II
Kombi

About:

Kombi was a successful pop rock band from Poland, founded in 1976 in Gdańsk by keyboardist Sławomir Łosowski. The classic lineup included guitarist-singer Grzegorz Skawiński and bass player Waldemar Tkaczyk. Jan Pluta was the drummer in the early years, later replaced by Jerzy Piotrowski of SBB who played electronic Simmons drums; the band also used a drum machine.

In the beginning the group played mostly pop rock music with elements of funk or hard rock; the compositions often served to showcase their instrumental skills. In fact, Kombi would include instrumental songs on most of their albums; some of these gained quite a popularity (the debut single 'Wspomnienia z pleneru' or 'Bez ograniczeń', which became the theme music to a popular children's show). After the second album their style turned towards synth pop.

The new style was announced by the 1983 single "Inwazja z Plutona", but real success came a year later, with the LP 'Nowy rozdział' (New Chapter). Kombi's sound became dominated by synthesizers, Simmons drums (the first Polish band to use them), samplers and Roland TR-808 drum machine. The mastermind behind it all was Łosowski, who on subsequent Kombi albums would even use Commodore 64 as a MIDI sequencer. Also contributing to the band's uniqueness was Skawiński's distinctive guitar playing (around the time, his image resembled that of Ultravox's Midge Ure) and Tkaczyk's bass slapping style. Both 'Nowy rozdział' and 'Kombi 4' became bestsellers, generating hits like 'Słodkiego miłego życia', 'Nasze rendez-vous', 'Nie ma zysku', 'Black and White' or 'Kochać cię za późno'. The band came to be recognized as a symbol of Polish pop music of the eighties. In 1984, Kombi also received the audience award at the Opole festival. Their last album in the 80's, 'Tabu', was a bit more guitar oriented and featured the politically themed song 'Nietykalni', also a big hit. The band split up in 1992, shortly after their widely publicised 15th anniversary shows.

In 2002, Skawiński, Tkaczyk and original drummer Pluta reformed as Kombii (two 'i's) without Łosowski, with new keyboardist Bartosz Wielgosz as a collaborating musician. The new band's efforts have not been consistent in style and artistic quality with old Kombi; nevertheless their album (called simply 'CD') has been a commercial success - due to the use of the old, renowned name. Kombii continues to record and perform to this day.

Since the original Kombi's dissolution Łosowski has mostly kept away from the music scene until 2004, when he returned to music together with his son Tomasz on drums (Tomasz had been playing with Kombi through their last years). They occasionally give live performances, aided by visual effects. Singles with new material are also occasionally released.

In 2004 Łosowski gave a huge concert in Warsaw under the title 'Zaczarowane miasto'. In 2007 he suddenly introduced a new single called ‘Niebo, które czeka’ after years of silence. This was followed by the 2008 single ‘Miłość, to dwoje nas’ and a new spectacular live show. Both singles can be downloaded for free from his website. A new album was released in 2009. Meanwhile the other Kombi members, Kombii, answer with albums around the same time, first 'Ślad' in 2007, a remix-project in 2008 (D.A.N.C.E.) and then a new album in 2010.

(thanks to Alex Prządka for updating above bio)

On the web:

- Kombi's official website: http://www.kombi.pl
- Łosowski's official website: http://www.losowski.pl

If you like this, you probably like... / european counterparts:


What do we think:

DB: I bought Kombi's first album on CD at the Empik in Gdansk just because I liked the cover (Paul Royal normaly buys the CD's and I the vinyl but this called for an exception). Kombi makes a sort of funky-synthi pop with what comes across as humerous lyrics. I don't have any idea what they sing but it sounds like it's meant to be humerous or at least cynical. The first three albums are great then they start overdoing themselves. Łosowski recent projects (to be downloaded for free from his website) sound again great though.

Recommended albums:

♪♪♪ - Kombi - 1980

♪♪♪♪ - Królowie życia (The Kings of life) - 1981

♪♪♪♪♪ - Nowy rozdział (The New chapter) - 1984

♪♪♪- Kombi 4 - 1985

? - Live - 1986

♪♪ - Tabu - 1989

? - Ostatni koncert (The last concert) - 1992

- Ślad (Kombii) - 2007

- Zaczarowane miasto ( Łosowski solo) - 2009

♪♪ - O Miłości (Kombii) - 2010

------------------------------------------------------------------------
♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided