THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,536) Grupa Skifflowa No To Co I Piotr Janczerski (Skiffle Group No To Co and Piotr Janczerski) — “Z Soboty Na Niedzielę”/“Saturday to Sunday”
From the ‘69 album W Murowanej Piwnicy/ In the Brick Cellar, here is classic Polish melodic hard rock, along with an equally good version in English. This definitely would have been a hit in the States had it been released by an American band.
Of No To Co, Christian Reder tells us (courtesy of Google Translate):
The band . . . was founded in July 1967 by Piotr Janczerski and Jerzy Krzemiski in Lodz, Poland. Janczerski had previously been the singer of the band Niebiesko-Czarni. Musically, the band combined Polish folk music with skiffle and big beat, later turning to beat and rock music. The band initially had no name when they made their first appearance on the TV show “Po szóstej” on December 5, 1967. Only after this TV show and several thousand letters from enthusiastic viewers did the group call itself NO TO CO. The first songs were then recorded under this name. The band’s first two records (two singles/EPs) were released in the same year . . . . The band began touring in 1968, playing first in Poland, but then abroad, including in France, Great Britain, West Germany, Canada, the USA, and almost all socialist countries. The band’s first full-length album, “NO TO CO,” was also released in 1968. In its early years, it won various awards, including a prize at the Opole Festival in 1968. The band also successfully participated in festivals in Sopot, Rome . . . and Cannes . . . . The start of the new decade saw the first personnel changes within the band. Jerzy Grunwald [left] in 1970, and was followed by band founder Piotr Janczerski that same year. Over the course of the 1970s, the band’s musical style also increasingly changed. The folkloric elements faded into the background, and the band began to focus more on rock music. Between 1970 and 1973, NO TO CO managed to release some records abroad. In [East Germany] a song by the group appeared for the first time in 1970 on a sampler by the record label AMIGA. The album “No To Co,” named after the band, was also released by AMIGA. While the songs initially released in [East Germany] were still in their native language . . . from 1973 onwards, NO TO CO also sang their songs in German. These songs were created during their stay in [East Germany], where they re-recorded the songs for their audience [their] in the AMIGA studios. . . . The band also enjoyed great popularity in the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia, where they successfully sold records . . . . NO TO CO records were also available in Western countries, including the 1970 single “Flowers” in England and the 1970 album “So What,” produced on the Polish label Polskie Nagrania Muza, featuring songs sung in English [including “Saturday to Sunday”]. The latter record was pressed as an export version and sold abroad (including in West Germany).
Wikipedia adds (courtesy of Google Translate):
The band, still without a name, debuted on December 5, 1967 in the television program “Po sięj”. In the competition announced at that time, the name “Grupa Skiffowa No To Co” (since 1970 – “No To Co i Piotr Janczerski”) was chosen from several thousand submitted proposals. . . . The years 1968–1970 were the best period in the history of No To Co. The band won major awards, including at the 6th KFPP [ National Festival of Polish Song] . . . in 1968 for the song “Po ten kwiat czerwony”. At this festival, the song “Te opolskie dziouchy” caused a sensation, although without an award. Further awards came a year later – at the 3rd FPZ [Soldiers’ Song Festival] . . , the 5th Bratysławska Lira Festival and the Folk Country Festival . . . .
Here is the ’70 English version:
On TV:
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