Varius Manx

polish

Varius Manx is a Polish band, formed in 1989 in Łódź, Poland. The original line-up consisted of Robert Janson, brothers Michał Marciniak and Paweł Marciniak, Piotr Sobczak and Tomasz Ziułkiewicz. The name is a variation on the English word various plus Manx, a breed of domestic cat. The band's debut album, The Beginning, which consisted entirely of instrumental music, was released in 1990 with average success. By 1993, the band released the follow-up, The New Shape, with the line-up expanded to include Sławomir Romanowski and Robert Amirian. The album featured vocals by Robert Janson and Robert Amirian, along with guest vocalists including Edyta Bartosiewicz. The band's breakthrough was the 1994 album Emu, which marked a significant change in musical direction, i.e. the band now had a lead singer, Anita Lipnicka, and started performing primarily in Polish. This formula was highly successful, and both Emu and the following 1995 album, Elf, sold more than half a million copies each. In 1995, the band won a Polish music award, the Fryderyk, for best Polish music group. Furthermore, the band provided a number of songs (mostly from Elf) for the soundtrack of the movie Młode wilki. In 1996, Varius Manx appeared on the television show Szansa na sukces, a kind of karaoke show in which the participants sing the songs of the visiting band. The winner of the show was the 19-year-old Kasia Stankiewicz. When, shortly afterwards, Amirian and Lipnicka both left the band, the rem...