“Joe Pat” Paterek was born in Chicago to Joseph and Mary Paterek on May 21, 1919. His father was of Slovak ancestry and his mother was of Polish origin. Joe became interested in music at an early age and began taking music lessons while attending local schools. After developing a serious pursuit of music, Joe formed his first band in 1932. For several years he continued to lead his band and on Thanksgiving…
When it comes to polka music the name of Sajewski is a household word, representing an association of over 80 years in the annals of Polish and polka music in America. Alvin Sajewski carried on the tradition established by his father, who opened their first music store in 1897 in Chicago. In those early years the inventory included theatrical books, sheet music, instruments, piano rolls and recordings. In time the store was flourishing and the…
Leon J. Kozicki was born on July 4, 1930 in Chicago. He attended grammar school at St. Peter and Paul’s at which time he first became exposed to music when his father presented him with a button accordion one Christmas. As a youngster he became ill with pneumonia and upon recovery the doctor recommended a wind instrument to help develop and strengthen his lungs. He tried the trumpet but settled with the clarinet on which…
In the early days of polka music, what Alvin Sajewski was to Chicago … Ignacy Podgorski to Philadelphia … Brunon Kryger to Eastern Pennsylvania … Joe Lazarz was to the Northeast. Born in 1895 in the village of Swiebodzin, Poland, he started music lessons at an early age, as his father and uncles were musicians. Joe Lazarz came to Indian Orchard, Massachusetts in 1913, and started working at the Indian Motorcycle Company, and playing…
The polka career of Chet Schafer began in 1950, when, together with Li’l Wally Jagiello, their voices were heard on a half-hour polka program on radio station WCRW in Chicago. But things didn’t roll for Chet until he started his own “Polka Hit Parade” program on station WTAQ, LaGrange, Illinois, in 1952. On this program he spun the best selling polka records according to the surveys, getting the idea from the then popular…
The Dick Rodgers International TV Recording Orchestra was organized in 1945 when Dick formed a band comprised of high school students. Within a few years the band was doing live radio broadcasts and made their first recording in Chicago. From recordings and radio the next step in promoting the band was TV. In 1955 the first live telecast was made over Station WLUK, Green Bay, Wisconsin. The program was later expanded from a half…
Harold Loeffelmacher was born in 1905 on a farm in Nicollet county near Fort Ridgely of frontier days. He moved to New Ulm, with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Loeffelmacher. He took his first music lesson on a violin from a Lutheran minister. He graduated from the violin to wind when he bought a mail order horn and was taught by A. P. Boock of New Ulm. He played in the 205th…
Steve Adamczyk was born in Chicago, the eldest of four children of the late Stephen and Lottie (nee Kazanecki) Adamczyk. His parents introduced Steve to music at an early age, enrolling him as a student of piano, his first teachers being the Felician Sisters of SS. Peter and Paul Parish. When a school was organized, Steve turned his attention to the saxophone and clarinet. When in their teens, Steve and a few neighborhood…
Walt Solek got his first break with the “Krakowska” orchestra organized by his brother Henry. In 1939 after recording with them on the RCA Victor label, he organized his own polka band mixing good polka music and good comedy. In 1940 Uncle Sam called him into the Navy and got the first Sailor who could sing “Anchors Aweigh” in Polish. After his hitch in the service the band regrouped and cut “Julida Polka”…
Two words that are virtually synonymous to thousands of fans throughout the country are “polka” and “Pillar,” like celery and salt they were made for each other. Born 34 years ago to Joseph and Stella Pillar Pillar of Uncasville, Connecticut, Richard has been setting toes a-tapping since 1958 when he formed his first orchestra, performing at school dances, weddings, and private parties. But fame arrived on supersonic wings and the band was soon on…
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 late teens in his home town of Cleveland. It developed into a big band sound with a huge following. Ray’s vocals, his accordion, plus the…
Gene Wisniewski, was the son of Polish immigrants who settled in Connecticut where his dad, a tailor, worked in the weaving Mills in Manchester. At the age of 15, with three months of instruction on the accordion, he played his first jobs at weddings and taverns with his two brothers on banjo and sax. From then it developed into a nine-piece orchestra. This new career was interrupted by World War II when he…
Marion Lush was born in 1931. He began playing accordion at the age of 8, then took up drums, followed by trumpet. At age 16 he joined the American Federation of Musicians. Appearing regularly on the Ron Terry Polka Show on WGN-TV for eight years, he was voted “Chicago’s Most Popular Polka Band” in a contest conducted by that show. His first Dyno record hit “Hey Cavalier Polka” further increased his popularity. His…
While still in his early teens, Henry Mocarski, of Windsor, Connecticut started a polka band with Emil Juda on drums, Ray Zak on sax, and Henry Mocarski on accordion. Using the first names of Ray Zak and Henry Mocarski, the Ray Henry Orchestra was born. This group played in a local restaurant for approximately 2 ½ years with much of their earnings used to build up their polka library. Then they made plans…
Bernie Witkowski – Bernie Wyte – was born in New York, a fourth generation of clarinet players. His talent didn’t stop with playing the clarinet; he also plays sax, accordion, flute, drums and organ, writes the words and music to songs, introduces new dances and finds time to conduct a successful radio show. He studied music at New York University where he received an M.A. degree. As an A & R Man of…
Walter Dana – Wladyslaw Dan Danilowski – a resident of Miami Beach, Florida, was born in Warsaw, Poland. He began playing piano and composing at the age of seven. His musical education was obtained at the Warsaw Conservatory and Paris. He received a law diploma at the Warsaw University. He worked as press attaché at the Polish Foreign Office and also as an accompanist and musical illustrator with the “Qui Pro Quo” Theatre. He…
Frank Wojnarowski, a resident of Fairfield, Connecticut, was born in Sanok, Poland. He started the Frank Wojnarowski Orchestra thirty years ago; his instrument was the violin. His sister Eleanore was the original vocalist in the band. Their first break, a recording session with Dana Records, came in 1947 – “Bije Mamcia” was their first record. Shortly after came a big hit, “Jedzie Boat.” This is the record that touched off the polka…
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 at many Polish weddings, anniversaries and other engagements in Chicagoland. In 1958 Eddie went into the Pop music field as a song writer and…
Both Andy Yankovic and Rose Mele came to America in 1903 from the Republic of Slovenia. However, neither knew the other in the old country. They first met in a lumber camp in Davis, West Virginia, where many Slovenes worked. Married in 1910, they had three daughters: Josephine, Rose and Mary. In 1915, Frankie, their only son was born. Eventually, Yankovic moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Andy Yankovic worked as a crane operator before investing…
Li’l Wally has been one of the most important and influential polka musicians in America. He was responsible for creating the Chicago-style polka, a slower, more danceable, more improvisational sound, whose core appeal lay with Polish-Americans. Wally was a cottage industry unto himself, recording at an often frantic pace and releasing over 150 albums on his own Jay Jay label. He played both concertina and drums in concert, and performed good-humored dance tunes and…
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