Band Name: Dezerter
Music Album: Kolaboracja II
Album Release Date: December 1989
Music Genre: Punk Rock
Record Label: PolJazz
Album Release Country: Poland
Music Record Type: 13 Tracks Vinyl Album LP
SS-20 were formed in May 1981, in the Warszawa region. All four members were very young, and more or less learned to play their instruments by forming this group. The original line-up was Robert "Robal" Matera-guitar/vocals, Darek "Stepa" Stepnowski, and Krzysiek Grabowski-drums. Soon after, Darek "Skandal" Hain joined on lead vocals.
SS-20 was a secret weapon, a nuclear missile designed by the USSR. There were two designs of the missile, it was able to fly up to 6000 km, and was in use between 1975 to 1991, when the introduction of international anti-nuclear war pacts made it illegal. Hence, the name itself was considered an incredible provocation for many. Articles ran thru both the Polish and Russian press regarding the "punk" group's name. Soon enough, the group experienced censors examining their lyrics before concerts telling them which songs they could not perform due to their subject matter. "We would comply, and as soon as the censors left, we would go ahead and play them anyway..." -Robal. Eventually the group came to a point that they were unable to even list their name on concert posters, and with more and more difficulty to perform under this controversial name, the group had to abandon the title of "SS20". These early days were documented in a small film made about the group titled "Byc Czlowiekiem" (A. Pakula) filmed July 1982.
By the beginning of '83, the group had introduc (...)
| A1 | Kolaboracja II | 3:16 |
| A2 | Budujesz Faszyzm Przez Nietolerancję | 3:12 |
| A3 | Co Oni Nam Dają? | 2:58 |
| A4 | Fabryka | 3:17 |
| A5 | Jeszcze Żywy Człowiek | 2:41 |
| A6 | Jesteśmy Tacy Sami | 3:39 |
| B1 | El Salvador | 2:01 |
| B2 | Nienawiść I Wojna | 1:36 |
| B3 | Dopiero Tuż Nad Ziemią | 5:01 |
| B4 | Nowe Wiadomości | 1:57 |
| B5 | Rejestr Wariatów | 2:22 |
| B6 | Wystarczy Tylko Chcieć | 2:24 |
| B7 | Kolaboracja III | 3:04 |
The album title is Kolaboracja II, but it is not printed on the release due to government censorship.
Recorded at Studio PR, Opole May '88.
Remix at Studio Wawrzyszew, Warszawa July '88.
Publisher: PolJazz.
1) The band's discography website states the correct titles of the albums
2) All reissues in the years following first pressings have been named as intended, without government intervention. The liner notes for Kolaboracja CD's, including the one used as the key release right now (released in '95), explicitly state this. Kolaboracja II was recorded and released when censorship was becoming more lax preceding political shifts, but they still censored the title and the first song, which was re-recorded for reissues.
3) Krzysztof Grabowski goes into more detail about this in his book "Poroniona generacja?" from 2010 (released some time later in English as "Miscarried Generation?"). A few pages are given to the story of the album's recording and how much trouble the band had with censorship.
4) The book quotes an interview with the band from the zine QQRYQ from issue number 10 (1988) in which they talk about their adventures with the censor's office (pages 87-88 of the Polish edition). Also there's a snippet from BRUM 06/1994 with more of the same.
5) Page 98 has reprints of two contemporary reviews by Sławomir Gołaszewski and Piotr Wierzbicki, both well known figures around these parts. Both reviews do not deliberately state what the correct name of the album should be, but do mention how troubled Dezerter's existence was up to this point due to "official factors".
6) An interview with the band from Maximum Rock'n'Roll from 1989. Between pages 1 and 2 they mention the album name.
page 1 - https://imgur.com/6X3jIve
page 2 - https://imgur.com/Cj48b8w
7) A review from Maximum Rock'n'Roll from 1989, right after the release of the album, deliberately stating the real title.
https://imgur.com/YXeJzch
(6 and 7 kindly provided to me by Krzysztof Grabowski via Facebook).
File download is hosted on Megaupload
