Editing Frankie Yankovic

{{Short description|Slovenian-American musician}}
{{use mdy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| name             = Frankie Yankovic
| image            = Frank Yankovic 1958.JPG
| caption          = Frankie Yankovic in 1958
| image_size       = 188
| background       = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1915|7|28}}
| birth_place      = [[Davis, West Virginia]], U.S.
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1998|10|14|1915|7|15}}
| death_place      = [[New Port Richey, Florida]], U.S.
| origin           = 
| birth_name       = Frank John Yankovic
| instrument       = [[Accordion]]
| genre            = [[Slovenian-style polka]]
| occupation       = 
| years_active     = 
| label            = 
}}

'''Frank John Yankovic''' (July 28, 1915 – October 14, 1998) was an American [[accordion]] player and [[polka]] musician. Known as "America's Polka King", Yankovic was considered the premier artist to play in the [[Slovenian-style polka|Slovenian style]] during his long career. He was not related to fellow accordionist [["Weird Al" Yankovic]], although the two collaborated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRwSHIQdeUw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/tRwSHIQdeUw| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Weird Al and Frankie Yankovick- Polka Melody|date=January 31, 2011 |access-date=December 28, 2020|via=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Background==
Yankovic was born in [[Davis, West Virginia|Davis]] (West Virginia) to [[Slovenes|Slovene]] immigrant parents: Andrew Yankovic (''Andrej Jankovič'', 1879–1949) from [[Kal, Pivka|Kal]] and Rose T. Yankovic (née ''Terezija Mele'', 1886–1968) from [[Cerknica]], who married in 1910.<ref>{{cite book |title=Taufbuch |date=1882–1897 |location=Cerknica |page=79 |url=https://data.matricula-online.eu/sl/slovenia/ljubljana/cerknica/03793/?pg=82 |access-date=November 26, 2022}}</ref> Yankovic was raised in the [[Collinwood]] neighborhood on [[Cleveland]]'s East Side.<ref name="yankbio">{{cite web | url=http://www.polkas.com/yankovic/yankbio.htm | title=Frank's Life Story | access-date=July 21, 2014 | last=Smodic |first=Frank Jr. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308231458/http://www.polkas.com/yankovic/yankbio.htm |archive-date=2018-03-08 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> He recorded over 200 songs and sold over 30 million records in his career.<ref name="Gogala">{{cite web |url=https://stareslike.cerknica.org/2011/08/24/1930-cleveland-frank-yankovic |first=Dušan |last=Gogala |title=1930 Cleveland – Frank Yankovic |date=24 August 2011 |website=Stareslike |language=sl}}</ref> In 1986, he was awarded the first-ever [[Grammy]] in the [[Best Polka Recording]] category.<ref name="grammys">{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/arts/music/05polk.html?_r=0 | title=Polka Music Is Eliminated as Grammy Award Category |work=The New York Times Company | date=June 4, 2009 | access-date=July 21, 2014 | author=Sisaro, Ben}}</ref> He rarely strayed from Slovenian-style polka, but did record with country guitarist [[Chet Atkins]] and pop singer [[Everly Brothers|Don Everly]]. He also recorded a version of the "[[Too Fat Polka]]" with comedian [[Drew Carey]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Too Fat Polka | url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/too-fat-polka-mt0003470645 | website=Allmusic | access-date=May 20, 2019 }}</ref>

==History==
Yankovic's father, a blacksmith, and his mother, a cook, met in a [[lumber camp]] in West Virginia where they both worked. When Yankovic was young, his father moved to [[Cleveland]] to escape authorities who learned of his [[Rum-running|bootlegging]], and the rest of the family followed shortly thereafter. While living in Cleveland, he became enthralled by the brass bands that played at Slovenian social functions. His mother took on boarders to help with the family finances, including a man named Max Zelodec who performed Slovenian tunes on a [[button box]]. Yankovic acquired an accordion at age 9, and received a few lessons from Zelodec. By the late 1920s, in his early teenage years, he was a working musician, playing for community events.<ref name="yankbio"/><ref name=Greene>{{cite book|title=A Passion for Polka|last=Greene|first=Victor|year=1992|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=0-520-07584-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/passionforpolkao00gree/page/355 355]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/passionforpolkao00gree}}</ref> In the 1930s, he formed a business relationship with Joe Trolli and began making radio appearances on stations such as WJAY and WGAR. As his reputation spread, he sought opportunities to make records, but the major labels turned him down. His first records were made for the Yankee and Joliet labels operated by Fred Wolf,<ref name=Greene /> and the expenses were paid for by Yankovic himself.<ref name="yankbio"/>

In 1940, he married his first wife June, and they began to raise a family. However, the expenses of family life quickly overcame the incoming money from his music career, so he opened a tavern, calling it the Yankovic Bar. It became a popular hangout for local musicians, and he continued to run it until he sold it in 1948, dedicating himself to the accordion.<ref name="yankbio"/>

Yankovic enlisted in the armed forces in 1943 and cut numerous records while on leave, prior to his departure for Europe. Yankovic was assigned duty in 1943 in the infantry as a [[M2 flamethrower|flame-thrower]] operator.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://tampabay.newspapers.com/image/327051530 |title=The Legend of the Polka King |publisher=Tampa Bay Times (The Floridian) |via=newspapers.com |quote=Yankovic was assigned duty in 1943 in the infantry as a flame-thrower operator.}}</ref> He fought in the [[Battle of the Bulge]] where a severe case of [[frostbite]] nearly required the amputation of his hands and feet. Fortunately, he was able to beat the resulting [[gangrene]] before that became necessary, and was awarded a [[Purple Heart]]. The doctors urged him to have his fingers amputated, but he refused, as that would have ended his music career.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.rtvslo.si/news-in-english/slovenia-revealed/a-slovenian-american-was-once-known-as-america-s-polka-king/322117 |first=Jaka |last=Bartolj |title=A Slovenian American was once known as America's Polka King |date=8 September 2016 |website=MMC |publisher=RTV Slovenia}}</ref> After getting out of the hospital, he and four other musicians were assigned to special services to entertain the troops, including [[General George Patton]] and his [[Third United States Army]].<ref name="yankbio"/>

Yankovic hit the national scene when he earned two platinum singles for "[[Elvis Presley's Sun recordings#Just Because|Just Because]]" (1947) and "[[Blue Skirt Waltz]]" (1949). Others who recorded the [[Blue Skirt Waltz]] were the [[Tunemixers]] and [[Guy Lombardo]] both in 1949, [[Lawrence Welk]] ([[Myron Floren]]) in 1958, [[Jim Ed Brown]] and the [[Browns (band)|Browns]] in 1960, [[Hank Thompson (musician)|Hank Thompson]] in 1962, and [[Bobby Vinton]] in 1976. Yankovic found a Bohemian Waltz called "Cervenou Sukynku," (written by Vaclav Blaha) or loosely translated, "Red Skirt Waltz." Yankovic asked [[Mitchell Parrish]] ("[[Stardust (1927 song)|Stardust]]", "[[Sleighride]]") to write new lyrics to the melody. Parrish changed "red" to "blue". Yankovic sold over 2.5 million records and with the Tunemixers version and Guy Lombardo's version, it sold over 4 million records total in 1949. It was the second Cleveland-style song to sell over one million recordings.
 
Columbia Records initially refused to record "Just Because", because other versions of the song had been around for years without much success; only allowing it when Yankovic said that he would buy the first 10,000 records.<ref name="yankbio"/> Yankovic obtained the title of America's Polka King after beating [[Louis Bashell]], [[Romy Gosz]], [[Harold Loeffelmacher|Harold Loeffelmacher and the Six Fat Dutchmen]], [[Whoopee John Wilfahrt]], and [[Lawrence Duchow]] in a battle of the bands in Milwaukee at the [[Milwaukee Arena]] on June 9, 1948.<ref name=Greene />

In 1950, he made his [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] debut and collaborated with [[Doris Day]] as a singer.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2495167960495392&id=210557938956417 |title=The Polka Hall of Fame Remembers |date=20 May 2019 |publisher=National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame Museum}}</ref>

In 1970, a house fire destroyed the gold records for "Just Because" and "Blue Skirt Waltz".<ref name="yankbio"/>

Yankovic also hosted the television series ''Polka Time'' for [[Buffalo, New York]]-based [[WKBW-TV]] for 26 weeks in 1962. He commuted from Cleveland to host each episode, which aired live. He also hosted a similar show at WGN-TV Chicago at about the same time.

He won a [[Grammy Award]] in 1986 for his album ''[[70 Years of Hits]]''. He was the first winner in the Polka category. The NARAS (Grammy) organization dropped the category in 2008.<ref name="grammys"/>

He performed with musical comedian and fellow accordionist [["Weird Al" Yankovic]], although the two are not related.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/57901/20-weird-and-not-so-weird-facts-about-weird-al-yankovic-and-his-songs | title=20 Weird And Not So Weird Facts About "Weird Al" Yankovic and His Songs | publisher=Mental Floss, Inc. | access-date=July 21, 2014 | author=Cormier, Roger| date=July 21, 2014 }}</ref> Al, who also performs polka music among many other styles, has jokingly hypothesized that he was given accordion lessons as a child because his parents thought that "there should be at least one more accordion-playing Yankovic in the world."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://php.indiana.edu/~jbmorris/FAQ/al.booklet | title=Permanent Record: Al In The Box | access-date=August 24, 2006 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608050133/http://php.indiana.edu/~jbmorris/FAQ/al.booklet | archive-date=June 8, 2011 }}</ref> Al performed accordion and the backing vocal part on "[[Who Stole the Kishka?]]" on one of Frankie's final records, ''Songs of the Polka King, Vol. 1''. A portion of Frankie's "The Tick Tock Polka" is included in the song "Polka Face" on Weird Al's ''[[Alpocalypse]]''; it was used as a lead-in for Weird Al's take on "[[Tik Tok (song)|Tik Tok]]" by [[Kesha|Ke$ha]].

==Death==
Yankovic died on October 14, 1998, in [[New Port Richey, Florida]], from heart failure, at the age of 83. He is buried in Cleveland's [[Calvary Cemetery (Cleveland)|Calvary Cemetery]].<ref>Vigil, Vicki Blum (2007). ''Cemeteries of Northeast Ohio: Stones, Symbols & Stories''. Cleveland, OH: Gray & Company, Publishers. {{ISBN|978-1-59851-025-6}}</ref> Hundreds of friends, family, his loyal fans and fellow musicians attended his memorial service. At his peak, Yankovic traveled extensively and performed 325 shows a year. He sold 30 million records during his lifetime.<ref name="square">{{cite web | url=http://polkas.nl/frankieyankovic~article8.html | title=CLEVELAND SQUARE NAMED FOR POLKA KING. | access-date=July 21, 2014 | archive-date=July 26, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726090659/http://polkas.nl/frankieyankovic~article8.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Honors==
[[File:Yanksq2a.jpg|thumb|Intersection signpost]]
Frankie Yankovic visited [[Cerknica]], the hometown of his parents, in 1952 or 1953 and again in 1995.<ref name="Gogala" /> On the second occasion, a special reception was organized in his honor in [[Rakov Škocjan]]. He was presented with a commemorative certificate in recognition of his significant contributions to promoting Slovene culture worldwide. Additionally, he received an oil painting by the academic painter Tomaž Perko to remember his time in Cerknica.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stareslike.cerknica.org/2018/01/20/1995-cerknica-frank-yankovic-na-obisku |first=Tone |last=Urbas |title=1995 Cerknica – Frank Yankovič na obisku |date=January 20, 2018 |website=Stareslike |language=sl}}</ref>

In Bob Dolgan's 2006 biography of Yankovic, Frankie's longtime drummer Dave Wolnik observed that "Yankovic didn't have a street named for him in his own hometown". This launched a campaign by the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum and City Councilman [[Michael Polensek]],<ref>{{cite news | url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date:D&p_product=NewsBank&p_text_direct-0=document_id=(%2011B342D9E4F0B9E0%20)&p_docid=11B342D9E4F0B9E0&p_theme=aggregated5&p_queryname=11B342D9E4F0B9E0&f_openurl=yes&p_nbid=F58E58SUMTIzNjExMDAwMi4zNzkyNToxOjEyOjE5OC4zMC4yMjguMA&&p_multi=CPDB | title=Saluting king of polka: Square named in honor of Frankie Yankovic | work=[[The Plain Dealer]] | date=August 22, 2007 | access-date=March 3, 2009 | last=Albrecht | first=Brian}}</ref> and in a ceremony on August 21, 2007, the square at the intersection of Waterloo Rd. and East 152nd St. in Cleveland ({{coord|41.569|-81.5752}}), not far from where Yankovic grew up, was named in his honor.<ref name="square"/>

==Former band members==
{{Original research|section|date=September 2023}}
* Denny Boneck (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), stand-up bass and back-up vocals. Played, toured and recorded with Frank as one of the "Yanks" from 1970 to 1981. 
* Joseph A. Godec (upright 3/4 bass) and Frank Godec (guitar) toured Ely and range 1940-44 and 1951.  
* Johnny Pecon - Button Box and Piano Accordion with the original "Frankie Yankovic and His Yanks" from 1946 through 1949.  
* Henry "Hank The Yank" Bokal - Drummer with the original "Frankie Yankovic and His Yanks" from 1941 through 1949.
* Anthony "Tops" Cardone was a member of the popular Yankovic Show band that toured in the early 1950s, playing in Hollywood, Las Vegas, and top nightclubs in the United States. Tops played second accordion with Frank's band. 
* Georgie Cook - Banjo player, who helped Yankovic establish the "Cleveland Sound".
* [[Joey Miskulin]] - Began playing with Yankovic in 1962 at the age of 13. This was the start of a relationship that lasted for the next 35 years. Joey developed his skill with the accordion and music while touring with the band. Joey began writing and arranging songs for Yankovic, eventually arranging and producing some of Yankovic's albums, including the Grammy Award-winning album "70 Years of Hits".
* Jeff Winard - Accomplished accordionist from Milwaukee; traveled with Yankovic in later years.
* Rod Verette - played bass on Yankovic's west coast tour in late '80s.
* Marian "Lefty" Bell - played bass with Yankovic. 
* Steve Kucenski - played 2nd accordion in the late 70s to early 90s.
* Adolph "Church" Srnick - long time bass player with Yankovic. Played the stand up 3/4 bass and also the "baby" electric bass from 1945 until he died in 1968
*Eddie "Teener"<ref>Carmela Black, Teener's daughter</ref> - played banjo with Yankovic off and on from 1953 until his death in 1970.  Co-wrote with Yankovic on "Happy Polka", which was originally written as a commercial for the TV show.

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}
*[[Slovene Americans]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Dolgan, Bob (2006). ''America's Polka King: The Real Story of Frankie Yankovic''. Cleveland, OH: Gray & Company, Publishers. {{ISBN|978-1-59851-026-3}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100121055238/http://www.grayco.com/cleveland/books/10266/sampleChapter.html Sample text from the book ''America's Polka King'' by Bob Dolgan]
*[http://www.sunnews.com/news/1998/1022/efrank2.htm Newspaper Article]
*[http://elvispelvis.com/frankyankovic.htm Biography on ElvisPelvis.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716204826/http://elvispelvis.com/frankyankovic.htm |date=July 16, 2012 }}
*[https://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/essays/yankovic.pdf Library of Congress essay] on Yankovic.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050502003511/http://www.clevelandstyle.com/lifetimeachievement/yankovic.html Lifetime Achievement Honoree, sample music]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070829191331/http://kucinich.house.gov/Polka/polkaking.htm Dennis Kucinich's letter to Clinton in support of awarding Yankovic a National Medal of Arts]
*[http://www.soundfountain.org/rem/remyank.html Profile of Frank Yankovic at The Remington Site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121204024518/http://www.soundfountain.org/rem/remyank.html |date=December 4, 2012 }}
*[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D06E3DA123AF936A25753C1A96E958260 New York Times article on Yankovic's death]
*[https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/frankyankovic Good 'Early Years' bio at CD Baby]
{{West Virginia Music Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yankovic, Frankie}}
[[Category:1915 births]]
[[Category:1998 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Euclid, Ohio]]
[[Category:People from Tucker County, West Virginia]]
[[Category:American accordionists]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:American people of Slovenian descent]]
[[Category:Burials in Calvary Cemetery (Cleveland)]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
[[Category:Musicians from Ohio]]
[[Category:Polka musicians]]
[[Category:Slovene-American culture in Cleveland]]
[[Category:20th-century American musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century accordionists]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]