Cave Without A Name - Solstice Concerts

 It seems I never mentioned it here. Not far from Boerne, TX, 90 feet below the ground, there is a wonder of nature known as "Cave Without A Name". Full of stalactites and stalagmites, refreshing air and water basins. We visited it for the very first time in 2021, and spent an hour walking in that amazing place. 100% humidity in the cave makes the air easy to breathe and refreshing. The temperature inside the place is moderate and quite pleasant. The time there passed quickly while we were admiring the scenery and listening to stories told by our guide. 

Since then, we wanted to come back for a music concert in the cave, which they have every month. Various bands play their music pieces under the ground.  We finally went there for the Equinox Concert in September. 

Rudi Harst and his band play in the cave three or four times a year. We very much enjoyed their September program. It was something totally different from we had ever experienced, and the acoustic is great in the cave.

During each concert, the light is switched off for about 20 minutes and the Rudiments perform in total darkness. That makes it a form of meditation-like time. With no lights, it is so dark in the cave, you cannot see your own nose or fingers. Some people cannot handle it. The band always announces there would be no light period so anybody who does not like it can move to the section with lights on. There is always somebody who thinks they can manage, but they do not, and, feeling uncomfortable, they make all sorts of noise disturbance during that special performance. Myself, while sitting in the dark and listening to the sounds of the instruments, I felt like a tiny spec in Space.

Last night we were in the Cave again.

This time it was a Winter Solstice concert.  It was very enjoyable again. Very Christmassy and very nice - our Christmas treat to ourselves. Despite that, we both liked the September show more, though.

Visits to the cave by appointment only. More about the cave here: https://www.cavewithoutaname.com/

Photos: September and December 2025

About Clouds & More

 The skies looked different on that day. The clouds were lower than usual, and seemed to be placed in void above our heads, just hanging there. 

They appeared 3-dimensional and quite plump. Looking straight at them, you could see all other sides of those cloud formations, as well. In addition to that, unusually bright colors lightened up the clouds of many various, strong shapes.

We were on the road again. It was so nice to stare at those clouds and admire the beauty of the sight.

At some moment, we noticed a pretty rainbow in front of us, in the mist of the clouds. We were driving towards it. Both of us were amazed by the view and the sudden appearance of the rainbow. At the same time, we heard the words coming from our music player,

“(…) Rhymes that keep their secrets
Will unfold behind the clouds
And there upon the rainbow
Is the answer to a never ending story(…)”

The rainbow is hardly visible in the picture - it was much clearer to see in real,  with our own eyes

It all was quite heart-touching. What a breath-taking coincidence it was. We were astonished  – the rainbow just in front of us and then, the lines of the song* played again,

“(...) Rhymes that keep their secrets
Will unfold behind the clouds
And there upon the rainbow
Is the answer to a never ending story (...)”. 

---

*The lyrics come from the song: “Never Ending Story”, made popular by Limahl in 1984.

Travel Well

Ozzy has left this world recently. Sad that more and more old cultural "icons" go away.
Travel well Ozzy. 
Thank you for the music.

From my visit in Birmingham, years ago.

More about the photo and Black Sabbath - in "My Music ABC".

🎕

Today I have found out - totally by chance - about another passing. The lady was not a famous one, but of importance as well - to the ones who knew and loved her. 

Ola lived with her nuclear family in Germany. I met her virtually in a Polish Ladies Abroad Club. We exchanged letters for quite a good time. No, we never met personally, but I thought about her as a friend. I always enjoyed Ola's letters and learning about her world and her family. She had mentioned a few times she was struggling dealing with health problems, but never mentioned how serious the matter was. Despite it all, the lady enjoyed doing walks to a German Camino-type place and travelling to exotic countries. 

When I read in her last letter how active she had been in that past year, and about more trips and travels she planned, I was hoping she was improving and her health condition got better.

Today, her funeral service took place in Poland.

Travel well friend.

I am glad to have met you.

My Polish Alphabet: R for "Red Belt"

 

 

"Red Belt" (Czerwony Pas) was one of the songs that we sang with my primary school girls' choir. One of the two I can recall.

The song about Hutsuls (Carpathian highlanders) living their happy and free lives in the Carpathian Mountains is quite old and known both in Poland and Ukraine. I like the changing tempo of the tune - from slow to a faster one. It is also one of the traditional songs that used to be sung by many generations on both sides of the Polish/Ukrainian border. The piece comes from a drama (published in 1843) written by Józef Korzeniowski, Polish writer who lived in the area that was part of Poland then. Nowadays, it is western Ukraine.

A traditional version of the Red Belt

 More modern version of the song by a contemporary folk group

Our choir director was also our Music teacher, a man in his early thirties.  As I have already mentioned in one of my previous posts, the Music curriculum in Polish educational system is related to general knowledge of music, its history, composers and their main pieces + basic understanding of notes and musical notation.  The choir was an extra/after classes activity, officially not mandatory. However, if the teacher said you had a good voice/musical ear, you had to participate in the choir activities to get an A in Music.

So we did sing at school assemblies and once even participated in a regional school choirs competition. I cannot remember what the outcome of the latter was, though. Our teacher was quite good at his profession, he played the piano during the Music classes and accompanied the girls' choir. We had the songs sheets, with lyrics only, as singing songs/notes was not part of the school subject curriculum. We simply followed the musical instructions given by the teacher and the melody played by him on the piano.

During the summer break, the teacher was part of the music band on the Stefan Batory passenger liner, that regularly cruised between Poland and the USA. At that time, traveling to the Western countries including the US was not a thing that everybody could do. Mainly those people whose jobs required crossing the border were allowed to do so. The man must have been a good piano player to get a job on that passenger cruiser and/or perhaps had some "connections" that helped him achieve that.

Stefan Batory

Somehow, my girlfriend and I did not see that particular side of it all and we were not impressed that the man managed to see the States every now and then. We found it rather funny and peculiar that an honorable teacher was also a band musician on a boat. These days, I look at it differently, but being kids, we found it weird and rather undignified.

Another thing that made us little girls laugh was the teacher's socks that he tended to wear quite often.

It was the time of the "Interkosmos" mission project, when the international astronauts crew made their first spaceflight. Our teacher seemed to like wearing colorful socks with the "Interkosmos" logo on them. I do not know whether anybody else noticed that, but we, silly girls, did.

Wherever the man is these days, I wish him all the best. I liked the choir days/time.

The other song I can recall we sang with the girls' choir was a Polish version of Joan Baez's song "Donna". The Polish lyrics made it an anti-war song. Somehow, I can still remember the song words.

(My free translation into English)

One life you have,
who will you give this flower to,
do not go across the river,
you will perish there.
One life you have,
who will you give this flower to,
when a shot will come from across the river.

People, people do not perish,
you will save the world.
People, people, I pity you,
It is the war that is to perish.

Dona, Dona...

PS
Years ago, when I was still working in Poland, one day, I happened to wear a t-shirt with the word "Texas" on it. During a class, some students of mine started giggling "O - Texas, Texas". I guess, my Texas t-shirt was in their eyes an equivalent of the Music teacher's Interkosmos socks.

Credits: 

Stephan Batory ship photo: By Wolfgang Fricke - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=103579976

My British Associations - A

If you follow my blog, you probably notice I enjoy doing "alphabets" - compilations of posts on a certain topic.
This one is a follow-up to the alphabet challenge taken up by Viola, a colleague blogger, and the author of "My British Journey". I have challenged Viola to write entries of the alphabet series related to her life in the UK.

She agreed and asked her readers to share their associations with the country. Since I challenged Viola, I thought I should answer her.

So here it is.

I need to add that, contrary to Viola, I have not lived in GB permanently. My associations are based on my life in Europe and a few visits to the country.

 

A

 

At first, Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery, came to my mind. He is a British character, but fictional, created by American filmmakers. I guess it does not count, then.

 

A British A? Alan Parsons Project has already been mentioned on this blog.

About Tamburash Orchestra & Instruments

The Czech Music Museum of Texas is part of the open-air part of the Czech Heritage and Cultural Center in La Grange. The museum is situated in the house which used to belong to Jonathon and Peggy Kalich (Kalič). It was built in the 1890s, and much later was donated by the owners to the Heritage Center. In 2000 the building was moved to the current area from Schulenburg.

 

The exhibition in the Music Museum is displayed in four rooms dedicated to four music categories: sacral music, classical Czech composers, polka, and folk and dance Czech music.

 

 

By the way, not everybody knows that polka is a Czech dance which is also popular in other European countries, including Poland, Germany, and Austria. I mention this because I have heard so many times: "Poland? Ah yes, polka!". No, it is not a Polish national dance.

 

 

 

Talking about music and the museum, a good time to mention the tamburash and the Houston Tamburash Orchestra. Tamburash is a string instrument similar to the lute, from the same instrument group that originally come from the gusla. The latter is played with a bow and is traditionally used in the Balkans. 

 

 

The Czech Tamburash Orchestra was organized by Josef Drozda in 1932 in Houston. Mato Gujranovic was the orchestra director. The man was a painter and a musician as well. He came to Houston from Galveston and taught music in the city.

 

 

The Tamburash Orchestra was a band of traditional Czech string instruments from the tamburash group such as bisernica, kontrashic, bracas (equivalents of violins and cellos), bugarias (similar to wood strings), and berda. The latter instrument is six feet and six inches high. All the instruments have four strings and some have them tuned on the same range or two different ones. The smallest piece in the orchestra was 18 inches long. A full tamburash orchestra has 32 instruments, the Texas Tamburash Orchestra had only 9. 

 

 

However, they managed to play not only polka and other folk music, but also classical music pieces by Dvořak, Smetana, and some Russian composers as well. The youngest musician in the group was Miss Helen Vajčik, whose father was the orchestra coorganizer. The girl started playing with the band when she was 10.

Clipping source: Valcik, Stephen. Věstník (West, Tex.), Vol. 39, No. 48, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 28, 1951, newspaper, November 28, 1951; West, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth626401/: accessed November 24, 2021), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas.

PS

In the Museum, we did not see any tamburash, dulcimers only.

Source: 

• "The Czech Pioneers of the Southwest. The History of a People in the Development of a Nation", Henry R Maresh and Estelle Hudson, 1934, 1962, 1996.
• "The Roots of Texas Music", Joe W Specht, Lawrence Clayton, Texas A&M University Press, 2005.
  Photos: Texas Czech Culture and Heritage Center, La Grange, TX

SF TV Shows

Today a few words about some SF shows we have watched. If you want to learn more about a particular series, click on the title to go to a description site.

The ones we watched recently

V (2010/2011)

 

Invasion (2005/2006)

Colony (2016/2018) - different layers of the plot, interesting and complex characters, good acting. The fourth season (that was never made) was going to be even more interesting than the three previous ones. What a disappointment the series was discontinued!

In our opinion, all of the above series are very engaging and interesting. We almost "swallowed" those episodes. Such a great pity those shows were canceled due to the lack of interest from the audience. It all makes me think we are not the average type of viewers.

 

Swamp Thing (2019) - "Swampie" was a good guy. We quite liked him.

 

Watched some time ago

 Space 1999 (1975/1977)

What we learned from the series: all aliens speak English and on every planet, the air/atmosphere is good for people to breathe. Anyhow, the stories were interesting even though the technology available when the series was made, these days seems a bit funny.

 

Quantum Leap (1989/1993) - the original series - remakes of which were made later.

A good one and pleasant to watch.

 

Haven (2010/2015)

 

It seems the show was planned for for seasons only. The four made a complete quite intriguing story. To our impression, the fifth one was plainly made to squeeze some more money, but it was a total flip which spoiled the overall impression. 

 

Ancient Ones

We have enjoyed watching some really old series.  It is a pity not too many episodes of each show survived till today. Sometimes, the quality of the filmed of those saved ones was so bad that we strained our eyes while watching them. The special effects of the time might seem rather funny now, but the stories were quite original and well-written

 

What else was interesting about the ancient ones? In some of those old series, you can see the actors who were "nobodys" then, but became famous stars much later. They are also available on YouTube.

The Outer Limits (1963/1965)

 

 

The Veil  - (1958) - hosted by Boris Karloff

 

Tales of Tomorrow - (1951/1953) - among others, Leslie Nielsen appears in one of the episodes.

 

Lights Out!  - 1949/1952

 

Musical 

This is not a TV show, but it is our favorite piece of the musical (1978) by Jeff Wayne, based on the book "War of the Worlds". Richard Burton reads the intro. Denny Laine, the late vocalist of the Moody Blues, is the singer.

X for Xylophone

 

Time for a little story.

There was a bunch of little girls. The girls lived in the same neighborhood and attended a local primary school. They were youth club members of a xylophone group that had its base at a district youth club. That type of youth club was called a "common room" then. It was a place where kids, supervised by an instructor/club employee, played games and did art projects, and it belonged to the city district housing administrators.

Ladybirds Performance - 12 January 1975

Anyway, "Ladybirds" was the name of the xylophone group, and my mom was our music director. She prepared the music arrangements for us and taught us to play the music pieces on the instruments provided by the club management.

We did play various tunes that we learned by heart: classical music, pop songs, and folk melodies, as well. From time to time, the Ladybirds performed at other culture-related places and city district clubs. Our xylophone career did not last long, but it was fun.

I can still remember some of the tunes we played. Here is one of them - can you tell what it is?

E,E,G E,E,G

E,G,C,H*,A,A,G 

D,E,F,D  D,E,F  D,F,H,A,G,H,C

C,C,c  A,F,G  E,C,F,G,A,G,

C,C,c  A,F,G  E,C,F,E,D,C

Ladybirds

Our performance dress code was white blouses, white tights, and navy-blue skirts. The red ribbon made a bow tie. At some point, at my mom's request, the club management provided a ladybird-like fabric: red velvet with black polka dots. Our moms made skirts out of it. Those skirts completed our Ladybird gear.

PS

*H is B in the English nomenclature.

A Little Rose Song

Recently, my mom has asked me whether the local German choirs sing a song about a little rose. I do not think they have it in their repertoire, but I do know they sing about a white rose of Athens.
The song which mom remembers from her childhood is "Heidenröslein".

Its lyrics were originally a poem written in 1791 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (born 1749/ died 1832). The poem was dedicated to Miss Friederike Brion, a pastor's daughter. Goethe and Friederike were involved in a love affair.

The words of the poem tell a story about a boy who picks a little rose without her consent and her suffering because of that. Metaphorically, it can be taken as a situation when the boy forces himself on a girl.

Who knows what really happened between the two considering that the romance between the writer and Friederike did not last long. Allegedly, the man cut the relationship short, and the lady never married, despite having a proper suitor later. Or maybe it was all the poet's imagination?

Several composers, including Schubert and Lehar, wrote the music for "Heidenröslein". However, it was the tune created by Heinrich Werner in 1829 that made the poem a popular song.

Source: Wikipedia

B for Bosun

 

 

A few decades ago, group singing was a popular pastime in Poland. Everybody knew certain traditional songs, which not necessarily were played on the radio, but people did enjoy singing them when they got together. Some songs were more popular and well known in the north of the country only as they were related to the sea.

One of them was "Bosman" ("Bosun" in Eng.). I never knew who its author was till these days when I did some research. It was written by Jerzy Porębski. However, I did not find the information when exactly it was created. Well, ages ago.

My free translation
"On the deck, since the morning,
The bosun is always heard
When he needlessly screams all the time.
Even if you hurt your hands,
He will always rebuke you and say:
"It is done badly".

Boys, what has happened to you?
When at the cauldron, then everybody hurries.
It's not a tub, not a pan,
You should know from your childhood,
It is a Polish warship. 

But is sometimes happens,

That the bosun daydreams,

Every bosun has their dreams.

If you ask him the,

He brings his squeezebox,

Sits on the stern and plays.

(...)"

The song has many verses, but we (the scouts) most often sang only four. Much later, I discovered that the next one tells what the bosun fantasized about - it was the sea, the abyss, the fights he experienced, girls of Bombay who love and kiss hard. Probably, the latter was a reason why we did not sing that part.
On the other hand, the bosun also dreamed about Gdynia, the port which he loved so very much.

Traditional version of the song - the author Jerzy Porębski sings in the video

 More modern and lively version of "Bosun"

 

 

PS

"My Polish Alphabet" is about things, people, and places that come to my mind when I think of Poland.

 

Country & Western Dance Night

It was another summer Sunday night live music night in the park and dance as well. Camille Sanders and the great band sang and played traditional songs, old country pieces, and some newer songs created by the talented lady (singer and instrumentalist) and the band. they closed the night with one of my favorite old songs "I'll Fly Away."

Needless to say, we had a great time.

Jazz Band in Gazebo

A wonderful weekend we had, full of events and activities. We were very busy (in a nice, festive way) so there was no time to catch up with posting here.

Friday - a relaxing evening with The Dirty River Jazz Band. Over two hours of classic jazz and swing, great quality of music in the Nimitz museum yard.

The band played many music requests. Do you know the title of the piece I requested (watch the video)/who it was originally sung by?

How was your weekend?

More about the band at their website

Song

Sometimes I wake up in the night with a song on my mind. Usually, the song gets stuck to me for some time until I hear it sung by a singer. Recently, it has been the song which starts with  "Jedno życie masz..."/"One life you have...". I learned it at primary school, and I sang it then with the school choir. Most of the lyrics I had forgotten, that was only that one verse:

 

"Jedno życie masz, komu dasz ten kwiat, nie idź za rzekę zginiesz tam"/

"One life you have, who will you give that flower to, do not go across the river, you will perish there."    

 

 I remembered that the original version in English was sung by Joan Baez, so I looked for a video on youtube.

Interestingly, looking for the Polish version of "Dona, Dona", I also learned that it is actually a traditional Jewish song with lyrics in Yiddish.

 

Well, there is always something new to learn. I like the red dress by the way.

The Polish lyrics were not about cows going to slaughter, though. It was more like an anti-war song.
 

Finally, it is, I found the words I had learned at school.

 

"Jedno życie masz, 

komu dasz ten kwiat? 

Nie idź za rzekę zginiesz tam.

 

Komu dasz ten kwiat? 

Życia swego kwiat? 

Kiedy zza rzeki padnie strzał? 

 

Ludzie, ludzie nie gińcie,

Wy ocalicie świat.

Ludzie, ludzie szkoda was. 

To wojna zginąć ma.

 

Dona Dona Don..."

Which is

 

"One life you have,

Who will you give that flower to?
Don't go across the river,

You will perish there.

 

One life you have,

Who will you give that flower to?
The flower of your life?

When the shot from across the river will be fired.

 

People, people do not perish,

You will save the world.
People, people do not perish,

The war is that one to die.

 

Dona Dona Don..."

 

 
I did not manage to find any live version of the song sung in Polish (with the particular lyrics mentioned above), so the song is still here Dona Dona Dona Dona...


 

My Music ABC: T-Z

Writing about the letter 'S' I forgot to mention someone. I am going to write about all the missed musicians in the following post/posts of My Music ABC series.

Today - T

'Children of the Revolution' by T. Rex was probably their most often played song on the Polish radio. I like some other songs by the band as well but I learned about them later, after the 'Children of the Revolution' hit.



Thin Lizzy and their 'Whiskey in the Jar'. I guess quite a lot of younger music fans most likely do not know that it was the original version of the song, covered later by Metallica and others.

Tangerine Dream - a German electronic music band. Their Kiew Mission is one of # 1s on my Tangerine Dream list.


Classical T

I have always liked the music by Tchaikovsky. However, I first time watched a live ballet performance of his 'Nutcracker' when I came to Texas.

U

Uriah Heep - my all times number one music U.  Do you know that the name of the band has its origin in/was taken from the novel 'David Copperfield' by Charles Dickens? In that story, Uriah Heep was actually rather a lousy character, the band, however, wrote and sang so many songs which I really like. Great, epic ballads and more rock pieces too.

V

Vangelis, especially his works created with Jon Anderson. A superb duo and romantic compositions.



Andreas Vollenweider and his magical world of gardens, water falls and his Swiss harp music.

W

Wishbone Ash - wonderful tunes and my music W #1. I fell in love with their songs from the very first time when I heard them. It was 'Errors of My Ways' and others on a cassette with their first album Wishbone Ash. My friend gave that cassette to me when I told her I liked it a lot. She had bought the cassette for a kiss (a real story) from one of her (male) pals.



Jeff Wayne and his "War of the Worlds" - magnificent compositions (absolutely stunning in my opinion) based on the novel by H.G. Wells. I have always enjoyed listening to the musical version of that classic story. The music intro is totally amazing - the words of the novel read by Richard Burton, the string section and all the orchestra sounds, the lyrics of the songs give me goose bumps. It is so great! Jeff Wayne's "War of the Worlds" reminds me old radio theater shows. While listening to the music pieces, I can almost 'see' it all too. It makes my imagination work and makes me emotional as well. And I need to mention, no sooner had I seen the original concert version than I listened to the music on the radio and on a CD.


I wish I had been able to see it live when it was still performed. Well, Jeff Wayne has been retired now but there are still videos and my CD to enjoy.

Y

When I visited Birmingham, quite unexpectedly, I had a chance to see Yes at their concert rehearsal. I was with a small group of other people and our guide - a Birmingham lady - sneaked us into the concert hall where Yes were working. We watched them from a balcony for a few minutes, then we had to leave of course. It was quite amazing. To be honest, I was surprised that Yes had been still performing. I like their music but (as it is with other bands as well) I have never tracked their career.
The album by Yes which I like most is Drama.

Z

The only non-European band in this post is ZZ Top. I wrote about them in one of My Texas Alphabet pieces.

---

T.Rex - Jeepster, Hot Love, One Inch Rock, Children of the Revolution

Tangerine Dream - Stratosfear, Kiew Mission + the album Exit

Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty

Uriah Heep - Lady in Black, July Morning, Gypsy, Look at Yourself, Easy Livin', Salisbury - album, Sympathy, Come Away Melinda, Tears in My Eyes

UFO - Doctor, Doctor

Jon & Vangelis - albums Short Stories, Friends of Mr. Cairo

Andreas Vollenweider - albums Caverna Magica, Behind the Gardens

Wishbone Ash - Errors of My Ways, Sorrel, Lullaby, Ballad of the Beacom, Warrior, Leaf and Stream, Throw Down the Sword, Persephone, Everybody Needs a Friend

Rick Wakeman - Six Wives of Henry VIII

Yes - Into the Lens/I am a Camera, Love Will Find a Way, album Drama, Owner of the Lonely Heart

ZZ Top - Legs,  Sharp Dressed Man, La Grange, Gimme All Your Lovin'

My Music ABC: S

I skipped the letter 'R' on purpose as I have already mentioned some 'R' bands in my previous posts.

The letter 'S' is going to be all about European music which I like most due to my European roots. Non European artists (well at least one) will be mentioned some other time, not today.

Our S #1 is Sabaton - Swedish formation - one of the very few contemporary bands whom we enjoy listening to. Each and every song by Sabaton is a little story based on real facts and history. Each of them tells about a real event, battle, soldier/soldiers, king or a war. And we can learn something about them just listening to Sabaton records.

The very first songs by Sabaton which I listened to were the ones connected with WWII and history of Poland: Uprising (about the Warsaw Uprising 1944) and 40:1, inspired by the battle of Bzura and the heroic fight of the Polish soldiers. It was quite a few years ago. Anyway, I heard those pieces and loved them at once. They also made me interested in other compositions by the Swedish band. The music is from the 'hard and heavy side' but it is very pleasant to the ear. What is more, it is quite original with many interesting and nice melody lines. While listening to their songs you not only enjoy the tunes but at the same time learn about some (often rather forgotten or little known) history facts.

The music pieces by Sabaton sound very well also when they are enriched and supported by a classical orchestra. It may seem a bit wild - heavy metal and classical music mixed together but, according to us, it is a great compilation. Actually, our dream concert by Sabaton would be the one performed by the musicians in a small concert hall with some assistance - from time to time - of a classical orchestra. We could sit in the comfortable chairs of a music hall and enjoy two in one - what we really like - the 'Sabaton history music channel' tales and classical music as well.

On the other hand, the Swedish musicians create a great performance when they are on their own - they do not need any extra support. The band does very well on stage and their live music + songs are as good as the ones recorded in the studio. It is just our dream concert vision. Another reason for that is that regular heavy metal concert venue facilities are usually of a different sort of comfort comparing to a cozy concert hall. I guess, not too many fans of Sabaton would be happy about such a concert and the opposite - not too many classical music lovers would decide to buy tickets to listen to a heavy metal band. Well, that would be perfect to us.

🎸

I have always liked Scorpions (German band) and many of their songs - both ballads and the more heavy stuff. I saw them at a concert at the beginning of the 90s, in Poland. To be honest, I do not recall much of the event besides the fact that I did enjoy it.

Talking about Scorpions I need to mention Michael Schenker and his Group. At some point he was part of Scorpions, later he played with his own band. I do not know much of their career or music but I do remember the piece 'Into the Arena' - I loved the way Micheal played the guitar.

🎸

Status Quo are my number one English 'S' band. Lively, cheering music and very enjoyable guitar parts that is what I like about them most.

The band members, very skillful musicians, are also great stage performers. Their music is simply good stuff and fun. I could watch some of their concert pieces (such as Gerdundula) again and again.

🎸

Slade - another English band who played the music which I would call 'merry & fun'. The costumes they wore added to the fun part. My Slade hit #1 is 'Coz I Love You'.

Smokey and Sweet - I mention them here although, when they were most popular, I disliked them with all my heart. The guys looked too girly to me and, in my opinion, their music was too sweetened and boring. The time has passed and I am still not a particular fan of the bands but these days I am OK with listening to some of their songs once in a while. At some point, they were big in Europe anyway.

Sting - a class of his own. Shortly speaking - Art of music - no need to comment it at all.

Classical S

Schumann Robert - quite a coincidence - his birthday is today. He was born on 8 June 1810. Schumann liked playing with his seven children. Several of his compositions relate to children/childhood.

Strauss - both father and son - I do knot know if it is still a kind of tradition on Polish TV, at least it used to be. Every year on New Year's Day a live concert was transmitted from Vienna. The music by Strauss Senior and his Son was mostly played then. I did like those cocerts. It was a good way to celebrate the beginning of a new year.

Sabaton: too many songs which we really like to mention them all here - just some of them are
To Hell And Back, Attero Dominatus, Carolus Rex, The Lion from The North, Swedish Pagans, Poltava, Got Mitt Uns, Aces in Exile, 40:1, Uprising, Night Witches

Scorpions:
The Zoo, Holiday, In Trance, Life's Like a River, Fly People Fly, Can't Live Without You, Blackout, You Give me All I Need, No One Like You, When the Smoke Is Going Down, Yellow Raven

Slade: 
Far Far Away, Run Runaway, Coz I Love You

Smokey:
I'll Meet You at Midnight, Don't Play Your Rock'n'Roll to Me

Status Quo:
In The Army, Gerdundula, What You're Proposing

Sting:
Shape of My Heart, Fields of Gold, Moon over Bourbon Street, Russians, I'm Lost Without You, Desert Rose

Sweet:
Hell Raiser, Blockbuster

Classical S

Schumann: Scenes of the Childhood - opus #16 Dream

Johann Strauss Sr.: 
Radetzky March

Johann Strauss Jr.:
Tritch-Trach Polka
The Blue Danube
Pizzicato Polka
Vienna Blood

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Credits

Photos

• Sabaton: By dr_zoidberg [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
• Scorpions: By Pablo BM from Plymouth, England (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
• Status Quo photo: KevM at the English language Wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

My Music ABC: P

First of all: PINK FLOYD. Especially their early albums.
Our very first record by Pink Floyd was Meddle. My sister, enchanted by Echoes,  bought it from someone (again - it was when contemporary western rock albums/bands were not available in music stores in Poland - ancient history almost 😀).

In 1991, while visiting Denmark I purchased a VHS cassette with their concert - Live at Pompeii. I had seen the concert on Polish TV and found the compilation of the visuals and the music magical. Beautiful.
Much later, when I was relocating to Texas, I brought the Pink Floyd VHS to Texas. Unfortunately,  so far I have not found a VHS player with a switch/an option which would allow viewing tapes recorded in the European format/system. I treasure the tape, though, hoping  I will be able to rewatch it one day.

My P no. 2 is The Police. I used to have a cassette with their first album Outlandos d'Amour.  Although the pieces by The Police which were written/composed later could be called more interesting and more sophisticated/mature, I still like those songs from their first record. Maybe it is just a sentiment connected with my teenage days. Maybe.

And then - PUNK. Yes, I listened to that kind of music as well. I still do - sometimes. I never looked like a punk rocker but I was keen on some of the punk rock tracks - the ones with more interesting/regular melody line (comparing to some which were mostly noise only).
My sister happened to know a punk rocker - well, he did not look like one on weekdays. He worked as a jeweler apprentice then. Well, I assume he changed his style on weekends when he attended a local punk rockers club called 'Little Sun'.

Anyway, when at the that guy's place, he played the songs by an underground Polish punk band called Kryzys and I did learn about them for the very first time then. At that time, you could hear punk music only on one Polish radio station (Program 3) which was more open to modern rock trends (Program 3). And I did like listening to it. However, they hardly ever played the music by Kryzys - maybe their songs were banned due to their lyrics. No, there was no bad language in them but they were full of allusions to the political situation in the country and the government at that time. What was more, the name of the band Kryzys (Crisis) had the other, unofficial part - 'of the communism'.

All in all, it was very politically incorrect and although it was not played in the media (there was no YouTube at that time either), the band (which was formed at the end of the 70s) became quite popular during their very short career.  Anyway, I found their songs a refreshing novelty and somehow I had them recorded on a tape too.

After so many years, while preparing this post, I searched for Kryzys on YouTube. Of course, they are there. My favorite songs - Telewizja (TV), Wojny Gwiezdne (Star Wars) and Mam Dość (I am fed up with it) brought back the memories and the sentiment connected with those old days. Well, do not be mistaken - I have always been a good girl....

Pink Floyd

Albums - A Saucerful of Secrets, Ummagumma, Animals, Wish You Were Here, The Wall.

The Police - Outlandos d'Amour album + most of their songs.

PUNK
Kryzys - Telewizja, Wojny Gwiezdne, Mam Dość,
Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen, Anarchy in the UK, Holidays in the Sun
Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love
The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop, I Wanna be Sedated, Sheena is a Punk Rocker,
Sham 69 -  If the Kids Are United,
999 - Inside Out,
The Stranglers - No More Heroes, Peaches,
Generation X - King Rocker.

My Music ABC: O

The letter O means it is time to for Oldies. As most everything in this world, the meaning of the word 'oldies' is rather subjective.

When I worked with teenage students, we had a project on music. Each student was to make a presentation on their most favorite singer or band. The kids liked the project topic but one girl was sitting in the class and doing nothing. She told me she did not have a favorite musician. When we discussed it, I suggested she could make a project on any kind of music or band of her choice, considering singers who used to be popular in the past as well. Somebody mentioned ABBA as an example.

The girl asked then: 'Are they still alive?'.

That was what 'oldies' meant to her.

In my understanding Oldies = music from the 50s and 60s. When I was a teenager myself, every other Sunday, on the Polish radio, there was a two hour non-stop program with the 50s and 60s music. It was songs only - no commercials, no talking, just pure music. My sister and I always waited for those Sunday evenings - from 8 to 10 pm we listened to those oldies, and sometimes recorded them as well. It was our radio show, the only one which we were both interested in.

Other Os

Mike Oldfield and his 'Tubular Bells'.
OMD - 'Enola Gay'

Omega - there was such a Hungarian rock band. In Poland, they were famous for their song “Girl with Pearl hair”, and I guess, most people did not know anything else by Omega nor anything about the band. At least I did not.

Polish O

Oddział Zamknięty - it used to be one of my favorite bands of the 80s.

 Some 50s' and 60s' oldies (e.g. The Animals or The Kinks) were mentioned in previous posts so I am not going to repeat them here. Anyway, here is the hit parade for today (enough hits for at least one 2-hour radio show).🎵

Manfred Mann: 5-4-3-2-1 / Do-Wah-Diddy-Diddy / Sha La-La
The Byrds: Mr. Tambourine Man
Herman's Hermits: I Am Henry VIII I Am / No Milk Today / Can't You Hear My Heartbeat / World Without Love / East West
Peter and Gordon: Let It Be Me
Gerry and The Pacemakers: Ferry Cross The Mersey / You'll Never Walk Alone / How Do You Do It? / I like It
The Dave Clark Five: The Red Balloon / Glad All Over / Do You Love Me?
The Searchers: Love Potion No. 9 / Needles and Pins / Sweets for My Sweet / Sugar and Spice
The Tremeloes: Silence Is Golden / Here Comes My Baby
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich: Okay
The Archies: Sugar, Sugar
The Box Tops: The Letter
Simon Dupree & The Big Sound: Kites
The Fortunes: Seasons in The Sun / Ballad of The Alamo
The Zombies: Time of The Season / She's Not There
Small Faces: Sha La La La Lee
The Yardbirds: For Your Love / Still I'm Sad / Heart Full of Soul
The Easybeats: Friday on My Mind
Lulu: Shout
The Troggs: Wild Thing / Love is All Around
The Drifters: Saturday Night at The Movies / Stand By Me
Gene Pitney: Something Gotten Hold on My Heart
The Turtles: Happy Together
The Hollies: The Air That I Breathe
The Righteous Brothers: Unchained Melody / You are My Soul And Inspiration
Mamas and Papas: California Dreamin'
Ritchie Valens: Donna
The Everly Brothers: Bye Bye Love / Wake Up Little Susie / All I Have to Do Is Dream / Till I Kissed You
Cliff Richard: The Young Ones / Lucky Lips
The Shadows: Kon Tiki / Apache
The Shireless: Will You Love Me Tomorrow
Brian Hyland: Sealed With A Kiss
Paul & Paula: Hey Paula
The Cascades: Rhythm of The Rain
Rolling Stones: Angie / Paint It Black / Get Out of My Cloud
Carl Perkins: Blue Suede Shoes
Del Shannon: Runaway
Buddy Holly: Peggy Sue
Gene Vincent: Be-Bop A Lula
Jerry Lee Lewis: Great Balls of Fire
Brenda Lee: I'm Sorry
Little Eva: Locomotion
Ricky Nelson: Hello Mary Lou
Pat Boone: Love Letters in The Sand
Freddie & The Dreamers: I'm Telling You Now
The Crystals: Da Doo Ron Ron
The Kingsmen: Louie Louie
Trini Lopez: If I Had A Hammer
Bobby Vinton: Blue Velvet / Roses Are Red
The Four Seasons: Rag Doll
The Dixie Cups: Chapel of Love
The Shangrilas: Remember Walking in The Sand
Chubby Checker: Let's Twist Again / The Twist
Brook Benton: Boll Weevil Song
The Marvelettes: Please, Mr. Postman
Helen Shapiro: Walking Back to Happiness
Linda Scott: I've Told Every Little Star
Dion: Runaround Sue / A Teenager in Love
Ray Charles: Hit The Road Jack
Jimmy Clanton: Venus in Blue Jeans
Skeeter Davis: End of The World
Chris Montez: Let's Dance
Brothers Four: Greenfields
Johnny Tillotson: Poetry in Motion
B. Vee & The Shadows: Devil or Angel / Take Good Care of My Baby
Larry Verne: Mr. Custer
Johnny Preston: Running Bear
Dwain Eddie: Because They're Young / Rebel Rouser
The Everly Brothers: All I Have To Do Is Dream
The Chordettes: Lollipop
Johnny Horton: Battle of New Orleans
Mitch Miller Band: Bridge Over River Kwai / The Yellow Rose of Texas
The Fleetwoods: Come Softly To Me
Harry Belafonte: Banana Boat Song
Freddie & The Dreamers: I'm Telling You Now
Billy J. Kramer: Bad To Me
The Lovin' Spoonful: Summer in The City
The Mindbenders: Groovy Kind of Love
The Tokens: The Lion Sleeps Tonight

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