EDDIE ADAMIC

1930 – 2023

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2013

Eddie Adamic took inspiration from the pioneers of the Slovenian-style sound to lead the Detroit-Windsor area’s top Cleveland-Style polka band. Eddie learned Slovenian folk music from his parents and was performing by age 14 in and around Windsor, Ontario. He organized his own orchestra at the peak of the polka heyday in 1952. He took a break from band-leading in 1965 to perform with Ronnie Dodich and Dennis Tatomir. Eddie started up again in 1975 and went on to appear on radio and television, perform in Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Canada, and host polka tours to Slovenia, the Caribbean, Hawaii and Spain. Five recordings capture Eddie Adamic’s old-country polka classics, especially his 1981 album with the Klancnik Brothers.

GEORGIE COOK

1909 – 2002

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1991

Georgie Cook spun his banjo magic for over 65 years spanning eight decades beginning in the 1920s. A master of America’s only native instrument, Georgie performed as a soloist, Cleveland-Style bandleader, sideman, and teacher. A successful composer, Georgie saw over fifty of his tunes recorded.

In 1926, fascinated with the stylings of banjo great, Eddie Peabody, Georgie worked at a newspaper stand and sold scrap to earn the $50 his family could not afford for a banjo. Unable to finance weekly lessons, Georgie persuaded Peabody to increase the workload between monthly sessions. Georgie played his first professional job, a stage show, in 1928 and became a regular on WHK radio after only one appearance on its weekly variety show.

Georgie served his apprenticeship accompanying polka pioneer Matt Hoyer and Cleveland-Style tavern accordionists Shorty Kalister and Valentine Turk. Georgie was with Frank Yankovic during his heyday from 1946 to 1951, barnstorming the nation and recording the million seller hits, “Just Because” and “Blue Skirt Waltz,” for Columbia.

Georgie formed his own orchestra in 1951, the first to incorporate the organ, creating a unique, innovative sound. Enjoying wide popularity, the band recorded with Decca for ten years releasing 45 singles and two LP albums; performed regionally throughout the Midwest, in Pennsylvania and New York; hosted their own television show, “Polka Date’, and guested on the “Old Dutch Polka Revue,” the Style Crest shows, and “Polka Varieties.”

As a soloist, Georgie traveled the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe, performing in vaudeville; at night clubs, amusement parks, and festivals; on cruise ships; in dixieland bands; and in ballrooms, sharing the stage with stars such as the INK SPOTS and the FOUR ACES. In 1956, Georgie was a winner on CBS’ ”Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts” show.

Georgie enjoyed a prolific career as a featured artist, performing with virtually all of Cleveland’s famous orchestras, recording with Kenny Bass, Eddie Habat, Joe Kusar, and other Cleveland-based bands, and with Dennis Tatimor and Walter Ostanek of Canada. Georgie recorded an LP album backed by the Norm Knuth Orchestra on Delta, and was featured prominently on record and in person with Ernie Benedict and the George Staiduhar Orchestra.

Giving generously of himself, Georgie entertained our troops overseas during World War II and has made countless charity and benefit appearances. He has performed with most of Cleveland’s button box clubs and became a member of the Holmes Hall Buttonaires. Georgie was honored as “Musician of the Year” by the Collinwood Slovenian Home in 1989.

Georgie’s most popular tunes include the “Keystone Polka,” “Five Points Polka, ” and “Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go with Friday on Saturday Night?”

Jeff & Johnny Pecon

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in

HANK HALLER

1935 – 2022

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2000

Mention Hank Haller and visions of oompah music and “lederhosen” – short leather pants – come to mind. But Haller is more. He is a very prolific recording artist in the polka field with 100 albums and 4 videos to his credit, with an estimated one-quarter of a million albums sold.

While he is a leading proponent of German-style polkas, Haller is a big fan of the Oberkrainer music of Slavko and Vilko Avsenik of Slovenia, and Cleveland-style polkas. He has recorded many albums which feature Slovenian and English lyrics sung to these polkas and waltzes.

His parents, Henry and Katherine, emigrated to Cleveland from a German settlement in the former Yugoslavia, seven decades ago. Haller started playing the piano accordion at age eight, but his teacher doubted his talent, so he switched to clarinet. He picked up the accordion again at age 16 and joined his uncle Jake Haller’s band in 1952. Within 5 years, Hank became the leader, and the Hank Haller band has had a non-stop run for more than 60 years.

Haller started playing on a regular basis for his friend Steve Bencic, at the Sachsenheim Club, in 1958. A few years later at the opening of Bencic’s “Hofbrau Haus” restaurant in Cleveland, he was the house band. The Hank Haller band was in on the ground floor of the German beer festival “Oktoberfest”, which Bencic introduced to United States audiences. In the intervening years, the numberous Oktoberfest celebrations held each fall created a showcase for Haller and his band. The events are an important part of his more than 110 playing dates each year.

Haller numbers among his musical career highlights his annual performances, for 15 years, at the Bavarian Festival in Barnesville, Pennsylvania (near Allentown). He said the first time he saw the festival, it was the biggest one he had ever seen. He quickly became accustomed to playing for the 110,000 people in attendance.

Another highlight for Haller was the nomination of his album “Thank You Dear and Give Her Roses,” for a Grammy award in the polka category in 1987.

For 30 years he was joined on stage by his wife Maryanne, who sang with the Haller Ensemble. Haller sings on many of his recordings,as well as featured vocalists Ray Young and Ken Umeck. As an indefatigable polka promoter, Haller is a travel tour leader too, inviting fans and friends, who to date have joined him on 34 cruises and trips to Europe and Hawaii.

Another facet of Haller’s energy and popularity was exhibited by the 200 appearances the Haller Band made on the weekly “Polka Varieties” television program, during its 27 years on the air in Cleveland. He also found time to host a German radio show in recent years.

Like many musicians, Haller had a day job. He earned a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from Case Western Reserve University. He worked at NASA for 20 years, and 15 years for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Haller has also branched out into the polka music of other nationalities including Bohemian, Slovak, and Austrian. One thread is a constant factor in his recordings, Haller playis it authentically or as he says “authenticity is paramount.”

He and Maryanne reside in Avon Lake, Ohio. The couple have four children, daughter Hillary, and sons Henry Jr., Peter, and Conrad.

DON LIPOVAC

1935 – 2014

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2014

Don is one of Cleveland-style’s virtuoso accordionists. The Kansas City native won First Place in the virtuoso category of the American Accordionists Association National Championship in New York City in 1958. Don has been a bandleader since the 1950s, and has five polka albums and one accordion serenade CD.   He organized and taught the Kansas button box club, starting in the 1970s. He formed the St. John’s Tamburitza and Folk Dance group, and was the director for 35 years. He has a Don Lipovac Booster Club with 500 fans. Don was inducted into the Ironworld  Polka Hall of Fame in Minnesota, in 1977 and the Tamburitza Hall of Fame in 1992.

ART PERKO

1935 – 2008

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2009

Art Perko was a leading talent of the new wave of young polka musicians who followed the Cleveland-Style legends of the 1950s. His most popular band line-up, featuring Billy Tomsick, Mike Dragas, Ray Sterle, and Roger DeBenedict, performed for 32 years.

Cleveland’s largely Slovenian St. Clair-Superior neighborhood was home to Art. He was considered one of the best boy sopranos in the St. Vitus school choir. He began accordion lessons at age six and led his first band at 13.

Art and his band were frequent guests on the popular syndicated Polka Varieties television show in the 1960s and 1970s. The group was one of the first to record with the Delta International polka label. Art’s four albums included many fan favorites, such as “Quick Stop Polka” and “Magic Trumpets.”

He scored a pop hit with his bouncy “Peanuts Polka” in 1965. On Cleveland radio charts, “Peanuts” peaked at No. 9 the same week the Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride” was No. 1.

After a ten-year break from music, Art formed a new band in 1998 and recorded an album, “Reunited.” In the 2000s, Art hosted Sunday night jam sessions in the Collinwood neighborhood at the 4-Rs Tavern.

GEORGE STAIDUHAR

1945

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2004

George has been a polka band leader and accordionist for 50 years. He is also the composer of the 2001 Greatest All-Time Hit Song, Mozart’s Polka.

George was voted the Musician of the Year by the National Cleveland style Polka Hall of Fame in 1991, 1994, and 2000. The George Staiduhar Band was voted the 2003 Band of the Year.

In the early 1970s George’s band led tours to Slovenia, and recorded the album Polkas on the Slopes and Polka Swingin’ with Staiduhar.

George Staiduhar and the Revue has played at the Illinois Polka Festival in Oakbrook for ten years. Other out-of-town playing engagements include Springvale Ballroom, Melody Grove Ballroom, SNPJ Campsite, and Painesville Township, where the band was voted “Most Popular Band.”

George continued playing as lead accordionist with the Harry Faint Revue, recording “Polkas by George”, which was nominated for a Grammy in 1990, and was voted the Recording of the Year in 1991 by the Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame. He played with the band on Walter Ostanek’s 1998 Grammy-nominated album “Putting it All Together”. George also recorded the albums Cadillac Polkas, The Best of the Harry Faint Revue, and in 1999 released the album “Y2K Polkas”.

George has written more than 100 polkas and waltzes.

George served as a trustee of the Polka Hall of Fame from 1992 to 2004, and is currently the chairman of the Polka Hall of Fame beer stand at the E. 185th Street festival, and ticket chairman for the Polka Hall of Fame Awards Show and Meet the Winners Dance.

He is considered one of the leading accordionists in the polka field because of his dexterity in fingering, and classical training in accordion.

George is a federal court recorder for the U.S. District Court in Cleveland, Ohio. His wife is Sharon. He has two children Scott and Tracy. He lives in Wickliffe, Ohio. He is a member of SNPJ Lodge 614 and Croatian Fraternal Union #99.

FRED KUHAR

1946

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2011

Fred Kuhar was inspired by the music of Johnny Pecon to organize his own successful Cleveland-style orchestra which he led for 38 years. He preserved the Pecon legacy through his own playing and by restoring and releasing recordings of Johnny with Lou Trebar. Fred also was the founding President of the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum.

Fred taught himself the accordion by replaying Johnny Pecon records as a youngster in Wickliffe, Ohio. His style picked up the sophistication and subtlety and of Pecon’s classic sound. The Fred Kuhar Orchestra, featuring brother Pete on the clarinet and sax, performed from 1967 to 2005. The group’s 28 bus tours brought Slovenian-American music to places like Ironworld in Minnesota, Seven Springs, Nashville and Hilton Head. The band recorded five albums and, in 1992, was the first Cleveland-based polka band to issue a compact recording. For his Classic Records label, Fred produced seven CDs of live performances by Pecon and Trebar.

Fred led the Polka Hall of Fame through its formative years from 1990 to 1999. He initiated the program to transfer the archive’s recordings to digital formats for preservation. Fred’s background as an attorney and CPA serves him in the community for duties such as president of the Slovene Home for the Aged, Law School Advisory Council at Notre Dame, and as a trustee of Mater Dei Academy.

FATHER FRANK PERKOVICH

1928 – 2018

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2012

Father Frank Perkovich popularized the Polka Mass and turned it into a new tradition at nationality festivals Around the country. His “Songs and Himns from the Polka Mass” recordings are the most widely-sold Cleveland-Style polka albums in recent decades.

Frank Perkovich was born in Chisholm, Minnesota, in the the lron Range, and grew up enjoying the Slovenian and Croatian music he heard at home and in his neighborhood. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1954 and was assigned to area parishes before arriving at Resurrection Church in Eveleth in 1970.

Changes in worship, following the Vatican II Council, inspired Father George Balasko to debut the first Polka Mass in Lowellville, Ohio, in 1972 with favorite polka and waltz melodies performed by a band with lyrics from the liturgy. Father Perkovich contacted him and set out to style his own version with music by accordionist Joe Cvek and the Polka Massters, and lyrics adapted by Mary Cvek. Father Perkovich celebrated his forst Polka Mass in 1973 and, spurry by the warm reception recorded it with Cvek and his orchestra. His Polka Mass became an immediate sensation and earned headlines, Festivals soon invited “Father Perk” and the Cvek musicians for appearances Both Polka Mass releases sold more than 100,000 copies.

Father Perk premiered the Polka Mass ln Slovenia and Croatia i n 1975. He was also invited to celebrate the Mass at the inauguration of Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich. In I982 Father Perk even created an ecumenical Polka Mass with a Lutheran pafrish. His greatest honor came in 1983 when he presented the Polka Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Pope John Paul II gave his personal approval to Father Perk in an audience.

In 2004, Father Perk retired from active ministry and documented his experiences in a personal memoir “Dancing A Polka To Heaven”. He was featured in the TV Slovenia documantary, “Polka! The Movie”, and gained new fans in Slovenia and at film festivals.

Thanks to Falher Perkovich’s enthusiasm, the Polka Mass today is featured at celebrations and special Occasions in nationatity parishes and neighborhoods across North America Polka bands may adapt his form witht melodies and instrumentation to suit a palicular ethnicity but the Polke Mass uniquely engages communities within the church with familiar melodies presented with reverence.

AL TERCEK

1926 – 2004

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1995

Al Tercek set the pace for Cleveland-Style Polka drummers, providing the catalyst that would transform ethnic folk songs into commercially viable dance music. Developing patterns and riffs that became endemic to Cleveland-Style rhythm sections, Al played with virtually all of Cleveland-Style’s greats, led his own orchestra for over 40 years, and exerted strong influence over a talented corps of Cleveland-Style drummers who would follow.

A fixture around the bandstand at Collinwood Slovenian Home, Al studied drums under Charlie Wilcoxin, played with the Joe Lasicky Trio at age twelve, joined Frank Yankovic’s Orchestra at fourteen, and became Johnny Vadnal’s drummer during World War II. Afterward, Al toured the Midwest with Joe Sodja’s Cavalcade of Golf variety shows.

Influenced and guided by Kenny Bass in the studio, Al added zip to the Decca recordings of the Sokach-Habat Tunemixers and Eddie Habat in the late 1940s and, later, the majority of Bass’ recordings for Coral, Decca, and Roulette. The Tunemixers’ 1949 recording of “Blue Skirt Waltz” sold over 700,000 copies and landed them their own weekly radio show with Howie Lund. With the Habat Orchestra, Al played an important role in orchestrating many of Eddie’s hits including, most notably, “Go Man Go.” In 1950, Al teamed with Bill Wapotich to produce the hit “Annabelle” with Al’s sextet and a twelve-voice chorus. Achieving one of Billboard’s highest ratings ever for a Cleveland recording, “Annabelle” was played every fiteen minutes for a week by Norman Wain on WDOK radio. Al and Bill also discovered the internationally famous Pony Tails, producing “Your Wild Heart” and launching their career. Broadening his experience, Al plaved with the Russ Harmon and Russ Carlyle big bands and worked for Bill Randld backing stars including Tony Bennett, Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Theresa Brewer, and Johnny Ray.

The Al Tercek Orchestra recorded “Let’s Polka,” a joint venture with th Ray Champa Orchestra featuring Tercek’s “Gaiety Polka,” “Fritz’s Polka,” “Tribute to Matt,”— the one with the infamous (naughty?) cover— and “Polka Power” with a memorable version of Avsenik’s “Wind Song.” The Tercek Orchestra appeared frequently on TV’s Old Dutch Polka Revue and Polka Varieties.

Al recorded with the Frank Novak Polka All-Stars, Georgie Cook, Jimmy Kozel, and Duke Marsic and has appeared with the Polka Hall of Fame All-Star Band in Awards Show III and at fundraisers in Milwaukee and Cleveland. A founding member of the Polkats Social Club and a Trustee of the American-Slovenian Polka Foundation, Al was honored as Collinwood’s Musician of the Year in 1971 and has been cited as a primary influence by Cleveland-Style drummers Dave Wolnik, Jack Tady, Harry Faint, and Mark Habat.
Dubbed the “Personality Kid” by Kenny Bass, Al has always represented Cleveland-Style music with friendliness, sophistication, and the utmost of class.

HANK THUNANDER

1942

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2011

Every time he picks up his accordion and plays, Hank Thunander pays tribute to his idol, Frank Yankovic. For nearly half a century, Hank has led one of the top Cleveland-Style polka bands in the Upper Midwest. Fans enjoy his energetic polka sound, but Hank also can put across a big-band, light-rock or country tune. His versatility has earned him frequent invitations to festivals, clubs and ballrooms with an average of 300 appearances a year.

Hank was raised in the Gogebic Range of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, near the border of Minnesota’s Iron Range. As a youngster he was fascinated with Yankovic’s happy music and took up the accordion. A dream came true when, at age 10, America’s Polka King brought Hank on stage to play along with him. Hank led bands in high school and the Army before settling in St. Paul, Minnesota. Another dream was realized in 1970, when he was invited to record with Yankovic. Since then, Hank has released eight albums of his own.

Some of the entertainers he accompanied include Lawrence Welk favorites Myron Floren and Joann Castle. From 1972 to 1981, Hank hosted a weekly radio show on WMIN, featuring Slovenian-style polkas. He organized polka tours to Europe, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Alaska. For his contributions to music, Hank has been honored by the Ironwood Hall of Fame, the Michigan Polka Music Hall of Fame, and the Minnesota Accordion Club. He received the Lifetime Award from the Mid-America Music Hall of Fame.

JACK TADY

1938

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2000

Jack Tady has kept a pulsating rhythm in polkas since he was fourteen years old. As a bandleader and drummer, Tady may have changed the name of the band and the musicians in it, but the beat has always been steady.

He started out in 1952 with Jack Tady and the Russ Slovenes, the Jack Lads/Polka Lads, and Jack Tady’s Swingin’ Laddies. In 1973, the name changed to the Jack Tady Bears, the JTB, and now Jack and his Tady Bears. But the title Tady likes the most is “Western Pennsylvania’s Polka King.” Radio listeneres of Bill Seles’ Polka Show voted Tady the honor in 1968. He was thrilled that Polka King Frankie Yankovic was on hand to crown him.

Jack was born in Russellton, Pennsylvania to Anna and John Tady, who were of Croation and Serbian descent. He joins his brother Richard “Dick” Tady as a Lifetime Achievement inductee in the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame. Tady’s other sibiling, Rita, is Dick’s twin sister.

Slovenian polka music was the music of choice in the Tady household while Jack was growing up. He and his friends would gather near the stage of the former West View Park in Pittsburgh each summer to listen to their polka idols – Frankie Yankovic, Kenny Bass, Eddie Habat, Johnny Vadnal and Walter Ostanek. Those musicians were his inspiration to start a polka band of his own.

His first recording was a 45 rpm, featuring Millie’s Polka and Jaken’s Waltz. His first album was “It’s Terrific, It’s Tady” on Mlay Records. He recently re-released six albums on compact disc. Some of the polkas Tady popularized are “Popeye the Polkaman,” Murone’s Polka,” and Skipper’s Waltz.”

As the “Buddy Rich of Polkas,” the ever-smiling Tady has relied on talented accordion players to carry the melody. John LaBorda was the accordionist with the Swingin’ Laddies. Benzie Rathbone joined the band in the Jack Tady Bears. Accordionists Tony Zupanchick, Johnny Kusmierek, Fred Gregorich, Larry Placek and Rob Deblander have all been leading accordion players in Tady’s bands. He and his brother Dick joined forces at one time in the Polka Lads.

Jack was delighted to play on five recordings with the Frankie Yankovic band, and in a polka medley on Walter Ostanek’s Grammy-nominated album of 1997. Jack and the late Dave Wretschko combined talents on “Putting It All Together,” an album nominated in 1988 for Recording of the Year.

Tady added polka radio host duties to his repertoire in 1982. Jack Tady’s Polka Place has been on the air at WEDO 830AM, McKeesport, for 18 years. He, his wife Peggy, and daughters Jackie and Maggie are part of the family-oriented show. He and Peggy have one daughter each from previous marriages, two daughters from their marriage, and reside in Cheswick, Pennsylvania.

Polka cruises with Tady and his band have taken the Polka Mass to the Caribbean, where his band was the first to play the service on the high seas.

Jack has founded several polka groups: Western Pennsylvania Polka Pals and Gals, United Musicians Polka Association of Pennsylvania (UMPAPA), People Encouraging Polkas (P.E.P.) and the Satin Dolls.

Jack earned a Bachelor of Science degree in music education and English at Duquesne University, and a master’s equivalency in music. He rretired from public shcool music in 1999 after 35 years of directing instrumental and vocal music in the Deer Lake School District. But, retired means Tady is working as part-time director of instrumental and vocal music at St. Edmund’s Academy, Pittsburgh, and he teaches private lessons in his home.

Don Wojtila

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in

ANNA VADNAL

1897 – 1966

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1989

Anna Vadnal’s forty-nine year love affair with music encompassed a wide spectrum of involvement. Already a prominent performing artist in the 1920s, she was a lead soprano in the Jadran Singing Society, singing in the chorus, as a soloist, in ensembles, and in leading roles in musical plays and operettas. An instrumentalist as well, she played piano, brac, and bercinica and played in a tamburitza orchestra. Though she was a fine performer, Anna’s real forte was reached in the roles of teacher and coach, Here, her impact in the Slovenian cultural arena and on Cleveland-Style music was immeasurable.

Active in nine Slovenian cultural societies throughout her life, Anna was a natural teacher and a great promoter of Slovenian culture. The primary focus of Anna’s endeavors was directing and training young people in their hertage through her involvement with youth groups, inspiring and instilling in them a passionate love of the music and language of their forefathers, and pride in their Slovenian culture. She wrote Slovenian lyrics for popular English tunes; poems and recitations in Slovenian for their programs; and coached children and young adults in their performances. In recognition of her work, Anna was named Slovenian “Woman of the Year” in 1964.

Of course, Anna’s crowning achievement began at home where music was truly a family affair. All five of her children took music lessons while Anna herself taught them Slovenian music and the art of performing. In 1938, she launched the Vadnal Quartet, the forerunner of the internationally famous Vadnal Orchestra, which have now been performing for over fifty consecutive years. The Quartet performed frequently under Anna’s direction and toured regularly through Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Illinois.

As Cleveland-Style Polkas came into national prominence in the late 1940s, Anna actively encouraged and taught Cleveland’s aspiring musicians and radio announcers to achieve their highest potential in promoting Slovenian polka music. During this critical period in Cleveland-Style Polka history, all musicians knew that they could turn to Anna for guidance and help in learning Slovenian songs and lyrics.

Performer, teacher, coach, and mentor, Anna Vadnal gave her energy and talent unselfishly to promote the Slovenian culture from which Cleveland-Style music developed. Her performances and teaching enriched the lives of thousands. Anna’s legacy includes 270 years of musical accomplishments through her children alone, not to mention two additional generations of Vadnal music making. Beyond that are the countless others whom she taught and inspired to keep the Cleveland-Slovenian heritage alive and thriving.

SLAVKO AVSENIK

1929 – 2015

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1996

Slavko Avsenik’s career accomplishments place him at the worldwide pinnacle of success among ethnic popular musicians. Over forty years, the Avsenik Ensamble’s original “Oberkrainer” sound became the primary vehicle of ethnic musical expression for Slovenia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Benelux countries, spawning hundreds of Alpine orchestras in the process. 

The Ensamble has performed before millions, including heads of state, on radio and television, and in thousands of concerts. Selling over 30 million records, Avsenik has earned thirty-one Gold, two Diamond, and one Platinum record. The “Johann Strauss of the twentieth century,” Avsenik collaborated with his brother, Vilko, to produce nearly 1000 original compositions and an integral part of the Cleveland-Style legacy.

The Avsenik saga began in 1953 with a band formed in Slovenia, broadcast on the “Slovenian Hour” from Austria, and dubbed the “Musicians of the Oberkrain” by a Vienna disc jockey. Growing in popularity, they soon began appearing in broadcasts, movies, and concerts in West Germany.

Landing a recording contract with Telefunken-Decca in 1960, the Ensamble rose to meteoric heights throughout Europe. It appeared regularly on network television, toured relentlessly (logging over 400,000 miles in 1967 alone), and recorded prolifically. Milestones include a 1961 performance before over 80,000 in Berlin Stadium, tours of the U.S. and Canada in 1970 and 1985, and a one-hour German television network special in 1980.

Slovenia’s most popular orchestra, the group has won countless awards including eight consecutive television competitions, twelve from German network television, eighteen as Germany’s most popular band, the recording industry’s “European Oscar” in 1975, the Golden Rose Award (most requested on Austrian radio) in 1979, the Linhart plaque (Slovenia), and the “Harmon Lons” award from the German Minister of Culture.

Avsenik’s influence over Cleveland-Style music began in 1958 when Johnny Pecon’s English lyrics transformed Slavko’s Tam Kjer Murke Cveto into a Greatest All-Time Cleveland-Style Hit, Little Fella. Since then, Cleveland-Style orchestras have recorded well over 200 Avsenik songs including nearly sixty by the Hank Haller Ensemble and as many more by Fred Ziwich, Fred Kuhar, the Fairport Ensemble, Al Markic, Roger Bright, Al Tercek, and Cilka Dolgan. Avsenik tribute bands in North America include Duke Marsic, the Alpine Sextet, MarJan Kramer, and Iskre (Canada).

In sheer volume, Avsenik’s compositions rank him with Slovenian folk music, Matt Hoyer, and Dr. William J. “Doc” Lausche as the major tributaries feeding the Cleveland-Style repertoire. But the breathtaking beauty pervading his waltzes… Slovenia, the Wind Song, Cakala Bom, European Waltz, Na Svidenje, On the Bridge, and Argentina, to name just a golden few… best characterize the profound nature of his impact.

Stan Blout

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in

DALE BUCAR

1956

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2023

Dale has hosted popular polka radio shows since 1968. He began his career on a polka and international show led by his father, musician Eddie Bucar. The experience encouraged him to release recordings where he sings in English and Croatian.

Dale is well known as a vocalist and appears on many albums. He grew up in the Cleveland area and, as a student at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, was one of the famous Tamburitzans. He entertained in Las Vegas and on a cruise ship. He shares the spotlight in the musical duo Bucar and Turek.

Dale earned four awards for vocals from the Polka Hall of Fame to date.

Ralph Delligatti

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in

CECILIA “CILKA” DOLGAN

1937

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1990

Cilka enters the Hall of Fame in many facets of the polka world. Her contributions are as a singer, disc jockey, music director, recording artist, lyricist, and composer.

Cilka is equally at ease singing on television with Frankie Yankovic or at Carnegie Hall with the Cleveland Orchestra.

Her musical interests began with Anna Vadnal and the Slovenian Children’s Chorus at Slovenian Workmen’s Home in Cleveland in 1947 and continued at the Cleveland Institute of Music Opera Workshop. She pursued classical music after receiving a voice scholarship at the Cleveland Music School Settlement. At the same time Cecilia sang with the Glasbena Matica Slovenian Singing Society and with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus.

Cecilia’s interest in Slovenian music was nurtured at home where her mom, Josephine Valencic, instilled in her children pride of nationality. On a visit to Slovenia in 1960, Cilka was the first American to appear on RTV Ljubljana television on the show “Pokazi Kaj Znas” (Show Your Talent). On her retum to Cleveland, she was asked to sing on local television’s “Polka Varieties” and “Festival Five”. She was among the first to sing the music of Avsenik in the States. She recorded her first album in Pittsburgh in 1966 with Sam Pugliano and Jake Derlink. Cilka’s next two albums were with the Almars Orchestra on Delta International’s polka label, and then a series of Cilka, Smooth as Cilka, Touch of Cilka, and Breakthrough, which brought a modern disco sound to polkas.

She hosted and produced the Slovenian Night Radio Show for ten years. Cilka has been striving to bring Slovenian music through polkas and waltzes to the largest possible American audiences. That is why she has translated more than 50 songs into English that have been recorded by some of the best polka bands. She wrote the lyrics for “The Wind Song”, “Back Home to Pennsylvania”, “Save the Last Dance”, “Hey, Prijatelj, Means My Buddy”, “Roses of Love”, and “Friends Polka”. She has also written a dozen original polkas.

With the hope of preserving Slovenian music in the U.S., Cilka has been teaching hundreds of children in the Slovenian Junior Chorus SNPJ Circle 2 for 25 years as director of the singers, taking them on tour to Slovenia, EPCOT Center, and cities in the U.S. and Canada. Some of the polka musicians who sang in the chorus are Christine Mihelich, Kathy Hlad, Billy Novak, Phil Srnick, Ed and Chuck Sumrada, Joey Tomsick, and Nancy Hlad.

She initiated the Super Button Box Bash in 1983, showcasing dozens of the best button accordion groups, with audiences of 1,000 people. Cilka arranged 42 popular Slovenian follk songs into two songbooks.

Back For history’s sake, Cilka edited the United Slovenian Society’s Slovenian National Directory of 1,200 Slovenian organizations of the U.S., including polka bands and polka radio shows.

In 1975 she was honored as Slovenian of the Year, youngest woman chosen.

FRED GREGORICH

1932 – 2020

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2006

If Fred Gregorich had continued to emulate his older brother, Ed, he would still be playing the mandolin, fiddle, and guitar in a bluegrass band. Ed was a talented country musician, who died in a U. S. Air Force plane crash in 1943. A relative suggested Fred try the accordion. Fred Gregorich, who grew up in Moon Run, Pennsylvania, started accordion lessons at age 19. A year later he was playing professionally with the Frankie Trio and the Polka Knights of Burgettstown. Fred patterned his playing after the lively polka style of Kenny Bass and his top accordionists, Joe Luzar, Dick Sodja, and Bob Timko. He became leader of the Polka Toppers in 1954, and later changed the name to his most prolific band, Fred Gregorich and the Del-Fi’s. The Del-Fi’s were together until 1983, and recorded five albums. Sidemen, such as the late Lou Rosenberg on bass and Gene Casciola on saxophone, were prominent members of the band. During that period, Fred composed some popular polkas including Cheese and Crackers Polka. Fred was also the second accordionist with the Bob Timko band at the first Polka Mass performed in Lowellville, Ohio, in 1972. He joined the Centurions after the Del-Fi’s disbanded and got back on the scene with the Sam Pugliano Orchestra. He played with Sam for 13 years, as well as with the Del Sinchak band. The highlight of his 50-plus year career was to arrange and play on the Don Wojtila album, “Polka Lovin’ Gal.” For him it was like coming full circle from his early days of admiring Kenny Bass’ music. Fred has recorded with Walter Ostanek, Ron Pivovar, the Polka Quads, Sam Pugliano, Ray Skovenski, Frank Stanger and Jack Tady.

KATHY HLAD

1959

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2017

Kathy Hlad was born in Cleveland, Ohio and given up by her Irish birth parents. Rudy and Florence Hlad took her in as a foster child at age 4 and she was formally adopted at 8. The Hlad’s also adopted two other children, Chris and Tricia. After a fifteen year search, Kathy located and met her biological family. She is the eldest of four siblings, Chuck, Larry and Lise.

The Hlad family raised Kathy within the traditions of the Cleveland Slovenian community. This included a deep-rooted involvement in the fabric of the Slovenian ethnic social life – its music, dance, cultural and social activities. On the radio and through recordings, polka music became a way of life for the young Kathy. Her natural musical ability became apparent when she picked out Frank Yankovic’s “Too Fat Polka” on a 12 key electric organ. Then her Father was puzzled by a long distance call on his phone bill and soon discovered that Kathy was playing songs on the touch tone phone. She began taking piano lessons and classical performance became her major throughout college.

At age 8 she joined the Circle 2 Slovenian Junior Chorus and, as a member, eventually became the piano accompanist, dance instructor, button box instructor and assistant musical director. It was here, through the guidance of Cecelia Dolgan, that Kathy began to learn and cherish the traditional songs of Slovenia. It was common to see her sitting in front of the record player listening and memorizing the beautiful music and lyrics as sung by legendary vocalist Eddie Kenik.

During a vacation in Slovenia she saw the famed Lojze Slak perform. Kathy was intrigued by the sound of the button box and Slaks musical style. Seeing Frank Novak perform that same year, she convinced her Father that she would like to learn to play. She took lessons from Frank and soon became a pioneer of females playing the button box in this male dominated community. Johnny Pecon, Lou Trebar and Eddie Habat were all powerful influences in developing her own musical style. She began teaching the button box at age 15 and appeared on TV Polka Varieties with Frank Yankovic, Circle 2 and other button accordion musicians. Kathy was one of the first winners of the button box contests that were promoted by Ed Grosel and Kenny Bass. In 1976 she led a tour hosted by her Father and Frank Sterle to 5 countries with her musical friends Phil Srnick, Frank Okiki and Rudy Pryately.

In 1978, Kathy was crowned Miss SNPJ, and also awarded the titles of Miss Talent and Miss Fraternalism. In 1994 she played at the Rose Bowl festivities in Pasadina. In 2004 she received the Button Box Player of the year award from Circle 2. The Federation of Slovenian Homes honored her in 2006 as their Slovenian Woman of the Year. The Trustees Honor Roll was presented to her in 2009 and she was given the Most Valuable Player award from the National Button Accordion Fest in 2015. The Polka Hall of Fame has awarded her 7 times in the best button box individual/duo category and as the music director of the Captains Crew, received the button box group award for 5 consecutive years.

Lifetime friend Joey Miskulin, the “Cowpolka King”, invited her and several students to perform on stage with the Riders in the Sky and Kathy also had the opportunity to perform with Jimmy Sturr. In 2014, the Button Box Diva’s appeared on the Molly B Show.

Kathy has been featured on a number of recordings. She sang with the Slovenian Junior Chorus on the “Slovenec Sem” album. She was included on the album “Polka Fun In The Sun” with Ron Luznar and on the “Button Box Classics” recording, both Al Meixner productions . Meixner also produced her “Signature Series” and “Stare Pesem” CD’s. She plays on the “Touch of Cilka” with Cecelia Dolgan and Joe Valencic. Peppermint recording released “Dear Friends” with Ron Likovic and “A Whole Life Long” with the Captains Crew. Kathy plays on “The New Kid in Town”, with Johnny Koenig and is one of 4 guest artists on the Fred Ziwich’s CD “Button Box Menagerie” . She plays the button box waltzes on “Don’t Svet It” with Frank Svet.
For the first time ever, Kathy played the button box, along with Julie Tabaj on trumpet, on international horse racing TV “Call to Post” at Northfield park.

Kathy remains active as a player, teacher and promoter. She continues to perform locally and at festivals throughout the country. She is always willing to play or lend a helping hand to promote the Cleveland- Style Polkas with her million dollar smile.

DUSAN “DUKE” MARSIC

1925 – 2020

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2001

Dusan “Duke” Marsic has had an outstanding career playing saxophone, clarinet andflute, arranging music, and as a polka bandleader. From jazz bands to big bandto Cleveland-style polka bands, Duke has played with the best – Joe Howard,Tommy Dorsey, Kenny Bass, Johnny Vadnal and more.

His HappySlovenians ensemble helped popularize the Alpine style of polka music and bringit to a wider audience in the United States. The gigs have been all the moreremarkable because Duke was born in Slovenia. He learned to play the clarinetas a teenager when the family moved to Ljubljana from his hometown of Kamnik.By 1941, Duke was playing with the Paul Krupa orchestra. The Marsic family fledthe political regime in Yugoslavia in 1945, and was stationed in a refugee campin Germany. Fortunately for Duke, uncle Joe Centa in Cleveland shipped to him aKing tenor saxophone. Duke was able to get a job playing with the Berry WulfQuartet at the U.S. Army NCO Club, six nights a week.

The Marsicssettled in Cleveland, in 1949. Within a year, Duke was playing with the FrankUrankar polka band. His talent was noticed by the legendary Kenny Bass. Dukebecame a member of the Polka Poppers and recorded with Bass andfellow-musicians Frank Mauer, Dick Sodja, Bob Pintar, and Whitey Lovsin. He waswith Bass when the band won the Midwest Polka Champs title in Saginaw, Michiganin 1954. He later joined the Johnny Vadnal orchestra.

Duke stillhad a yen to make a mark in jazz and big band music. He moved to Hollywood toattend the Westlake College of Modern Music. He gained experience there playingin the College Jazz Quartet and big band and the Hofbrau in Los Angeles. Whenhe moved back to Cleveland in 1957, Duke had the experience to go on the roadwith the Russ Carlyle orchestra. This stint was followed by three years on theroad with the Tommy Dorsey band.

Dukemarried in 1962 and organized the Duke Marsh Septet. It was at this time, hefirst heard the recordings of Slovenian musician, Slavko Avsenik. Duke wasinspired to form a new band featuring the slick, Alpine style. Duke Marsic andthe Happy Slovenians played together for 27 years.

For 25 of those years, the group was thehouse band at Steve Bencic’s Hofbrau Haus in Cleveland and his Oktoberfest. Thegroup recorded four albums and played on Polka Varieties. For 20 years, Dukehad a day job as an instrument tester at King Instruments. Duke may haveretired from playing in his own band, but he has a full slate of playingengagement with Stan Mejac, Don Slogar, and the Swingtime Big Band. Throughouthis life Duke has not forgotten his Slovenian roots. He was first chairclarinet in the United Slovenian Society band for nearly 20 years, playingalong side his son Marty on clarinet, and daughter Vera who plays flute. For 12years he has produced the “Strictly Slovenian” segment on Tony Petkovsek’spolka radio show on WELW-1330AM.

Duke, the family man, is proud of his two grandchildren, and his102-year-old mother. His most visible role lately is with his wife Mary whenthey dress in their Slovenian costumes as the official Mr. and Mrs.Oktoberfest, at Six Flags Amusement Park.

EDDIE RODICK

1947

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2008

Eddie Rodick has been wowing audiences with his exciting accordion-playing for 40 years. Eddie was born in Mannheim, Germany, to his parents Edward Rodick, Sr., who was serving in the U.S. armed forces, and Dorothy Menzel Rodick.

Eddie’s father nurtured young Eddie’s interest in polka music by buying him an accordion and taking him to polka dances. The youngster was inspired by the polka stars of that time, such as Johnny Vadnal, Eddie Habat, and Ray Champa.

Eddie’s first band in 1960, was called the Champagnes. He put his music career on hold when he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1966. In Vietnam, Eddie received a wound in the throat from shrapnel that exploded from enemy mortars. The result is Eddie’s distinctive speaking voice. On his return in 1969, Eddie teamed up with Bob Oblocki. He also married Brenda, with whom he had three children.

In the early 1970s, Eddie started “Eddie Rodick and the Goodtime Boys.” The group took the polka world by storm, recording an album, and appearing regularly on TV’s Polka Varieties Show, and was together for eight years.

Eddie formed a new band in the early 1980s. In the mid-1990s, Eddie developed a new band. Drummer Kim Skovenski and Eddie Rodick III joined the band. Eddie recorded three more albums, including “Polka Sweethearts,” winner of the 2007 Recording of the Year. His band was named Band of the Year in 1990, 2002, and 2007, and Recording of the Year in 1990. Eddie has played throughout the U.S., in Spain, Holland, Canada, and Mexico, with his unique style of accordion playing.

ROMAN POSSEDI

1929 – 2020

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2003

For six decades, Roman Possedi was Mr. Chicago in Cleveland-Style polka music. Nowadays he’s known as Las Vegas Roman, hosting the top polka bands west of the Rockies. His sound combines the best of bands of the Cleveland-Style’s golden age with a hint of the many polka influences from the Windy City.

His Slovenian-born parents welcomed him on the 4th of July. He learned the button box and piano accordion as a child and organized his first band in 1946. While stationed in Alaska, he played in a polka band seven nights a week. Roman achieved notice in the Chicago polka clubs of his bandleader uncles Eddie and John Korosa. Roman performed on Frank Yankovic’s weekly TV shows from Chicago. His premiere album in 1963 introduced 12-year-old Chicago accordionist Joey Miskulin. Roman released eight albums on the Balkan and Marjon labels. He is best known for his 1971 version of “Drinking Champagne.” He performed on one of Walter Ostanek’s Grammy-winning albums.

Roman began hosting a weekly Slovenian polka radio show in 1955. Button box mania inspired him to escort many polka tours to Hawaii and Slovenia, where he shared the stage with Lojze Slak. He retired to Las Vegas in 1991. Among his honors are Grand Master of the SNPJ Slovenefest, the Polka News Music Award in 1995, and induction into Minnesota Ironworld’s Polka Hall of Fame in 2001.

FRANK VADNAL

1921 – 1996

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1993

Amid the musical talent abounding in the Vadnal family, Frank Vadnal may well have had the most. Virtuoso banjoist and guitarist, vocalist, composer, arranger, translator, teacher, promoter, and a key member of the Vadnal Orchestra for over 50 years, Frankie Vadnal was the architect of the vocal harmonies that set the Vadnals apart.

Like his famous siblings, Frank began his musical career early, studying under Joe Sodja and Frank Ovanin from age nine. With brothers Tony and Johnny and sister Valeria, Frank was a charter member of Anna Vadnal’s Vadnal Quartet, performing during the mid-1930s in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Illinois, and headlining their own concert at Slovenian Workmen’s Home to a packed house. Frank performed with the Vadnal Reveliers in the Slovenian Village at the Great Lakes Exposition in 1937. Active in the performing arts, Frank belonged to the Anton Verovsek Dramatic Club, Sokols gymnasts, and singing and dramatic groups as a National Honor Society student at Collinwood High School.

Like most successful Cleveland-Style journeymen, Frank gained respect and experience with name Cleveland-Style orchestras including Pete Sokach, Chuck Smith, Johnny Pecon, Al Tercek, Eddie Habat, Kenny Bass, Ray Champa, Milan Rakonovic, Joe Luzar, and Joey Miskulin after breaking in with local accordionists Edward Kovach and Frank and Ed Barbic.

Throughout the Vadnal Orchestra’s glory years, Frank was at the band’s nerve center, devising the unique banjo and guitar treatments that placed the Vadnals at the creative edge of Cleveland-Style music in performances across the United States. Frank’s originality graces compositions including “String-A-Ling,” “Little Theme,” and “Happy Guitar” (aka “Jukebox”). Paying meticulous attention to pronunciation and diction, Frank and collaborator Jack Tomsic translated tunes such as “Summer Wind” and “La Paloma” into popular Slovenian renditions while Anglicizing original Slovenian Iyrics.

Frank broadcast with the Vadnals from the Bowl Ballroom on the Mutual Broadcasting System during the 1950s, the Vadnals”‘Polka Parade” television shows from 1949-61, “Polka Varieties,” “Old Dutch Polka Revue,” and their breakthrough TV performances in Slovenia. Frank’s stylings were captured in over 150 recordings on RCA Victor, Imperial, Decca, Camden, Mlay, Delta, Cuca, Helidon (Europe), One M, and Jay Jay. With brothers Richie and Tony, Frank co-hosted eight polka tours to Slovenia, tours to Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Mexico, Hawaii, Las Vegas, and Nashville, and five cruises to the Caribbean. Frank was the first banjo player to play Cleveland-Style music in Slovenia, introducing this exciting dimension to the native music.

Always known as the “Quiet Vadnal,” Frank was content to shun the limelight in favor of his brothers. Discounting his own role, Frank summarized his own career accomplishments by simply deferring to the Vadnal family’s rich legacy and saying, “I was there.”

FRED ZIWICH

1954

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2010

Fred Ziwich is known as just about the most versatile rnusician ever on the Cleveland polka scene. He is a virtuoso on several instruments, a prolific recording artist, and an expert music arranger. His band, the “lnternational Sound Machine” has mastered, performed and recorded all of the major polka styles. Fred also plays a large reperoire of popular music. There is no music he can’t play and perform well.

As a yougster, it was obvious Fred was destined to become a musician. He started accordion lessons at age five, and was able to read music bbefore reading English. He also learned to play the clarinet and saxophone. Fred taught himself to play the button accordion while in high school.

As a teenager, he formed the Fred Ziwich Trio. He joined the Hank Haller ensemble in 1973 and played for four years.  After earning a music degree from lndiana University, Fred formed the “International Sound Machine,” featuring the rnusic of all nationalities.

ln 1983. Fred made music his career and went on to record and perform with many Polka Bands of all styles. Fred released his first album in 1979 and has since been a leader, or studio musician on over 90 recordings, including albums by Hall of Famers Walter Ostanek, Joe Fedorchak and Hank Haller. World Renowned Sounds released twenty recordings with Fred playing all Off the instruments as the “lnternational Sound Machine”.

Gary and Christopher Byndas have performed with Fred for more than 20 years.

Fred plays regularly at Slovenian Country House and the German Central Farm in Parma, Ohio. Since 1993, Fred has been the musical director of the German Music Society Brass Band (Deutscher Musik Verein.) He also directed the Jadran Slovcnian Chorus for 6 years.

Members of the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum have honored Fred as “Musician of the Year’ and “Button Box Player of the Year,” as well as awards for “Best New Song” and “Recording of the Year.”

In 2007, Fred married his biggest fan, Marilyn. He teaches the piano accordion. button box, clariret, sax, flute and trumpet. Fred hotst two polka shows on the internet at www.247polkaheaven.com.

DAVE WOLNIK

1935 – 2008

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2015

Dave Wolnik’s steady beat as a drummer was so much in demand that he performed with at least 85 different Cleveland-Style Polka orchestras throughout his lifetime. His ready smile and cheerful disposition, gave personality to his every appearance.

In a career spanning 50 years, Dave played and recorded with bands led by Polka Hall of Fame legends like Bobby Timko, Joe Fedorchak, Al Markic, Lou Trebar, Joey Miskulin and a 36-year association with America´s Polka King Frankie Yankovic. His solid rhythm base can be heard on countless polka recordings, including those releases by Eric Noltkamper, The Miss-Tre Orchestra and many others.

Dave earned an invitation from Frankie Yankovic to perform on his album, 70 Years of Hits, which won the first Grammy Award in the Polka catagory. He also shared the spotlight with Yankovic on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Dave a native of Cleveland, was added to the Polka Hall of Fame Trustee Honor Roll in 2009. He won the Sideman of the Year award in 2001.

PAUL YANCHAR

1925 – 2015

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1991

Paul Yanchar, one of Cleveland’s premiere saxophone and clarinet players as well as one of its finest singers, set a standard for sidemen during an illustrious career spanning well over fifty years with some of the most successful Cleveland-style orchestras.

Best known in his longstanding role as the sax/clarinet player and leading vocalist of the Pecon Orchestras, Paul contributed to some of the bands’ finest moments including their winning performance on the “Arthur Godfrey Show” on national TV in 1956, tours to Hawaii and Slovenia, and the recording of Paul’s signature tune, “Little Fella.” Earlier, Paul distinguished himself as a regular with the Johnny Vadnal, Louie Bashell, Eddie Habat, Pete Sokach, Chuck Smith, Al Strukel, and Vic Intihar Orchestras.

Paul’s playing has always been exceptionally strong, marked by high quality musicianship. Attesting to his influence and the admiration of Cleveland-Style woodwind players across the nation, “Paul Yanchar licks” abound in Cleveland-Style recordings. With arguably the best ability of any Cleveland-Style sax/clarinet man to execute unfamiliar material on the spot, Paul has always been able to step into any band and make an immediate contribution. Johnny Pecon once said that Paul Yanchar was “the one man you want next to you if a song is in trouble.”

Paul has generally been the “Horn Player of Choice” for any session requiring an “all-star” orchestra. Thus, Paul’s renditions can be heard on Frank Novak’s All-Star recordings, Nancy Hlad’s Slovenian Carousel CD, the “Polkaerobics” video, and Habat and Kotsos’ “From the Heart” album, among many others. Paul has performed with virtually every famous name in Cleveland-style lore and has over fifteen LP albums to his credit.

Paul’s singing is legendary, covering the full spectrum of music from sacred to contemporary, ethnic to pop, Sinatra to Springsteen. Beyond the many famous cuts with Johnny Pecon, Paul’s vocal excellence has enhanced the recordings of Jeff Pecon, Eddie Habat, and Fred Kuhar, the latter including memorable duets with his son, Paul.

Behind Paul’s accomplishments are hard work, continual practice, and a studious interest in all kinds of music. Paul has always been meticulous in seeking out and mastering the correct pronunciation and diction of lyrics in other languages. He has also been unselfish in his willingness to help and practice with other musicians, perform at benefits, and organize hands to play at Cleveland area hospitals and nursing homes.

The success of any orchestra is dependent on sidemen who are not only very talented, but who are also team players. Paul epitomizes and idealizes the role of sideman, having always been willing and able to pitch in and do whatever is required to make the total effort succeed for any orchestra in which he has performed.

LOUIE BASHELL

1914 – 2008

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1998

Louie Bashell, “Milwaukee’s Polka King,” carried the banner of Cleveland-Style Polkas in a remarkable career spanning over seventy years.

 Emulating his father, Louie began playing the button box at age seven, followed suit with the chromatic and piano accordions, and turned pro by age twelve. Demonstrating a broad gasp of music, Louie composed and arranged “In An Austrian Village” for 60-piece orchestra while still in high school.

Louie laid the cornerstone of his Cleveland-Style career when he recorded Zidana Marela, (aka Silk Umbrella Polka) on Pfau Records in the mid-1940s. The tune’s instant popularity in Milwaukee caught the attention of major labels, prompting re-recording and national distribution with Mercury Records in 1946. Gaining international stature, Louie Bashell and his Silk Umbrella Orchestra signed with RCA Victor in 1950 and later recorded for King Records.

With a broad base of Bohemian, German, and American dance music to supplement his Cleveland-Style repertoire, Louie became a fixture at fairs, festivals, and in major ballrooms throughout the Midwest. He regularly shared the bandstand and billings with the likes of Wayne King, Dick Jergens, Sammy Kaye, and Woody Herman. Opting to remain regional, Louie turned down RCA’s offers to sponsor national tours, although the band did travel to Austria several times. Louis won a citation from the National Ballroom Operators Association in 1958 for his extensive, quality work.

Louie’s radio and TV credits include a daily show for WMLO in 1948 and hosting a call-in request program for WTOS in 1967. Louie’s life and times have been chronicled nationally, most notably on cable TV’s Celebration Express with David Holt and in a live interview on Whada Ya Know? With Michael Feldman in 1989.

Louie has been a key part of Wisconsin’s musical landscape with “permanent” engagements at Milwaukee’s Summerfest and the Wisconsin State Fair. Louie, “a legend for old-time, goodtime (Slovenian) music,” was twice featured on the cover of the Milwaukee Sentinel’s Entertainment section and has been described by the Milwaukee Journal as the most publicized musician in Milwaukee.”

Louie Bashell has won many prestigious honors and engagements including performing for Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign; at the Smithsonian Institute’s Festival of American Folklore in 1988; and at the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1989 where his portrait, entitled, “Slovenian Folk Artist”, remains on display. 

Louie’s greatest honor came in 1987 when he won a National Heritage Fellowship for ethnic music fom the National Endowment for the Arts. Louie, the “Silk Umbrella Man,” was inducted into the Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame in 1997.

DENNY BUCAR

1952

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2014

Born July 3, 1952 in Bay Village, Ohio to parents Edward and Emma Bucar, Denny’s love for polka music came at an early age growing up in the Collinwood neighborhood always having polka music in the home.

His father Edward, played upright bass in a polka band. Denny would listen to the many band rehearsals which was instrumental for Denny becoming a musician at an early age.

At age seven, Denny began taking guitar lessons. Age thirteen switched to bass guitar and joined his first band called “The Blades” playing the dances at the Junior High School and teen dances at local Knights of Columbus halls.

The year 1969, Denny was asked to become a member of the Bob Oblocki Band and by doing so this became the start of his lifetime love affair with polka music.

At age seventeen, the excitement of walking into a recording studio for the very first time with Bob Oblocki, Eddie Rodick, Gary Fisher, Bob Tanko and Bob Bohinc which would lead the way to perform and record with many bands through the years.

1971 through 1976 he performed with George Staiduhar which led to Denny’s first album recording, many television appearances, performances in many states and two tours to Europe.

In January of 1977 he was asked to become a member of The Dave Wretschko Band, playing many weddings, lounges, festivals, dances, picnics, hosting Caribbean Cruises along with many bus trips performing with the band in his fourteen years with Dave.

He was a member with Mike Wojtila and the Entertainers 1990 to 1992, the Eddie Rodick Band 1992 to 1995 and Bob Kravos and the Boys In The Band 1997 to 2006.

Known as a sideman, Denny has added his musical talent recording with Georgie Cook, George Staiduhar, Pol-Kats, Fairport Ensemble, Dave Wretschko, Gaylord Klancnik, Milan Racanovic, Eddie Stampfl, Kathy Hlad, Ron Likovic, Lynn Marie Rink, Mike Wojtila & The Entertainers, Al Battistelli, Joey Tomsick, Hary Faint, Bob Kravos and the Boys In The Band, Eddie Rodick, Zeke and Charlie, Wayne Tomsic, Magic Buttons, Mahonning Valley, Sam Pecorilla, Frank Svet, Frank Stanger, Ron Sluga, and Walter Ostanek Canada’s Polka King adding up to fifty-two recording projects to date. Thirteen of these were nominated for a Grammy on Walter’s projects with Denny’s highest recording achievement was being on a Grammy award winning recording with Walter.

Through all the years, he has performed on stage with over seventy groups and has had the honor to even perform with the late Lojze Slak. He has appeared on television and recorded video’s with various bands through the years, hosted and performed on tours to Slovenia and various countries, Caribbean Cruises, bus trips and played throughout the United States and Canada. He still performs, promotes and records to date.

His forty-five year career as a Disc Jockey began at an early age as well. He was taught by his dad to share the duties of the radio shows along with his brother. He is brother to Dale Bucar, known for hosting Bucars International Polka & Croatian Program every Sunday morning for the past 46 years on WINT 1330 AM and is also known for his vocalizing. The Supper Hour Polka Show was turned over to Denny which he hosted and produced for thirty-two years from 5:00 to 6:00 PM Monday through Friday. The show was a household favorite on 1330 AM.

Currently Denny is heard every Saturday on “Polka Radio” over WINT Radio 1330 AM and 247Polkaheaven.com. Tony Petkovsek, longtime friend asked Denny to Co-Host with him along with Joey Tomsick and Joe Valencic 12:00 Noon to 3:00 PM. He also produces and hosts “Bucar’s Polkas”on 247Polkaheaven.com since its inception four days a week which allows him to promote and support polka music by all the bands, various fund raisers, festivals, dances, dinners and polka events sponsored by Slovenian lodges, Churches and Slovenian organizations.

He is a Founding and Lifetime member serving as a trustee since the inception of the Polka Hall of Fame. He had served as Vice President for many years, still an active trustee and serving on the Executive Board.

Over the years, Denny has been honored with the Crystal Award from the Polka Hall of Fame for Support and Promotion, Vocalist of the Year, Sideman of the Year, Band of the Year, Recording of the Year and Trustee’s Honor Roll. He was named Musician of the Year in 1991 by the Collinwood Slovenian Home and was an active long time member of The Pol-Kats during their existence.

For the past eight years Denny has served on the Board of Directors for the Slovenian National Home at 65th and St. Clair Ave. working and promoting the many functions that are sponsored by the home. Denny worked thirty-three years for the City of Euclid retiring as Assistant to the Director on December 31st, 2010.

Denny feels he has been blessed as a musician and radio personality who is proud to promote the Slovenian Community, take part on various committees, MC various events, promote our Slovenian music over the airwaves or his performances with numerous bands, whether live on stage or in the studio on recordings that so many love, have brought happiness to fans worldwide.

He would also like to acknowledge and thank all the musicians that he performed or recorded with and to the band leaders that allowed him to add his talents whether on bass or as a vocalist. To his family, especially the early years, for their support and understanding. To all the friends that have supported him through all the years. He is especially proud of his son Brandon Bucar who is employed by Live Nation who produces many concerts for today’s music industry. Brandon has even produced two Polka Hall of Fame Shows. He also acknowledges his significant other Debbie Davidson for her continued support.

JOE FEDORCHAK

1935 – 2012

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1998

Joe Fedorchak has led one of Cleveland Style Polka’s most popular and successful orchestras since their heyday of the late 1940s and early 1950s, crowning a career of over fifty years in the business. The Joe Fedorchak Orchestra’s original sound and style has become a trademark of Cleveland-Style orchestras in the Penn-Ohio area.

Joe began studying accordion at the age of nine and was performing professionally with the Polka Serenaders and Musical Aces orchestras by the late 1940s. Joe joined the Johnny Butchko Orchestra in 1952 with whom he made a series of recordings on the Tune label performed regularly on radio and television – Melody Showcase on WBBW radio (1952-1954); Sunday Afternoon Polka Party with Johnny Butchko on WKBN radio and TV (1952-1956); and the Johnny Butchko Polka Party on television (1960-1961) – and traveled the Penn-Ohio polka circuit over a period of ten years.

Accomplished on the piano, semi-chromatic, and diatonic button box accordions, Joe formed the Joe Fedorchak Orchestra in 1963 and produced the first of four albums, “Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow” in 1974. Leveraging on their popularity, Joe became one of the leading ambassadors of Cleveland-Style polkas, performing and leading polka tours across the nation, in Canada, Mexico, Europe, and the Caribbean.

In Cleveland-Style and other polka venues everywhere, the Joe Fedorchak Orchestra has been a major drawing card. The Joe Fedorchak Orchestra contributed two songs to Walter Ostanek’s 1995 Grammy-winning album, Music and Friends, and participated in the Penn-Ohio Polka Pals’ (POPP) releases. Joe’s compositions include Little Slugger’s Polka, Helvak’s Waltz, Jodie’s Waltz, Grandpa John’s Polka, and one of his biggest hits, Blue Lady, written for his late wife, Blue. A relentless promoter of Cleveland-Style music, Joe has co-hosted the Gene Fedorchak Polka Show since 1984. The show is broadcast to portions of six states and Canada from WKBN in Youngstown.

He has also advanced the cause of Cleveland-Style music in a many ways including helping young musicians get started in the business and as a charter member of the POPP. Joe’s many honors include being elected the Polka Rama Ohio State champion in 1976, POPP’s Man-of-the Year in 1987, Co-Fest Master of’ Slovene Fest at the SNPJ campsite in Enon Valley, Pennsylvania, in 1990, the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame’s Band of the Year in 1991, and for Recording of the Year in 1994. Joe was inducted into the International Polka Association’s Polka Hall of Fame in August of 1997.

JOE GRKMAN, Sr.

1925 – 2014

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2006

Joe Grkman. Sr. is the patriatch of a polka family dynasty in Western Pennsylvania. He along with his sons Joe and Steven, and grandson Mike are members of the Joe “GRKMANIA” Grkman Band.

Joe Grkman, Sr. was the youngest of six children born into the family of Mary and John Grkman, who emigrated from slovenia to Yukon, Pennsylvania. He was brought up singing Slovenian songs and listening to polka music on radio. Joe admired “Smiling” Joe Koracin, a button accordionist, and purchased his first Mervar accordion from Smiling Joe.

Joe married Elsie Lazar in 1948. He worked in coal mines as did his father and brohers. His life changed dramatically in 1950 when he bought an Italo American piano accordion and took lessons to learn play. Joe gained confidence and began to play not only for family and friends, but also at picnics and dances.

He started a band, the “Slovenian Sound Masters” in 1967. with his son Joe. Jr., and two nephews. The band changed its name to the Joe Grkman Band and recorded four albums in the 1970s. Many of the compositions were Cleveland-Style originals by Joe, Sr.

Joe and the band limited engagements to local venues in the 1980s, but returned to the national scene in 1990. The band recorded two more albums and became known as the Joe “GRKMANIA” Grkman Band.

In I997, Joe received a Fellowship Award from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, as one of Pennsylvania’s distinguished musicians. He was invited to represent musical artists from the State of Pennsylvania, the same year, to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for performing Arts in Washington, DC. He has played at many arts festivals and concert series throughout the Eastern United States.

The recording “Great-Grandpap Grkman Sings Traditional Slovenian Favorites” features three
generations of Grkmans: Joe, Sr., Joe, Jr., Steven, and Joe, Jr’s son, Mike. At performances, another generation was added with the debut of great-grandson Benjamin.

MATT HOYER

1891 – 1960

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1988

It is probably fair to say that the Cleveland-Style Polka movement all started with Matt Hoyer, the “grand-daddy” of button accordion players and pioneer performer of Slovenian Polkas and Waltzes in the United States.

Born in Slovenia in 1891, Matt came to the U.S. and settled in Cleveland in 1911. Applying the skills he learned in Slovenia, he continued to build, repair and tune accordions in America. But his crowning achievement was the Hoyer Trio and its legacy which to this day has directly or indirectly influenced virtually all Slovenian, Cleveland-Style Polka musicians.

Performing primarily in Northeastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, the Hoyer Trio was the first Cleveland-Style Polka band to “go commercial.” Taking our music far beyond the range of his Model T (later Model A) transportation, the Hoyer Trio began recording for the Victor Talking Machine Company and Okeh Records. Thus, Cleveland-Style Polka began traveling across the nation’s airwaves, were disseminated to music lovers everywhere, and gained legitimacy as an art form outside the strict boundaries of Slovenian ethnic heritage.

One of the Hoyer Trio’s biggest selling dics was “Dunaj Ostane Dunaj,” a polka derived from the German-Austrian march “Vienna Forever.” Cleveland-Style Polka musicians, on the other hand, simply call it Hoyer’s polka.” Among the many popular polkas and waltzes adapted from Hoyer renditions are “Jack on St. Clair,” “Patricia’s Waltz,” “Bartender’s Polka,” and a host of others.

As a musician, Matt was a sensation on both the button accordion and the 120-bass chromatic. His playing style was unique, smooth and even. His music was beautifully laced with the typical Hoyer staccato that made each tune a musical rainbow. An innovator, Matt added dimension to his music by opening up and modifying his “harmonica” (button box) to overcome the limitations and monotony of playing in one or two keys. Matt Hoyer continued to play well into the twilight of his years. In 1951 he became ill and succumbed to cancer on December 20, 1960.

The Dean of American-Slovenian Radio Announcers, Heinie Martin Antoncic, in one of his radio tributes aptly stated, “Matt Hoyer was the George Washington among Slovenian polka musicians!”

GAYLORD KLANCNIK

1945 – 2005

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2007

Gaylord Klancnik was a leading Cleveland-Style bandleader for 40 years and earned the title of Michigan’s Polka King. He was a perennial nominee for awards by members of the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and was also inducted into the Michigan Polka Music Hall of Fame in 1999.

A performance by Frankie Yankovic at the Slovenian Home in Detroit fascinated four-year-old Gaylord. The next week his parents purchased a 12-bass accordion. Teacher Matt Pink led him toward the Cleveland-style of polka music. Gaylord began playing in Detroit bands as a college student. With his brother Ken, he organized the Klancnik Brothers Orchestra, a fan and festival favorite from 1976 to 1996. The band received a trophy proclaiming them as Michigan’s Best Polka Band. Gaylord was also a founding member and president of the Slovene American Club Button Box Band based in Melvindale.

In 1996, he formed the Gaylord Klancnik Orchestra, with his son Ed on drums, banjo and guitar. The group toured three continents and recorded several projects. Gaylord even appeared in a skit on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno. His long association with Canada’s Polka King, Walter Ostanek, included appearances on two Grammy-winning albums and ten nominated ones. Their joint collaboration, “Polkas United,” was released near the time of his tragic death in 2005.

JOE KUSAR

1914 – 1985

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2022

Joe Kusar could hear accordion music from the picnic grounds near his home in Euclid, Ohio. He started performing on the button accordion at age 12. His Joe Kusar Trio included Georgie Cook and Art Broze, and was featured on the “Slovenian Hour” radio show in the 1930s. In 1942, he began recording for Continental Records. Joe Trolli, the arranger, wrote out the notes of Joe’s music, so that Slovenian folk music could be documented. In the 1970s and 1980s, Joe taught many people to play the button accordion. The students performed in his button box club known as “Kusar’s Gang.” Joe’s best selling record was “Pod Mojem Okencem” (Under My Window), featuring Mary Orazem Gregory and Mary Yanchar Gerl on the vocal.  

AL MARKIC

1926 – 2009

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1992

Al Markic has been a major contributor to the success of Cleveland-Style Polkas in each of three roles, leader, sideman, and promoter through an illustrious career spanning over fifty years. An unselfish promoter of all Cleveland-Style bands, Al considers the 586 (and counting) selections he has recorded among his proudest accomplishments. Considered by many as the best rhythm banjo and guitar man in the business, Al has consistently been the banjo/guitar man of choice for recording sessions among the “Who’s Who” of Cleveland Style orchestras.

After studying banjo under John Skrajner and guitar under Jerry Stone, Dick Lurie, and Johnny Lombardo, Al began his Cleveland-Style playing career as a teenager with the Al Strukel Orchestra, performing live on radio station WSRS under the sponsorship of the Cipriani Furniture Store. Subsequently, Al became a regular with Johnny Pecon, Frankie Kramer, Walter Ostanek, and Trontel and Zagger before forming his own band, the Almars, in the late 1960’s.

During the 1970’s, Al teamed up with accordionist Jake Zagger of Sharon, Pennsylvania to form the Markic-Zagger Orchestra. One of the hottest bands of its era, Markic-Zagger laid claim to much of the polka real estate along the turnpikes connecting Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Since Jake’s retirement in 1984, Al has led the Al Markic Orchestra. The Almars and Markic-Zagger each have 4 LPs to their credit as well as numerous radio and TV appearances. Al’s most popular recording, “Back Home in Pennsylvania,” was recorded with the Markic-Zagger Orchestra.

Al has always been a “go-getter,” promoting Cleveland-Style music relentlessly across North America. Beginning in the early 1950’s, Al personally took Cleveland-Style recordings to polka enclaves in the Midwest and West that had no prior access to our music. With his mail-order business, Al achieved coverage throughout the balance of the U.S. and Canada, leading to engagements for Cleveland-based bands in such far-flung destinations as Alaska, Colorado, the Minnesota Iron Range, and Florida. More recently, Al has joined with Cleveland bandleader Harry Faint to produce a Cleveland Style radio program originating on station WKTX in Courtland, Ohio.

Taking his own bands on the road, Al has performed and promoted Cleveland-Style music in Europe, Hawaii, Florida, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Canada, Kansas, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, the Caribbean, and on the St. Lawrence Seaway. Al’s were the first Cleveland bands to perform in Alaska and Colorado, which have since become regular stops for the Cleveland-Style’s finest.

Al has always made himself available to share his talents with other Cleveland-Style orchestras. Over the years, Al’s stylings have graced the recordings and performances of Frank Yankovic, Eddie Habat, Stan Blout, Johnny Vadnal, Al Tercek, Art Perko, Fred Kuhar, Marty Sintic, Hank Haller, Jeff Pecon, Frankie Mullec, George Jurjev, Johnny Pecon, Walter Ostanek, Bob Timko, Joey Miskulin, and Frank Spetich. There’s obviously been no fear of competition here.

JOE MLAKAR SR

1923 – 2017

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2023

An ambassador of Cleveland-style polkas, Joe Mlakar has extended his influence across Minnesota, Ohio, and California. Joe began his musical career on a button box in Chisholm, Minnesota, at age 15, graduating to a “Mervar” after moving to Cleveland in 1941. Joe returned to Minnesota’s Iron Range after his tour in the service where he organized his first orchestra and, in 1950, the Slovenian Men’s Choraleers. Moving to Fontana, California, in 1959, Joe purchased Mlakar’s Elbow Room, Fontana’s “Home of Slovenian Polka Parties,” and helped to organize the Fontana Slovenian Button Box Club. Joe has recorded five LP albums with bandleader Frankie Zeitz and three with his sons Joe and Fred.

JOHNNY PECON

1915 – 1975

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1988

Johnny Pecon’s extraordinary musicianship set a standard of excellence to which virtually all Cleveland-Style Polka artists have aspired. Over 29 years, the Johnny Pecon Orchestra featuring Lou Trebar (an outstanding musician in his own right) was renowned for its quality, sophistication, and class. As the first polka band to venture seriously beyond the realm of polkas, the Pecon Orchestra easily transcended the constraints of instrumentation in executing classical, pop, jazz, and show music with endemic proficiency

Johnny began playing the chromatic accordion at age five and formed his first band as a teen. Johnny recorded on Continental Records in 1942 with Cleveland’s Dr. William “Doc” Lausche, an extremely talented composer, arranger, ragtime pianist, and dentist (by trade). After serving in the Navy, Johnny began his association with Lou Trebar in 1946, followed by two years with the Frankie Yankovic Orchestra during which “Just Because” and “Blue Skirt Waltz” were recorded.

Opting for a more family-oriented life, Johnny teamed up with Trebar for good in 1949 and went on to establish an impressive Cleveland-based career. In 1951, while playing as often as 20 times per week, the Pecon-Trebar Orchestra decimated 24 contenders in a Cleveland polka band popularity contest, amassing over one-third of the 40,000 votes cast. John and Lou’s famous Janez and Lojze routine, which delighted audiences everywhere, was ultimately responsible for the Button Box revolution that later stormed the Cleveland-Style Polka scene.

Johnny’s television credits include his own “Perme Polka Time,” “Trimor Furniture,” and “TV Auction Party” series as well as guest appearances on the “Old Dutch Polka Revue” and “Polka Varieties. ” Ratings for the “Perme” show sometimes rivaled those of “I Love Lucy. The Pecon Orchestra appeared on CBS prime time in 1956 on Arthur Godfrey’s “Talent Scouts” show and, winning decisively, guested for an additional week on Godfrey’s morning radio and TV shows. The Pecon Orchestra’s recording career included five years with Capital Records, ten with Dana Records, and five with Delta International Records.

Johnny Pecon had a unique ability to charge even the simplest tunes with electricity. A musician’s musician, Johnny treated every song with the utmost care and respect. It was not unusual for crowds to form around the Pecon bandstand and stare as Johnnv effortlessly played with breathtaking skill and dexterity. All the while, subtleties bordering on genius were lost on all but the most discerning observers.

The essence of Johnny’s talent is captured in a compliment once paid by the great jazz saxaphonist, Bud Freeman, to a guitarist while he was improvising an unusually intricate and difficult solo. Bud leaned over and whispered, “That can’t be done.”

GARY SEIBERT

1936 – 2005

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2005

Mention polka music in Northern California, and tthe response is “Gary Seibert.”A tansplanted Clevelander, Gary taught and directed more than 50 button accordion players of the Nothern California Button Box Club, in the Sacramento area. He led his own Gary Seibert Polka Power band for 30-vears.

Gary was born and raised in a Polish neighborhood of Cleveland. He is of Slovak and Geman descent, but he loved Slovenian-Style music. At age 8. Gary started accordion lessons with Bill Sneller. By the time he was age 12, he had his own two-piece band, transporting his accordion and drum set on a wagon to a neighborhood tavern.

Upon graduation from high school, Gary enlisted in the Navy. He married his childhood sweetheart, Phyllis. in 1957. Gary taught his children, Gina, Mark and Donna, to play musical instruments. He resumed playing the accordion after moving to Califomia
permanenty, in 1961, following his military career. As a firefighter in the Carmichael Fire Department, Gary recruited fellow firemen to play in his first band.

In 1974, Gary organized the Sacramento Polka Boosters Club to promote and bring attention to Cleveland-Style polka music on the West Coast. He played at numerous festivals across the country and with many of the polka greats. Gary recorded eight albums featuring original songs he wrote, such as “Swing Street Polka,” “Sugarbabies,” and “The Velvet Waltz.”

Gary was working on a new album when he passed away in January 2005. His family completed the recording project, and released the album titled. “This Side of lHeaven”.

EDDIE VALLUS

1936 – 2016

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2012

Eddie was born Sept. 2, 1936, in Youngstown, a son of the late Joseph and Katherina (Gayan) Vallus.

Eddie Vallus led one of the best-known Cleveland-Style polka bands in the Youngstown, Ohio, area and was a long-time promoter of the music through his activities with the Penn-Ohio Polka Pals. He passed away on Wednesday, January 27, at age 79.

He played the accordion in bands since his early teens. Eddie’s polka music career began in 1953 with the Johnny Butchko Orchestra, alongside famed accordionist Joe Fedorchak. Eddie, Joe and the band were regulars on the Youngstown television show, “Polka Party,” from 1958 to 1961. He led his own band for 18 years, before forming the Eddie Vallus Band II in 1992.

Two generations of students learned the accordion from him. He was a prolific recording artist and published five accordion songbooks. Eddie composed 48 polkas and waltzes for friends and family. In 1985 he wrote “Y-Town Youngstown,” a song used to promote the city. Johnny Pecon, Frank Yankovic, Flaco Jimenez and Slavko Avsenik, to name a few, were some of the musicians he idolized. Eddie dedicated his whole life to the music he loved, polkas and waltzes. Eddie Vallus recorded 12 albums.

Together with Fr. George Balasko, originator of the Polka Mass, the Eddie Vallus Band II appeared at countless Polka Masses and was, until recently, still in demand for festivals and special events. Eddie was a founding member of the Penn-Ohio Polka Pals and was honored by the polka organization in 1993. He had been a member of the Musicians Union for more than 60 years. He was a past trustee of the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum and was inducted for his lifetime achievements in 2012.

FRANKIE SPETICH

1924 – 2012

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1999

Frankie Spetich staked out the Magic City of Barberton, Ohio, as the province over which he would shine as a beacon of Cleveland-Style Polkas. Over sixty years, “Barberton’s Polka King” assumed the roles of musician, bandleader, songwriter, radio personality, teacher, and promoter of the Slovenian culture he nearly shunned as a young child assimilating American society.

Mastering clarinet and trumpet and singing with the Slovenian Godba group as a youth, Frank started his first polka band in 1941. Returning from the service in 1946 seasoned by a big band regimen, Frank formed the Melody Makers with brother John and Frank Zupec, his drummer until his passing in 1991. The band became the Frankie Spetich Orchestra in 1949 when Frank became its accordionist.

Beginning in 1953, Frank cut twenty-two singles and sixteen albums on the Q-Cue, Spotlight, and Peppermint labels, incorporating the “Ding Dong Polka,” “Pony Tail Polka,” and over 35 additional Spetich compositions. Apart from his own groups, Frank cut with Ted Zalac, Al Barker, and Walter Ostanek.

The Spetich Orchestra appeared regularly throughout the Midwest and Pennsylvania with a heavy dose of bookings at Cleveland’s polka hotspots during the 1960’s. Later excursions took Frank to Europe five times, California, Arizona and the Caribbean. The band was a frequent guest on Johnny Vadnal’s “Polka Parade,” and appeared on the “Polka Varieties” and “Stylecrest” TV shows.

Barberton’s premiere Cleveland-Style Polka promoter, Frank sold out jam sessions featuring Cleveland’s top orchestras from 1957 through 1982 at Barbeton’s Slovene Ballroom where he served as President from 1989 to 1991 and manager from 1969 to 1982. As important, Frank made music visits to old age homes and many other charitable appearances.

Frank began his broadcast career in 1953 with a live band show on WCUE in Akron and continued with his “Slovenian Melodies” program on stations WUAP, WZIP, and WAPS in Akron beginning in 1982.

Frank’s impact has been multiplied many times over through the students he has tutored on accordion, button box, trumpet, trombone, saxophone, clarinet, flute, guitar and bass since 1949. A music teacher at St. John’s Grade School in Akron, St. Mary’s Grade School in Wooster, and Akron St. Vincent School, Frank opened his Magic City Music Store in 1957 where he took on as many as 100 students at a time.

Cultivating the fruits of his labor and utilizing his considerable talents as a button box artist, Frank founded and led the Magic City Button Box Showcase. Frank also developed an innovative tutorial for button box published by Keyboard Cue Corporation in 1997.

Among his many awards, Frank was honored for his fifty years of musical service by the Medina Area Chamber of Commerce in 1987 at the 10th Annual Medina Oktoberfest.

JAKE ZAGGER

1938 – 2010

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2006

The Penn-Ohio polka belt gained momentum when Jake Zagger of Sharon, Pennsylvania joined with Al Markic of Clevelans to launch the Markic-Zagger orchestra. The two ban dleaders played in most of the cities and connecting the two states.

Jacob Joseph Zgger is better known as Jake. He was born to Mary and Jacob, Slovenian immigrants. His parents bought the Golden Bear Tavern in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania, and that is where Jake grew-up. He loved Slovenian music and started playing the piano accordion at age 10. In high school, he enjoyed sports, including basketball.

After graduading, Jake served in the U.S. Army, until 1962. He married his late wife, Jackie, in 1964, and the couple had three daughters. He owned the Golden Bar Tavern for 25 years, until 1994.

He and his cousin Tony Trontel formed the Trontel-Zagger orchestra and recorded an album. The band was together for seven years, until 1971. Jake was on his own for a year, before the Markic-Zagger orchestra started up in 1972. The band had a great run for nearly a dozen years, then Jake retired from professional music.

On a visit to Slovenia, in 1969, jake bought a button accordion. It wa love at first. Jake practiced to develop his own style. He played the button accordion on three albums with Markic-Zagger, and later his own “Melodies From Back Home In Pennsylvania”, which was voded the 2002 Recording of the Year. His daughters Judi, Jody, and Janelle were the vocalists on the album.

The Markic-Zagger orchestra appeared on television in Cleveland, Canada, and Slovenia. The group led many polka tours. One most populair songs Markic-Zagger recorded was the waltz “Back Home In Pennsylvania”. Jake has been voted the Button Box Player of the year by the Polka Hall of Fame members three times: 1992, 1997, and 2002. He was named Penn-Ohio Polka Pall of the Year in 2002.

KENNY BASS

1922 – 1987

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1989

Kenny Bass, born Peter Bastasic, Jr., was the consummate promoter of Slovenian Cleveland-Style Polkas and Waltzes. Attacking on three fronts, Kenny became the Dean of Cleveland-Style Polka broadcasters; led the nationally famous Kenny Bass Polka Poppers Orchestra; and was a mentor to scores of important Cleveland-Style musicians.

After serving in the U.S. Navy as a radio man in the Pacific and winning three Battle Stars and a Purple Heart, Kenny Bass began his broadcast career in 1948 with a daily polka show on station WSRS. A contemporary of Cleveland radio greats Jim Doney, Howie Lund, Hal Morgan, and Bill Randle, Kenny promoted polkas over Cleveland’s airwaves for nearly 40 years on WSRS, WJMO, WBKC, WELW, WLYT,and WCDN. Kenny’s daily polka shows were a staple in Cleveland for thirteen years. Already in 1949, Kenny was doing remote broadcasts, enticing his appreciative audiences with the magic and allure of “live” polka music.

Originally a guitarist, Kenny Bass took up the string bass and became a member of the Sokach-Habat Tunemixers from 1945 to 1950 during which they produced the half-million selling rival version to Frank Yankovic’s “Blue Skirt Waltz” on Decca Records.

In 1950, Kenny formed the Polka Poppers, which went on to become one of the most prolific polka recording orchestras of all time. Over 20 years, the Polka Poppers made seventeen albums and more than 200 single cuts for Coral, Decca, and Roulette Records. Known for their excellent engineering and lively sound, Bass’ recordings attest to Kenny’s discerning ear and outstanding skill in the studio.

As a performing orchestra, the Polka Poppers appeared extensively in the Greater Cleveland area as well as throughout the United States. Always popular in Western Pennsylvania, the Polka Poppers attracted a large following which included another soon-to-be famous ethnic artist, Bobby Vinton. The band appeared on its own television shows in 1954 and 1960 and made guest appearances on “Polka Varieties” and the “Old Dutch Polka Revue”. in 1962, the Kenny Bass Orchestra appeared in the Hollywood produced film, “One Potato, Two Potato”.

In addition to inspiring many young musicians and bands with its exciting sound and tempo, the Kenny Bass Orchestra produced an impressive roster of graduates who went on to become outstanding Cleveland-Style musicians and bandleaders in their own right, including Dick Flaisman, Buddy Kumel, Frank “Whitey” Lovsin, Dick Lucas, Joe Luzar, Lou “Baron” Luzar, Duke Marsic, Frankie Mauer, Jacky “Porky” Ponikvar, Dick Sodja, Ronnie Sluga, and Bobby Timko.

Tireless in his efforts to promote Cleveland-Style Polka music and musicians, Kenny Bass was also inducted into the International Polka Association’s Hall of Fame in Chicago this year. From every vantage point, Kenny Bass was a high impact player in the success of Cleveland-Style Polkas and Waltzes.

EDDIE BUCAR

1927 – 2013

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2015

Eddie Bucar has made a lasting contribution to the Cleveland-Style polka scene as a radio host for more than three decades on WELW 1330AM in Willoughby, Ohio. Beginning in 1968, he hosted the daily Supper Hour Polka Show, started the Sunday Morning International Polka Show, and the Croation Show – all still on the air and produced by his musician sons, Denny and Dale.

As a musician, Eddie performed on the upright bass in Cleveland orchestras for more than forty years. He appeared with Polka Hall of Fame legends, such as Richie Vadnal, Johnny Vadnal, Johnny Pecon and America´s Polka King Frankie Yankovic. He was a member of bands led by Ray Champa, Frank Urankar, Joe Luzar, Stan Blout and George Staiduhar.

For his years on-air excellence, Eddie was inducted into the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1994. He was an annual award recipient for Support and Promotion from the Polka Hall of Fame and was crowned Musician of the Year by the Penn-Ohio Polka Pals and the Collinwood Slovenian Home. He also received honors from the Croation-American community in 1982. Eddie was generous with his time and talent and performed for many fund-raisers. Eddie was added to the Polka Hall of Fame Trustees Honor Roll in 2000, 

Polka fans will remember Eddie as “The Silver Fox” for his friendly, professional demeanor both on the bandstand and the airwaves.

DICK FLAISMAN

1936

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2007

Dick Flaisman appeared on hundreds of recordings as a featured player on the saxophone and clarinet. In his 56-year career, he performed with many Cleveland-Style polka greats, and is still in demand as a versatile side musician.

He first heard polka music as a child through the wall of his bedroom, behind his grandparents’ Flaisman Tavern, at East 64th Street and St. Clair Avenue, in Cleveland, Ohio. His older brother, Jack was an accordion player. Dick learned the saxophone and clarinet. At age 15, Dick joined Jolly Jack Flaisman’s orchestra. Accordionist Dick Sodja called young Dick about a job with Kenny Bass and His Polka Poppers. Dick performed and toured with Bass for twelve years, recording and singing with the band on Roulette Records.

In the late 1960s, Dick reunited with Sodja in the Almars Orchestra led by Al Markic. Dick was with the group for five years and recorded with Delta International. He also sang and played sax and clarinet on three albums with Cecilia Dolgan, featuring drummer Jack Ponikvar. Dick toured Slovenia in 1971 and in 1972 with the Eddie Buehner Band. He joined Jack in Dick Sodja’s band, Fantasia, for 21 years. Dick also performed with bandleaders Bob Kravos and Art Perko and was a regular side musician with Eddie Rodick and Don Wojtila. Dick was honored as Musician of the Year by the Collinwood Slovenian Home.

EDDIE HABAT

1926 – 2005

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1991

Eddie Habat led one of the five outstanding, Cleveland-based orchestras that achieved national prominence recording and performing Cleveland-Style Polkas and Waltzes. Like Frank Yankovic, Johnny Pecon, Johnny Vadnal, and Kenny Bass, Eddie drew upon his Slovenian musical heritage in developing a unique orchestral style that enjoyed widespread appeal.

Eddie began playing accordion at age seven, listening intently to Heinie Martin Antoncic’s radio transcriptions of Joe Sodja, Pecon, and Yankovic and duplicating what he heard. By age eleven, Eddie was playing for weddings and parties. Progressing musically, Eddie learned much from the works of Dr. William J. “Doc” Lausche and was strongly influenced by Matt Hoyer.

Buttressed by allocades from Hoyer, Lausche, and Pecon, Eddie’s reputation as a Cleveland-Style accordionist flourished. In 1942, at age sixteen, Eddie was asked to lead the Johnny Pecon Orchestra while Pecon was in the Navy. In 1948, after his own stint in the Navy, Eddie teamed up with Pete Sokach and Kenny Bass to form the Habat-Sokach Tunemixers, achieving a #1 rating on their weekly Cleveland radio show on WSRS and recording eight hit tunes for Decca, three of them original Habat compositions.

Soon after, Eddie formed the Eddie Habat Orchestra which went on to become one of the country’s most successful Cleveland-Style bands. During thirteen years under contract with Decca, the Habat Orchestra made over 150 internationally distributed recordings, some of which were advertised in “Billboard, ” the music industry’s trade publication. Eddie’s original “Go Man Go” polka sold 50,000 copies in its first two weeks, was recorded by Russ Morgan, and was called “the best football song of its time” by Bill Randle, one of the nation’s top disc jockeys. The Habat Orchestra performed throughout the Midwest and in Western Pennsylvania, starred on its own television show on WEWS in 1955, and appeared frequently on the “Old Dutch Polka Revue” and “Polka Varieties. “

Eddie has influenced many Cleveland-Style accordionists, and over twenty-five of his compositions, including “Riverboat Polka,” “Hi Lee, Hi Lo,” and “Strawberry Hill Polka, ” have been recorded by others. Eddie was named Ohio’s Polka King in 1949, Collinwood’s Polka Prince in 1970 and Man of the Year in 1972, and POPP’s Man of the Year in 1988. In 1981, Chris Kotsos, former Cleveland-Style bandleader, coaxed Eddie from retirement, collaborating with him to produce “From the Heart,” an outstanding reprise of the Habat legacy.

As Bob Dolgan of the Cleveland Plain Dealer put it, “Nobody could turn on the emotion like Habat. He gave you the impression he would gladly play for free.”

JARDRAN SINGING SOCIETY

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2004

Jadran Singing Society was the cultural backbone of the Slovenian Workmen’s Home in Cleveland, Ohio. The group presented annual concerts with traditional melodies, as well as operettas and musical comedies in English and the Slovenian language, such as “The Chimes of Normandy,” “Die Fledermaus,” and Schubert’s “Blossom Time.” Jadran members also posed for still tableaux with musical accompaniment.

The dinner-dance and concert format pervaded the cultural scene for more than 20 years. Jadran was able to present two concerts a year, which included a dinner and dancing to polka music following the program. One of the most popular features of the group was the duet team of Florence Unetich and Angie Zabjek.

For more than 40 years, Jadran participated in the annual Grape Festival at SNPJ Farm in Kirtland, dressed in traditional costumes, singing and marching in the festival parade. Jadran performed concerts in Pennsylvania and Michigan and made three concert tours of Slovenia.

Victor Lisjak was the first director, followed by John Ivanusch, who directed for 13 years. Vladimir Maleckar led Jadran for 20 years. Long-time accompanist Reginald Resnik took over the baton for 35 years, and Florence Unetich for one year. Bandleader Fred Ziwich served as music director from 1999 until the choir disbanded in 2004.

NORM KOBAL

1932 – 2010

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1996

Norm Kobal is one of Cleveland-Style’s most formidable talents. A schooled musician transcending musical styles, Norm has devoted the majority of his musical talents over fifty years to his first love, Cleveland-Style Polkas and Waltzes.

Raised in Girard, Ohio, among a musical family, Norm mastered the trumpet, banjo, and guitar before settling on tenor saxophone, clarinet, and flute as his primary instruments. Norm joined Jack Persin and the Jolly Jesters in 1944 and recorded with his father’s band, Stan Kobal and the Airliners, in 1947.

Earning Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music from Youngstown State University, Norm taught in the Lakeview and Girard school systems, at the Strouss Music Center, and at Youngstown State. Broadening his experience, Norm spent seven years with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, directed and played jazz concerts, guested with the W.D. Packard Concert Band, logged three years with the 702nd Air Force Band in Omaha, and performed with Greek, Italian, country, and Broadway show groups. Over the years, Norm backed luminaries such as Al Martino, Jerry Vale, Wayne Newton, Sergio Franchi, and Robert Goulet.

But even more inspired by the likes of Johnny Pecon, Lou Trebar, and Eddie Platt, Norm was irresistibly drawn to Slovenian polka music. Since 1956, Norm has manned the woodwind spot with his own bands, Steve Garchar, Del Sinchak, Trontel-Zagger, Miskulin-Trebar, Eddie Kenik/Don Slogar, Joe Luzar, Ray Polantz, Dave Wretschko, Tony Klepec, and Johnny Vadnal. Available to all who call, without regard to age or stature, Norm has played with virtually every Cleveland-Style band of note in the Greater Cleveland and Penn-Ohio areas.

Highly sought after for recording sessions, Norm has amassed a personal discography comprising two Greatest all-Time Cleveland-Style Hits, My Alice Waltz and I Wanna Call You Sweetheart; the innovating use of flute in Cleveland-Style music; Walter Ostanek’s three Grammy-winning albums; and nine of his own compositions, including Emily’s Waltz, in nearly one hundred recordings with a host of Cleveland-Style orchestras.

Norm was the POPP’s Man of the Year in 1972, the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame’s Musician of the Year in 1992, Sideman of the Year in 1995 and 1996, was feated with the Tony Klepec Orchestra’s Band and Recording of the Year honors in 1992.

Much like the pioneers he worshipped as a young man, Norm has become a Cleveland-Style legend in his own right with Cleveland-Style players across the country studying and emulating his techniques, stylings, and licks.

Norm has aptly been described as the “Benny Goodman of Cleveland-Style music.”

WILLIAM “DOC” LAUSCHE

1898 – 1967

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1996

A dentist by profession, Dr. William J. “Doc” Lausche was active for nearly sixty years in the music field. Dr. Lausche was a brilliant composer and arranger; played the piano proficiently; produced and directed recordings on national labels; taught and rehearsed some of the most famous Cleveland-Style Polka artists; coached singing groups; and was active outside of purely ethnic circles in Cleveland’s cultural community.

An accomplished musician, “Doc” Lausche enthusiastically embraced a wide range of musical genres. While playing the piano within the Slovenian polka idiom, he often incorporated the influences of jazz, ragtime, Broadway, and classical music, thereby enriching and extending the musical horizons of those around him. Dr. Lausche founded the DENTAL ORCHESTRA OF CLEVELAND and personally organized the “March of Dimes” Spectacular in the 1930s.

Dr. Lausche was one of the first American-Slovenian recording artists, producing records beginning in 1919, and he appeared on the first Slovenian radio program on WJAY in1929. A pioneer in commercially recorded Slovenian music, “Doc” would travel to New York City where he hired and directed studio musicians, including accordion virtuoso Charles Magnante, to play his orchestral arrangements in the studios of the Victor Talking Machine Company, the Columbia Grammaphone Company, and Continental Records. During his career, Dr. Lausche recorded 68 selections and made countless transcriptions for radio.

Dedicated to the preservation of authentic Slovenian music and its distinctive melodic character, Dr. Lausche’s adaptations of Slovenian folk songs as well as his many original compositions reflected his faith in the virtue of melody. “Doc” originated, arranged, or adapted more Slovenian Cleveland-Style music than any other individual, contributing heavily to the repertoires of Frank Yankovic, the Pecon/Trebar Orchestra, Kenny Bass, and Eddie Habat. His music remains a major source of material for Cleveland-Style Polka orchestras, singing groups, and Button-Box performers everywhere. His major Cleveland-Style hits include “Cleveland the Polka Town”, “I’ve Got a Date with Molly”, “Sondra”, “The Girl I Left Behind”, and “Bluebonnet Polka” (also known as “Doc’s Polka”).

“Doc” Lausche personally tutored Johnny Pecon, Lou Trebar, and other musicians, exerting a strong influence in the cultivation of greater sophistication and skill. In the opinion of many veteran Cleveland-Style musicians, Dr. Lausche achieved the highest level of musical quality and sophistication among Slovenian composers and arrangers, a standard which, to this day, remains unsurpassed.

“Doc” Lausche’s high profile and educated, professional approach had a direct and positive impact on both the image and substance of Cleveland-Style music. It is easy to follow a path already paved. In providing a foundation for Cleveland-Style music, Dr. Lausche created that path.

STEVE MEISNER

1961 – 2023

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2012

Steve Meisner leds one of the most high-profile Cleveland-Style polka bands in the Midwest. Following in the footsteps of his father, bandleader Verne Meisner. Steve has earned a living playing polka music since the age of 16. He also joins his father as a Lifetime Achievement honoree in the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum.

The Wisconsin accordionist, composer and arranger first picked up a squeezebox at age five. After mastering the accordion, he took on the trumpet, tuba, bass guitar and the button box. During his 36-year music career, Steve has performed with top accordionists, including Myron Floren and Polka Hall of Famers Frank Yankovic, Joey Miskulin and Verne Meisner. He has released 16 albums, six singles and seven videos.

One of the most memorable perfomances for Steve and his Band was representing the State of Wisconsin at the 1998 Smithsonian Folk Life Festival on the Mall in Wachington, D.C., for two weeks, and again in 2010 at the Amerivan Folklife Center. He also appeared in an ABC-TV Indepence Day broadcast, “In Search Of America.” Among his 200 playing dates each year, Steve performs at casinos in Las Vegas and the Lawrence Welk Theater in Branson, Missouri. Other appereances include the Wisconsin State Fair, the Minnesota State Fair, and casinos in the Midwest. Steve and the Band lave performed in two feature films, “Chump Change” and “Red Betsy,” and a movie short, “Pickup Polka.” His original tunes include “I Love You,” “Jeffrey’s Polka, ” and “Meisner Magic.”

The Maryland Accordion Club honored Steve with a career achievement award. He was also inducted into the Ironworld Polka Hall of Fame of Minnesota. Steve is married to Barbara and has three children. He considers himself fortunate to be making a living doing what he likes best: playing music and making people happy.

FRANKIE MULLEC

1920 – 2009

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2008

According to Billboard Magazine in the late 1940s, Frankie Mullec was one of the acknowledged masters in the polka field. Frankie had one of the most popular polka bands from 1947 to 1952, and a recording contract with Continental Records.

Frankie was born in Cleveland and lived in the Collinwood neighborhood. His Slovenian immigrant parents owned a grocery store on Waterloo Road, which later became the site of Mullec’s Lounge Bar. As a teenager, Frankie played the accordion in taverns and halls, and later in the U.S. Navy in World War II.

Frankie formed his own band in 1947, and immediately had a nationwide hit with his song, “Tell Me a Story.” The record sold more than a quarter million copies. His next hit, “The Cleveland Polka,” had the whole country singing “the best location in the nation.” Frankie’s appearances throughout the midwest at the Aragon Ballroom and Canton’s Meyers Lake were in cooperation with Music Corporation of America, which asked Frankie to hire a female vocalist. He auditioned the singers, and hired Terri, who became his wife, 58 years ago.

Frankie gave up the road jobs to play the organ with a trio at his Lounge Bar, starting in 1952, for 15 years. Frankie resumed his music career in 1975 as an entertainer at Yankovic’s Steakhouse. He played the organ six nights a week, for seven years. In the 1990s, Frankie played for benefit events in the Youngstown area for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He played weekly at the Slovene Home for the Aged in Cleveland, until 2004.

TONY PETKOVSEK

1941 – 2019

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1992

Tony Petkovsek, Cleveland’s Polka Ambassador, differs in one important respect from the many lifelong contributors to Cleveland-Style Polkas. Tony has promoted Cleveland-Slovenian music and culture full-time his entire adult life. Hosting the longest running daily polka show in America, Tony has been a vital force in the Slovenian community.
Tony grew up in Cleveland’s St. Clair neighborhood in typical second generation Slovenian style, complete with accordion lessons and plenty of exposure to Slovenian culture. Tony’s parents, Tony Sr. and Mary, an alumna of the Zarja Singing Society, were the proprietors of the neighborhood’s Birch Bar.

After time in college and broadcasting school, Tony made reality of the childhood dreams he conjured listening to famous polka DJ Kenny Bass, Bill Randle, and his mentor, Heinie Martin Antoncic, the Dean of Slovenian Broadcasters. Tony began producing and broadcasting his own radio shows on November 23, 1961– Thanksgiving Day –on WXEN, Cleveland’s “Station of the Nations.” The rest is history.

Going to daily broadcasts in 1962, Tony became a continuous beacon over stations WXEN, WZAK, NBN, WCPN, and WELW, along the way interviewing the likes of “Chip” Carter, Roger Mudd, Lawrence Welk, Wayne Newton, and Charles Kuralt and sharing an audience with President George Bush.

Tony has been one of the most creative promoters of Cleveland-Style Polkas ever. In 1967, Tony originated the Polka Tour at Kollander World Travel, Inc., which has since taken thousands of polka fans to every corner of the globe. Tony’s anniversary celebrations have evolved from a dance in 1963 into the national focal point of Cleveland-Style Polkas. Each year, thousands of polka fans from all over America converge on Cleveland to take in the many activities that encompass Thanksgiving weekend. And, for twenty years, Tony’s Polka Village was a unique and innovative combination broadcast studio, polka record/gift shop, button box academy, and nerve center for Cleveland’s Slovenian Community.

Devoted to the community, Tony played seminal roles in founding the United Slovenian Society, the Cleveland-Slovenian Radio Club (raising in excess of $250,000 for charitable purposes), the East 185th Street Business Association (sponsors of the “Old World Festival,” one of the largest ethnic street festivals anywhere), and, of course, the American Slovenian Polka Foundation, proud sponsors of the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame. In addition, Tony has served on the Ohio Arts Council, the appointee of Governor George Voinovich.

Tony was selected the Federation of Slovenian Homes’ “Man of the Year” in 1966; was inducted into the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1991 and the St. Joseph High School Hall of Fame in 1987; and has been commended over a hundred times for his many accomplishments and contributions.

RON SLUGA

1936

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2005

Born in Cleveland and raised in Euclid, Ohio, Ron Sluga began his musical career after he broke his wrist at the age of three. His doctor suggested a stringed musical instrument for therapy and his parents bought him a mandolin. Today he is an accomplished musician on various stringed instruments including banjo, guitar and mandolin. He is, as well, a gifted vocalist. Ron’s parents felt he had a natural talent and they did all they could to motivate him with teachers such as John Lombardo, John Stebal, Dick Lurie and Jimmy Hall. At the age of eight, Ron played banjo with his brother Herman on accordion at their first public job. It was for their father’s shop Christmas party. Ron knew then that music was exactly what he wanted to pursue. By the age of fifteen, he found himself part of a five-piece ensemble of musicians called the Tune Toppers. In addition to many scholastic endeavors, Ron played the clarinet in the school band for a while, but realized his love was with the guitar and banjo. With his musical abilities and professional smile, Ron spawned many new opportunities including his professional position in the Joey Stradiot Band when he was only sixteen. While only a senior in high school, at the age of seventeen, Ron was recording and appearing on TV shows with Cleveland recording artist Kenny Bass. Two years later, he was a regular on Chicago’s television station WGN, and recorded and toured the country with Frank Yankovic, America’s Polka King. At twenty-two, he joined Cleveland’s Polka King, Johnny Vadnal and here, singing became a real interest. After receiving encouragement from so many who listened to his style, Ron’s singing abilities were nurtured under the tutelage of Dick Mone. In addition to these well-known polka greats, Ron has appeared on over fifty recordings with many notables in the music industry. While pursuing his music career, Ron also attended The Cleveland School of Engineering, achieved his Associates Degree and became an engineering supervisor at White Motors in Cleveland. Music and engineering were his life for many years. When White Motors left Cleveland, Ron opened his own music store and Sluga Music served his community for fifteen years. In addition to playing and recording with local bands, Ron continues to be well known in the Cleveland area for his fine solo entertainment for private parties, night clubs and many businesses and organizations. The walls in Ron’s studio display over twenty awards and proclamations from such notables as Ohio Gov. George Voinovich, Ohio Cuyahoga County Auditor, Tim McCormack, mayors of several cities and musical organizations, as well as awards of appreciation from his peers in this country and Canada. Ron has been honored as a nine-time winner of the Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame’s “Sideman of the Year” award and 2002’s “Best Vocalist” award. In 2005, Ron was inducted into the Cleveland Polka Hall of Fame as a recipient of their highest honor, The Lifetime Achievement Award. Other honors include being an integral part of the first polka Grammy, which was accepted by Frank Yankovic. Ron’s music and vocal abilities have since been featured on nine additional Grammy nominations. Ron’s latest work, “Time Out for Polkas and Waltzes,” has recently earned him his own personal nomination for a Grammy, sharing this project with Canada’s Polka King, Walter Ostanek. In June 2000, with the encouragement of his fans and fellow musicians, Ron produced his own CD. Calling it “Something Special”, it is appropriately named after the title tune of an original written by he and his wife, Patty. Ron’s popularity grew in new circles and his music career expanded. “Something Special, Vol. 2” was produced two years later. Currently,he is working on his fourth release, between recording sessions with other entertainment artists and is performing as a full-band-sound soloist featuring a variety of music, which includes many of his originals. Ron’s music has never limited him to the Cleveland area. His musical travels have taken him to more than half of the United States, including Alaska. His professional appearances have taken him to Rio DeJaneiro, The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, several Caribbean cruises, and The Netherlands.

DEL SINCHAK

1935

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2009

Polka fans know accordionist Del Sinchak as one of Youngstown’s top bandleaders for the past 60 years. He’s also one of the few polka musicians to cross over into rock and roll.

Of all the songs he has written, Del’s best-known polka is “Roseann,” a standard with many Cleveland-Style bands.  He has eight CDs with Peppermint Records and has been the label’s promotions director. Del hosted polka shows on WKTX, Cortland, Ohio, and WSOM in Youngstown. He has led polka tours from Las Vegas and Branson to Myrtle Beach and Frankenmuth, along with regular visits to the Seven Springs Polka Festival.

Del’s versatile band had a fling with rock and roll, playing back-up for the Edsels on their 1961 doo-wop hit, “Rama Lama Ding Dong.” Del’s also known for his comic side ––he and his players once posed as an all-girl polka band.

He received two Grammy nominations in the polka category. Members of the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame honored the Del Sinchak Orchestra with Band of the Year in 1996 and 1997 and Best Album of 1996. Del served many years as President of both the American Federation of Musicians in Youngstown and the Penn-Ohio Polka Pals.

DICK TADY

1943

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1999

Dick Tady made a lifetime commitment to the pursuit of excellence in music. From its inception, The Dick Tady Orchestra (D.T.O.) proudly carried the banner of Cleveland-Style Polkas with class and style from their base in Western Pennsylvania.

Dick took up his primary instrument, the tenor saxophone, at age eleven and played his first professional gig at fourteen. Dick was selected by his high school constituents to win the Arion Award for outstanding musicianship presented by New Kensington Music Society, studied at Youngstown University’s Dana School of Music, earned a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Duquesne University, and completed his Master’s Equivalency at Penn State and Kent State Universities. Along the way, Dick mastered the clarinet, piano, flute, button box, and banjo and taught music for 34 years.

Influenced significantly by his brother, Jack, as well Cleveland’s “big five”- Bass, Yankovic, Vadnal, Habat, and Pecon-Trebar – Dick embraced Cleveland-Style Polkas as an avocation. First recording with Jack Tady and the Polka Lads in 1958, Dick joined the Kenny Kron Band in 1962, taking it over in 1963.

Thereafter, Dick and the D.T.O. went about their business in decidedly non-flamboyant fashion, racking up accomplishment after accomplishment, performing throughout Western Pennsylvania and Ohio, and touring in New York, New Jersey, Nevada, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Hawaii, Canada, and the Caribbean.

Incorporating 45 of Dick’s original compositions, the D.T.O. recorded two albums for Greyko, ten on Dick’s Corjal label, and made one video, earning a grammy nomination for “Happy Polka Days” in 1992. The band was featured on Walter Ostanek’s 1993 Grammy winner “Accordionally Yours,” and Dick sang on Frankie Yankovic’s 1996 Grammy nominee, “Songs of the Polka King.” “Happy Days,” “It’s Polka Time,” and “Majko Waltz” are among the bands many hits.

The D.T.O.’s many radio and television credits include Pittsburgh Steeler pep rally and tailgate parties and, notably, feature spots on WDVE, Pittsburgh’s top Rock station. The band has performed at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Arts Festival, for many charitable causes , and made a custom TV commercial for Subway Restaurants, “Return of the Myron Cope Kiebasa Sub.” Additionally. Dick was featured on the “Alpine Poolka” commercial for Alpine pools.

Supported by the loyal and enthusiastic D.T.O. Fan Club, Dick and the D.T.O. amassed a bevy of awards including P.O.P.P. Man-of-the-Year in 1995, U.M.P.A.P.A Man-of-the-Year in 1991 and 1997, the WAMMY Award in 1993, the Polka News Network’s European-American Music Award in 1995, the Allegheny-Kiski Valley Historical Society’s Musical Heritage Award in 1995, and twelve National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame Annual Award nominations resulting in three Crystal Awards, Musician of the Year in 1994 and 1996 and Band of the Year in 1995.

FRANKIE ZEITZ

1918 – 1986

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2013

Playing a unique ‘upside down’ Italian scale chromatic accordion, Frankie Zeitz made his mark among Cleveland-style bandleaders. Emulating his childhood idol, Matt Hoyer, Frankie began playing the button box at age 6 and was performing by 18. Frank teamed up with Ernie Benedict in 1945 to form the Polkateers before organizing the Frankie Zeitz Orchestra in 1953. Both bands appeared regularly on radio and television, recorded for major labels including Continental and RCA, and traveled extensively in the Midwest and on the East Coast. Moving to Southern California in 1959, Frankie became the major exponent of Cleveland-style polkas on the West Coast. He appeared with Frank Yankovic, Myron Floren and others, and recorded ten LP albums – five with close friend Joe Mlakar. Frankie’s trademark was the “Red Wine Polka.”

Al Battistelli

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in

Mark Habat

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in

Penn Ohio Polka Pals

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in

EDDIE KENIK

1924 – 2008

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1994

Eddie began his Slovenian singing career in the 1930s. Joining the Crick i Junior Chorus at age seven and studying under the direction of Ivan Zorman and Julius Slapsak. Since that time, Eddie has been continuously affiliated with various Slovenian singing groups including the Zvon Mixed and Male Choruses, Triglav, the St. Vitus Church Choir, and, of course, Glasbena Matica Singing Society. Eddie began his long tenure with Glasbena Matica in 1948, making many early contributions and serving as its President along the way. Between 1950 and 1961, the magnificent tenor took thirteen leading roles in the group’s many operatic productions under the direction of Anton Schubel, including Carmen, La Traviata, and the Tales of Hoffman.

Not withstanding the opportunities his powerful voice and talents might have commanded. Eddie confined his singing to the Slovenian cultural and Cleveland-Style genres, feeling most at home with the intimacy afforded by personal appearances. As proprietor of St. Clair’s famous Tino’s Bar from 1960-1972, Eddie delighted patrons with his renditions from behind the bar and while vocalizing with the orchestras perfomming there.

Often called upon to be a featured vocalist. Eddie appeared frequently with the Don Slogar and Eddie Buehner Orchestras as well as with other Cleveland-based bands. He headlined two major concerts with June Price and Dolores Mihelich in 1977 and 1979, the latter leading to the release of a double LP album. Eddie performed during seven tours of Europe and in concerts in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Chicago, and Milwaukee. Closer to home, Eddie has been a regular volunteer perfommer at the Slovene Home for the Aged.

Eddie recorded eight albums. five accompanied by Buehner, and three with Slogar on the Mlay and his own Kenik labels. Eddie also produced albums on the Kenik label featuring Marie Pivik and the Price-Mihelich duet. Eddie’s radio and television credits include appearances on “Polka Varieties” as well as the shows of Sidney Andorn and Chester Budny.

A major force in the Slovenian community, Eddie served for forty years as a Director of the Slovenian National Home on St. Clair Avenue and as its President for twenty-four prior to his retirement in 1994. Credited with playing a critical role in preserving this institution. Eddie was honored as the Federation of Slovenian Homes’ Man-of-the-Year in 1970.

Among Eddie’s numerous hits. the most requested include “O Ja” “Veseli Ribencan” (Happy Mountaineer), “Kamnik,” “Ljubcek Moj” (My Sweetheart). “Tam na Ravnem Polju” (Across the Open Plains), “Zaplula,” and “Socha Voda.”

VERNE MEISNER

1938 – 2005

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1994

Verne Meisner has achieved international renown in a Cleveland-Style career spanning five decades. Perfomming throughout the United States, Canada and in Europe; distributing his recordings nationally; composing Cleveland-Style classics; and inspiring a new generation of Cleveland-Style musicians. Verne became “the most influential Wisconsin purveyor of Cleveland-Style sound.”*

Verne began playing the accordion in his native Milwaukee at age eleven, supplementing music lessons with independent study of Frank Yankovic and Six Fat Dutchmen recordings at the family victrola and the stylings of Pecon, Vadnal, Benedict, Cook, and Bashell on Fritz the Plumber’s daily radio broadcasts. Verne formed his own band in 1950 and, impressing Yankovic with his keen ear, traveled with the Yanks during the 1950’s.

Verne Meisner and the Polka Boys made their recording debut in 1958 with “Memories of Vienna”, one of Verne’s finest and most popular compositions. Verne’s recordings include 30 singles, 16 LP albums, and two videos on the Paragon, Leaf, Cuca, VM, Bright, and HG labels. Verne’s first album, “A Polka and Waltz Holiday”, achieved a 5-Star rating on the Billboard charts.

Verne has contributed mightily to the popularity of Cleveland-Style Polkas in all regions of the United States, perforning in California, Arizona, Maryland, Missouri. Pennsylvania, Florida, Hawaii, Washington State, Colorado, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, and in Canada. He has also led two polka tours to Europe and five Caribbean cruises.

A prolific composer, Verne is the genius behind nearly sixty songs including his two blockbusters. “Memories of Vienna” and ” El Rio Drive”, as well as “Doreen Waltz”. “Michelle Waltz”, “Sneeky Pete Polka”, “Main Attraction”, “Echo Valley Waltz”, “Waltz of Love”, “Sleepy Head Waltz”, “Autumn Leaves” (adapted from a Croatian folk song) and “Ukrania”, now a standard in Polish repertory.

Devoting full time to music, Verne has bridged the gap between Cleveland-Style music’s post-war giants and today’s generation, mentoring the likes of Joey Miskulin, influencing bands throughout Wisconsin and the upper Midwest, and spawning the Cleveland-Style careers of son Steve and cousin Gordon Hartmann.

Plying his trade with excellence and originality, Verne has combined the spark of Americana with the old-country flavor of Slovenian, German, Dutch, Czech, and Polish melodies in creating his own distinctive and refreshing sound.

Among his many honors, Verne was inducted into the IPA’s Polka Hall of Fame in Chicago in 1989, was the first polka musician to win the Wisconsin Area Music Industry Award (along with Steve) in 1988, repeated this honor in 1994, and has been commended by the Governor of Wisconsin for his accomplishments. Attesting to his fame, Verne’s persona was appropriated by Mary Blayney in her novel, True Colors.

GARY RHAMY

1944

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2023

As owner of Peppermint Productions, Gary Rhamy has been the recording engineer for five Grammy award-winning polka albums. He has produced more than 600 albums in his studio, including 200 polka artists. He formed Peppermint Recording studio in 1970. Gary received the Lifetime Achievement award of the United States Polka Association in 2004, and was inducted into the International Polka Association Hall of Fame in 2006.

JOEY MISKULIN

1949

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1997

Joey Miskulin is one of Cleveland-Style Polkas’ greatest pillars of musical talent. Plying his many skills in a myriad of ways, Joey has enhanced the quality of Cleveland-Style music far and wide.

In his most memorable role, Joey, the child prodigy discovered by Chicago’s Roman Possedi, became Frank Yankovic’s featured accordionist at age thirteen, beginning an association that would last over thirty-five years. Frank’s insistence that Joey be included in a Columbia recording session cemented Joey’s decision to make music his career.

Broadening his experience, Joey toured the Far East with the Hawaii International Revue, and, in the 1970’s became a studio musician and producer, performing on bass, piano, banjo, guitar, organ, accordion, and as a vocalist with the likes of Andy Williams, Doc Severinsen, and Charlie Daniels. All the while , Joey maintained his love affair with Cleveland -Style Polkas, playing and recording with Yankovic and Cleveland -Style orchestras in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

In 1978, Joey opened Miskulin’s Lounge, reviving a venue that housed some of Cleveland’s most famous polka clubs. Teaming up with the legendary Lou Trebar, Joey formed the Mis-Tre Orchestra, recorded two hit albums, and toured the U.S. For six years, Miskulin’s was Cleveland’s premiere polka spot and the “nerve center” of Cleveland -Style music. Joey hosted various TV shows, including his very own “Polka Time U.S.A.,” and, in 1985, produced the first Grammy-winning polka album, Yankovic’s “70 Years of Hits.” Among Joeys many Compositions, “I Wanna Call You Sweetheart” was designated a Greatest All-Time Cleveland-Style Polka Hit.

Joey moved to Nashville in 1987 to focus his efforts as a producer. The quintessential musician, Joey delved into all realms of music, icing the recording cakes of stars including Johnny Cash, U2, Paul McCartney, and Roy Rogers.

Marrying polkas with his other love, Western music, Joey, the “Cowpolka King,” has more recently starred with the Riders in the Sky and co-produced a series of Western releases with Michael Martin Murphey.

Not neglecting Cleveland-Style music, Joey has released three more albums and a video, continued to record with Cleveland-Style bands, and produced additional albums for Yankovic.

Among his astounding list of credits are countless appearances on national television and radio, in the movies, and on video; hundreds of recording sessions; and four Grammy-winning and several gold and platinum albums among scores of international hit recordings.

Joey has always. Represented Cleveland -Style Polkas with the utmost of class and dignity, befriending most everyone with his congenial and personable demeanor.

Cleveland -Style Polkas have truly been blessed with Joey’s outstanding talents and the new levels to which they have taken our music.

DICK SODJA

1934 – 2021

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2010

Dick Sodja brought an exciting style of accordion technique to cach polka band in which he played. He joincd Polka Hall of Famer Kenny Bass and his Polka Poppers at age l7 and remained for fifteen years. Kenny featured Dick with legendary accordionists Frank Mauer, Bob Timko and Joe Luzar, as well as saxophohonist Dick Flaisman and banjo man Ron Sluga, both Hall of Fame achievers.

Dick arranged the music and perforned on Kenny Bass classic Decca recordings. He wrote many original polkas, such as “Dancing Doll,” “Fancy Fingers,” and “One More Time .” Top Cleveland-Style artists have invited Dick on their albums, including Hall of Famc honorees Al Markic, Cccilia Dolgan, Hank Haller, Ron Sluga and America’s Polka King Frank Yankovic. He has appeared on at least 200 recordings.

A native Clevelander, Dick grew up in a musical family in thc St. Clair neighborhood. His uncle Joe Sodja started the first Slovenian big band and became famous as a jazz guitarist wilh the Fred Warlng Orchestra. Dick served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and entertained the troops.

By the 1960s, Dick was a television regular on the keyboard and accordion for Frank Yankovic’s nationally syidicated polka show. Dick toured with the Polka King and performed on the Don Ho Show in Hawaii. He then joined guitarist Al Markic to create the Almars Orchesta. Together with Dick Flaisman, Jack Ponikvar and Lou Pike, the Alrnars were one of the leading bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Dick also led his own orchestra for many years.

The Sodja name is best known for Cleveland’s Sodja Music store. For forty-four years, Dick and his associates sold instruments and provided lessons for two generations of music-makers. He retired in 2006.

BOB TIMKO

1937 – 2022

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2011

Bob Timko took his “Sound of Timko” around the world as one of the hottest Cleveland-style bands in the polka charged 1970’s. The accordionist hosted some of the first polka tours and made history playing the very first Polka Mass. Timko’s Polka Place was a top Cleveland dance destination.

He grew up in Cleveland’s largely Slovenian St. Clair neighborhood where Polka Hall of Famers Cecilia Dolgan and Dick Flaisman were playmates. Bob took up the accordion at age five with Joe Princie. Joe Trolli, Frank Yankovic’s music arranger and composer, taught Bob to recognize perfect pitch and to play from the heart. In 1955, Kenny Bass asked him to join his Polka Poppers. Bob appeared on nearly all of his albums and on Kenny’s television show, as well the syndicated “Polka Varieties” and in the 1964 film, One Potato, Two Potato.

Bob organized his own group and their first release, “The Sound of Timko,” was the hit album of 1970. Two more recordings followed. Radio host Tony Petkovsek invited him to play the first polka tour to Hawaii. The band accompanied the first Polka Mass, celebrated by Father George Balasko on Memorial Day, 1972, in Lowellville, Ohio. Subscribers to the Polkarama monthly named his orchestra America’s favorite polka band in 1975 and 1976.

Spurred by success, Bob opened his popular night spot. He helped revive the PolKats Club for Cleveland musicians. The band played around the country until his move to Florida in 1979. Bob has made several comeback appearances.

RICHIE VADNAL

1936

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1997

Richie Vadnal, the youngest of the Vadnal brothers, played an integral role in building the Cleveland-Style music legacy of the Vadnal family. Steeped in the family’s musical tradition, Richie began his relationship with the accordion at age four under the tutelage of his mother, Anna Vadnal, and later studied with Joey Trolli, Tops Cardone, and Pico Pallotta.

Leading his own award-winning band as a teen, Richie appeared regularly on radio, television, and the circuit of engagements adjunct to Cleveland’s Slovenian cultural community. In 1954, Richie traveled the United States with Frank Yankovic, America’s Polka King, and performed with the popular Three Sons trio during the 1960’s.

Taking over the Johnny Vadnal Orchestra in 1966, Richie led the band through a new era in which they became Cleveland-Style Polkas’ leading exponent of the “Polka Tour.” With all the band members and their wives providing a personal touch, Richie and the Vadnals hosted seven tours to Slovenia, encompassing appearances in Austria, Italy, Hungary, and Germany; three to Hawaii; three to Mexico; and three cruises to the Caribbean. In addition, the Vadnals often incorporated tour groups with their appearances throughout the continental U.S., including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, California, Tennessee, Minnesota, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, and Nevada, and in Canada.

Under Richie’s leadership, the Vadnals went far beyond merely serving as mere musical tour guides during their travels. As Cleveland-Style ambassadors, the Vadnals aggressively put Cleveland-Style Polkas in the spotlight, appearing live and in documentaries of Slovenian radio and television; recording four LP albums in Europe for Helidon; being featured in “Stop,” Slovenia’s equivalent of “Billboard” magazine, and in other European periodicals; and appearing annually before thousands at the July 4th Immigrants’ Picnic in Skofja Loka, Slovenia. Achieving international celebrity, Richie became known simply as “Mr. Richie” throughout Slovenia.

Back in the United States, Richie and the Vadnal Orchestral were mainstays on the syndicated “Polka Varieties” television show through the 1970’s and ‘80’s, and cut a total of ten LP albums and many singles for Helidon, Mlay, Normandy (Ray Gay), Cuca, Delta International, CBV, and Peppermint Records. Among the band’s most popular recorded hits are “Ta Glazek je Prazen,” “Henry the VIII, I Am,” “Love,” featuring Bill Srnick, Sr., “Polka Your Troubles Away,” “Look My Way,” and “No Beer Today.”

Richie was honored as Collinwood Slovenian Home’s Musician of the Year in 1990.
Although his Cleveland-Style career was cut short by a stroke suffered in 1982, Richie Vadnal’s many contributions during sixteen short years at the helm of the Vadnal Orchestra stand proudly in the annals of Cleveland-Style Polkas.

SAM PUGLIANO

1932 – 2013

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 2003

Sam Pugliano proves that you don’t have to be Slovenian to be an outstanding Cleveland-Style bandleader. When Sam was crowned the Polka King of Western Pennsylvania in 1962, it was written that ‘only in America’ can an Italian win a Slovenian polka contest. Sam’s accordion style combines the best of his idols: Pecon, Yankovic and Vadnal. He has lived his entire life in and around Universal, a Pennsylvania town that once resounded with the melodies of the Slovenians who settled there.

When young Sam showed musical promise, his brother Frank bought an accordion for him. Brother Joe played tenor saxophone with the Lou Potochnik band. Sam liked what he heard, and learned Cleveland-style polka music from Potochnik. By 1950, Sam led his own band and became a popular presence in the Pittsburgh area. His Polka King honor led to a recording contract with the Jay-Jay label and national popularity. He has recorded eight albums.

Sam’s Polka Party radio show will celebrate 40 years, first on WPSL and now WKHB, Irwin/Pittsburgh. The United Musicians Polka Association of Pennsylvania (UMPAPA) named him 1994 Man of the Year. He was inducted into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1995.

ZARJA SINGING SOCIETY

1916

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1995

Zarja Singing Society, the oldest Slovenian choral group in the world outside of Slovenia, has been delivering stellar performances since 1916. The Cleveland-based mixed-voice adult chorus has been a pillar of Slovenian-American culture in the United States, thus underpinning Cleveland-Style Polkas and Waltzes. Pursuing its stated mission of providing education and support of Slovenian culture and tradition, Zarja has presented at least two concerts each year; made recordings, broadcast appearances, and concert tours; sponsored touring groups from Slovenia; and documented Slovenian culture for posterity. Zarja and its members have also made countless appearances in support of Slovenian cultural activities, institutions, and civic and charitable causes.

Founded as an all male chorus, Zarja, or “The Dawn” welcomed Viki Poljsak as its “First Lady” in 1920. Under the leadership of John Gombac, its first director, Popia Malen (1917-1919), John Ivanush (1919-1931), and longtime President, Leonard Poljsak, Zarja provided newly arrived immigrants with a tie to the Slovenian homeland. Zarja produced its first full-length Slovenian opera, Turjaska Rosamunda, in 1928.

Facing a decline in membership, Zarja assimilated a new generation into its ranks under director Joseph V. Krabec (1931-1960), maintaining nostalgia for its older constituents while offering American-born Slovenes a sense of identity and roots. Melding tradition with contemporary fare, Zarja tackled a broad range of material, from operettas to Strauss and other popular music, translating both to and from the Slovenian language, and drawing upon the talents of its members to write and sing in smaller groups.

Under Josephine Turkman (1960-1980), Richard Tomsic (1981-1986), and Douglas Elersich, Zarja reached out to a generation of Slovenes who had little or no exposure to Slovenian culture and language. Their Moonlight and Roses concert in 1969 initiated a cabaret format that evolved into the annual Spring Frolic concerts, marked by plot-driven musical performances with English narration. Zarja marked its 50th Anniversary in 1966 with a concert tour of Slovenia followed by encore tours in 1972, 1976, and 1987. Domestically, Zarja has performed in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois, and Michigan and has sent emissary groups to Wisconsin and Canada.

Preserving Slovenian culture, Zarja has translated, transcribed, and arranged music and tradition, including written and recorded presentations of the Slovenian Wedding Unveiling Ceremony and Grape Festival Celebration, produced under a grant from the Ohio Arts Council in 1984. In 1976, Zarja deposited memoirs, notes, and music in the Library of Congress commemorating Slovenian contributions to United States history on the nation’s bicentennial.

The government sponsored Association of Cultural Organizations of Slovenia presented Zarja with its most significant honor, the Gallus Award, in 1972 in recognition of Zaria’s “perpetuation of Slovenian musical and cultural tradition in America.”

LOU TREBAR

1926 – 2008

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Inducted in 1990

Lou Trebar has authored one of the Cleveland-Style Polka’s most impressive careers. A true dean of Cleveland-Style music, Lou’s credits include over sixty quality years of professional performance beginning at age 13; over forty as a composer, arranger, and adapter of Cleveland-Style music; leading his own orchestras from 1936-1950; twenty-five years as the co-leader, featured accordionist, and business manager of the Johnny Pecon-Lou Trebar Orchestra; co-owning the Metropole Cafe, Cleveland’s first significant polka establishment; six years with the Mis-Tre Orchestra led by Joey Miskulin; leading polka tours; and teaching music.

Lou Trebar was a pioneer in adapting and assimilating Slovenian folk music into America’s musical mainstream as the first Cleveland-Style bandleader to extend instrumentation beyond the traditional accordion and guitar. The Lou Trebar Orchestra presented multi-part harmony arrangements featuring the trumpet, trombone, piano, saxophone, and vibes along with a “big band” rhythm section beginning in 1936. With their ability to play all kinds of music, the Trebar Orchestra forever set a standard of versatility for Cleveland-Style orchestras.

During his partnership with Johnny Pecon, Lou created a unique obligato style of accordion accompaniment that defies description. Bypassing typical “fills”, Lou wove an exhilarating combination of leading musical “escorts”; contemporaneous counterpoint-driving rhythm; and trailing musical “afterthoughts” that added rich dimension and delightful excitement to Cleveland-Style music.

More than any Cleveland-Style musician, Lou Trebar took the initiative and played a leading role in developing the waltz companion to Cleveland-Style Polkas. Lou adapted and arranged Cleveland-Style Waltzes drawing from the portfolios of Strauss, famous American composers such as Victor Herbert and Vincent Youmans, and Dr. William J. “Doc” Lausche, thus earning the title of “Waltz King” during the late 1930s.Lou Trebar has authored one of the Cleveland-Style Polka’s most impressive careers. A true dean of Cleveland-Style music, Lou’s credits include over sixty quality years of professional performance beginning at age 13; over forty as a composer, arranger, and adapter of Cleveland-Style music; leading his own orchestras from 1936-1950; twenty-five years as the co-leader, featured accordionist, and business manager of the Johnny Pecon-Lou Trebar Orchestra; co-owning the Metropole Cafe, Cleveland’s first significant polka establishment; six years with the Mis-Tre Orchestra led by Joey Miskulin; leading polka tours; and teaching music.

Lou Trebar was a pioneer in adapting and assimilating Slovenian folk music into America’s musical mainstream as the first Cleveland-Style bandleader to extend instrumentation beyond the traditional accordion and guitar. The Lou Trebar Orchestra presented multi-part harmony arrangements featuring the trumpet, trombone, piano, saxophone, and vibes along with a “big band” rhythm section beginning in 1936. With their ability to play all kinds of music, the Trebar Orchestra forever set a standard of versatility for Cleveland-Style orchestras.

During his partnership with Johnny Pecon, Lou created a unique obligato style of accordion accompaniment that defies description. Bypassing typical “fills”, Lou wove an exhilarating combination of leading musical “escorts”; contemporaneous counterpoint-driving rhythm; and trailing musical “afterthoughts” that added rich dimension and delightful excitement to Cleveland-Style music.

More than any Cleveland-Style musician, Lou Trebar took the initiative and played a leading role in developing the waltz companion to Cleveland-Style Polkas. Lou adapted and arranged Cleveland-Style Waltzes drawing from the portfolios of Strauss, famous American composers such as Victor Herbert and Vincent Youmans, and Dr. William J. “Doc” Lausche, thus earning the title of “Waltz King” during the late 1930s.

As the business manager and promoter of the Pecon-Trebar Orchestra, Lou’s talents were never more evident than in conceiving the famous “Janez and Lojze” duo. After persuading Johnny to record some “button box” tunes on Capitol, the skit became standard fare in the orchestra’s TV and personal appearances. This gem of creative genius rekindled an interest in button boxes that grew through the 50s and 60s, and has virtually exploded since. Among Lou’s original compositions are the “Question and Answer Polka”, ‘”Jeffrey’s Polka”, “Blue Eagle Polka”, “My Ann Waltz”, and “Snappy Fingers”, as well as “City Hall Polka”, “Number One Polka”, and “Pleasant Valley Waltz” done in collaboration with Johnny Pecon. In addition, Lou and Johnny jointly composed, arranged, and adapted literally hundreds of famous tunes based on the work of Doc Lausche and Matt Hoyer, commercial “pop” tunes, traditional Slovenian melodies, and modem European composers. As the business manager and promoter of the Pecon-Trebar Orchestra, Lou’s talents were never more evident than in conceiving the famous “Janez and Lojze” duo. After persuading Johnny to record some “button box” tunes on Capitol, the skit became standard fare in the orchestra’s TV and personal appearances. This gem of creative genius rekindled an interest in button boxes that grew through the 50s and 60s, and has virtually exploded since. Among Lou’s original compositions are the “Question and Answer Polka”, ‘”Jeffrey’s Polka”, “Blue Eagle Polka”, “My Ann Waltz”, and “Snappy Fingers”, as well as “City Hall Polka”, “Number One Polka”, and “Pleasant Valley Waltz” done in collaboration with Johnny Pecon. In addition, Lou and Johnny jointly composed, arranged, and adapted literally hundreds of famous tunes based on the work of Doc Lausche and Matt Hoyer, commercial “pop” tunes, traditional Slovenian melodies, and modem European composers.