Although kiełbasa might now be available in most supermarkets and British tourists can say “dwa piwa proszę” with the same embarrassed hesitancy once reserved for “dos cervezas, por favor”, the UK’s growing familiarity with Polish culture has stopped short at pop music. Traditionally successful at selling avant-garde jazz and contemporary classical composers to an overseas audience, Poland has so far struggled to make an impression on Europe’s charts.

A lack of international visibility shouldn’t be mistaken for insularity, however. Even during the long years of virtual isolation under communism, the country soaked up influences from every corner of the planet, putting a central European spin on anything from roots reggae to new wave. With Euro 2012 giving the country a spotlight it hasn’t seen since the days of Solidarność, there’s never been a better excuse for the world to catch up on what it has been missing. Here are 10 classic clips.

Skaldowie – Prześliczna Wiolonczelistka (1969)

Mobile users, click here to viewAt the same time as the Beatles were under investigation by the FBI for alleged leftist sympathies, they were banned, or severely restricted, in Eastern Bloc states as bourgeois capitalists. With the British invasion repelled, enterprising Polish bands such as Czerwone Gitary and Skaldowie filled the void, offering an imitation of Merseybeat so faithful it wouldn’t sound out of place in Mojo magazine’s “best new music” section today. Skaldowie’s charming 1969 hit Prześliczna Wiolonczelistka sits alongside the best of the Monkees as evidence that ersatz Lennon and McCartney was often just as enjoyable as the real thing.

Anna German – Człowieczy Los (1970)

Mobile users, click here to view The torch songs of Anna German, performed in Polish and Russian, are one of the few things the two countries have ever been able to agree about in their acrimonious history. Born in Soviet Uzbekistan but raised in Wrocław following the murder of her father by the NKVD, German integrated folk themes from both sides of the divide into sentimental ballads that remain immensely popular to this day. Człowieczy Los warns against expecting destiny to provide happiness and encourages listeners to work for it themselves.

Maryla Rodowicz – Małgośka (1973)

Mobile users, click here to view Perhaps the finest of the seemingly endless reserve of poppy mid-70s folk songs about devious men and the hapless girls who can’t help but love them, Małgośka stands out on account of Maryla Rodowicz’s distinctive throaty rasp and the steel she injects into the acidic lyrics. Last year the song was remixed by Euro house producers Wet Fingers, with all the grace and subtlety you’d expect from the kind of Euro house producers who’d call themselves “Wet Fingers”, returning it to the charts.

Republika – Nowe Sytuacje (1983)

Mobile users, click here to view Hailing from genteel Toruń, a town more famous for novelty gingerbread than abrasive art-punk, Republika breathed new life into a Polish guitar scene dominated by hoary blues-rock. Their coruscating performance of Nowe Sytuacje at the 1983 Opole Song festival, equal parts Gang of Four and the Fall, was all the more astonishing for coming only a year after the event was suspended during the country’s spell of martial law. The lyrics may have been cryptic but it’s difficult to imagine the authorities could have mistaken the venom that lay behind them.

Halina Frąckowiak – Papierowy Księżyc (1987)

Mobile users, click here to view Mirroring the combination of melancholy and grit that had always been a feature of the domestic charts, Italo disco and the emotive synth-pop that followed in its wake found a natural home in Poland during the 80s. Despite threatening at several points to turn into Mike Oldfield’s Moonlight Shadow, Halina Frąckowiak’s tear-stained Papierowy Księżyc is one of the era’s most enduring hits – memorable not just for the song but the stark, minimalist video that perfectly matched the crumpled defiance of its lyrics.

Daab – Serce Jak Ogień (1993)

Mobile users, click here to view Even during a blazing central European summer there’s little danger of mistaking Warsaw for Kingston, few cities outside of the Caribbean have adopted the music of Jamaica as readily as Poland’s capital. With roots in the rebel songs of African slaves, reggae offered an opportunity for bands such as Daab to take aim at the forces of “Babylon” without running the risks associated with openly criticising the government. The genre’s popularity outlasted state socialism and it remains an important part of the Polish music scene. Fans of UB40 could do worse than listen to 1993’s Serce Jak Ogień.

Hey – Teksański (1993)

Mobile users, click here to view In the plaid-shirted early 90s when rock fans across Europe were taking sides between Pearl Jam and Nirvana, Poland had the good taste to turn into superstars a band taking their cues from Throwing Muses instead. Hey may not have been particularly original but the poetic fuzz of singles such as Teksański was hugely influential, helping to shape the next 20 years of Polish indie and lay the foundations for acts such as Maria Peszek who make the country’s current art-pop scene so interesting. Lead singer Katarzyna Nosowska now makes extraordinary electronica as a solo artist.

MIG – Co Ty Mi Dasz (2002)

Mobile users, click here to view Viewed in Warsaw with the same horrified incomprehension as donk finds in the south of England, Disco-Polo’s wonky blend of folk-pop and Eurodance remains the default party music of much of the rural heartland. Deeply unfashionable stars such as Tomasz Niecik can generate more sales from stalls outside train stations than most mainstream acts will ever see through record shops. With lovelorn lyrics and an endearingly amateurish video in which the majority of the band seem reluctant to look directly into the camera, few hits encapsulate what makes the genre special like MIG’s addictive Co Ty Mi Dasz.

Kasia Stankiewicz – Francuzeczka (2003)

Mobile users, click here to view Following a similar path to Katarzyna Nosowka, Kasia Stankiewicz went from lead singer of one of the country’s most successful rock groups, Varius Manx, to a solo artist pushing the boundaries of the Polish mainstream with something more progressive. The enthralling Francuzeczka from second album Extrapop may have failed to set the charts alight but there are echoes of its hazy, downbeat electro in many of Poland’s biggest stars of the moment, including the wonderful Iza Lach. An English-language debut is planned for 2012.

Monika Brodka – Znam Cię Na Pamięć (2006)

Mobile users, click here to view Irrespective of whether you see TV talent shows as cruel, exploitative and degrading, or cruel, exploitative and highly entertaining, there’s little denying the format has produced some excellent acts. There are none better than Monika Brodka, Idol winner as an elfin 16-year-old and firmly established, at 25, as one of the most exciting European pop stars in a generation. Although it wasn’t until majestic recent album Granda that her potential started to be properly fulfilled, the low-key retro soul of 2006’s Znam Cię Na Pamięć explored the dominant sound of the Polish charts at the time with a matchless command.