Arts & Entertainment/Television
Polka –
America's Other Great
Musical Tradition
October 1, 2001
"Live
it up –
it's time to polka!" – They were the peppy ditties that
defined a generation, a people, a culture -- and most bowling teams.
Undeniably, polka is a now an integral part of the American cultural
tapestry. HFH takes a sneak peek at Ken Burns' next documentary.
"They are the flip-side of the
blues, and jazz played inside-out -- vit a whole lot of crazy fun to boot,"
Erie, PA polka king, Stosho 'Roly-Poly' Klzyyzvzzski once observed.
The
common assumption about polka is that when it comes to letting loose and
"going nuts," all it takes for a polka is some happy guys in bright red vests, an
accordion and heaps of something called "polkatude...."
But wait, there's more: In his next historical
documentary Ken Burns takes on the gargantuan task of exploring the myriad
complexities of this energetic musical culture.
In Polka, America's
Other Great Musical Tradition, Burns again
employs his masterful documentary style to celebrate the polka's cultural triumph as
a uniquely American form, with in-depth looks into the lives and work of its
artistic giants. And, he doesn't pull any punches when he
delves into the polka world's dark underbelly to reveal its sad and forgotten victims.
This exclusive
preview reveals Burns offers nothing less than an historical odyssey that will leave
the viewer both emotionally elated and intellectually dumfounded. --
Editor.
by Richard Holland
Another
carefully researched, beautifully produced Ken Burns documentary, this
exhaustive investigation of the polka and its influence on American culture runs
a full two and a half hours.
The
first half-hour begins with the early polka bands of Walter Solek (the
Hoya-Hoya-Boom-Boom
and 40-20-35 polkas), surveying the
foods and fashions of the genre by examining the origins of the gwumpke, the classic
plaid suit and “pierogi shorts.” It then discusses the rise and fall of the
lawn flamingo and its lasting impact on the American psyche as well as the rise
of “clutter” as a decorating
concept. It culminates with a close examination of the aqua and lime-green
living room as the setting for the sparkly ceiling.
Hey! Hey! Hey! Saturday night in Astabula, Ohio
would've
been just be another
bowling night without Li'l Wally kicking up his boots at the Polkarama.
The
second half-hour, titled Every Day was
Dingus Day, explores polka’s Golden Age when the airwaves were alive with
the sounds of polka and everybody “could go nuts.” Some of the big bands featured and their songs are:
“Cabbage, Food of Romance” by Ni”xnvom Dicksnonsxm and his Polish Dixie
Cups, “Kiss Me Kielbasa Boy” by the Swinging Solek Sisters and “Pierogi
Shorts on the Prowl,” the first hit by Roger Pahoshkovviwwx and his Randy Men.
Roger
Pahoshkowiwwx
(far right) leads his feel-good Randy Men
in Gary, Indiana's legendary Polkadrome
(1957)
The
third half-hour is The Babka Underground,
which explores the seedy world of instant coffee and its siren song to young
urban polka musicians. A majority of this installment is devoted to Burn’s
uncharacteristically unsentimental critique of the cheap exploitation of polka’s popularity by Lawrence Welk, whom he dubs the “Polka Antichrist,”
Burns keeps his obvious disgust for this polka pretender in check, letting
excerpts from letters written home by impressionable young polka musicians on
the road prove his point that polka is an art form where dues must be paid. Here
Burn’s signature style hits a high note as we hear the poignant plea of one
young stomper who wrote from a rooming house above a Milwaukee bowling alley in
1959: “Mama, I thought it vas romance, but next morning I vake up face down in
a room strewn vit cabbage, and she’s gone -- and so is my accordion.”
Lowest common denominator?
Polka popularizer Lawrence Welk on his ABC television show (1961)
The
fourth half-hour, Hey, What about Me?,
centers on Winton Marsalis, who in a long interview rambles on incessantly
about early African-American polka street bands and their first song to hit
white American polka radio -- "Who Stole the Keeshka, and What
Is a Damn
Keeshka, Anyway? Polka." Winton also pulls out his trumpet and demonstrates
the so-called “Boom-Boom, Umpah, Crash" style. No mention is made of the
influence of Louis Armstrong.
This
excellent series saves the best for the final half-hour, Crossover Dreams, which features the work of the present-day Polka
musicians expanding their genre into new directions.
"Ve don't do 'Beer Barrel Polka' no more; no matter how
much they all scream for it," says VH1 extreme-polka diva Babe Lumpka, who has been
dubbed the "Alanis Morissette of contemporary polka."
The aging but
indefatigable polka luminary Roger Pahoshkovviwwx and his Randy Men perform
accordion and tuba versions of “Vind
Beneath My Vings” and “Papa Can You Hear Me” (from Yentil). Burns
masterfully leaves us wanting more as he employs an edgy home video of Cleveland
wedding band legend Stoshko Veselvetimpx and his Band of Renown performing the
Michael Jackson songbook and, at the appropriate moments, “Touch de Damn
Ting,”
Give
a hearty polka cheer to Ken Burns – in two and a half hours he’s done more
for this musical form than a truckload of free dancing boots.
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