Frankie Yankovic

Frankie Yankovic
Background information
Born	(1915-07-28)July 28, 1915 Davis, West Virginia, U.S.
Died	October 14, 1998(1998-10-14) (aged 83) New Port Richey, Florida, U.S.
Genres	Slovenian-style polka
Instruments	Accordion
Associated acts	Frankie Yankovic and His Yanks

Frankie Yankovic (July 28, 1915 in Davis, West Virginia – October 14, 1998 in New Port Richey, Florida) was a Grammy Award-winning polka musician. Known as "America's Polka King," Yankovic was the premier artist to play in the Slovenian style during a long and successful career.

Background

Of Slovene descent, he was raised in South Euclid, Ohio. Yankovic released over 200 recordings in his career. In 1986 he was awarded the first ever Grammy in the Best Polka Recording category. He rarely strayed from the Slovenian-style polka, but did record with country guitarist Chet Atkins and pop singer Don Everly. He also recorded a version of the “Too Fat Polka” with comedian Drew Carey.^{[citation needed]}

History

Yankovic was the son of immigrant parents. His father was a blacksmith, and his mother a cook. They met in a lumber camp in West Virginia where they both worked. At an early age the family moved to Cleveland. Young Yankovic was enthralled by the brass bands that played at the Slovenian social functions. His mother took on boarders to help with the family finances, including a man named Max Zelodec, who performed Slovenian tunes on a button box. Yankovic acquired an accordion at age 9, but never took lessons. By the late 1920s, in his early teenage years, he was a working musician, playing for community events. He formed a business relationship with Joe Trolli, and began making radio appearances in the 1930s, including on stations WJAY and WGAR. As his reputation spread, he wanted to make phonograph records, but the major labels turned him down. Therefore, his first records were made for Yankee and Joliet, labels operated by Fred Wolf.

Yankovic enlisted in the armed forces in 1943, and cut numerous records while on leave, prior to his departure for Europe. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge, where a severe case of frostbite nearly resulted in the amputation of his hands and feet. Fortunately, he was able to beat the gangrene before that became necessary, and was awarded a Purple Heart. The doctors urged him to have his fingers amputated, but he refused, since that would mean he would not be able to play the accordion.

Yankovic hit the national scene when he earned two platinum singles for Just Because (1947) and Blue Skirt Waltz (1949). Yankovic obtained the title of America's Polka King after beating Louis Bashell, Romy Gosz, Harold Loeffelmacher and the Six Fat Dutchmen, Whoopee John Wilfahrt, and Lawrence Duchow in a battle of the bands in Milwaukee at the Milwaukee Arena on June 9, 1948.

Yankovic also hosted the television series Polka Time for Buffalo, New York-based WKBW-TV for 26 weeks in 1962. He commuted from Cleveland to host each episode, which aired live. He also hosted a similar show at WGN-TV Chicago at about the same time. He won a Grammy Award in 1986 for his album 70 Years of Hits. He was the first winner in the Polka category. The NARAS (Grammy) organization dropped the category in 2008.

He was not related to musical comedian and fellow accordionist "Weird Al" Yankovic, who also performs polka music among many other styles. However, Weird Al has jokingly hypothesized that he was given accordion lessons as a child because his parents thought that "there should be at least one more accordion-playing Yankovic in the world." Al performed accordion on "Who Stole the Kishka?" on one of Frankie's final records, Songs of the Polka King, Vol. 1. A portion of Frankie's "The Tick Tock Polka" is included in the song "Polka Face" on Weird Al's Alpocalypse; it was used as a lead-in for "Tik Tok" by Ke$ha.

Death

Yankovic died on October 14, 1998, in New Port Richey, Florida, from heart failure, at the age of 83. He was buried in Cleveland's Calvary Cemetery. Hundreds of friends, family, his loyal fans and fellow musicians showed up to send him off. At his peak, Yankovic was performing on the road in 325 shows a year. During his lifetime, Yankovic had sold 30 million records.^{[citation needed]}

Square in Frankie's hometown named in his honor

Intersection signpost

The Square at the intersection of Waterloo Rd. and East 152nd St. in Cleveland 41.569°N 81.5752°W / 41.569; -81.5752, not far from where Frankie grew up, was named in honor of Frankie Yankovic in a dedication ceremony on August 21, 2007.

Dave Wolnik, Frankie's longtime drummer, observed in the Bob Dolgan biography of Yankovic published last year that the famed musician didn't have a street named for him in his own hometown. That launched a campaign for the square by the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum and City Councilman Michael Polensek, according to Dolgan.

Former band members

• Adolph Poczatek (Pozatek) (1911–1984) Violin, tenor banjo, plectrum banjo, accordion, mandolin, cordiovox, guitar, piano. Toured and recorded with Frankie throughout his career. Appearances on Donahue and Lawrence Welk, among many live radio show broadcasts. His original band was the Polka Aces, known in the Chicago Community. Adolph Poczatek also frequently appeared with polka bands including Verne Meisner, Roman Posedi, and Joe Kovich.
• Johnny Pecon^{[citation needed]}
• Georgie Cook - Banjo player, who helped Yankovic establish the "Cleveland Sound".
• Joey Miskulin - Began playing with Frankie Yankovic in 1962 at the age of 13. This was the start of a relationship that lasted for the next 35 years. Joey developed his skill with the accordion and music while touring with the band. Joey began writing and arranging songs for Yankovic, eventually arranging and producing Frankie's albums,which included the Grammy Award-winning album "70 Years of Hits".
• Jeff Winard - Accomplished accordionist from Milwaukee; traveled with Yankovic in later years.
• Marian "Lefty" Bell - played bass with Yankovic. His father was a tenor in the Slovenian operettas in Cleveland
• Steve Kucenski - played 2nd accordion in the late 70s to early 90s.

See also

• Slovenian Americans

Further reading

Dolgan, Bob (2006). America's Polka King: The Real Story of Frankie Yankovic. Cleveland, OH: Gray & Company, Publishers. ISBN 978-1-59851-026-3

External links

• Sample text from the book America's Polka King by Bob Dolgan
• Polkas.com: Frank Yankovic...America's Polka King
• Newspaper Article
• Biography on ElvisPelvis.com
• Lifetime Achievement Honoree, sample music
• Dennis Kucinich's letter to Clinton in support of awarding Yankovic a National Medal of Arts
• Profile of Frank Yankovic at The Remington Site
• New York Times article of Yankovic's death