Can you play a polka?

The U.K. Telegraph reports that the accordion is very popular in North Korea, well so are ICBMs and nuclear bombs.

No belly shaking?

In her book Nothing to Envy:Real Lives in North Korea Barb Demick says all teachers were once required to play the accordion.

It was often called the people's instrument, according to the author, since it was portable enough to carry along on a day of voluntary hard labor in the fields. In the classroom teachers sang, "We Have Nothing to Envy in the World, which had a sing songy tune as familiar to North Korean children as Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

In 2012 a North Korean accordion band even became a YouTube hit for their version of A-ha's Take On Me.

If we could convince the NoKo nation to start playing polkas, maybe they would become friendlier towards the west.  After all, polkas are the happiest tunes in the world. And, learn how to belly shake those bellows. It's fun!

Blog 27 - #@%#*

This is a bit strange.

A Polish Rock group called Blog 27 released an album with Parental Avisory warning plastered on the front cover. The next thing you know a kid's TV show awards the group's lead singer named Tola an award.

Then again, looking at this side of the pond - kids are listening to Avril Lavigne's hit song and music video "Girlfriend" in which she exclains "Hell yeah, I'm a Motherf**kin' princess.

So, I had to dig out my dusty copy of "I Dig Rock 'n' Roll Music" by Peter, Paul and Mary to remember the old days. At least there you had to read between the lines.

Rhythm in Poland

In case you didn't know, Poland is virtually all Catholic. The rhythm method is popular. This 4 year old drummer got a whole lotta rhythm already.






Watch him bang away.

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Cleveland Style Turbo Polka

Oh look what they've done to the Cleveland Style Slovenian Polka! Wonder what Frankie Vankovic would think if he was still alive and kickin'? This group BTW, is from Slovenia.




Here's Frankie Yankovic performing in the early 1960's. Probably from "Polka Varieties" a local Sunday afternoon Polka show on Cleveland's biggest TV station at the time, WEWS Channel 5.






[Frank Yankovic Bio]

Justyna Steczkowska

Justyna Steczkowska - performing at Przystanek Woodstock 2006








Note: Hear Justyna perform with world renown jazz trumpeter Tomasz Stanko on the www.polishtoledo.com music page.

The Old Polish Style of Folk Music - Really Old

The New Tradition festival, a leading folk music festival in Poland, is held over three days in the Lutoslawski Polish Radio Concert Studio. Audiences will hear Polish groups, including Kapela ze Wsi Warszawa (Warsaw Village Band).

This ain't even the folk music your great-great babcia would be familiar with. It's the really old style of singing in "White Voice." Back when shepards yelled from hill top to hill top. The vocal technique is like that sort of communication. The Warsaw Village Band traveled throughout Poland to find and record older musicians who still played almost-forgotten styles of music, thereafter incorporating those melodies into new songs and expounding upon them. It takes a little time to start to grow on you if your the kind of person who appreciates music in all its forms. Most schlubs will find it irritating.

The first New Tradition event was organized in the studio 10 years ago. It soon turned out that folk music performed by new musical groups drawing on Slavic folklore has established its own faithful audience. This year, 24 ensembles entered, and half of them qualified for the final auditions.

The genre's popularity is thanks to performers like Kapela ze Wsi Warszawa, the festival winner in 1998. The Folk World music periodical considered their performance at the Tanz & Folk Fest in Germany as the second best folk performance of 2000. Soon after the group appeared in the European market as the Warsaw Village Band, and won the prestigious BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music in the Newcomer category in 2004. Schlubs found that irritating.

Take 6 minutes to see & hear. Unless of course you are a schlub. You're probably hearing Maryla Rodowicz as you entered this page. You can scroll down a few posts and put her on pause before clicking on the music video(s).


In The Forest - MTV Style Music Video of Ancient Folk Song
Age old story of relationships




Żurawie - Comment on Video Style:
The band's very name appears to evoke what troubles them about Poland's new capitalism after the nightmare of Communism: many large Polish cities do not have suburbs in the traditional sense, leading to unsettling transitions directly from city to field.

'Scuse me, while I kiss the sky

Almost 2,000 musicians have gathered in the Polish city of Wroclaw to play a rock anthem by Jimi Hendrix. The guitarists were aiming to set a new Guinness World Record by gathering 1,876 guitarists in the city's market square to play Hey Joe.

Organizers say it was the biggest guitar ensemble in recorded history, though Guinness has not yet officially confirmed the feat.

The event brought together young musicians and rock veterans, both local and from hundreds of kilometres away.


Jimi Hendrix claimed 30 years ago, "With the power of soul anything is possible," said the gig's organiser, Polish blues guitarist Leszek Cichonski leader of an impromptu band called The Magnificent Seven. (seen Left)

The city's mayor, Rafal Dutkiewicz, was among the participants.

The organisers say the Thanks Jimi Festival, held for the fifth time this year, will keep growing.

Next year, they want to invite more guitarists in many parts of the world to play together; the event would be broadcast online and shown on video screens.

A number of cities, including New York, are said to have expressed their interest.

Jimi Hendrix with Polish colors

Source: BBC News, Wroclaw 5/1/07

Ich Troje Played Cleveland Feb. 9, 2007

This is pretty much how Ich Troje the number one pop music group in Poland looked like when Janet and I saw them perform in Detroit 4 years ago.

It was the first time I had ever been to a Polish Rock concert. To say the least I was extremely impressed. Not so much by the music, which I had already heard on CD and already thought was great. But, the elaborate stage settings and props they used throughout the performance made the biggest impression.

Back then Michał was the only member with shocking red hair. The blonde female Justyna Majkowska has since left the group.

Recently the group with 2 gold, 2 platinum and 2 diamond (9 X Platinum) CDs played my hometown of Cleveland with Michał's new bride Ania who looks like she already understands aspects of communal property laws by getting into her husbands hair dye bottles.

The 2007 tour of America and Canada is a bit more elaborate than their previous tour. With them they brought a small modern ballet company adding intricate choreographic elements to many of the songs and Konjo the slightly "off beat" and effeminate comedian as a show opener.

Knowing how much we enjoyed the Detroit concert, we decided that it would be well worth the trek to see them in Cleveland this time around. We weren't disappointed.

The group's name means roughly "The Three of Them" and was conceived ten years ago by songwriter Michal Wisniewski and composer Jacek Łągwa. Wisniewski, the charismatic red-haired singer, has been the most popular person in Polish show business for several years.

The group's music is castigated by the critics, and Michał Wisniewski frankly claims himself, that he can't actually sing. I can't really understand the critics or Wisniewski's self depreciating humor. Most people I hang with like the music and stage show. The wild hair is neither here, nor there. At my Zapusty celebration this year we danced to their music with somewhat wild abandonment.

Despite everything, since about 2000, Ich Troje has been the most popular Polish group. In the last two years Ich Troje has given over 300 concerts. Their fans come from different backgrounds: from amused children to pensioners in tears. Their concerts are great shows that combine the power of pop music with the verve of a musical. They talk about love, betrayal, break-ups in a dramatic atmosphere using theatrical devices to great affect.

Ich Troje is considered by aficionados to be one of the most influential Polish pop groups in recent times.

Doda softer than below

To soften the shock of the first video clip in the following post - here is a more kind and gentle version of Doda Elektroda. This from the Sopot Music Fest. Not exactly Woodstock, but where I'd rather be.