Extreme Polka

We have emerged...

We've emerged form the underground bunker with the core components of the next Polkaholics® album- an let me tell you folks it's going to be the best one yet!

After almost 23 hours of recording, we finished the principal tracks of bass, drums and guitar. We also were able to finish the lead vocals down for 3 songs, and we will finish with the rest of the vocals and the extra bells and whistles in April. If all goes well the next consanguinean will be sent off into the world at the end of the summer.

Shiny Happy Naked People

Since I get the most hits on this site because of the word "naked"...if you are lookign for porn- sorry to dissapoint you. If you are looking for some musings by an extreme polka bass player- then welcome!

As I spent 2 hours looking through a CD with almost 500 photos that Polka Man Fred gave me of our New Year's Eve show at Zakopane, I came up with two conclusions and they are this: There are a lot of attractive women at our shows and %90 of people that come to our shows have huge smiles on their faces.
So for you single fellows/ladies out there if you are looking for a fun evening with other ladies who enjoy the finer things in life--Dancing, Beer, and Polka-- then may I suggest you make your way to a Polkaholics® show in the near future? Hey I met my wife at a Polkaholics® show!

Now with that said- I need to get some of those images posted here...especially the image of the man who split his pants up the front so that the entire crowd could see his dirty tighty whities and then passed out drunk on the floor, or the image of the huge conga/polka line that wound it's way through the entire bar, and I need to post some images of the smiling faces. I've not seen most of these people before and I hope that they will either make their way to more shows or at least make their way our for our next New Year's Eve bash....and that they wear clean undies.

The funny part is that while I was looking at all of the images of people dancing and smiling and drinking, and of images of a PACKED Zakopane Lounge- I started hearing polka in my head and I realized that I really am a Polkaholic and I that I could not be happier!

The preparations for the new album...

The preparations for the new album are going extremely well, as we got together last night at our secret underground bunker and went over the 14 songs that are packed with that patented oohm-pa-pow sound that we love to play.
We came up with some new arrangements to songs that we've been playing for several months now and we played all 14 songs without any lyrics- always a challenge -in preparation for recording them.
Last night was the time to tweak and play around with aspects of the songs that we have not tried during a live setting. Dandy Don continues to impress me with his agile guitar playing- he really can command that thing when he wants to- he can let loose and try new guitar licks or chord structures and Action Jackson can try new drum beats- or different time signatures- and this will just make the song come alive! I was also able to try different bass runs or add some new things and because I had my trusty notebook with me last I captured these moments of greatness as they happened. It's not like everything we do is carved in stone but it's nice to be able to refer back to something instead of scratching our heads and asking, "What the hell did we do in that verse last week that was so perfect for this part??"

If we were a smelly-hippe-stoner-what-would-umphree-do-glad-the-greatful-dead-are-just-that-when-will-this-song-end-i-hate-phish-pass-the-bong-hey-is-that-a-twinke-gosh-i-am-hungry-wow-look-at-those-colors-dude-my-hands-are-huge-gee-but-those-dread-locks-are-long-hey-those-are-twinkies-oh-oh-oh-i-love-ani-defranco-jam type of band then we could just walk in the studio and press "record" and see what happens- but we do not want to waste an entire day hoping that "the magic happens" after playing the same song for 3 hours. Nope.
We are going to go into the secret underground bunker nine days from now and emerge 48 hours later and be done with the basic tracks for the new album.

This will be my third album with The Polkaholics® (Polka Can't Die, 6-Pack) and the 6th release by the band (2-Step Program, The Polkaholics®, Polkas on Guitar, Polka Can't Die, 6-Pack) so it looks like the Polka-as well as the Holics- is defiantly here to stay!

It's my birthday!!

Damn- I am 36 today.

The Grammy's - brought to you by Starbucks.

I only watched about 5 minutes of The Grammy's on Sunday. I was actually impressed by Usher's performance, and it was cool to literally see him tip his hat to James Brown.
After his performance Norah Jones and Ray Charles were awarded a Grammy- and as Ms. Jones manager nudged his way toward the mic and uttered the words "Thanks to Starbucks..." I shut off the television.
Im sorry folks- Starbucks owns enough shit in this world and I for one want nothing to do with them.
I love Ray Charles- but I'll never purchase this album because of Starbucks.

Too bad a local Chicago group did not take home the Grammy this year, as I was pulling for Eddie and his Versatones.
Brave Combo won the Grammy for Best Polka Album. Since they have been featured on The Simpson's and therefore are keeping polka alive by bringing it to younger audiences, I say "Congrats!"

I am also happy to see that Prince won a Grammy- I think Prince is a superb musician and is truly incredible in concert.... and can play his guitar like he invented the damn thing.

Speaking of guitars- Motorhead won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance!

Who knows- maybe someday The Polkaholics® will up for this award!?!

All Hail Eddie Blazonczyk!!

Well we did not win the 24th annual Chicago Music Award for Polka Entertainer of The Year this past Saturday held at The Museum of Science and Industry- however our good friend Eddie Blazonczyk Jr. and his awesome band The Versatones took home the award and I for one could not be happier. Eddie is a great guy and The Versatones are one of the best polka bands around, and Eddie was nice enough to mention us when he won the award on Saturday night!
I took some pictures of Eddie as well as some of the other "characters" at the event....I saw everything from velvet and diamonds to denim and Cubic Zirconias....and polyester!

Eddie Blazonczyk's Versatones' 56th recording titled HIGHWAYS & DANCEHALLS has been nominated for a Grammy Award! The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 13, 2005.
Let's all wish Eddie and the boys good luck. How nice would it be if a Chicago boy brought home the Polka Grammy!?!

In other news The Polkaholics® are gearing up to go into the studio and begin recording their 6th album at the end of the month. Scott Ramsayer will be behind the boards again and no doubt will be able to capture the oohm-pah-pow sound that we love to play.
I've already come up with a layout for the CD and I think that the wild and crazy polka fans will enjoy it.

Saturday March 19th - Quenchers, 10pm
2401 N. Western Ave, at Fullerton, phone: 773 276-9730, Chicago.
That’s right polka fans, we are BACK AT QUENCHERS!!!!  We are so looking forward to this show, and the return of polka to one of great bars in the city.  Tons of beers to choose from, super friendly staff, reasonable prices, good location, and great crowds have made Quenchers one of our absolute favorite places to play.  After last year, when the Chicago Fire Department closed down our show because of the crowd size, we were definitely worried that our crazy 2-beat sound would not be heard again at this fantastic bar.  So it is with great pleasure that we announce this show in March – it will be a triumphant return of polka to Quenchers!

Man peed way out of avalanche

From the http://www.ananova.com news site

A Slovak man trapped in his car under an avalanche freed himself by drinking 60 bottles of beer and urinating on the snow to melt it.

Rescue teams found Richard Kral drunk and staggering along a mountain path four days after his Audi car was buried in the Slovak Tatra mountains. He told them that after the avalanche, he had opened his car window and tried to dig his way out.

But as he dug with his hands, he realised the snow would fill his car before he managed to break through. He had 60 half-litre bottles of beer in his car as he was going on holiday, and after cracking one open to think about the problem he realised he could urinate on the snow to melt it, local media reported.

He said: "I was scooping the snow from above me and packing it down below the window, and then I peed on it to melt it. It was hard and now my kidneys and liver hurt. But I'm glad the beer I took on holiday turned out to be useful and I managed to get out of there."

Parts of Europe have this week been hit by the heaviest snowfalls since 1941, with some places registering more than ten feet of snow in 24 hours.

Happy Birthday To The Polkaholics®

Action Jackson's was last week
Jolly James is in two weeks
and Dandy Don's is this week

Happy Birthday to us
Happy Birthday to us
Have some drinks
And then take the bus!

How Stupid Are They?

Apparently way more than me. What's next? Hostage Ken Doll?

One does not have to be smart to be a terrorist....