KONTROLA W.-Bossa Nova LP

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KONTROLA W. was founded in 1981 in Zduńska Wola. Initially they performed under the full name KONTROLA WŁADZY (CONTROL OF THE POWER), which immediately attracted the interest of the relevant services. Especially since the group's stage debut took place on December 12, 1981 - that is, the day before martial law was declared.
They formed as a response to the musical frolic in their city, annoyed at the schematic and derivative sounds generated by formatted musicians. They existed only until 1983, but in that short time of their existence they outdid with their inventive compositions, lyrics, aesthetics and style practically everything that was being created in Poland at the time. All this contrasted sharply with the coarse communist landscape and the musical backwardness that was all around.
There was no need to please the public's tastes in what they created. Neither the safe and mainstream one, nor the more direct punk one. Their achievements can be described in terms of new wave or post-punk, but the essence for them was to go beyond any pattern, rather than reproduce another pattern. The British, American or German new wave bands they listened to had some influence on Kontrola W.'s achievements, but the goal was not to sound like one of them, and that goal certainly succeeded.
The compositions and lyrics of Kontrola W. set them apart from other bands. But one element that also strongly distinguished them was the participation of Kasia Kulda, the band's vocalist. At the time, a female vocalist at the very front of the group was still a phenomenon on a national scale and also a bold artistic statement.
In their time of existence, they were not always well understood or appreciated, but they also received very complimentary reactions from audiences or music journalists (such as from the British New Musical Express). They also performed at several major festivals - twice in Jarocin (1982 and 1983), at Rockowisko in Łodź (1982) and Rock Arena in Poznań (1983). The reward for their performance at the Rockowisko festival was an invitation to a studio session at Radio Łódź. Seven songs were recorded with 100% set, of which the song “19:30 DTV” was recorded without the participation of a sound engineer. The country was still under the rigors of martial law, and the idea of recording a song about the regime's main propaganda tube was bold, but also risky.
Apart from the very crude-sounding Jarocin submission cassette and the usually low quality of surviving live recordings, this is the only decent-sounding and representative material for the band.

During its existence or even until the end of the 1990s, the band failed to release even a single song, which is a huge gap in the achievements of Polish music culture. It wasn't until 1999 that six tracks from this session were released on the compilation CD/MC “Porzucona generacja” (Pop Noise). The song “Bossa nova” found its way onto the fan compilation “Subnormal Girls - DIY/Post Punk 1979-83 Vol. 1” LP (Waiting Room Records, 2016). Two songs from the Jarocin fest, ended up on the “Jarocin '82” compilation LP on Warsaw Pact Records (2024).
In September 1983, the band ceases to exist, only to return after a slight reshuffle in the lineup with a new idea and with the name KOSMETYKI MRS. PINKI - but that's a story for another time.
With this release we are very pleased to present the full session from the Radio Łódź studio - officially appearing on vinyl for the first time, and this is the first release by this brilliant band on their own. It is unbelievable that this is happening 42 years after the end of their activity!
This 12” coming out with nice packaging with an additional booklet containing lots of photos and an interview with Darek Kulda - guitarist, co-founder of the band and author of most of the songs. Mastering of recordings from DAT tape by Mario / Studio As One.
This is an absolute a must item for anyone who is into to the wave, post-punk and the Polish or Eastern European altrernative music history.