Frank John "Frankie" Yankovic was an American accordion player and polka musician. Known as "America's Polka King," Yankovic was considered the premier artist to play in the Slovenian style during his long career. He is not related to fellow accordionist "Weird Al" Yankovic, although the two have collaborated.
New Ulm is a city in Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,522 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Brown County.
Harold Loeffelmacher was an American musician and bandleader best known for forming the polka band known as the Six Fat Dutchmen. The band, based in New Ulm, Minnesota, traveled extensively and played as many as 335 dates per year, mostly in the Midwestern United States. Over a span of 14 years the Six Fat Dutchmen recorded 800 polkas, waltzes and schottisches on the RCA Victor label, and for ten years they were signed by Dot Records. Loeffelmacher was inducted into the International Polka Association's Hall of Fame in 1975.
Lighthouse is a Canadian rock band formed in 1968 in Toronto, Ontario. Their sound included horns, string instruments, and vibraphone; their music reflected elements of rock music, jazz, classical music, and swing. They won Juno Awards for Best Canadian Group of the Year in 1972, 1973, and 1974.
Frankie Carle was an American pianist and bandleader. As a very popular bandleader in the 1940s and 1950s, Carle was nicknamed "The Wizard of the Keyboard". "Sunrise Serenade" was Carle's best-known composition, rising to No. 1 in the US in 1938 and selling more than one million copies.
"Ain't That a Shame" is a song written by Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew. Domino's recording of the song, originally stated as "Ain't It a Shame", released by Imperial Records in 1955, was a hit, eventually selling a million copies. It reached number 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and number 10 on the pop chart. The song is ranked number 438 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
"My Heart Cries for You" is a popular song, adapted by Carl Sigman and Percy Faith from an 18th-century French melody.
Richard L. Dale was an American singer and musician, best known as a featured singer and saxophone player on the television variety show The Lawrence Welk Show.
Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski, known professionally as Pee Wee King, was an American country music songwriter and recording artist best known for co-writing "Tennessee Waltz".
"Pipeline" is an instrumental surf rock song by The Chantays, which was recorded in July 1962.
Anita Jean Grilli, known professionally as Anita Kerr, is an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Europe.
Bandwagon is a half-hour music program featuring traditional dance music, most notably polka, performed in front of a ballroom audience dancing along. The program is produced and broadcast by KEYC-TV in Mankato, Minnesota. The show has been aired November 21, 1960; the title Bandwagon was added on March 30, 1961. It is one the longest-running televised music programs in the world.
George's Ballroom is a ballroom in New Ulm, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1947 and became a popular spot for young couples reuniting after World War II. Performers such as Lawrence Welk, The Andrews Sisters, Glenn Miller and the Six Fat Dutchmen all played there, and in its heyday it was an important center for big bands and polka music. George's Ballroom was listed as a contributing property to the New Ulm Commercial Historic District.
Royal G. "Rusty" Bryant was an American jazz tenor and alto saxophonist.
Walter Solek or Walt Solek was a Polish-American lyricist, musician, performer, and radio show host who introduced English-language lyrics into polka music in the United States. Solek was known as the "Clown Prince of Polka" and died on 1 April 2005 at the age of 94. Solek was honored by the International Polka Association, the Polka Hall of Fame in Chicago, he is a Meriden Hall of Fame member, and "the first sailor in 1940 who could sing Anchors Aweigh in Polish". He hosted the Polka Show on WMMW radio for 28 years starting in 1947, and had a 75-year music career.
George Greeley was an Italian-American pianist, conductor, composer, arranger, recording artist and record producer who is known for his extensive work across the spectrum of the entertainment industry. Starting as an arranger and pianist with several notable big bands in the 1940s, he segued into the Hollywood radio scene, working on several nationally broadcast variety programs. After conducting an Army Air Force Band during World War II, he was hired by Columbia Pictures as a staff pianist and orchestrator. He worked as pianist on several hundred motion pictures, worked with many famous composers orchestrating their soundtrack compositions, and created original compositions of his own in several dozen movies. It was Greeley's hands that performed the piano parts that Tyrone Power mimed in The Eddy Duchin Story. Concurrent with his work at Columbia Pictures, George Greeley also worked at Capitol Records as music director, pianist, and conductor for many artists such as Gordon MacRae, Jane Powell, Jo Stafford, Frankie Laine, and Doris Day. He was hired in the late 1950s by the newly established Warner Brothers Records. George Greeley arranged, orchestrated and performed as primary artist for a series of hit recordings entitled "Popular Piano Concertos." As music tastes changed in the late 1960s, Greeley had already moved into television, composing themes and music for popular TV series like My Favorite Martian,The Ghost and Mrs. Muir,Nanny and the Professor, and Small Wonder. He performed as featured piano soloist and as guest conductor in concert appearances around the world. He died from emphysema at age 89 in Los Angeles, California.
Perry Como was a prolific recording artist for the RCA Victor label between 1943 and 1987, and is credited with numerous gold records. Como had so many recordings achieve gold-record status that he refused to have many of them certified. Over the decades, Como is reported to have sold millions of records, but he commonly suppressed these figures.
"Kiss Me Quick" is a 1961 song recorded by Elvis Presley which was first released on the album Pot Luck with Elvis. It was released as a single in the UK in 1963 and the U.S. in 1964.
Lawrence Duchow was an American bandleader recorded on the RCA Victor label from 1932 to 1954. He was a member of the International Polka Association and Polka Hall of Fame. With his Red Raven Orchestra, named after the Red Raven Polka, he competed in polka contests against the bands of Frankie Yankovic, Whoopee John Wilfahrt, Romy Gosz, Louis Bashell, and Harold Loeffelmacher.
