Disco polo music is known to everyone, but no one admits to listening to it. This is the contemporary opinion about this genre. Although the peak of its popularity in Poland was in the musical 1990s, disco polo is still alive and well. Admittedly, gone are the days when whole families sat in front of the TV on Sundays and waited for Shazza, Top One, Boys or other disco polo stars to perform. The phenomenon of disco polo was based on the simplicity of the lyrics, uncomplicated music, anyone who heard the songs once was able to sing them themselves at the earliest opportunity. There is still no better music for a traditional Polish wedding, generally to dance to.… Read more
History of Disco Polo music in Poland
The name disco polo comes from italo disco, popular in the 70s and 80s, and it' s safe to say that this is our native variety of this trend. The originator of the name was Slawomir Skręta, owner of the Blue Star record label from Regula near Warsaw. In addition to italo disco, the genre also drew from wedding and folk songs, but the instruments changed. They used electronic instruments, so popular in the 1980s, the lyrics are mostly about love, having fun, and are not reflective. The lyrics lack vulgarities, the songs are mostly cheerful. The Discopolists also borrowed a performance style from their Italian colleagues. They sang using ready-made sounds and rhythms, prepared in synthesizers. The rule in disco polo was: as simple as possible to play, as simple as possible to sing. Those few musicians who began to arrange songs, embellish them with solos, instrument more interestingly - went out of business. All in all, disco polo was not invented by anyone, only given a name. Such songs have always been around, but it was a shame to record and lance them. Many of them originated from sidewalk song, wedding chants. It's just that initially these types of songs were popular in villages or small towns that is, the broader province. The change came in the 1990s, during which time the sidewalk song became known as disco polo and became popular, widespread, widely available, fashionable. It was listened to by adult audiences as well as teenagers and children. It even came to the point that when Michael Jackson, someone came up with the idea that Shazza, a disco polo star, should perform in our country. There was a very lively reaction to this from Polish rockers, who felt offended. There was even a nationwide discussion about it.
The media considered the genre to be a symbol of kitsch, and with the exception of Polsat, Polsat 2 and Radio Eska, it was not featured in the media. However, records and cassettes had an incredible circulation and sold like hotcakes. A decline in the popularity of the genre occurs in the late 1990s. Listeners became saturated with disco polo and were increasingly drawn to domestic and foreign pop, rock and hip-hop performers.
Disco polo today
Currently, since December 5, 2010, the VIVA Polska station has been broadcasting the "disco above everything" block every Sunday, and its viewership has been increasing week by week. This proves that discopol songs are still popular and still needed. Not everyone feels like listening to challenging music, but everyone wants to enjoy themselves with something that is easy and pleasant to listen to.
Disco Polo performers
As a curiosity I will mention that in the trend of disco polo at one time recorded such performers as Janusz Laskowski, Krzysztof Krawczyk, Marlena Drozdowska, Bohdan Smoleń, Andrzej Rosiewicz, Stan Tutaj, Marek Kondrat, Piotr Pręgowski, the band Happy End and Kabaret OT.TO.
And here are some of the most popular disco polo bands: Akcent, Boys, Fanatic, Milano, Top One, Shazza, 4Ever, Amadeo, Atlantis, Classic, Etna, Focus, Impuls, Jorrgu, Mega Dance, Mejk, Tia Maria, Toledo, Skaner, Toples, Weekend.