Every time I walk into the 24-hour delicatessen on the corner of Ulica Batorego, they are playing music that belongs in the next Tarantino film. I'll come in around two in the morning and pick up my usual Nutella, muesli, and uncarbonated water. Then, I'll wait in the queue while "House of the Rising Sun" by Eric Burdon and The Animals runs its course. Another favorite of mine is "San Francisco" by Scott McKenzie. I could feel the cameras on me when they played that one. Last night, "One Night in Bangkok" came on and with a prepackaged kielbasa sausage in my hand, it was passably surreal.
There is no formula for Tarantino music, but I've found that certain oldies make for good impulse shopping scenes. Turbulent 60's rock in a convenience store really does it for me. Very Tarantinoesque. Sometimes it's tough not to whip out my glock, kick over a pyramid of canned beans and rob the place.
The radio stations here favor a mixture of 70's prog rock, 80's power ballads, and contemporary Pole-pop. You'll hear "Nights in White Satin" followed by "Take My Breath Away" followed by some techno-polka piece of shit with synth accordion solos. In short, Polish radio is almost lethally eclectic and I do not recommend it to anyone.
Sting is wildly popular here, as are Celine Dion and Whitney Houston. I suppose pillow talk rock will prevail in a culture that has been ravaged for decades by the trampling hooves of Nazi Socialism and Communism. How many Poles can even stomach Wagner? In the wake of eighty years of almost uninterrupted oppression, who wouldn't want to put on the Bodyguard soundtrack and have a nice bubble bath?
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