Richard Walter Rzeszutko was born on March 6, 1958, to Sally & Chester Rzeszutko of Chicago, IL. Since his grandfather was the original drummer with the Steve Adamczyk Band, Rick was exposed to the sounds of polka music from an early age. While attending St. Peter & Paul School, Rick played trumpet in the same band program that taught Lenny Gomulka and Jerry Mytych, along with many other prominent polka musicians. Later, he joined a…
Engineer, producer. announcer and owner of Peppermint Productions, Gary Rhamy has engineered four Grammy winning albums. He has produced over 500 albums for more than 175 polka artists alone. While at Ohio University where Gary (seated at right) received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in broadcasting he produced a live jazz program called “Campus Jazz” which aired weekly on WLW Radio in Cincinnati. After college, Gary went to Youngstown in 1967 to…
Joe Rock, drummer boy extraordinaire, rising as perhaps one of the finest big band recording orchestras on the East Coast, began his career in the music field in the late 1930’s, in the greater Waterbury area, as the drummer in the Herb Lukowski Orchestra. His love and desire to excel in the field of polka music grew as time progressed. In the early 40’s due to the lack of progress within the…
Carl Rohwetter was born March 1, 1930, the son of John and Elizabeth Rohwetter in Marion Township, County of Saginaw, Michigan. His father played the button accordion, as so many did in the farming area. Carl along with his brothers, John and Francis were always entertained with Polka Music. Carl’s love of Polka Music started as a very young child. In 1950, he was discharged from the United States Marine Corps after…
Jan Robak was born in Poland on December 1, 1890, and passed away on September 8, 1967. He came to this country and Chicopee, Massachusetts with his violin at the age of ten. He started to play the violin in Poland and continued his study of violin and music after coming to this country. His first job in Chicopee was at the Johnson and Johnson Textile Mill. As he grew older he formed…
John Michael Robel was born in Austria February 14, 1903. His parents, John and Mary, were Austrian immigrants of Slovak descent, who settled in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He took his first music lessons on a clarinet from Tommy Dorsey, Sr. Later, John played with Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey in the Elmore Band. The nickname “Jolly Jack” was unwittingly spawned on the bandstand by Tommy Dorsey when Tommy engaged in a friendly scuffle with…
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…
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