Polish Tango 1934: Mieczysław Fogg - Zdradziłem lecz kochałem [I Betrayed You Tho' I Loved You]

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Mieczysław Fogg & Orkiestra Syrena Rekord - Zdradziłem, lecz kochałem [I Betrayed You, Though I Loved You] Tango (F.Scher – S.Mar), Syrena-Electro 1934 (Polish)

NOTE: The composer of this song was the young Polish musician "Fred" (Alfred) SCHER. Born in 1900 in Złoczów near Lwów (present-day western Ukraine), he went to study music in Vienna, where his uncle played in the symphony orchestra. He graduated with a gold medal in piano, composition & conducting and returned to Poland in 1930. He did not dedicate himself to classical music, but played piano in Lwów's cafés and nightclubs. In 1932, he was hired by the Apollo Theatre in Katowice, and by 1935, he was active in Warsaw, where he associated with the hit composers and revue musicians. His talent was quickly appreciated and he signed contracts for music for many musical films with the biggest stars of Polish cinema, such as "Dwie Joasie” (Two Joans) with Jadwiga Smosarska and Lucyna Szczepańska, "Książątko” (The Princeling) with Karolina Łubieńska and Eugeniusz Bodo, "Jadzia" (Hedwig) with Jadwiga Smosarska and Aleksander Żabczyński, and "Amerykańska awantura” (An American Adventure) with Eugeniusz Bodo and Zofia Nakoneczna. Fred Scher's songs became hits, recorded by Mieczysław Fogg, Chór Juranda, Adam Aston and Wiera Gran, such as the tangos "Jak drogie są wspomnienia" (How Dear Are Memories) (1936) https://studio.youtube.com/video/VoRm5r-W4fg/edit and “Jak gdyby nigdy nic” (As If Nothing Had Ever Happened) (1936) https://studio.youtube.com/video/_xAKvEXEtyw/edit or the English waltz "Szkoda" (What A Shame) (1937) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INrqAFjWDdw&t=4s

Despite his success in Poland, Fred Scher left for Paris in 1937, where he played as a pianist at the Lido on the Champs Élysées and composed dance hits under the pseudonym Cher, a new career that was soon interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. Fred Scher was taken prisoner by the Germans near Königsberg as a French soldier. In 1945, he returned to Paris, where he soon received the prestigious position of director of Radio France. However, unjustly accused of collaborating with the communists, he emigrated to the US in 1954, where he began working in Hollywood film industry. At that time, several musicians from pre-war Warsaw were already working successfully in Hollywood, such as Henryk Wars, Bronisław Horowicz and Bronisław Kaper. However, two years later, Fred Scher was attacked on the street by a mentally ill passerby and stabbed several times. This paralyzed his right arm and forced him to retire. He moved to New York City where he died in 1968.

The slideshow includes some commercial ads from prewar Polish newspapers.