Frankie Yankovic

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Frankie Yankovic (July 15, 1915 Davis, West Virginia - October 14, 1998) was a polka musician. Known as "America's Polka King", he was the premier artist to play in the Slovenian style.

Of Slovenian descent, he was from Cleveland, Ohio. Yankovic released over 200 recordings in his career. In 1986 he was awarded the first ever Grammy in the Best Polka Recording category.

Yankovic seldom strayed from the Slovenian-style polka, but did record with country singer Chet Atkins, pop singer Don Everly, and a version of the “Too Fat Polka” with comedian Drew Carey, also from Cleveland. Frankie Yankovic also had a longstanding relationship with accordion virtuoso Joey Miskulin.

Yankovic enlisted in the Armed Forces in 1943, and cut some 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.

Frankie Yankovic hit the national scene when he earned two platinum singles for Just Because(1947) and Blue Skirt Waltz (1949). Frankie Yankovic obtained the title of America's Polka King after beating Duke Ellington in a battle of the bands in Milwaukee.

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 in Chicago at about the same time.

Yankovic was not related to "Weird Al" Yankovic (who himself has been known to perform polka), but Al did play accordion for "Who Stole the Kishka" on one of Frankie's final records, Songs of the Polka King, Vol. 1.

Yankovic died on October 14, 1998, in New Port Richey, Florida, due to heart failure, at the age of 83. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Cleveland [1]. 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. Before he died, Yankovic had sold 30 million records and won the first Grammy awarded for a polka album, in 1986.

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[edit] Square in Frankie's Hometown named in his honor

The Square at the intersection of Waterloo and East 152, 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 long time 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.[2][3]

[edit] Trivia

  • "Pennsylvania Polka," performed by Frankie Yankovic, was played (numerous times) in "Groundhog Day."
  • Co-authored his 1977 autobiography with Cleveland journal Bob Dolgan. In 2006 Dolgan wrote America’s Polka King, an entirely new Yankovic biography.
  • Frankie's music also appeared in the movie "Grumpy Old Men" and in the HBO series The Sopranos.

[edit] Former Band Members

  • Adolph Poczatek (1911-1982) Played several instruments on Several Albums as a backup musician mostly in the early years of Frankie's career.

[edit] References

 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007)
  1. ^ Calvary Cemetery - Cuyahoga County, Ohio
  2. ^ http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/118777214838490.xml&coll=2
  3. ^ Cleveland square named for polka king

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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