Frankie Yankovic

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 [ [http://www.interment.net/data/us/oh/cuyahoga/calvary/index.htm Calvary Cemetery - Cuyahoga County, Ohio ] ] . 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.

quare 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. [ [http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/118777214838490.xml&coll=2 Story not found - Cleveland.com ] ] [ [http://movie.moldova.org/stiri/eng/68455/ Cleveland square named for polka king ] ]

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.

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 Phil Donahue Show, 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. [http://books.google.com/books?id=YbtWmpLVuuQC&pg=RA1-PA129&lpg=RA1-PA129&dq=adolph+pozatek&source=web&ots=PXKMLu9R1V&sig=aPwTY8tq5Kw8ROpw0oExccQvJdM&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result At The Carousel, Chicago]

* Johnny Pecon
* Joey Miskulin - Began Playing with Frankie Yankovic in 1962 at the age of 13. This was the start of a relationship that has 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".

References

ee also

*Slovenian Americans

External links

* [http://www.polkas.com/yankovic/yankbio.htm Biography on Polkas.com]
* [http://www.sunnews.com/news/1998/1022/efrank2.htm Newspaper Article]
* [http://elvispelvis.com/frankyankovic.htm Biography on ElvisPelvis.com]
* [http://www.clevelandstyle.com/lifetimeachievement/yankovic.html Lifetime Achievement Honoree, sample music]
* [http://www.polkas.com/yankovic/memorial.htm Memorial on Polkas.com]
* [http://kucinich.house.gov/Polka/polkaking.htm Dennis Kucinich's letter to Clinton in support of awarding Yankovic a National Medal of Arts]
* [http://www.soundfountain.org/rem/remyank.html Profile of Frank Yankovic at The Remington Site]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D06E3DA123AF936A25753C1A96E958260 New York Times article of Yankovic's death]