[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 78 (Tuesday, June 16, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1136-E1137]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           A TRIBUTE TO AMERICA'S POLKA KING: FRANK YANKOVIC

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GERALD D. KLECZKA

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 16, 1998

  Mr. KLECZKA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and pay tribute to 
Frank Yankovic on his 50th anniversary as America's Polka King. On June 
8th, 1948, in the Milwaukee Auditorium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Frank 
Yankovic was crowned ``America's Polka King'' before 7000 screaming 
fans. Fifty years later, he is still ``The King'' to polka fans around 
the country, spurring a movement by Congress to award him a National 
Medal of Arts.
  Yankovic's contributions to the popularity of polka music are 
legendary. But Frank's beginnings were rather modest, playing Slovenian 
songs on a button box for neighbors and boarders at his parents' home. 
At age 19, Yankovic's interest turned to the piano accordion, which 
upset his father because he felt Frankie could never make a living 
playing it. Secretly, Frankie's mother bought him a piano accordion, 
which he practiced at his sister's house until he played it well enough 
to play in front of his dad. After hearing Frankie play, his father put 
his arms around him and said, ``If you're going to play it, play it 
well.''
  And play it well he did, as he and his friends became one of the most 
popular bands in town, getting exposure on Doctor James Malle's Sunday 
Solvenian radio program, and cutting several records under the name of 
the Solvene Folk Orchestra. In 1941, the day before Pearl Harbor, 
Frankie opened his own bar, which quickly became a popular hangout for 
musicians. But World War II took him overseas, where he nearly lost his 
life in the Battle of the Bulge, suffering from frost bite so severe in 
his hands and feet that gangrene had set it and doctors planned to 
amputate. But Frankie wouldn't let them, and after a long course of 
penicillin and drugs, he began to regain the use of his hands and feet. 
For therapy, the doctors gave him an old accordion to play. Soon he was 
entertaining the whole hospital.
  Yankovic came home from the army and went back to his bar, which was 
more popular

[[Page E1137]]

than ever. In 1946, Columbia offered Frankie a recording contract with 
a two year option. That contract lasted for 26 years. In December of 
1947, Yankovic heard a song called ``Just Because'' which he felt could 
be a hit, but Columbia would not record it, until Frankie offered to 
buy the first 10,000 records himself. That song bridged the barrier 
between popular music and polka and launched Yankovic into the national 
spotlight. And there he stayed, with hits like ``Blue Skirt Waltz'' and 
``Just Because'', which both became gold records. Frank won the first 
Grammy ever given for polka music, and was one of the first men 
inducted into the ``International Polka Hall of Fame'' in Chicago. But 
through it all, Frankie Yankovic has remained dedicated to his fans, 
and his enthusiasm for entertaining has never waned.
  Frankie Yankovic is and always will be, ``America's Polka King.''

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