History and Discography compiled by Konrad
In 1977 in a small town Ustrzyki Dolne, in the Polish Bieszczady Mountains, Bohun (vocals), Siczka (guitar), Ptys (keyboards), Plaster (bass) and Burek (drums) formed a cover band which played songs by bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and etc.
In 1978 they came up with the name KSU. K, S and U were the first three letters on the license plates from that region. With a new drummer Tuptus, they started playing punk rock inspired by the Sex Pistols, Damned, Wire, UK Subs and Polish BRAK.
Around that time they have sent a letter to Radio Free Europe asking them to play punk records which were banned from the Polish record stores. RFE follows up with their request and dedicates the songs to them. Since listening to RFE was illegal in communist Poland, the members of KSU were arrested and their homes were searched. Soon after those incidents the band starts an organization called Wolna Republika Bieszczadzka (Free Republic of Bieszczady) which again leads to arrests and searches. WRB's goal was to preserve the ecosystem and the cultural traditions of the Bieszczady Mountains.
In 1980 KSU plays for the first time at a big rock festival in Kolobrzeg. This was the first bigger rock festival where punk bands were allowed to play at. After the festival they received an offer from a West German record label, which they turned down.From 1980 to 1985 Tuptus and Siczka were drafted into the army one after the other. In 1985 KSU reforms as a three-piece with Siczka (vocals, guitar), Dzordz (bass) and Tuptus (drums). This successful lineup lasts until 1990 when Siczka and Tuptus didn't show up at a video recording session leaving Dzordz alone.
Since then Siczka has been constantly changing KSU's lineups and recording records.
Official Releases
POD PRAD LP/CD/tape (Pronit, 1989)
Underground Releases
LIVE USTRZYKI DOLNE tape (1978)
KSU tape (1980)
LIVE CZESTOCHOWA tape (1981)
LIVE USTRZYKI DOLNE tape (1981)
DEMO '83 tape (1983)
TO ZNOWU MY tape (1984)
PRÓBA '84 (1984)
JABOL PUNK tape (1986)
LIVE DEDAL RZESZÓW tape (1986)
LIVE WARSZAWA tape (1987)
JAROCIN '89 (1989)
LIVE OPOLE (1989)
1981 (1992)
JAROCIN '92 (1992)
77-86 (1992)
LIVE (1993)
OKRUTNY SWIAT KSU cz.I (1993)
OKRUTNY SWIAT KSU cz.II (1995)
Compilations
22 POLISH PUNK CLASSICS CD (Sonic, 1992)
INFO
KSU Official Website
This Polish-language site has plenty of information on the band, both old and current.