Lessdress is a Polish

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam ...

/ hard rock band originally formed under the name Ferrum in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

in 1984. Lessdress is arguably the most successful glam metal band from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, having played the largest hard rock and metal

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including the Przystanek Woodstock festival and opened for among others

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals) ...

. Their first two albums are recognized collectors items fetching hundreds of dollars on

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. Due to high demand, the band reformed in 2007 and their debut album Dumblondes was remastered and re-released the following year by the Australian label Suncity Records. Frontman, vocalist and main songwriter

Pawel Nowakowski Pavel (Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian and Macedonian: Павел, Czech, Slovene, Romanian: Pavel, Polish: Paweł, Ukrainian: Павло, Pavlo) is a male given name. It is a Slavic cognate of the name Paul (derived from the Greek Pavlos). Pavel m ...

, the son of career diplomats, grew up mostly outside of Poland, in

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from age 8 and until 15 and then

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

from the age of 18. Pawel's brother is vocalist Adam Nowakowski of Warsaw band Incrowd who recorded two albums in the mid 1990s. In Washington Pawel formed the band

Steel Knickers Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength of materials, strength and fracture toughness, fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that ...

, whose claim to fame was an article in ''

Kerrang ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one ...

!'' highlighting two new American bands, the other was

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instru ...

. Steel Knickers recorded a three track demo in 1984, and one of the songs "Bloody Hard" appeared on the compilation album "Mutopia". Steel Knickers were negotiating a deal with

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but could not complete it as Nowakowski was not allowed to work in the US and also wanted to go back to his girlfriend and studies at

ASP Asp may refer to: Places * Asp, part of Densbüren, Aargau, Switzerland * Aspe (''Asp'' in Valencian), Alicante, Spain * Asp Lake, a lake in Minnesota Animals * Asp (fish) * Asp (snake), in antiquity, one of several venomous snakes ** ''Cera ...

(Academy of Fine Arts) in Warsaw. Eventually he had to return to Poland when his father's diplomatic assignment ended. Upon his return to Warsaw, Poland in 1984, he formed a new band, Ferrum. Ferrum was active from 1984 to 1989 and in 1986 they played the Jarocin and MetalMania festivals in Poland. Following a change in style and line-up, the band became Lessdress in 1989. The band´s debut album Dumblondes was released the same year and was influenced by

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albu ...

and

. Lessdress recorded their second album '' Love Industry'' in 1991, but it was not released until 1994 on the

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n label Schubert Records. The influences on this album included the bluesier sound of

Poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...

on their recent album ''

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'' and also

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and

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff ...

. The band split up in 1995, and attempted a reunion already in 1997. This reunion did not produce any recordings and fell apart in 1999 due to the death of bass player Slawomir Onacik. 2007 the remaining members reunited with a new bass guitarist and the same year they released their third album ''

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''. The sound was a departure from their previous recordings and they continued in a similar but more melodic direction with their latest album, 2014's ''

Fools Die Young Fool, The Fool, or Fools may refer to: *A jester, also called a ''fool'', a type of historical entertainer known for their witty jokes *An insult referring to someone of low intelligence or easy gullibility Arts, entertainment and media Fictio ...

''. The Australian label Suncity Records re-released the band´s debut album Dumblondes in 2008. In 2015, Lessdress supported Def Leppard on their tour in Poland including a show at Warsaw's Torwar. Lessdress main man Pawel Nowakowski is also known as creative director for the Warsaw digital agency Grande
Kochonos
with top name clients like ING and Kenwood.

References

{{Authority control 1984 establishments in Poland Polish hard rock musical groups Musical groups established in 1984 Polish glam metal musical groups