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Info on Poland in 1988


posts: 21

bravoThreads: 4
Posts: 101
Joined: Dec 9, 09 ♂ 		 May 18, 11, 12:44    #1
Hey.

Im researching a short film.

I'm looking for any English literature that describes what it was like to live in Poland at the end of the 80s. Websites, books etc.

I paricularly want to read about the strikes in Kracow in 1988.

Also I know there was a wave of Punk music in Poland in the 80's. Were there clubs for this music in Kracow in 1988?

Can anyone help me out? Cheers
MaaarysiaThreads: 3
Posts: 541
Joined: Feb 27, 10 ♀ 		 May 18, 11, 13:29    #2
bravo:
Also I know there was a wave of Punk music in Poland in the 80's.


I dont know the clubs in Kraków.
Garnarally if you like to know something about punk music in Poland check Jarocin Festival. It's a cult and famouse festival of alternative music which was held since 1970 to 1993. Jarocin was most popular during the 80s and was mainly a scene of promotion young Polish punk groups.
Here is a footage from 1987:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lUMQ0G1UGI&feature=related
There is also a documentary made by bbc "My Blood, Your Blood"
bravoThreads: 4
Posts: 101
Joined: Dec 9, 09 ♂ 		 May 18, 11, 13:37    #3
Thanks Maaarysia.

This is all pretty cool stuff. I'm gonna watch that documentary. I only recently found out about all this.
MagdalenaThreads: 5
Posts: 1,389
Joined: Aug 15, 07 ♀ 		 May 18, 11, 13:48    #4
http://www.last.fm/festival/1414744+Festiwal+%22Marchewka%22

I was there... (in the audience, of course) :-)
bravoThreads: 4
Posts: 101
Joined: Dec 9, 09 ♂ 		 May 18, 11, 13:57    #5
Wow,

That must have been amazing. New Model Army and Tlove.

Its funny how there is so little literature on what must have been an amazing time in Poland.
pawianThreads: 90
Posts: 5,395
Joined: May 30, 08  Pictures: 2 ♂ 		 May 18, 11, 14:04    #6
bravo:
Its funny how there is so little literature on what must have been an amazing time in Poland.


there`s a lot, actually. Just google 1988 strikes Poland:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Polish_strikes
BzibziohThreads: 6
Posts: 3,657
Joined: Oct 15, 08 ♀ [Suspended] 		 May 18, 11, 14:11    #7
bravo:
Its funny how there is so little literature on what must have been an amazing time in Poland.

Amazing? We were in survival mode. It was really hard time.
bravoThreads: 4
Posts: 101
Joined: Dec 9, 09 ♂ 		 May 18, 11, 14:12    #8
Thanks Paiwan.

That's all handy stuff. But Im looking for literature that focuses more on culture and society.
MagdalenaThreads: 5
Posts: 1,389
Joined: Aug 15, 07 ♀ 		 May 18, 11, 14:13    #9
bravo:
Its funny how there is so little literature on what must have been an amazing time in Poland.


It was an amazing time. Check out the Riviera-Remont Club in Warsaw (probably defunct now, I wouldn't know) for other interesting concerts and music events. I remember a Dutch (?) punk band called The Ex playing at Remont, somewhere around the same time. They were great! :-)
There was a lot of Polish bands fooling around in the eighties, some relatively unknown, others very popular, Armia, Siekiera, Moskwa, Dezerter, Brygada Kryzys spring to mind... But there were lots more, and we had lots of fun :-)
Also, many foreign bands would play in Poland, like Cabaret Voltaire, New Model Army, Fugazi... (they were all still rather unknown at the time, maybe that's why it was so easy to invite them to Poland).

Contrary to what many think about commie Poland, young people then were very knowledgeable about the international music scene, knew all the latest trends, and as to the music they listened to, the ideologies they embraced, and the clothes they wore...! Today's youth is sooooo tame in comparison! ;-)
bravoThreads: 4
Posts: 101
Joined: Dec 9, 09 ♂ 		Edited by: bravo  May 18, 11, 14:16    #10
Bzibzioh:
Amazing? We were in survival mode. It was really hard time.

maybe amazing is the wrong word.... Intrigueing might have been better. A whole new Europe was being shaped here at the time.
BzibziohThreads: 6
Posts: 3,657
Joined: Oct 15, 08 ♀ [Suspended] 		 May 18, 11, 14:23    #11
bravo:
Intriquieing might have been better. A whole new Europe was being shaped here at the time.

Intriguing for someone looking from outside for sure. For adult Poles living in Poland it was just tiring, gray and miserable.
MagdalenaThreads: 5
Posts: 1,389
Joined: Aug 15, 07 ♀ 		Edited by: Magdalena  May 18, 11, 14:25    #12
Bzibzioh:
Amazing? We were in survival mode. It was really hard time.


How old were you then? I was in my late teens and later at university. Times were hard in terms of nothing in the shops and a general feeling that the economic crisis would continue for a long time to come. But my peers did not really know any other conditions (being a tad young to remember Gierek's "prosperity spurt" clearly), so we had fun anyway. Additionally, the general greyness and depressive atmosphere went very well with our music and the No Future attitude... ;-)
People would dress outrageously, I think Polish street fashion in the eighties was quite extraordinary. Store-bought clothes were picked apart, re-sewn, dyed, shortened / tightened, whatever. Otherwise, you trawled the flea markets for vintage stuff which you bought for absolute peanuts. I still remember one ttractive young man who had slashed his (very tight) black jeans strategically to show off his very red underpants... ;-)
It was very hard to get hold of genuine doc martens, so many people improvised, e.g. I used to wear my mother's old and creaky climbing boots from the fifties ;-)
bravoThreads: 4
Posts: 101
Joined: Dec 9, 09 ♂ 		 May 18, 11, 14:25    #13
Magdalena:
Today's youth is sooooo tame in comparison!

I grew up in the 80's in Ireland and I feel the same about the young people there today. No imagination. Still maybe a few years of recession and poverty will fix that :-)
BzibziohThreads: 6
Posts: 3,657
Joined: Oct 15, 08 ♀ [Suspended] 		 May 18, 11, 14:47    #14
Magdalena:
Store-bought clothes were picked apart, re-sewn, dyed, shortened / tightened, whatever.

I went through that stage, too; I was busy sewing and knitting. But I was not really into a shabby chick. It was fun but eventually you just want to go to the store and buy something that fits, and not be forced to improvise all the time. Especially that you had to improvise your dinner every day and every other thing in your every-day life, small and big. It wears you off eventually.
bravoThreads: 4
Posts: 101
Joined: Dec 9, 09 ♂ 		 May 18, 11, 14:55    #15
Bzibzioh
Okay. I think you're completely missing the point here. No doubt it was a very difficult time and I'm sure it made you a better person. But I'm just interested in the cultural side of it. The movements that emerged out of it.
I'm not looking for an argument, just some ideas.
Antek_StalichThreads: 6
Posts: 1,533
Joined: May 6, 11 ♂ 		Edited by: Antek_Stalich  May 18, 11, 15:32    #16
bravo, I have sent you an e-mail with a good advice. If you had your PM open, it would be even simpler for me.

By the way, there was no military presence in Polish streets down there in 1988. One of few soldiers who could be seen in Kraków streets in 1987 -- it would be me, on leave ;-))) Maciej Maleńczuk, one of the leaders of Kraków punk-rock movement was making money playing his guitar and singing down in the streets. I remember me putting 50 zloties to his guitar case ;-)
BzibziohThreads: 6
Posts: 3,657
Joined: Oct 15, 08 ♀ [Suspended] 		 May 18, 11, 15:42    #17
bravo:
I'm not looking for an argument

Nobody's arguing. I don't think you know what you are looking for. I'm out.
Antek_StalichThreads: 6
Posts: 1,533
Joined: May 6, 11 ♂ 		Edited by: Antek_Stalich  May 18, 11, 15:47    #18
Bravo knows what he wants, and I sent him valuable information.
Because I can help him instead of "lania wody".

First keyword for Kraków punk would be bands Düp± and Püdelsi.
SoftsongThreads: 6
Posts: 588
Joined: Sep 2, 07  Pictures: 1 ♀ 		Edited by: Softsong  May 18, 11, 18:29    #19
There is an excellent documentary called, "The Beats of Freedom." It was embedded somewhere on another thread. I can't find that thread, but I remembered the video, and found it on youtube. It was a wonderful look into the Polish punk and rock scene. It will add a lot to your understanding of what it was like to live in Poland at the end of the 80's.

http://youtu.be/xsFAv5Nvn2c
WroclawThreads: 77
Posts: 7,404
Joined: Apr 1, 06  Pictures: 3 ♂ [Moderator] 		 May 18, 11, 18:43    #20
Softsong:
There is an excellent documentary called, "The Beats of Freedom." It was embedded somewhere on another thread.


It was on tv here a few months ago. it is good
Antek_StalichThreads: 6
Posts: 1,533
Joined: May 6, 11 ♂ 		Edited by: Antek_Stalich  May 18, 11, 18:50    #21
That's right Softie. The film is indeed great, made authentically.
Perhaps the problem is there is not so much English literature available on the subject. Bravo got a contact to a Kraków eye-witness of the era, hopefully it helps.

Myself, I wonder why there's always a need of published references. You see, I was among the first one-hundred Warsaw punks. I'm an eye-witness. I have published two issues of fanzin "SZMATA" at that time, perhaps two single copies were restored by someone, and she made a wonderful photo album "Polish PUNK. 1978-1981". Once I was updating an article on Wikipedia; I was requested citing published references or my edits would be removed. So eyewitness is not important, the written word matters... My luck was I could cite the photo album...

Each groups of punks (3City, Warsaw, Cracow, Toruń, Ustrzyki Dolne...) was living in isolation. Only festivals, such as 1980 Kołobrzeg or 1979 Lubań and of course Jarocin and some informal meeting made the punk movement somewhat integrated. This is why even finding Polish literature on punks in a city such as Kraków is hard.

Something totally authentic. The recordings are mine, the photos were taken by friends of mine.



The first and last songs are recorded by me. The middle one is an extract from the Polish TV, cultural channel of the times (audio extracted only):


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