press release

press release

27 March 2017 is the premiere date of a unique release „MARILLION I THE IRON

CURTAIN 1987". It is being released as a collectible box, 30 years after the memorable concerts

behind the so called iron curtain.

Marillion arrived in Poland in spring 1987, right before the release of “Clutching

at Straws”. It was the only visit the band paid to this side of the politically divided world at the

time. It was quite an event, but not only musically the band was accompanied by journalist from

the popular “Q Magazine”. Mainly however, the visit was remembered by the musicians

themselves.

Let's take a tour down the history lane. In 1987 Marillion was getting ready to tour the

new album globally. EMI answered the invitation issued by state-run PAGART and sent its band

for 11 days, to a country where its albums could not be legally purchased. The Brits thought

it was a perfect place to quietly try out new material, test the equipment and prepare for a

months-long world tour. However, as it quickly turned out, Marillion was to face the most

impassioned audience it ever encountered as well as numerous surprising events which were

the result of the political and cultural differences of that time. All these factors make

a fascinating story of the birth of the relationship between Marillion and Poland. A relationship

that last to this day.

The publication includes quotes from: (Marillion's manager in 1987),

(Marillion), (Marillion), (Marillion at the time), (backing

vocals on the 1987 tour), (“Q Magazine” journalist in 1987),

(a talented photographer who worked for Japanese “Burrn!” in 1987),

(a representative of PAGART at the time organiser of Marillion shows in Poland),

(music journalist, translator and guide for the band during their trip to Poland

in 1987), (chairman of the first Polish Marillion fan club in the 80s).

Marcin Sitko. A journalist and music producer, publisher and promoter, spokesperson and author of several music focused

books such as „The Rolling Stones. Warszawa 1967 (The Rolling Stones. Warsaw 1967)" and „Woodstock 1969. Najpiêkniejszy

Weekend XX Wieku (Woodstock 1969. The Most beautiful weekend of the 20th century)". He wrote for the “Twój Blues” quarterly

and for the “Dziennik Zachodni” daily newspaper. Produced songs and albums. He was a musical guest on radio shows in

Program Trzeci Polskiego Radia, Radiowa Jedynka and TV shows on Telewizja Polska, TVP Kultura and TVN Fabu³a.

CONTACT: kontakt@marcinsitko.pl, Tel.: 607971 900

C2 publishing house came to life from the passion for art, photography and music. The publishing house works hard to

combine several artistic and editorial endeavours to make a coherent polygraphic whole. C2 has published more than a dozen

musical releases from jazz and rock worlds, most of them in limited quantities.

CONTACT: biuro@wydawnictwoc2.pl, Tel.: 601 777508

John Arnison

Mark Kelly Ian Mosley Fish Cosi Josias

David Hepworth George Chin

Andrzej Marzec

Roman

Rogowiecki

Katarzyna Palarska

AUTHOR OF THE PUBLICATION:

PUBLISHER:

Contents of the release:

a book which is a fantastic tribute to Polish

concerts numerous articles from 1987

and never before published photos

and reproductions. The book includes

quotes from members of Marillion,

managers, concert producers, crew

members as well as Polish and British

journalists

technical crew backstage

pass valid on 1987 tour,

Reproduced in 1:1 scale,

a linen sticker

unique and never before

published Andrzej Kie³bowicz's

photo of the band in front

of the crosses symbolising

Poznañ 1956 protests

(the story behind this photo

is connected with the events

described in the book)

in an elegant passé-partout

frame with a handwritten

signature

a 1:1 scale

reproduction

of the poster

from the concert

in Gdañsk

a set of six

hand-stamped

tickets for all

Polish concerts.

Reproduced

in 1:1 scale

all packaged

in an aesthetic,

numbered box

made from

cotton-coated lavender

cardboard scented

with lavender

a backstage pass

valid during Polish

tour, reproduced

in a 1:1 scale,

a laminated pendant

on a leash

The publication is supported by authorised fan clubs of

Fish (The Company Poland)Marillion (The Web Poland)

The box is numbered and strictly limited to 500 units.

Available only online: www.theironcurtain1987.com

www.wydawnictwoc2.pl and on selected auction websites.

It can also be purchased during promotional meetings

Interview with MARCIN SITKO, author and originator of the release

What made you prepare a publication commemorating Marillion concerts from 1987?

How did Marillion a band at its height in 1987, end up in Poland?

In your opinion, what made Marillion so hugely popular in Poland?

The publication's title is a reference to the political situation behind “the iron curtain” at the time. Did Marillion's visit to this part

of the world cause any specific events back then?

Was any of the moments of the process of working on the publication particularly emotional?

Most of all, the round anniversary. With 30 years gone by from that event, I think it's the perfect time to reminisce. On one hand it does

not date back in time as far as The Rolling Stones shows in 1967 which spawned several “facts” that are now impossible to verify such

as the famous cart full of vodka I wrote a book about these concerts several years ago. On the other, this story surely deserved to be

brought back to life and the memories to be tidied up. And these memories turned out to be fascinating.

The publishing company (EMI) and the managers wanted to organise a series of a kind of rehearsals before the world tour.

They wanted the band to “get a hold of” the new material in a country, where their records where impossible to buy, which in the

opinions of managers and musicians made them a practically unknown group. This was supposed to grant calm atmosphere for the

preparation process and some sort of anonymity. PAGART took advantage of this situation and brought a world class band to Poland,

practically for the band's own money. As it turned out, Piotr Kaczkowski, Tomasz Beksiñski and others have already made the band

hugely popular in Poland. Their visit was the hottest possible event. Ian Mosley, Marillion's drummer told me that ever since they

landed on Okêcie, they began to experience something like “Beatlemania” from the early 60s. There was no way they could quietly

and peacefully prepare for anything. At the same time, Polish audience was able to experience six incredible and completely sold out

shows of Marillion in its original line-up with Fish. These concerts have a cult status among Marillion fans.

Not only Marillion but also Fish who pursued a solo career in 1988. I am convinced that the main reason were the concerts from

1987. After becoming so popular, the band returned to Poland many times, with new leader. Same goes for Fish. By the way, I think

Steve Hogarth is a worthy successor to Fish. The majority of Polish fans accepted him and he values Polish fans the same way his great

predecessor did. Marillion is a musical and lyrical powerhouse, a band that has been steady on the top for years. And it does not seem

to change anytime soon. Just look at the sold-out shows and best album lists.

There were so many of them. Fish got fined officially for stepping on the grass but in reality for participation in a crowd in front of the

statue commemorating the victims of a strike in Poznañ in 1956. Ken Sharp, a famous photographer, who worked for popular British

“Q Magazine” back then, was detained by police and demanded to give out his camera film. Fortunately, Sharp was aware enough

to replace the film at the last moment and as a result, pictures from Poland were published in the magazine which was very popular in

the UK. Musicians also remember the hotel staff members who secretly sold the them Soviet caviar. Right before they left, they emptied

their pockets from Polish money left after 11 days in Poland and gave it all to a cleaning lady in the airport toilet. She cried and told

them that this was about half of her yearly earnings which shocked the Britons.

Yes. The band did not only come here to play several shows and party for 11 days in a country with such a weak currency, that they

could do practically anything. Many important words were spoken during the concerts, Fish recollected the visit to Auschwitz which

took place between the concerts in Zabrze, he also mentioned the violent events of the Poznañ 1956 protests in front of the crowd

of several thousand people and dedicated a song to the victims. The crowd reacted enthusiastically. People felt that something was

coming to an end. The iron curtain went down only two years after these concerts. I listened to many amateur recordings of these

concerts recorded on a tape recorder someone managed to sneak to the show. I have to admit that I got very emotional. That's the

power of music and art in general.

EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK

PLANS VISIT TO POLAND

MEDIA

ENTHUSIASM

Our agent asked if the musicians were interested in playing behind the Iron Curtain, as a representative of the Polish

government issued some kind of an invitation. To be completely honest, my band and myself were very interested!

recalls JOHN ARNISON, the manager of Marillion at that time. A decision was then quickly made to start our

preparations to the upcoming world tour in Poland. We had no clue how our band would be received. The record label

had no credible data if any of our records have ever been sold there. All we knew was that they were not available

officially in the shops. We all thought that it was also a great opportunity to visit that part of the world which none of us

had ever been to before. We didn't want to waste this opportunity.

ANDRZEJ MARZEC (Polish Promoter): Western artists did not consider these concerts as particularly profitable, as having

some knowledge of the financial reality they did not provide us with the same terms as these bands negotiated on a daily

basis with promoters from Berlin, Paris or the USA. Moreover, large and wealthy record companies from the West

considered Poland as a place where on the sidelines of main markets, bands could get ready for their world tours

practice their material, get the musicians and the team working in sync, or test new equipment.

DAVID HEPWORTH (Q MAGAZINE): This was a standard when it came to promotion of bands by record labels. Bands

were accompanied by journalists and photojournalists on their tours, especially to places which were deemed

interesting. This provided those responsible for the image of the band with more publications than in the event of another

press conference held in the centre of London. This is how I ended up with Marillion behind the Iron Curtain.

MARK KELLY: There weren t many journalists working for the popular colour magazines which were willing to travel to our

concert in England in order to write about it, but the sole fact of us performing behind the Iron Curtain was interesting to

them. They wouldn t be writing about our music if it wasn t for it. I suspect that this was one of very few instances when the

popular “Q Magazine” wrote something about Marillion and published it across several pages, as it did in 1987.

IAN MOSLEY: Our tracks were played on the radio. We found out that there were a few journalists working there who

enjoyed how we sounded. People couldn t just walk into a shop and buy our records, as they were simply not on sale.

Our Polish fans were always willing to sacrifice so much energy for the sake of the band. I remember the crowds

surrounding our coach. We often stopped, talked to them and gave them our autographs. We wanted to give them as

much of ourselves as possible.

MARK KELLY: We arrived in a country unknown to us and the first thing which hit us was... the band s enormous

popularity! What was soon to become apparent, we were about to perform in front of one of the most enthusiastic

audiences of the entire tour. We did not expect it. It was a shock! Crowds were queuing to get our autographs, people

were chasing the coach, which was often dangerous. Others were sitting on the road, blocking the way in order to see us

for a moment. These scenes resembled those from the films made in the sixties. We felt like being in the centre of

Beatlemania! It was unexpected and surprising adds JOHN ARNISON. Double concerts in arenas with capacities of

ten-odd thousand were sold out! Even more shocking was that the people in the audience knew all the lyrics and were

singing along with the band.

We didn’t know how many of us there were says KATARZYNA PALARSKA (Fan Club „Grendel at '80). Fans travelled to

every concert from the whole of Poland. On the day of the concert, they congregated outside the concert hall from early

morning. They talked, exchanged addresses and remarks on the band, and waited for the musicians to arrive. Many of

them were holding some cut-outs from newspapers, while anything that came out of a foreign magazine was treated as a

veritable treasure. Many friendships were made in those days. Those who didn t manage to get in as the tickets run out

stood outside the building. I also saw people leaving in tears after the concerts.

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I remember this great buzz surrounding Marillion s music and these concerts adds DAVID HEPWORTH. The audience

was unlike the one in London which did not tend to react so lively to our performances. Here, everything was on fire!

DAVID HEPWORTH: I remember trying to call my home in London from a hotel in Poznañ. In actual fact, I tried to order a

telephone call at the reception where I was politely informed that the call would take place several days after I left the

hotel all together! What is interesting, the hotel s management sent me a bill for this connection to my address in London

after some time. Just for the sake of it, I paid it.

ROMAN ROGOWIECKI (Polish crew on the route in '87): We certainly had to get accustomed to puzzling looks when we

informed the citizens of the normal world that they had to order a telephone call in order to be able to connect home at

the earliest a day later. At the start, they found it hard to understand this entire concept. Luckily, they understood quite

quickly that this was no joke and nobody was trying to fool them. This was what happened with Fish who asked me with

incredulity in his voice: “Tell me again, I am to order a telephone call? But how do I know where I will be tomorrow, how

will they find me? Will they connect it to the room or the reception?” He had many questions as his quick-witted mind

found too many uncertainties in this puzzling arrangement. I advised him to act like tabula rasa for the duration of his stay

in Poland, his knowledge should be minimal and any attempt to think rationally was futile as that wouldn t help at all. This

is how matters were here. “OK, place a chair for me here and I will sit and wait!” He didn t make a martyr of himself. All

he needed was some company so I decided to sit with him. At the Posejdon Hotel in Gdañsk, the telephone was located

in the lobby downstairs. Fish waited to be able to speak to his family in the centre of the lobby.

IAN MOSLEY: I remember a morning in a hotel when a waiter came into my room. I was pleased as we couldn t order any

breakfast. He said that he had some Russian caviar for sale and opened his jacket. So we ate this caviar, chasing it down

with coffee and vodka...

MARK KELLY: This is one of my most vivid memories from my stay in Poland. I don t know who came up with this

suggestion first, but I remember that our Polish promoter said that he would take us there but it shouldn t be on the day on

which we were scheduled to play a concert. He assured us that after a visit to that place we would find it difficult to go out

on stage. It certainly was a terrifying experience, but at the same time I am pleased that this visit took place. In my

opinion, everyone should see Auschwitz at least once in their lives, and none of us must ever forget it.

It is different when you read books and are interested in the subject of the Second World War, but at a distance adds IAN

MOSLEY. Here, you are where it all happened, you see it all. It is an experience incomparable to anything else. You are

there and you know that everything must be done so such things do not happen again.

During a recording of the famous concert in Loreley in Germany, Fish used the following words to introduce White

Russian: Two or three weeks ago we travelled to Poland. We visited Auschwitz while we were there. There is no other way

but to feel pain in this place. The following song is for the young who died during the Second World War and for the

Jewish population of today s Europe. It is a prayer so that it never happens again. It is up to us!

The artists received some of their payment in zlotys. Zloty was then a currency with absolutely no value in Europe, you

couldn t exchange it. Once you crossed the border, it became worthless scrap. So they had to exchange that money on

the black market while still in Poland. They changed their zlotys to dollars and pounds explains ANDRZEJ MARZEC we

often accompanied them so that they were not cheated by a swindler. On arrival, we always received the keys the rooms

were reserved using false names to prevent any unauthorised individuals from accessing the rooms. The topic of the

value of money and the economy as a whole played an important role in our conversations. We were often asked: why

does something which costs 5 dollars in our country has to cost 50 dollars here?

DAVID HEPWORTH: From a financial point of view, there was absolutely no point in this tour. The zloty was utterly

worthless back then. In my report from Poland I described a striking exchange. The band members gave some of their

pocket money to a woman cleaning in the airport departure lounge, which they didn t manage to spend before their

return flight.

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EVERYDAY UNDER COMMUNISM

AUSCHWITZ A VISIT TO THE NAZI DEATH CAMP

MONEY

Fot. Andrzej Kie³bowicz

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IAN MOSLEY: With tears in her eyes she told us that we gave her six months worth of her wages, and we just gave her

what we had left in our pockets...

CORI JOSIAS (Backing Vocals at tour): I ordered a round of drinks for several Polish friends whom I had met on arrival in

that place. One of them was a doctor. He said: “Cori, this round cost you exactly how much I earn in a month”. I was

flabbergasted!

ANDRZEJ MARZEC: A group of men are walking around the town, they do not speak Polish and are accompanied by

reporters. They also take an interest in a monument next to which the opposition organises its mass assemblies. Their

fans follow in their footsteps. This quickly got the attention of milicja. They finally called me and Fish over most probably

because he was the tallest and most striking. They took our personal details and Fish was additionally issued with a fine.

This made him laugh, but he remembered that we had warned him previously that such incidents might take place during

their visits in public places. We told our guests that the people who would perform the checks or write our details down

usually had the same relationship to the reality of the time as us. That is why the whole communist regime wasn t to last

long.

DAVID HEPWORTH: Ken Sharp, our photojournalist nearly lost the film from his camera. Luckily, Ken kept his cool and

handed over an empty roll. This has allowed us to publish in the “Q Magazine” photographs from Poland where Fish was

standing next to the Citizens Militia car.

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MEETING WITH MILITIA