DEZERTER released their debut album on this day in 1987 through Maximum Rock'n'Roll.
The material on this record was smuggled out of Poland by Joey Shithead (D.O.A.) who met the band after playing at Warsaw's Riviera Remont.
The way we got to Poland was... a guy had written us a letter. I can't remember the guy's name. Gregorz... something like that. I guess they'd heard about the band, heard the song "General Strike." So they said, we'd be interested in putting on a tour of Poland for D.O.A. So we wrote them back a letter... I don't think kids today can conceive that you would book a tour by a letter in the mail, you know, with the communication the way it is now. But, anyways we said yeah, we were going to come back to Europe in 1985, and we could go and play in Poland if you can arrange venues and money.
Joey Shithead / D.O.A. interview
Underground Out of Poland (originally titled Greatest sHits) was originally to be relased through Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles, but the label was facing legal and financial oblivion following H.R. Giger's controversial poster included with DEAD KENNEDY's Frankenchrist. Maximum R'n'R changed the titled and used their own cover artwork.
In 1987 an American record label Maximum Rock'n'Roll released the "Underground out of Poland" album, and after many years of trying the musicians finally obtained passports from the Communist authorities and could start going abroad. That's how a new period in band's history began, i.e. concerts in Western Europe. Starting from 1988 several important tours were organized, both in the West (Germany, France, Switzerland, Holland), and the East (Ukraine), climaxing in 1990, when Dezerter visited Japan. The time of performing abroad coincided with suspension of gigs in Poland. Due to growing disturbances and lack of safety for musicians and the public, Dezerter suspended performing in 1987. It was resumed in December of 1989.
Dezerter official biography, Dezerter.com