Viewers were waiting for the program “30 tons – list, list of hits” for the whole week. It was from this broadcast in the times “before the Internet” that people found out what the most important and interesting things are happening in music – Polish and world. Every week, a mysterious and charismatic voice read out the most popular songs and music videos in the country, and also informed us which albums were selling best in our country and where to go to interesting concerts. In addition, we found out what songs linger in the so-called waiting room, i.e. in places 31-50, we watched half-minute fragments of clips, and also listened to interesting facts about artists, music videos and very broad thematic interviews with a selected guest of the episode. In addition, we had such segments as a musical calendar reminiscent of the most important events and breakthrough moments for music, TVP music polecjaki in the “Żuj screen” section and “Kisses, candies, cookies” with poems for birthday guests. All in 25 minutes.
How was the cult “30 tons” created?
The history of today’s cult music program “30 tons – list, charts” officially began one day in 1994, when Walter Chełstowski – creator and organizer of the Festival in Jarocin, friend of Jurek Owsiak, director of his program “Do what you want” and one of the co-founders of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity -u – met Andrzej Wąsik in the kitchen of the Grochów apartment. It was there that they started talking about what the new format would look like and established the basic assumptions.
In December 1994, Anna Hernik-Solarska, a longtime publisher and editor of the program, was the first to board the “30 Tons”. At that time, she was a second-year extramural student of theater studies and was looking for a job. From her colleague Grzegorz Piekarski, she learned that his boss Walter Chełstowski is looking for “someone young who would embrace the music program he has an idea for, but someone is needed to implement it” – she told Kamil Bałuk’s “Dawno w Telewizji”.
Hernik herself laughs that she jumped into action, because the interview was a 15-minute conversation with Walter about whether he likes music and whether he wants to take up the task – when she confirmed that she was interested, it turned out that she would have her hands full . Preparing each episode turned out to be a breakneck task, because the data that we now have literally at our fingertips had to be collected “analogue”:
It was a gigantic job. I found out what the outline is: Ania, now you are to find all regional radio stations in Poland, call them and ask them to send you a fax or dictate over the phone, and you will write down your charts nicely on a piece of paper.
In practice, this meant dealing with 500 to 800 faxes per week, or summaries dictated by telephone from various radio stations. And that was just one component. An equally important part of the preparations consisted first of calling all provincial telephone number offices (and before the reform of 1999, there were 49 instead of 16 provinces) with a question about the numbers of local radio stations. Then it was necessary to call these radio stations and encourage them to participate in the project. That’s still not all. Hernik also called local music stores asking them to send her lists of best-selling albums. Without these preparations, the lector would not have anything to read.
Exactly, voiceover from “30 Tons”. Years later, Chełstowski told Kamil Bałuk of Newonce Radio that he knew from the beginning that he did not want to have an ordinary host, hence the idea that they would not show the host’s face and would stop at his voice. However, Dariusz Odija, who has held this role for 11 years, remembers it a bit differently. In the episode of the podcast “Long Ago w Telewizji” he told Bałuk that they came to the formula we know in stages:
We built it from scratch (…) I remember the first meeting. I found out that I was going to host a show, that we were going to be up against some chart, I didn’t know what it was yet. The first approach and I ask Walter: – But what should I do, how should it look like? And it was charming, I remember it to this day, he replied: Darek, I don’t know. We will combine.
It captivated him because it meant they could make something of their own. But he also admits that the first attempt at reading the list looked a bit clumsy from a later perspective. Odija, relying on the actor’s workshop, began to read the notes slowly and solemnly. Chełstowski interrupted him:
And it was brilliant and it was Walter’s idea: Darek, try to say it as fast as you can. But the fastest!
– he told the episode of the podcast “30 tons – List, list. We’ll be scheming”. “I was terrified of it,” he admitted. And he firmly emphasized that it was he who insisted not to show his face in the program. – Walter, I think it’s okay if I don’t appear on the screen, just my voice. It was my idea – I’m not hiding it. Walter of course replied that if you’re on TV, you’re supposed to show up on TV, not just talk. That’s what television is all about, that it’s a vision – he told Kamil Bałuk. How did you come to that?
I decided that it would be more of a mystery for the viewers (…) I remember a program like this when I was a kid – I think ‘The Invisible Hand’ – there was also just a shadow of a man who spoke. How it affected my imagination.
He recalled that as a viewer at the time, he wanted and did not want to see the host’s face at the same time, and he wanted a similar atmosphere to be created around “30 Tons”. That’s exactly what happened – from the first episode broadcast exactly on February 7, 1995 to April 8, 2006, viewers never saw his face in the program. This concept has not changed even when the presenter Piotr Szarłacki appeared. And viewers even wrote letters to the editor to show “what this guy looks like.” “I was even invited to a TV show in which I was supposed to ‘appear’. But I came to the studio and stood in such a way that no one would recognize me. The secret was kept,” Odija told wz natemat.pl.
Let’s add that his characteristic voice is known not only to the viewers of “30 Tons” – Dariusz Odija is also a great dubbing actor who played the famous Brain from Steven Spielberg’s “Pinki and the Brain”. The list of his dubbing achievements also includes such items as “The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh”, “The Koala Brothers”, “Mask”, “Yogi Bear”, “Courageous Dog” or “Two Stupid Dogs”.
“30 Tons” remained on the air until 2006. Apparently, the famous note was removed to make room for reruns of “The Adventures of the Dog Cywlia” in the schedule – the fact is that nothing similar appeared in place of the program. Of course, now all the information that Anna Hernik worked out so carefully can be found on the Internet – but let’s face it, it’s not the same anymore. Once in a while, there are even petitions to TVP on the network to resume the program. The author from 2014 argued – “Thanks to the interesting formula and numerous guests, the program ’30 tons – list, charts’ played an important role in the musical education of people who are currently aged 20-35. It is worth giving the young generation of viewers a chance to get to know with the exciting field of art that is music.
“The whole idea, concept and implementation of ’30 Tons’ was ahead of its time, while not being a copy of Western programs such as MTV, VIVA, 4fun or EskaTV” – emphasizes the initiator of the petition from Maybe we will succeed.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
