| Disco polo | |
|---|---|
 A disco polo festival inKobylnica, 2012 | |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1980s,Poland |
Disco polo is agenre of populardance music,[1][2][3] created inPoland in the 1980s. It was initially known assidewalk music (Polish:muzyka chodnikowa)[4][5] orbackyard music (Polish:muzyka podwórkowa).[6] This genre, a type of Polish urban folk music,[7] had great popularity in the 1990s, peaking in 1995–1997, then gradually declining in popularity through the early 21st century. The genre then had a resurgence in the winter of 2007. The PolishPWN dictionary defines the genre as a Polish variant of disco music, with simple melodies and oftenribald lyrics.[8]
Classic disco polo songs are characterised by simple chord progressions[clarification needed][1] and melodies,[8] and take further influence from the steady rhythms found in folk music.[3] These are often accompanied bysyncopatedsamples of drums,synthesisers andkeyboard instruments.[3][9] The genre is dominated by compositions in the 4/4 time signature.[10] Lyrics are often sentimental and playful, written around themes of love and sometimes holidays.[5]
The genre originates from music played atweddings by bands with a repertoire ofPolish folk music and wedding songs. Later,electronic instruments were adopted over traditional acoustic instruments.[3] The most common lyrical themes included melodramatic lyrics aboutunrequited love.[5][11] The genre was additionally influenced by other popular music styles withinEurope.
Pioneers of the genre include the bandBayer Full, which was founded on 19 November 1984, andTop One [pl], formed in 1986.[5][12][13][14]
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, more bands emerged, such asAkcent, Atlantis,Boys [pl], andFanatic [pl].[5]Blue Star, a record label inReguły, was the first official record label that published disco polo in Poland.[5] This new style of music was calledmuzyka chodnikowa (lit. 'sidewalk music') by label ownerSławomir Skręta, which was a reference to the main means of distribution: records were sold primarily in stalls on streets and bazaars.[15] Scenes were centered inBiałystok and other cities in the province ofPodlaskie, with regional scenes inŻyrardów andSochaczew.[5] "Mydełko Fa [pl]" ('The Fa Soap'), recorded in 1991 byMarek Kondrat andMarlena Drozdowska, was created as aparody of the genre, but ended up popularising it further.[5]
Sidewalk music was played at country picnics, county depots, weddings, as well aspolitical campaigns forPolish parliament andpresident. Former PresidentAleksander Kwaśniewski is a notable example of a politician who used disco polo during his presidential campaign.[11]
Skręta coined the namedisco polo in1993, taking influence from the nameItalo disco.[5][11][16] The name caught on and replacedsidewalk music. On 29 February 1992, aTVP1 broadcast dedicated to disco polo namedGala Piosenki Chodnikowej i Popularnej ('Gala of Sidewalk and Popular Songs') was held.[5]
The genre was extensively marketed by thePolsat TV station, which produced its own disco polo hit lists for several TV shows:Disco Relax (which premiered on 4 December 1994[17]) andDisco Polo Live (which premiered 3 February 1996 on the network[18]). The genre also found its way ontoRadio Eska[5] andPolonia 1, a network of local stations in urban areas, as well asTV Polonia. It was considered a symbol ofkitsch and primitivism by the mainstream media.[citation needed]
Bands and singers used disco polo during election campaigns. Traditional instruments came to be replaced by keyboards later in the 1990s, which contributed to a slight change in style, making the songs more akin toEurodance. Artists also started mixing the genre with other musical genres such asdance music,house music, andtechno.[5][11]
TVP1 aired a disco polo program entitledKarnawałowa Gala Disco Polo ('Carnival Disco Polo Gala') on 31 December 1995.[19][20]
In 1996, Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz and Michał Arabudzkii directed a documentary film calledBara Bara, which explored the disco polo trend. It was aired in the same year on TVP1.[21] On 24 April 1998, the filmKochaj i rób co chcesz ('Love and Do What You Will') was released byRobert Gliński, in which the main character leaves to play disco polo on the piano in a club.[22]
The trend receded between 1997 and 2001.[23][5][19] A sharp decline in sales of disco polo cassettes and CDs ensued due to the growth of Polish and foreignpop music,[19]rock,hip hop,[11] dance,[19] andelectronic music. The genre's airplay on Radio Eska, Polonia 1 and TV Polonia diminished. In late August 2002, Polsat TV cancelledDisco Relax andDisco Polo Live,[24] leaving many bands jobless.[25] Some observers[who?] believe that the genre's drastic decline in popularity was in part caused by the emigration of disco polo musicians to the United States, where some artists continued their work.[citation needed]
From 2002 to 2007, several bands released new disco polo albums (e.g.Toples andWeekend), but the genre remained obscure. On 12 August 2004, an article byWojciech Orliński was published inGazeta Wyborcza titled "Śmierć disco polo" ('The death of disco polo') describing the decline of the genre at the turn of the 21st century.[26]
On 6 August 2006,TVN aired a program calledKulisy sławy ('Behind the scenes of fame') of theUwaga! series, dedicated to the revival of the genre.[23] The program was recognised as the best report of 2006 in an internet poll.[27] In 2007, after a five-year hiatus, the genre returned to television through the stationiTV [pl], which broadcast theDiscostacja program daily. In addition, two Internet radio stations associated with it held a promotion. Starting in 2007, disco polo bands began playing shows again.
On 5 July 2008, the disco polo showNie tylko Barachołka ('Not just Barachołka'), formerly known asBarachołka, returned toPolskie Radio Lublin. As of 2012[update] it was broadcast on weekends.[28][needs update]
In the first three months of 2009, the genre was promoted by theEdusat [pl] channel.[29] In March 2009, iTV resumed itsDisco Polo Live program from 2002,[30] although the broadcast was suspended in March 2011.[31] Since 7 May 2011Disco Polo Live has been broadcast onPolo TV.[32] On 4 October 2009, a new program produced by Maciej Jamróz calledDisco Bandżo ('Disco banjo') was featured onTele 5.[33]
On 5 December 2010, the channelVIVA Polska began airing a dance music program calledDisco ponad wszystko ('Disco above all') every Sunday.[34] It doubled the channel's viewership, which steadily increased after each episode,[35] but the program was removed after eighteen months on the channel.[36]CSB TV also broadcast the genre, but the channel was discontinued in May 2012.
On 7 May 2011, Polo TV was launched, a television channel dedicated primarily to disco polo music.[37] The channel has been broadcast on digital TV since 19 December 2011 and became the most watched music channel in Poland. On 27 September 2011, the channelTV.DISCO was launched, which broadcast the genre alongsidedisco, dance, and electronic music, and as of January 2015[update] remained on air.[38] TheDisco Relax program, which aired in the 1990s on Polsat, was meant to resume on TV.DISCO but eventually returned on 12 February 2012, on Polo TV.[39]
On 20 October 2012, the programVipo Disco Polo Hits led byWojciech Grodzki moved from theTVS channel to Polo TV. It was aired weekly until 30 December 2017.[40][41]
In 2011, director Maciej Bochniak produced a documentary entitledMiliard Szczęśliwych Ludzi ('A Billion Happy People') about the travels of Bayer Full and their performances inChina.[42]
On 1 December 2012, Polsat launched a new program dedicated to the genre entitledImperium Disco Polo (lit. 'Disco Polo Empire'), which played re-runs fromPolsat Play.[18] However, at the beginning of March 2013 the program was taken off Polsat, due to the emergence of new episodes of the seriesHoliday Diaries [pl], but new episodes were still available on cable networks and digital platforms of Polsat Play. From 21 April to June 2013, the program aired onATM Rozrywka, and since 3 August 2013 is shown onPolsat 2.[43]
From 8 April to 1 December 2013, the genre was promoted byRadio Plus, which changed its slogan fromŁagodne Przeboje ('Gentle hits') toZawsze w Rytmie ('Always in Rhythm'). In addition to streaming disco polo, there were also dance songs from the 1980s and 1990s.[44] On 1 December 2013, this music was moved to theVox FM [pl] radio station.[45] This change was due to protests from Radio Plus listeners and from bishops who owned Radio Plus station licenses.[44]
On 17 August 2013,Telewizja Polsat broadcast theDisco Pod Żaglami ('Disco Sailing') concert featuring the disco polo bands Akcent,Shazza, Boys, Classic and Weekend. This was the first disco polo concert since the genre's programs were removed from the station over 10 years prior, and it was viewed by 2.7 million people.[46]
On 1 May 1, 2014, Telewizja Polsat launchedDisco Polo Music, another TV channel dedicated to the genre.[47]
In early February 2015, the channel TV.DISCO completely removed disco polo from its schedule.[38][48] On 27 February 2015, Maciej Bochniak's filmDisco Polo hit movie theatres, which tells the story of a group of musicians who reached the top of the genre's charts.[49] On 26 February 2015, in connection with the release of the film, an episode ofHala odlotów ('Waiting room') aired onTVP Kultura, dedicated to the genre.[50]
On 4 December 2017, as a result of an agreement with theZPR Media group, Telewizja Polsat acquired 100% of the shares in Lemon Records, the broadcaster of disco polo stations Polo TV andVox Music TV, thus becoming the owner of both.[51][52]
The two most popular Polish songs on YouTube are of the disco polo genre. For a long time, the first most viewed song was "Ona tańczy dla mnie" ("She dances for me") by Weekend. At the end of June 2017, achieving over 106 million views, the song "Przez twe oczy zielone" ("Because of your green eyes") by Akcent beat Weekend's record.
Since 2002, this genre has often been combined withdance music[53][54] and other genres ofelectronic dance music,[55][56][57][58] e.g. power dance,Eurodance,nu-electro andtechno. Songs of this genre often also contain elements offolk music andpop music.[54] The bands and artists which gained significant popularity after 2002 are, among others:After Party,Weekend,Andre,Czadoman,Tomasz Niecik, Eva Basta,Masters,DJ Disco ft. MC Polo,Cliver,Effect andPower Play.[59] Disco polo is also popular outside of Poland, especially among thePolish diaspora. In 2016, the genre experienced a new revival in Poland after the 2016 New Year's Eve party, when the TV channelTVP2 invited the frontman of Akcent,Zenon Martyniuk, one of the most popular disco polo performers, to perform on the main stage.[60] The president of Telewizja PolskaJacek Kurski also expressed joy at the fact that the genre is no longer ironically hated, as the performance was enjoyed by many people present at the event.[61]
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From the mid-1990s to the turn of the century, television and radio programs devoted to disco polo were broadcast by Polsat stations,[5] Radio Eska,[5] Polonia 1, TV Polonia, and some regional radio stations and local cable networks. Since 2007, interest in disco polo has grown, which is reflected in a greater presence of this music in some media and the increased number of concerts played. However, the genre is still considered a sign of bad taste by many radio stations and television channels and is not promoted by them.[62]
Since 2007, TV stations that have promoted disco polo includePolo TV,iTV,Polsat 2,TVS,Polonia 1, Disco Polo Music,TVR, VOX Music TV, Power TV,Polsat Play,Eska TV, TV.DISCO,VIVA Polska,Polsat,Puls 2,Tele 5,ATM Rozrywka,Kino Polska Muzyka, as well asTV4 andTV6. This genre is also promoted by some radio stations and internet sites such as Radio FTB, Discoparty.pl, Disco-Polo.fm, Discostacja and IRN, as well as regional stations includingRadio Express,Radio Hit,Radio Jard,Radio Kaszëbë,Polish Radio Kielce,Radio Leliwa,Polish Radio Lublin,Radio Silesia and Radio Plus, and transregional stations Vox FM[63] andradio WAWA.[64] Online social video services such asYouTube[65] and the siteWrzuta.pl,[66] which existed from 2006 to 2017, also had a significant impact on the renewed interest in disco polo.
In the summer, several disco polo festivals take place, the largest of which from 1996 to 2011 was theNational Festival of Music and Dance inOstróda (originally held inKoszalin), and since 2011 is the Disco Hit Festival, inKwakowo nearKobylnica. The biggest stars of Polish dance music perform at these festivals and thousands of fans attend from all over Poland. Disco polo bands and performers also participate in many charity concerts and events including during theGreat Orchestra of Christmas Charity.[67] At the end of 2016 a well-known disco polo band, Akcent (Zenon Martyniuk andRyszard Warot), performed for the first time at the New Year's Eve party inZakopane, organised byTelewizja Polska.[68][69][70] TVP2 also acquired the rights to broadcast the "25 years of disco polo" gala, which took place on June 25, 2017, at Polonia Stadium in Warsaw.[71] According to Nielsen Audience Measurement, the gala was viewed by 2.6 million people.[72]