekiera, Aya RL, Izabela Trojanowska, Brygada Kryzys, Perfect, Bank, Oddzial Zamkniety, Kobranocka, Rezerwat, Roze Europy, Sztywny Pal Azji, Ziyo, Tilt, Lombard, Dzem, Myslovitz, Hey, Raz Dwa Tzry, Voo Voo, T. Love, Swietliki, Kaliber 44, Lao Che, Cool Kids of Death, Strachy na Lachy, Happysad, Coma, Lenny Valentino, Scianka, C. Niemen, Klan, Budka Suflera, SBB, Marek Grechuta, Exodus, Skaldowie, Breakout, Marek Bilinski, Dezerter, Turbo, Armia, Izrael, Daab, Wilki, J. Kaczmarski, P. Gintrowski, Czerwone Gitary and their leaders (Klenczon, Krajewski, etc.), G. Turnau, Ewa Demarczyk, Kabaret Starszych Panów, P. Szczepanik, Tadeusz Nalepa, Edyta Bartosiewicz, M. Jacubowicz, Wojciech Młynarski, Tadeusz Woźniak

Feel free to add other names if you want!

(I have listened to only a half of these artists, I'm just curious about their real popularity. Anyway, I think I will explore them all! )

[Tomekk]

Hi.
I can help you, but I don't remember 80s and I don't know, how much popular were these bands in the past.
Certainly other users can define this
I see that you replace also new bands like Coma or happysad - now they are very popular in Poland. They sold a lot of albums.

[Neo01]

Hi, again
OK, let's play
In my opinion this will be something like that:

1. T. Love, Edyta Bartosiewicz (waiting for she's last CD about 10 years but still believe ), Dzem, Myslovitz, Hey, G. Turnau, Wilki, Lady Pank, Perfect, Budka Suflera (last 3 bands was most popular in the past, but they're still quite popular)
2. Happysad, Coma, Raz Dwa Trzy, Strachy na Lachy (these bands have a lot of fans but in the whole country i think there are something like between alternative and pop quite well-known bands)
3. Aya RL, Lombard, Maanam, Oddział Zamkniety, Republika, Czerwone Gitary and their leaders, Izabela Trojanowska, Kobranocka, Rezerwat, Roze Europy, Sztywny Pal Azji, Ziyo, Breakout (Tadeusz Nalepa - it's really continous of Breakout), P. Szczepanik, Marek Grechuta, Skaldowie, Ewa Demarczyk, Kabaret Starszych Panów, Wojciech Młynarski, J. Kaczmarski, C. Niemen (He's really huge in P.)
4. Lao Che, Cool Kids of Death, Voo Voo, Armia, Daab (diffrent kinds of alternative )
5. Scianka, Swietliki, Lenny Valentino (these 3 bands between 4 and 5), Marek Bilinski (don't really know him), P. Gintrowski (rather in past), Bank (i think...)
6. Klan, SBB, Klaus Mitffoch, Siekiera, Tilt, Brygada Kryzys, Izrael, Dezerter, Exodus, Turbo, M. Jakubowicz, Tadeusz Woźniak, Kaliber 44 (underground bands and artists, but quite polular in the past )

Try also this nowdays alternative bands: Muchy, Kombajn do Zbierania Kur po Wioskach, Kim Nowak.

Greets!

[Miszon]

OK, let's try:

1. One of the most popular bands (everybody knows them, they have sold a lot of records)
Lady Pank, Republika (but not existing), Maanam (but not existing), Perfect, Oddzial Zamkniety (but not existing), Dzem, Myslovitz, Hey, Raz Dwa Trzy, T. Love, Coma, C. Niemen (but died in 2004), Budka Suflera, Marek Grechuta (but died in 2006), Breakout (but not existing for over 30 years, so could be category 3), Wilki, Czerwone Gitary, Edyta Bartosiewicz, Kasia Kowalska, Bajm
2. Popular (not one of the most popular bands, but still well known, with some famous songs),
Izabela Trojanowska, Kobranocka, Roze Europy, Sztywny Pal Azji, Strachy na Lachy, Happysad, Lao Che, G. Turnau, Klaus Mitffoch, TSA
3. Popular in the past (but not so much today)
Aya RL, Bank, Rezerwat, Ziyo, Lombard, Klan, SBB, Exodus, Skaldowie, Marek Bilinski, Daab, Kabaret Starszych Panów, P. Szczepanik, Tadeusz Nalepa, Ira, Chłopcy z Placu Broni
4. Popular in the underground (everyone who listen to alternative music knows them, but they are not mainstream)
Siekiera, Brygada Kryzys, Tilt, Voo Voo, Kaliber 44, Cool Kids of Death, Lenny Valentino, Scianka, Dezerter, Turbo, Armia, Izrael, J. Kaczmarski, P. Gintrowski, Ewa Demarczyk, M. Jakubowicz, Wojciech Młynarski, Tadeusz Woźniak, Lech Janerka, Maria Peszek, Acid Drinkers, Closterkeller, Pogodno
5. Totally underground (bands for a few people)
Swietliki, Homo Twist, Apteka

I added some new names.

I have to mention that polish music market is very strange - many "underground" artists sell more albums than popular pop artists that have high airplay on radios. So sometimes it's hard to determine who is in 1st/2nd and who in 4th category. Actually it's even normal that alternative (and rap) artists are topsellers but you can't hear them in popular media.

[Neo01]

Forgot about Kult, Miszon
And maybe Varius Manx too (rather older songs)
I think, both in 1.

[Miszon]

Kult wasn't on the list. But i give 1. But VM rather 3.

[Neo01]

It wasn't but You forgot to add them
Generally, I agree with Miszon (I construction my list like: artist who don't sell albums nowdays are going to 3., but some artists are really very popular accept that) but Izabela Trojanowska, Kobranocka, Roze Europy, Sztywny Pal Azji, Klaus Mitffoch imo are definetly in 3.

[Latta198]

I have to mention that polish music market is very strange - many "underground" artists sell more albums than popular pop artists that have high airplay on radios. So sometimes it's hard to determine who is in 1st/2nd and who in 4th category. Actually it's even normal that alternative (and rap) artists are topsellers but you can't hear them in popular media.

I noticed that ahahah, that's amazing!
I've seen that Maria Peszek sell a lot of records, even if she is not so popular on Youtube. It seems that in Poland a lot of people who cares about music is still buying albums, while random listeners don't. The result is that an underground artist go to no. 1 even if it is not mainstream. Here in Italy that doesn't apply: underground artists are still selling a few records and they hardly enter the charts.

I want to thank you and Neo again for all your detailed and useful answers.
I also noticed that you answered differently for some artists.

Czerwone Gitary (Miszon 1, Neo 3), Niemen (Miszon 1, Neo 3), Grechuta (Miszon 1, Neo 3), Republika (Miszon 1, Neo 3), Maanam (Miszon 1, Neo 3), Oddzial Zamkniety (Miszon 1, Neo 3), Raz Dwa Trzy (Miszon 1, Neo 2), Coma (Miszon 1, Neo 2), G. Turnau (Miszon 2, Neo 1), Varius Manx (Miszon 3, Neo 1)

Now who's right? Just kidding, I know that probably there is not a definitive answer. Anyway, I hope someone else would answer, to let me know other perspectives.

p.s. this is the second time I forgot Kult, ahahah. It's funny, because I really like them!

[Latta198]

I want other answers, please, don't be shy!

[Latta198]

Hi, I'm back again, eheheh.

I wanted you to know that I'm still exploring Polish music

I've got a question for you.
I was searching for Myslovitz sales figures, and what I found was kinda strange: it seems that "Miłość w czasach popkultury" has sold 150.000 copies.

How is this possible? I mean, back in the days Ich Troje sold more than 350.000 copies with some of their albums.

But today Myslovitz seem to be way more popular: on Facebook they have 270.000 fans, while Ich Troje only 6.000.
On youtube Ich Troje have only a couple of songs with 1 million views, while Myslovitz have a lot of songs with multiple million views.

How is it possible for Ich Troje to be so forgotten if in 2000-2002 they sold so much more records than Myslovitz?
Or if you prefer, how can Myslovitz be so popular if they never had a real blockbuster?

[Miszon]

Myslovitz HAD real blockbuster . As far as I remember, on "Miłość w czasach popkultury" were 4 big hits, including "Długość dźwięku samotności" and "My", still very popular on radio stations. Actually I thought it was sold more than 150.000 copies. Also, they got 5 Fryderyk Awards (in 2 years) for that album. But before that album, they were rather alternative band, than star. Later, they even tried to make international career, but gave up after one album (long story, why).

And Ich Troje was like meteor - very popular for few years, always with bad reviews from music press. And it was something more than just music - they were probably one of the first polish celebrities, with their own reality show in TV (sth like Ozzbournes in MTV) and so on. OK, they sold a lot of albums, but were always considered as bad music.

[Latta198]

Myslovitz HAD real blockbuster . As far as I remember, on "Miłość w czasach popkultury" were 4 big hits, including "Długość dźwięku samotności" and "My", still very popular on radio stations. Actually I thought it was sold more than 150.000 copies. Also, they got 5 Fryderyk Awards (in 2 years) for that album.

I know that the album had some great hit singles, that's why I was surprised to hear that it sold only 150.000 copies.
I also think that maybe it has sold more, but every source I can find says 150.000... which is not a great performance, considering that at the time some albums sold more than twice quite easily.
Can someone help me to understand?

And Ich Troje was like meteor - very popular for few years, always with bad reviews from music press. And it was something more than just music - they were probably one of the first polish celebrities, with their own reality show in TV (sth like Ozzbournes in MTV) and so on. OK, they sold a lot of albums, but were always considered as bad music.

I know they were bad, I was just talking about popularity: it seems that Myslovitz are way more popular today, but officially "Popkultury" has sold less than a half than some Ich Troje albums at the time...

[Latta198]

I've got another question for you

When was "Perfect" released?
Their official site says 1981, but on archiwumrocka.art.pl you can find 1982.
On this forum "Perfect" is also pointed as the best selling Polish album of 1982 ( http://www.forum.lp3.pl/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=7763 ).

Wikipedia says 1981, but its source is Perfect's official site, so it doesn't help us.
Do you have any other sources? Maybe some old Polish magazines?

[Miszon]

Here:
http://forum.lp3.pl/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8681
you can read about re-release of that album. As you can see, there's long discussion about that, but seems that 1982 is right year.