The drum kit, of course, was a few snare drums joined together and a real bass drum with a pedal. The repertoire was the instrumental hits of The Shadows learnt from "sound postcard" records. The performances were regular dance evenings at the Wersalik club - as far as I remember - on Tuesdays. The band was looked after by the manager of the club, Mrs Rozenbajger . This consisted mainly of talking to the neighbours about the disturbance caused by the loud music.
      Those who accompanied the band at rehearsals and performances were: Maciej Głogoczowski , later in Szwagry , Andrzej Michalski - as a pupil of a music school he often helped to work out the chords, and Henryk Michalski - he sang a little when.. there was a microphone.
After happily passing the school-leaving exams the band broke up. The break lasted until the autumn of 1965, when the line-up was strengthened by Roman Kapelan ( Andrzej Rachwaniec left), and the repertoire changed from instrumental to vocal. Roman had quite a good voice, and he also took on building the amplifiers and connecting up all the equipment.
      The Nowa Huta Department of Culture financed the purchase of equipment: 2 guitars, a drum kit, an amplifier of about 100 W, and loudspeakers, which the members of the band built into neat cabinets made of boards and covered with fabric - from a distance they looked factory-made. For the first time the name BŁĘKITNI appeared on the bass drum, painted... in black.

      After a few.. stage successes.. at the regular evenings at the Wersalik and performances in nearby clubs - Pleszów, the Scouts' House, the Willowe estate (in front of the post office) - the band moved to the Ruch club on the Teatralne estate, under the care of Mrs Wiesia (unfortunately I do not remember her surname). Supervision was still exercised by the Nowa Huta Department of Culture - Mrs Anna Siatkowska .
      After a short time the drummer changed: the place of Jurek Kościński was taken by Jerzy Rojek. Rehearsals were held practically every day; they were open rehearsals, with an audience that packed all the tables.
The band fully consolidated in this line-up and a vocal repertoire was worked out. It played at evenings in various clubs and schools of Nowa Huta practically every Saturday and Sunday, which brought the members of the band a small but steady income. In this line-up, rehearsing and performing intensively, the band lasted until July 1966.
From this period comes a truly archival tape with original recordings of the band, made by Jurek Rojek on his own small tape recorder. The quality is poor, but something can be heard.
      During the holidays the band fell apart completely: the friends started work or studies, or simply married early. But we could not go long without making music. From the autumn of 1966 rehearsals began again in the back room of the Wersalik club, in the line-up:

At that time Roman Kapelan and Jurek Rojek left the band, while Jerzy Kościński and Henryk Michalski - vocals - came back. The band changed its name to BANICI.

      As far as I remember, the line-up had no bass guitar; it was replaced by a pianola bought in the meantime by the Nowa Huta Department of Culture. The band was looked after by Mrs Markiewicz, the manager of the club. Occasional (infrequent) rehearsals went on until the summer of 1967, with Henryk Michalski , who sang one composition of his own: we were preparing for some contest. The performance never took place because some of the friends were not interested. Other duties, such as children, studies and work, were more important. Another collapse of the band followed, this time a final one. In the summer Zdzisław Kulis came back and Janusz Satała and Janusz Rachwaniec joined. A new name was thought up for the band, the idea of Zdzisław Kulis - MY OD KRAKOWA ("We from Kraków").

      The band's repertoire consisted of attempts at composing its own music and laboriously writing lyrics. One composition by the band has survived (the last one on the tape). The performances were regular dates at the Wersalik and some trips commissioned by the Nowa Huta Department of Culture. At that time the band used the equipment bought and built by the first line-up of BŁĘKITNI.
      In January 1968 the band moved to the Song and Dance Ensemble (Z.P.i T.) on the Górali estate, inheriting the equipment and the place from its predecessors, who had just disbanded. Rehearsals were held in a small room next to the porter's lodge, performances on Saturdays and Sundays.       The line-up changed a little and was completed: Andrzej Olkuski joined as a singer, and Roman Kapelan and Jerzy Rojek played occasionally, without rehearsals (standing in for Jurek Kościński on drums). The final line-up of MY OD KRAKOWA

      The performances at the Z.P.i T. went on until the summer of 1968; in the meantime there were many performances commissioned by the HiL House of Culture (by the reservoir, Niepołomice, others..). An instructor from the House of Culture tried to improve our vocal abilities by sending us to singing lessons with Mr Mieczysław Frogni, M.A.
      Unfortunately, because of other commitments rehearsals were rare, which made the repertoire poorer. In the summer the band broke up completely.       The last attempt was a meeting in 1970 at the Tabakiera club (Czyżyny), in the line-up:

where, on equipment made available by Janusz Grzywacz - the manager of the club at the time - several pieces were recorded without rehearsal (the last ones on the tape). The lack of rehearsals meant that wrong chords often turn up on the tape.
      I have tried to recall the names of all the friends who throughout the 1960s helped to keep the band in proper shape.
The band MY OD KRAKOWA was a continuation of the band BŁĘKITNI .

Written by: Adam Kowalczyk