My Music Abc: J, K

 J

When I listen to some songs by Judas Priest, I can almost feel the wind in my hair. The same wind which blows in your face when you ride a motorbike. And I do not mean the speed exercised by the ones who I call 'donors'. Just a casual ride.

In my early twenties, I was very much into motorcycles. I was interested in such details as bike engine capacity, its strength, and so on. Although I did not have my own motorcycle, I decided to learn to ride a bike (I had already had a car driving license). They had a rather big training motorcycle at the local driving school and my stepfather, who worked at that school, was also my bike riding instructor.

I very much enjoyed the motorbike riding lessons. I did circles, eights, and slaloms on the sandy training ground. Sometimes, two Chinese men who were waiting for their motorcycle class, cheered me loudly, shouting in broken Polish: "go, friend, go!". It was such fun! Once it happened, an older man who was passing by the training place, started reviling when he saw me ride: 'To the kitchen and to the pots, not here!'. It made me laugh and ride the motorbike even more vigorously.

At that time in Poland, motorbiking was an unusual thing regarding a woman's/girl's interests. One of our neighbors - a young woman a few years older than myself - was a member of a local motorcycle club. She was the one and only woman member at that club - among a few hundred men.

My mom was not happy about my hobby and biking classes. She found riding a motorcycle on a street in the traffic unsafe. Needless to say, she was pleased when I told her I would not take the riding license test as I had planned. Why did I change my mind? I got discouraged because the bike I rode at the school was too heavy for me - I was not able to keep it straight when I was taking a turn at a slower speed. I thought I would not be able to pass the riding test because of it. And I quit the classes. But I was happy I learned how to ride a motorcycle.

Anyway, since nobody in my family owned a motorcycle then, soon I forgot the bikes, and what I knew about them, and their engines. But I do remember the songs by Judas Priest and I like listening to them from time to time when I am in a more energetic mood.

K

Kraftwerk - why them? Because I enjoyed listening to early electronic music as well. Kraftwerk worked and lived across the border so they were quite popular in Poland. And their songs both in English and German too.



Krokus - I would say there is nothing revealing in the music by that Swiss band. In their compositions, you can hear the influence of other, more popular groups such as AC/DC for example.  But I used to listen to their songs anyway. Just some solid rock music.

Judas Priest

1. Turbo Lover
2. Painkiller
3. Breaking the Law
4. Parental Guidance
5. Before the Dawn
6. Freewheel Burning

Kraftwerk

Trans-Europe Express - album (1977)
The Man-Machine - album (1978)
Computer World - album - (1981)


Credits:

Photos by Shrader G.