Walek Dzedzej

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Cyril Danicki, born Lesław Danicki in Warsaw on December 13, 1953, was a Polish songwriter, poet and musician known as Poland’s first punk rock performer. He admired Bob Dylan and once hoped to be known as the "Polish Dylan." But under the communist regime in Poland, he turned to underground protest songs, playing guitar in hidden spots around Warsaw. To protect his family, he used the pen name Walek Dzedzej.

From 1973 to 1977 he wrote many songs, some of which survive today, including Na ulicy nowy świat, Nie mam nic do powiedzenia, and his version of The House of the Rising Sun, Dom wschodzącego słońca. In 1977 director Andrzej Kostenko used his street performances in the film Sam na sam (Alone by Myself). That year he and Maciej Góralski and Jacek Kufirski formed Poland’s first punk rock group, Walek Dzedzej Pank Bend. They played a few informal shows and two official concerts at the Hybrydy club in Warsaw, but police censorship blocked more performances. The band’s work helped shape Polish punk, and later the group Zielone Żabki paid tribute with the song Ostatni numer.

Unable to endure harassment, Walek left Poland at the end of 1978 and performed in streets and clubs across Europe, including London, Paris, Barcelona, Berlin and Vienna, where he appeared on a national TV program about punk rock. In spring 1980 he moved to the United States and settled in New York, becoming a US citizen in November 1988. He changed his given name to Cyril, at the suggestion of his partner Pascale Richez, mother of his daughter Solange (born 1986).

In New York he performed his own protest songs and Solidarność anthems in places like Times Square and Tompkins Square Park. In 1997 he appeared on a Warsaw TV program Who Is Who, performing his anti-conformity song Nie jestem tym czym ty. Afterward he continued to perform less often as diabetes affected his health.

Cyril Danicki died on October 7, 2006, in Downtown Brooklyn at age 52. His funeral was held October 14 in Greenpoint, attended by family and friends. His sister Barbara Danicka brought his remains back to Poland for burial in the Danicki family crypt in Szydłów, near Kielce. The next day, a musical tribute to him was held at the No Mercy club in Warsaw.