Accordion Noir 2024-04-24: Fifty Years Of Co-op Radio & 30 Years of Wisconsin Polka!

On April 21st, 1994, the Polka was proclaimed the official state dance of Wisconsin. From that departure point, your host Bruce Triggs took an exploration into the wacky world of the most hated popular and fun dance fad that’s been going strong for nearly two centuries, since the 1830s!  
[Bruce interjects, “Whoa Rowan, I’d say outside polka communities the style might be ‘misunderstood’ or ‘overlooked’. Polka doesn’t even make these lists of unpopular music or dances. That ‘hated’ stereotype inherited from baby-boomers has outgrown any basis in most people’s personal experience. We’re here to challenge, not spread it.”]

Bruce forgot to mention his prediction that the Polka is due for a bicentennial revival in about 2030 or so. Which should coincide with one of the reoccurring “return of the year of the accordion revivals”. So expect there to be some sort of grand squeezebox/polka conjunction in the next ten years or so where a Macarena/Beer-Barrel Polka-style hit song sweeps the planet 1830s/1930s/2030s style and two-beats us out of some global malaise. 🌏

If your Apple or Android (or plain old RSS) podcast subscriptions (strongly recommended!) haven’t alerted you to the episode’s availability yet, you can enjoy listening to it as digital audio courtesy of the Internet Archive. Here’s its playlist:

AccNoir–2024–04-24, Fifty Years Of Co-op Radio & 30 Years of Wisconsin Polka!

It’s the 50th Year Anniversary Fundraiser for Vancouver Co-op Radio
So pitch in to make Accordion Noir a top fund-raising Music show and support all the other perhaps more substantive programming on Co-op Radio. Because that warms my heart and makes me laugh as well.

http://AccordionNoir.org, https://coopradio.org/donate

Alex Meixner presents a short history of polka styles in Wisconsin and the USA.

* Bill Davis Trio w/Bruce Triggs – ‟Bring the Money In” (1954) – Co-op Radio Member Drive PRA – http://www.globaldogproductions.info/o/okeh-45s.html
* The Dardanelles – ‟The Many Voices of Accordion Noir, PRA 100.5 FM” – tune “Boyd’s Cove Singles” – The Dardanelles (2009) – Newfoundland, Canada – http://thedardanelles.com/ – https://thedards.bandcamp.com/releases

* Artist – “Song” – Album (Date) – Where they’re from – Artist Links – Comments

* Betty White’s How to Dance Course – ‟Heel and Toe, Skater’s Position (Man and Woman)” – How to POLKA (1960)
* The Dreadnoughts – ‟Vicki’s Polka” – Roll and Go (2022) – Vancouver, BC, Canada – http://www.thedreadnoughts.com/https://thedreadnoughts.bandcamp.com
* Felipe Pérez – ‟Al Zaz y Zaz” – Texas en Polka (2018) – San Antonio, Texas, USA – www.springfedrecords.com
* Esmerelda Strange – ‟This Ain’t No Fucking Polka” – Introducing Esmerelda Strange (2005) – Bay Area, California, USA (Now in Denver) – http://www.esmereldastrange.com
* Pee Wee King – ‟Get Together Polka” – Pee Wee King’s Country Hoedown (1952) – Milwaukee, Wisconsin / Nashville, Tennessee, USA – http://www.bloodshotrecords.com/album/pee-wee-king-country-hoedown
* The Joaquin Brothers – ‟Never on Sunday Polka” – Popular Dance Music of the Natives of Southern Arizona (2009– http://www.canyonrecords.com
* Brave Combo – ‟Stan Blout Medley” – Polka’s Revenge (2007) – Denton, Texas, USA – http://www.brave.com/bo/
* Carolyn DeZurik Lou Prohut & The Polka Rounders – ‟You You You Are The One” – Sourced from the Internet Archive (But it doesn’t seem to be there now) (1940s?) – http://www.archive.org/index.php – http://www.hillbilly-music.com/artists/story/index.php?id=12066 has a nice history of the DeZuriks
* Polka Dogs – ‟Thirty Reasons” – The Entertainers (1991) – Toronto, Ontario, Canada – Tiina Kiik, acc. – http://thepolkadogs.com
* Qristina Bachand & Quinn Bachand – ‟Polka Medley (Kenmare / Britches Full of Stitches / Bill Sulliva” – Relative Minors (2008) – Victoria, BC, Canada – https://qbachand.com – Adrian Dolan, acc
* November Criminals – ‟Nachtwurst” – November Criminals (2018?) – Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA – http://milwaukeepolkariot.com
* Steve Jordan – ‟Porque Sera” – 20 Golden Hits – San Antonio, Texas, USA
* The Vitak-Elsnic Collection – ‟Rain Rain Polka” – Then And Now (2015) – http://alexmeixner.com/
* Pistolera – ‟Cazador” – Siempre Hay Salida (2006) – Brooklyn, New York (USA) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pistolera_(band)
* Vinta – ‟Polka” – Vinta Plays Melchior (2022) – Toronto, Ontario, Canada – https://vinta.bandcamp.com
Accordionist Elisabeth Melchior (1926-1999) was from the Wallonia region of Belgium. John David Williams: acc, clarinet; Emilyn Stam: fiddle, acc; Nathan Smith: fiddle; Robert Alan Mackie: bass
* Louis Massey – ‟Squeeze Box Polka” – The History Of Country & Western Music [Disc 9] (1942) – Midland, Texas, USA – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Massey (There’s not nearly enough about her and their band online. Another proof that you can research PEZ dispensers, but not some other things.)
* Ana BonBon – ‟Country Fried Polka” – 14th Annual Accordion Noir Festival, Oct. 5, 2021 (2021) – Vancouver, BC, Canada –  https://anabonbon.com

Thanks for reading us here (and hopefully listening to us, there), but if you find you want more, you can always keep up with us on … well, we’re putting our Twitter on the back burner indefinitely in pursuit of sunnier pastures, such as Mastodon at @accordionnoir@zirk.us and @AccordionBruce@mastodon.social (we’re even trying out BlueSky to limited effect at accordionnoir.bsky.social) , Instagram (@AccordionNoirFest), and Facebook at Accordion Noir fans, the Accordion Noir Festival, and the Vancouver Squeezebox Circle.  Cheers & squeeze on!