| Marek Niedźwiecki | |
| Birth Date: | 24 March 1954 |
| Birth Place: | Sieradz |
| Nationality: | Polish |
| Occupation: | radio presenter |
| Years Active: | 1973 till now |
| Known For: | Polish Radio Three Charts |
| Website: | http://www.marekniedzwiecki.pl/ |
| Signature: | Marek Niedźwiecki’s autograph.png |
Marek Wojciech Niedźwiecki (born March 24, 1954, in Sieradz, Poland) is a Polish music journalist and radio anchor.[1]
Marek Niedźwiecki comes from the town of Szadek, Poland. His father, Wojciech Niedźwiedzki (30.01.1912 – 24.12.1993), was a butcher by profession and worked as the manager in the local food industry cooperative "". His mother Kazimiera (Kopeć) Niedźwiedzka (10.12.1926 – 25.04.2015) came from a farmers’ family residing in the village of Policzko and was a history teacher at Tadeusz Kościuszko Primary School in Szadek.[2] Kazimiera Kopeć was the second wife of Wojciech Niedźwiecki, the first one died of cancer.[3] His grandparents on his mother's side, Zofia and Franciszek Kopeć lived in Policzko their whole life. As a child, Marek Niedźwiecki lived with his parents and his grandparents on his father's side: Leokadia i Wincenty Niedźwiedzcy.[4] He has one older sister Małgorzata (born 1952) and two younger brothers (twins) Piotr and Wojciech (born 11.10.1956). Piotr Niedźwiecki is the president of the city of Zduńska Wola.
The difference in parents’ name spelling is not a mistake. Originally, the family name was spelled with "dz". Marek Niedźwiecki explains it: "When my older sister was applying to University, it turned out that in some of her school reports the name was spelled Niedźwiedzka with <
Tadeusz Kościuszko Primary and Junior High School (formerly Karol Świerczewski Primary School) in Szadek, Prusinowska Street 4 (formerly Warszawska Street 2) [6]
John Paul II Secondary School №2 (formerly Małgorzata Fornalska Primary and Secondary School №33) in Zduńska Wola, Komisji Edukacji Narodowej Street 6 (formerly Jasna 2) [7]
Lodz University of Technology, The Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Environmental Engineering,[8] master's dissertation topic: "The technology and construction organisation of the trading pavilion SPS1300", defended 24.03.1979.[9]
Marek Niedźwiecki is a bit superstitious and believes in numerology. On 9 September 2009 (09.09.09) he visited the village of Policzko, where he used to spend summer holidays as a small child. Entries on his blog traditionally appear at 19.54 which is the year of his birth. When he forgets something and has to come back home, he usually sits for a moment, and leaving the house he always leaves a hanger on the bed.[10]
He claims to have been a rickshaw driver in Calcutta in his previous life [11]
He got his driving licence in January 1978 and since then has driven two Fiats, one Renault, one Golf and four Hondas (a chocolate CRV now).[12]
Marek Niedźwiecki has been given many awards, such as the Golden Microphone in 1993,[13] The Gold Cross of Merit (Polish: Złoty Krzyż Zasługi) in 2000 [14] and The Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Polish: Order Odrodzenia Polski, English: Order of Rebirth of Poland) in 2011.[15]
In 2007 he had a benign tumor removed from his ear. This experience changed his attitude to life. "When it turned out to be just a benign pimple, I felt like in the song by Kazik: "I came back from the land of the dead". I got my strength back and I promised myself not to break down in similar situations. I also started to concentrate more on everyday pleasures."[16]
He has never married and is not planning to do so. "I have never wanted to get into relationship, have a burden of wife and kids. I knew I couldn't handle it. [...] I wanted to be alone. And nothing has changed since then."[17]
The beginning of Marek Niedźwiecki's radio career is connected to the fact that his older sister studied at Lodz University of Technology (at the Faculty of Material Technologies and Textile Design) and she was the one to tell him about the existence of the students’ radio. As Marek Niedźwiecki had dreamed about becoming a radio journalist since early childhood, the idea of studying there to be able to work in the students' radio, came to him immediately.[18]
Students' Radio "Żak" was the station where Marek Niedźwiecki started to make his first Radio Charts. As the radio range covered only the University of Technology dormitories, the listeners and the voters were only students. Special letter boxes for votes were placed in all the dormitories, the votes were collected up until Thursday night, and the Charts was emitted on Friday.[19]
Students’ Radio "Żak" and its Charts were the first to give Marek Niedźwiecki some popularity. He recalls the times with sentiment: "I like those beginnings of mine. I don’t distance myself from them. Now in the programme "Markomania" I do a small window – Radio Luxemburg Charts from 40 years before – so I play those things that I used to play in "Żak". It's really nice for me, because I read the charts and in my mind I am watching a film from the past: I recall what I played then, what I looked like, what new songs appeared, which ones disappeared."[20]
His first contact with Polish Radio Łódź Marek Niedźwiecki established through Józef Wojcieszczyk and his programme "Students’ and Factories’ Radio", where first he appeared as a guest talking about Students’ Radio "Żak" and later on, preparing music for other programs of the series.[21]
In April 1978 the station opened the post of the radio linkman for competition and Marek Niedźwiecki won. Apart from announcing the programmes currently on air, he also started preparing his own programmes, the most popular of which turned out to be "Discorama" in cooperation with Małgorzata Kamińska.[22]
At the end of March 1982 Marek Niedźwiecki received a message that Polskie Radio Program III (reorganised because of the Martial Law introduced in Poland a few months before) wants to employ him. The manager, Andrzej Turski, offered him the full–time job, mainly to create Polish Radio Three Charts.[23]
In this period of time, apart from Radio Three Charts, Marek Niedźwiecki also worked as a presenter in such programmes as "Zapraszamy do Trójki", "W tonacji Trójki" and "Pół perfekcyjnej płyty". He was the creator of music programmes "Markomania", "Frutti di Marek" and "Chillout Cafe"(with Agnieszka Szydłowska).
Although Polish Radio Three had been his dream work-place, in 2007 Marek Niedźwiecki decided to change the radio station and start working for Radio Złote Przeboje.
This is what he says to justify his decision, which created a lot of turmoil, especially among fans: "I thought I was changing the radio station because I got offended by what was happening in Polish Radio Three at that moment. Radio Three Charts was about to celebrate its 25th anniversary and we were planning a big concert at Agrykola Stadium, but Krzysztof Skowroński, who was the CEO at the time, said that the concert was not to take place because it would be associated with the 25th anniversary of Martial Law. He also thought up these three-hour-long concerts on Friday mornings which meant that my programme "W tonacji Trójki" lasted 18 minutes instead of an hour."[24]
In Radio Złote Przeboje Marek Niedźwiecki had three programmes: The Charts, "Złote, słodsze, najsłodsze" and "Top Wszech Czasów", all three similar to the ones he used to have in Polish Radio Three.
Following the change in the management of Polish Radio Three, Marek Niedźwiecki decided to come back to his dream radio station. In all the interviews he always underlines that coming back to Polish Radio Three was like coming home.[25]
From this moment until 17.05.2020 Marek Niedźwiecki had several programmes throughout the week. On Mondays we could listen to him in the programme "Do południa" (9.00 – 12.00), on Thursday "W Tonacji Trójki" (15.00 – 16.00, later 14.00 - 15.00), on Friday either in LP3 (9.00 – 12.00) or The Charts (19.00 – 22.00) and sometimes in both, and on Saturday in "Markomania" (11.00 – 13.00). Also, he occasionally presented specific type of music, very calming and thought-provoking, before Easter (on Good Friday) and around All Saints Day (1 November) instead of The Charts.
On 15.05.2020 the song "Twój ból jest lepszy niż mój" (Your pain is better than mine) sung by Kazik Staszewski debuted on the Charts, on the first position. The song critically referred to the visit of the member of Polish Parliament Jarosław Kaczyński on the cemetery, which he did against the current law prohibiting such practices because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The next day the management of Polish Radio 3 annulled this particular Charts 1998, claiming that the song had appeared from outside the Charts and the results had been manipulated. On Sunday, 17.05.2020, Marek Niedźwiecki issued an announcement: "Due to the accusations of dishonesty in preparing my programme I resign from cooperating with Polish Radio 3"[26]
Now Niedźwiedzki works at Radio 357, a crowdfunded internet radio made by him and different journalists who left Trójka.[27]
Marek Niedźwiecki also cooperated/cooperates with Polish Radio One, TVP2, RTL7, MTV Classic, nPremium HD, Canal+, Radio Smooth Jazz Cafe (on YouTube), Filipinka, Wietrzne Radio, Radionewsletter, Edukacja Filmowa.
One of the most famous quotes from Marek Niedźwiecki is "The Charts is the most important thing that happened in my life. I think that nothing more interesting can ever happen to me."[28]
Created in 1982, Lista Przebojów Programu Trzeciego got immediate popularity. The first edition was broadcast on 24 April, but a week before Marek Niedźwiecki presented a set of songs for the listeners to choose from. The first number one was "I’ll find my way home" by Jon & Vangelis.[29]
Throughout the years the time and day of The Charts broadcast changed, it was Saturday or Friday – each twice, between 20.00 and 22.00, 18.00 – 22.00 and 19.00 – 22.00. Now it is emitted every Friday, from 19.00 till 22.00.
Originally, Marek Niedźwiecki was the only host of The Charts. In the times of his illness or holiday he was replaced by a number of people, hosting from one to thirty one programmes and including such popular names as Wojciech Mann, Piotr Kaczkowski, Piotr Metz, Piotr Stelmach, Grzegorz Miecugow or Kuba Strzyczkowski.[30] When Marek Niedźwiecki left for Radio Złote Przeboje, Piotr Baron became the host. After his coming back, he and Piotr Baron host The Charts in turns, and the one not hosting The Charts in the given week, hosts the morning programme LP3 in which songs from The Charts (both current and archival) are presented.[31]
First the votes were sent on postcards or dictated on the phone by the listeners, since April 1996 voting has been done by the Internet. The number of votes per person changed from two in the beginning to ten nowadays. The Charts used to include 20 songs, then 30, 40, now it is 50 divided into two parts: the so-called "waiting room" (only a small part of each song is presented) and the basic list (the songs going up are presented in full).
The Charts used to have many interludes such as short reports from the Netherlands, the USA, France, "letters from fans" (which at the beginning weren’t actual letters at all, they were all made up, but people took to this idea immediately and started writing real letters to Maria Teodorowicz, who presented those [32]), news from the music world, chats with Polish music stars and a huge collection of jingles introducing different parts of the programme.[33] The most recognisable, and still used, is the song "The look of love" by ABC and the voice of a little boy named Czarek who says "goodbye" in a very cute way – both usually played at the end of the programme. Marek Niedźwiecki also uses mails from the listeners during the programme, organises quizzes, sometimes invites guests (usually musicians) and before the 10th position on The Charts there are a few minutes for Helen (Halina Wachowicz), who gives the results of the quizzes or just chats with the host.
From time to time, The Charts takes place outside the studio. "The Charts on location" is especially popular among fans because it gives them the possibility to watch Marek Niedźwiecki at work, but Marek Niedźwiecki himself considers it a really bad idea: "In my opinion, we, in Radio Three, didn’t manage to find a suitable solution, so that it would be interesting for the people who come to the events outside the studio, and, at the same time, for the listeners, who are much bigger in number. Usually, it turns out to be a neverending collection of listeners’ greetings for aunts or uncles – which is extremely important for some thirty people shaking with emotion, but for the people next to the radio sets – they feel like puking."[34] Nevertheless, starting from 25 August 1995 in Gdańsk, The Charts has visited many cities and towns all over Poland, the most popular being Szklarska Poręba, the winter capital of Polish Radio Three.
The whole set of The Charts outside the studio, hosted by Marek Niedźwiecki (time, place, Charts’ number):
In his free time Marek Niedźwiecki likes travelling. His most favourite destinations now are Australia and Jizera Mountains, but he also mentions India as the place when he felt "at home". Altogether, the most often visited places are The USA (especially Chicago), France (especially Corsica), The Netherlands and Germany.[36]
Foreign journeys:
"My Australia started in a way from the fact that in 1964, a family from Szadek was emigrating to Australia. It was a big event in my little town, someone going there for ever." says Marek Niedźwiecki.[38] He also mentions the film "Wife for the Australian" with Elżbieta Czyżewska and Wiesław Gołas [39] and friendship with Lucia Mlodzianowsky (who was his pen friend while he was a student and who used to send him records with Australian music) as the reasons for his love for Australia.[40]
When asked about his favourite places in Australia, Marek Niedźwiecki usually says that it changes slightly with every journey. In 2008 he created his own Australia Top Ten, which included: Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Tasmania, The Pinnacles Desert, Fraser Island, Twelve Apostles Marine National Park on Great Ocean Road, Sydney, Melbourne, Blue Mountains, Lucky Bay, Great Ocean Drive and Wave Rock.[41] A few years later the list changed only in one position: Wave Rock was replaced by Kimberley,[42] which now Marek Niedźwiecki mentions just after Uluru.
His first journey to Australia took place in January 1995. He was invited by four local Polish radio stations (in Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne) for four weeks and he was supposed to be a DJ there, which turned out to be rather meetings with the Poles living there. Marek Niedźwiecki made many friends and came back Down Under twelve times so far, as a turist. He usually spends there four to six weeks, since he claims it's not worth coming for a shorter period of time because of the distance between Poland and Australia and the discomforts of travelling.[43]
From every journey Marek Niedźwiecki brings many photos which he publishes on his blog http://www.marekniedzwiecki.pl/ . Since 11 March 2009 a collection of his photographs has been travelling through Poland. Organized by Muzeum Ziemi Lubuskiej, the exhibition consists of 50 photos, chosen by the museum staff from the 200 suggested by the author.[44] The exhibition was presented in numerous Polish cities such as Zielona Góra, Bydgoszcz, Kutno, Turek, Rybnik, Radomsko, Koszalin, Nekla or Inowrocław.[45]
Marek Niedźwiecki says that he has left part of his heart in Jizera Mountains.[46] He usually stays in Szklarska Poręba: "I fell in love with her around the same time I fell in love with Australia [...]. It was the second half of the 90s. I started going there on business. Szklarska became the summer and winter capital of Polish Radio Three. And then I was lost. Like it happens in love. […] I have my favourite places, walks, routes… I can do it many times and it is never boring. […] My house will be there, because it is already my place."[47]
Walking in Karkonosze Mountains and Jizera Mountains Marek Niedźwiecki also takes a lot of photos which he then shows on his blog. In February 2015 in Szklarska Poręba he opened his exhibition of mountain photos called "Dream Mountains".[48] On 7 January 2013 he was awarded the statuette of Rübezahl (Polish: Liczyrzepa, Karkonosz) who is a folklore mountain spirit of Karkonosze Mountains. "How is this possible? It's the prize for love, the joy of being there and the pleasure of talking and writing about Szklarska Poręba, Jakuszyce, The Jizera Mountains. I feel appreciated."[49]
Apart from being a radio freak and a traveller, Marek Niedźwiecki puts together thematic song collections, is a writer and occasionally appears in films.
Collections:
Single projects:
Marek Niedźwiecki started writing his blog on 14 October 2007 with the assumption that it will be a kind of travel journal (he was just leaving for Australia). "There it is! There it is! There it is! Although I was sure it will never happen. My own blog on the internet is now operational so that I could write this diary-nightery from Down Under." – he began his first post, also mentioning that he will not be writing about himself, which promise, fortunately, he doesn’t keep.[50]
The posts usually appear on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, the latter one including Marek Niedźwiecki's private charts, which he has been writing down since 1975 and since 2008 on the blog.
As for the number of posts, the worst was the month of October 2011 when only 5 posts appeared, the best - November 2007 with 25 posts. Usually, there are about 12 – 13 posts a month.
Almost always there are several photos attached, their number varying from one to 43.
Post number 1000 appeared on 8 December 2014 and was titled "Gdynia w occie".
Photograph number 33333 appeared on 14 March 2016 and was titled "Panie Kierowniku!"