Smile Eyes And The Children Folk Smile Eyes And The Children Folk

“Usmiechniete Oczy I Dzieci” (original Polish title) was briefly aired on Polish TV in the summer of 1983. A bizarre and surreal show aimed at children; it was pulled from transmission after the first series for a variety of understandable reasons. The story told of a small rural community of children (all the adults had vanished inexplicably) who worshiped a mythical figure called ‘Smile Eyes’ residing within a giant mushroom cluster. The children must, at all times, adorn a variety of odd masks which reflect their status within the community. The show is somewhat forgotten now, yet there are a number of (now) adult groups that regularly gather to celebrate this brief curiosity from their youth.

The soundtrack is by little known Polish TV composer Szczepan Buczkowski who, after many years of serving up bland jingles and incidental music for TV, was finally freed to unleash his array of talents, and collection of Soviet built synthesisers to full effect. He composed a woozy soundtrack of early 80’s synth goodness, where moments of beauty and terror burst out of the murk to create a mood of mystery and menace. Buczkowski also utilised the Polish Television’s youth choir, subtlety weaving them into this incredible soundtrack. The disquieting leitmotifs contribute to the truly disturbing effect the show had on young TV audiences.

A fantastical piece of work that has finally been unearthed by the Polish wing of Horror Pop Sounds in their quest to release long forgotten TV and film productions. Previous releases on cassette by the likes of ‘Art of The Memory Palace’ (Voiture Blanche Dans Le Noir) and ‘The Asistent’ (Anja and the memory People) sold out long ago. Together with our comrades at Polytechnic Youth this album will be released on transparent red vinyl with full original artwork from Telewizja Polska design and includes full colour A4 original Polish TV studio print. Restored and mastered by Stephen James Buckley.

This album is sure to appeal to aficionados of Krystof Komeda, Lubos Fiser, Andrezej Korzynski et al. 300 copies only to the world.