Izabela Trojanowska

Career

Trojanowska first appeared in a short-running 1979 TV series Strachy and subsequently played the title role in the feature film Carmilla. She rose to fame in 1980 with the hits "Tyle samo prawd ile kłamstw" and "Wszystko czego dziś chcę", the latter performed to a big success at the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole, accompanied by the popular Polish rock band Budka Suflera. Trojanowska immediately became one of the most popular singers of the early 1980s in Poland. Romuald Lipko, Budka Suflera's leader, composed eight tracks for her debut album, simply entitled Iza and released in 1981. The same year Trojanowska teamed up with another rock band, Stalowy Bagaż, with whom she recorded an EP and performed at the Opole Festival. Their performance drew controversies as the singer was wearing a red tie on stage, typical for the outfit of the members of Union of Polish Youth. The organisation accused her of profaning the Union. In the meantime, Trojanowska appeared in several Polish feature films and TV series.

By the early 1982, Izabela finished recording her second LP, Układy. The album showcased rockier sound and spawned hits "Brylanty" and "Karmazynowa noc". Later that year, she paired with Tadeusz Nalepa for the album Pożegnalny cyrk, whose politically charged lyrics strongly criticized martial law in Poland. That record was however withdrawn by censorship office. At that time, Trojanowska was criticized by both Solidarity and the communist government, and decided to emigrate from the country. Together with her husband, she moved to the Netherlands, the USA, the United Kingdom, before finally settling for Germany. She released two English language singles in the mid-1980s, but they turned out unsuccessful.

In 1991, Trojanowska released a self-titled, English language album, which was a commercial failure, spawning only a minor radio hit "Independence Day". The same year, her first retrospective was released, consisting only of the early 1980s material, followed by the release of the shelved album Pożegnalny cyrk in 1993. Her next studio album was Chcę inaczej, released in 1996 to warmer reception. It spawned a minor radio hit single "I stało się". In 1997, she accepted the role of Monika Ross-Nawrot in the hit soap opera Klan.

2006 saw the release of another compilation, which included five re-recordings of old hits. She teamed up with Polish band Mafia and started to work on new material. Her first studio album in 15 years, Życia zawsze mało, was released in 2011 to minor success.

Studio albums

Compilations