- The collaboration between Maryla Rodowicz and Seweryn Krajewski brought great hits to the Polish stage. Together they created “Remedium” (or “Get on a Train Anyhow”) and “Niech żyje bal”
- This last piece was supposed to be an “export product”. Rodowicz and Krajewski were counting on an award at the American festival
- “Long Live The Ball” won the appreciation of the audience and other participants of the event, but the jury rated the song differently
- You can find more articles like this on the Onet home page
Maryla Rodowicz is a song icon todaywhich continues to delight the audience. It is hard to believe that the artist has any unsuccessful performance behind her. Perhaps few of the singer’s fans know that she has a concert in the US behind her that could be considered a failure.
Ryszard Janowski / PAP
Maryla Rodowicz at the Soviet Song Festival in Zielona Góra (1980)
It all started with Maryla Rodowicz’s dream of a song that would win the hearts of the American audience. The singer was supposed to ask Seweryn Krajewski for help – even at this stage it was not without obstacles. Rodowicz supposedly heard a song from Krajewski that she fell in love with at first sight. It turned out that the song was already reserved for Jerzy Połomski. What’s more, Agnieszka Osiecka wrote the lyrics to it. In the end, Krajewski and Osiecka decided to give the song to Maryla. The writer also modified the lyrics to better suit Rodowicz. This is how the hit “Niech żyje bal” was created.
The song seemed like a perfect export. So an English version was prepared — “Long Live The Ball” — which Rodowicz was to perform at The World Song Festival In America in 1984 in Los Angeles. Also invited to the event Krajewski.
Although the trip to the US was quite an event, it did not meet the artists’ expectations. Both worked hard for their success (Rodowicz intensively practiced the English pronunciation of the translated text), but they had no influence on the way the festival was prepared. And there were swarming with shortcomings.
The rehearsals were held in the hallways because the stage wasn’t ready. The orchestra couldn’t handle the compositions. In addition, the guitarist had too weak equipment and couldn’t play the distortion so characteristic of this hit.
National Digital Archives
Seweryn Krajewski during the 12th National Festival of Polish Song in Opole (1974)
That’s not all: the organizers allegedly treated the artists from Poland badly. “Rodowicz and Krajewski also could not reach an agreement with the conductor, who treated the Polish performers with disdain and contempt, as servants of communism” — you can learn from Sławomir Koper’s program on YouTube “Historie z Koprem”.
To make matters worse, another mishap occurred: Maryla Rodowicz was announced in the US as a vocalist from the Netherlands. However, the artist and Krajewski did not give up and tried their best under unfavourable circumstances. The song was received with enthusiasm by the audience, and there was also much praise from other contestants. Unfortunately, the song only received a distinction from the jury.
The song was included on the album “Music From Poland At MIDEM ’85”. Today, few remember that the great Polish hit also has its English version.
Rodowicz and Krajewski were supposed to consider their attempt a failure. They wanted to win one of the three main prizes, but they returned “only” with a distinction. They allegedly found it hard to believe what had happened and even turned down an invitation to an American studio… Krajewski left for Chicago, and Rodowicz returned to Poland: she was supposed to explain that she had promised her children a vacation in Masuria.
Sources: “History of Kopre” (YouTube.com), viva.pl
The material was created thanks to the cooperation of Onet with a partner — the National Digital Archive, whose mission is to build a modern society aware of its past. NAC collects, stores and shares photographs, sound recordings and films. Digitized photos can be viewed at nac.gov.pl.
