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IPA Hall of Fame Biography
June 21, 1951, Dan Gury was born in Dearborn MI. Dan has been exposed to music since the early age of five when playing and recording music on his parents reel to reel tape machine. Dan would listen to the hits of the 1950’s from bands of Li’l Wally and Marion Lush. Dan would park himself by the jukebox in his dads bar and play 45’s all day long.
Dan started piano lessons at the age of six and would continue with piano lessons up until the age of eleven when he started accordion lessons. Dan would sing and write original songs but with “hokey lyrics” as he puts it.
While Dan was in high school, a friend knew of his love for polkas and was invited over to listen to a few polka bands on records. Dan heard “Let’s Hear a Polka” by Eddie Blazonczyk and the VersaTones and he also heard a Happy Louie song on that recording as well. Dan became a fan of both instantly. Dan being a broke high school student though, and wanting to fill his polka collection of Eddie and Louie, he would take several of his original 1960’s Beatles albums, reseal them, and exchange them for polka records at a local record store.
At age sixteen, Dan would form his first polka band called Dan Gury & The Polka Playboys with a few of his fellow high school buddies that also wanted to form a polka band.
It was at the age of twenty and twenty-one when Dan was getting fully involved with polkas. He discovered a local polka show, The Polka Joe and Waltzing Wanda Show on the radio, and they would announce different polka events and Dan would attend most of them. From seeing different polka bands at weddings and dances, Dan became close friends with most of the polka musicians from around the area and the DynaDukes were born shortly after. Dan would write a polka called Polka Joe and Waltzing Wanda which was first heard at jam sessions in the Detroit area. Joe and Wanda Marcissuk were so inpressed with the song Dan wrote, Polka Joe took Dan and the DynaDukes to Bel-Aire Studios to record the song on 45 rpm record. The show used it as their theme song until the show ended.
During the year 1971, The Dyna-Dukes had their first road job to the Monessen-Charleroi area of Pennsylvania. Dan was so grateful at how nice and hospitable everyone was to the Dyna-Dukes. Dan says that is what inspired him to write the song Pennsylvania Hills. This song was first recorded at Bel- Aire Studios on the Dyna-Dukes first LP in December 1971. This song has been recorded by many polka bands and also appeared on a PBS special performed by the Polka Family Band.
Dan has written and recorded over 40 original songs and has 10 recordings of his own.
Besides traveling throughout the years with his own band, Dan would also travel and play jobs with different groups as well, such as, The Polish Kid (Don Cialkowszewski), The Impalas from Detroit, The New Generation Band from Detroit and also the Orlando Polka Magic.
In recent years, Dan has been heard as a Polka I.J. on The Polka Jammer Network for several years and he would also create different polka videos on YouTube called PolkaVision trying to help promote the polka industry.