Gary Brueggen was born in the small farming community of Cashton, Wi, where at the young age of two he became captivated by polka music he heard on the radio. Recognizing his potential, Gary’s parents bought him his first set of drums at five years old, and by the…
Born on May 20, 1921 in the “Old Polish” Fleet Avenue neighborhood of Cleveland, OH, Chester Budny became one of the city’s great southside musicians of the 1940s and 1950s. At the young age of 4, he displayed a keen interest in music and was given a violin at…
Eddie was born in Toledo, Ohio to a musical family. Mother Gina is a trained clarinetist and vocalist while father, Dionysius “Danny” Biegaj played trumpet and sang. With the help of “Busia” Helen (his maternal grandmother) at a young age Eddie started his love for polka and Polish culture…
Music has always played an important part of Frank Borzymowski’s life. His first professional gig was at the ripe old age of 14 and it wasn’t long after that all of Baltimore’s Polonia wanted to book Joe and Anita’s boy for their functions. Frank’s high school and college years…
Richard J. Bobinski was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, on January 18, 1939, to Mr. & Mrs. Robert Bobinski. Rich began playing the trumpet when he was about nine years old after seeing a Harry James movie. His first instructor was Polish and it wasn’t long before he…
Stanley “Stas” Bulanda’s love for polka music started at a very early age while listening to the music of his fathers’ and uncles’ polka band. They would let him sit on the stage and started his musical education. After a few years, they even allowed him to…
William (Bill) Borek was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, on July 19, 1941, to Joseph and Stella (Socha) Borek. His dad owned and operated a very successful Polonia Bakery in northern Rhode Island for many years, where he and his younger brother Edward would work as kids helping…
Adam Barthalt was born in Ridgewood, Queens, NY on June 11, 1935. Adams’s deep-rooted interest in music began unpretentiously at the age of three with a toy accordion he received from his grandparents while on a visit with his mother to Europe. By the time Adam was…
Billy Belina has spent a major part of his life playing and promoting polka music. Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1947, Billy has his parents to thank for much of his success in the polka industry. In his early years, Billy often joined his parents on the two-hour…
Roger Bright of New Glarus, Wisconsin, was a musician, bandleader, recording artist, deejay and performer. Roger Bright was born February 12, 1937, and died August 28, 2001, at Boulder Colorado Community Hospital from a heart attack he suffered while performing at a polka festival in Boulder. …
Michael “Mitch” Biskup born in Montreal Canada, joined a new polka band back in 1969 called the Golden Brass, which soon became one of the top five polka bands in the nation and in 1971 captured the “Triple Crown” by winning the IPA Awards for Best LP, “Let The…
Having been raised in an ethnic community in Niagara Falls, New York undoubtedly had something to do with Freddie Bulinski’s early exposure to and fascination with Polka music. He was born February 5, 1947 to Fred and Martha Bulinski, the eldest of three children. His sister, Suzanne is…
Kenny Bass (Peter Bastasic, Jr.) was considered one of the all time polka greats that made Cleveland the great polka center that it is. Since 1948 he had hosted radio programs on local area stations including former WSRS, WJMO, WBKC, WELW, WLYT and currently on the Chardon station. …
Antonina “Antoinette” Blazonczyk was born and raised in the southern mountainous part of Poland in a village called Chocholow. Also known as “Gazdzina z Chocholowa” – Antoinette was a “goralka” and extremely proud of her Polish Heritage. Back in the 1940’s Antoinette Blazonczyk recorded four 78 rpm records…
Johnnie Bomba was born in Chicago. While in the 4th grade at Sacred Heart School. He started playing clarinet with the school band. In 7th grade he already played with local dance bands, and in 8th grade formed his own group. In De La Salle High School he was…
Ray is the son of Frank and Lottie Budzilek, who were both born in Warsaw, Poland. He played polka music at about 8 years of age on a toy piano. He then switched to accordion and began playing at weddings. He organized a musical aggregation in his…
Eddie Blazonczyk was a native Chicagoan, son of Fred and Antoinette Blazonczyk, who for years operated the Pulaski Village Ballroom and later the Club Antoinette in Chicago. Eddie started playing polkas in the early fifties with a four-piece combo known as “Happy Eddie and his Polka Jesters.” They performed…
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