3/18/2023 0 Comments Polka musicplayer![]() ![]() ![]() He commuted from Cleveland to host each episode, which aired live. Yankovic also hosted the television series Polka Time for Buffalo, New York-based WKBW-TV for 26 weeks in 1962. In 1970, a house fire destroyed the gold records for "Just Because" and "Blue Skirt Waltz". 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. It was the second Cleveland-style song to sell over one million recordings.Ĭolumbia Records initially refused to record "Just Because", because other versions of the song had been around for years without much success only allowing it when Yankovic said that he would buy the first 10,000 records. Yankovic sold over 2.5 million records and with the Tunemixers version and Guy Lombardo's version, it sold over 4 million records total in 1949. Yankovic found a Bohemian Waltz called "Cervenou Sukynku," (written by Vaclav Blaha) or loosely translated, "Red Skirt Waltz." Yankovic asked Mitchell Parrish (" Stardust", " Sleighride") to write new lyrics to the melody. Others who recorded the Blue Skirt Waltz were the Tunemixers and Guy Lombardo both in 1949, Lawrence Welk ( Myron Floren) in 1958, Jim Ed Brown and the Browns in 1960, Hank Thompson in 1962, and Bobby Vinton in 1976. Yankovic hit the national scene when he earned two platinum singles for " Just Because" (1947) and " Blue Skirt Waltz" (1949). ![]() After getting out of the hospital, he and four other musicians were assigned to special services to entertain the troops, including General George Patton and his Third United States Army. The doctors urged him to have his fingers amputated, but he refused, as that would have ended his music career. Fortunately, he was able to beat the resulting gangrene before that became necessary, and was awarded a Purple Heart. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge where a severe case of frostbite nearly required the amputation of his hands and feet. Yankovic was assigned duty in 1943 in the infantry as a flame-thrower operator. ![]() Yankovic enlisted in the armed forces in 1943 and cut numerous records while on leave, prior to his departure for Europe. It became a popular hangout for local musicians, and he continued to run it until he sold it in 1948, dedicating himself to the accordion. However, the expenses of family life quickly overcame the incoming money from his music career, so he opened a tavern, calling it the Yankovic Bar. In 1940, he married his first wife June, and they began to raise a family. His first records were made for the Yankee and Joliet labels operated by Fred Wolf, and the expenses were paid for by Yankovic himself. As his reputation spread, he sought opportunities to make records, but the major labels turned him down. In the 1930s, he formed a business relationship with Joe Trolli and began making radio appearances on stations such as WJAY and WGAR. By the late 1920s, in his early teenage years, he was a working musician, playing for community events. Yankovic acquired an accordion at age 9, and received a few lessons from Zelodec. 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. While living in Cleveland, he became enthralled by the brass bands that played at Slovenian social functions. When Yankovic was young, his father moved to Cleveland to escape authorities who learned of his bootlegging, and the rest of the family followed shortly thereafter. Yankovic's father, a blacksmith, and his mother, a cook, met in a lumber camp in West Virginia where they both worked. He also recorded a version of the "Too Fat Polka" with comedian Drew Carey. He rarely strayed from Slovenian-style polka, but did record with country guitarist Chet Atkins and pop singer Don Everly. In 1986, he was awarded the first-ever Grammy in the Best Polka Recording category. He released over 200 recordings in his career. Born to Slovene immigrant parents, Yankovic was raised in the Collinwood neighborhood on Cleveland's East Side. ![]()
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