Hervé Villechaize with Children of the World

Artist: Hervé Villechaize with Children of the World

LP: 7" single

Song: "Why" 
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Here's something I found at Golden Oldies today—which, coincidentally, would have been Hervé Villechaize's 73rd birthday if he were still alive. Villechaize, star of the 007 film THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN and TV's "Fantasy Island," is backed here by Children of the World—who are actually Children of the Cleveland, Ohio Area according to notes on the back of the record. I feel kinda' bad saying this, but I don't think I've ever come across a more appropriately titled single.

 [ Hervé Villechaize: April 23, 1943 — September 4, 1993 ]

Frankie Yankovic and his Yanks

Artist: Frankie Yankovic and his Yanks

LP: It's Polka Night

Song: "Alpine Climber's Ball"

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Song: "Three Yanks Polka"

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Friday's finally here, and you know what that means—Polka Night! Though "America's Polka King" Frankie Yankovic (no relation to Weird Al) was born in West Virginia, his family moved him to Cleveland when he was just a tot and it's there that he rose to polka fame—as I learned during my visit last summer to the city's Polka Museum, where I laid eyes on Yankovic's accordion and some of his stage outfits. Frankie began "fooling around" with the accordion at the tender age of six, eventually even learning to play the thing. He nearly lost his fingers to frostbite during his service in WWII, but fortunately for polka-lovers everywhere the fingers stayed on. This 1957 Columbia LP offers a collection of Yankovic favorites, both waltzes and polkas, both with vocals and without. And one of them has yodeling! You can read about the life and career of Frankie Yankovic on Wikipedia here and in the liner notes below. And as you go twirling around the house tonight, take care not to polka your eye out!

[ Frankie Yankovic: July 28, 1915 — October 14, 1998 ]

Cecilia Valencic w/ The Almars Orchestra

Artist: Cecilia Valencic w/ The Almars Orchestra

LP: Cecilia Sings In Polkatown U.S.A.

Song: "I Won't Get Married"

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This Cecilia Valencic LP is another of the many fine records I picked up at the Polka Hall of Fame in Euclid, Ohio last month. Euclid is located just outside Cleveland—the "Polkatown U.S.A." referred to in the album's title. You can tell it's Cleveland, aka "The Buckle of the American Polka Belt," by the drawing of the city's famous Terminal Tower on the front cover. Though a Cleveland native, Cecilia Valencic is of Slovenian heritage and she's spent much of her lifetime sharing the joy of Slovenian music with anyone and everyone who's willing to listen. Under the name "Cecilia Valencic Dolgan," the talented singer is quoted in this terrific 2010 article about the Polka Museum and Hall of Fame in Euclid, and you can find a recent photo of Cecilia here, from a website where, credited as "Cecilia Dolgan," she's listed as the host of the Circle 2 Super Button Box Bash 29, which took place in April of 2011. Notes and photos from Cecilia's debut Delta International release are included below.

[ Cecilia Valencic w/ The Almars Orchestra and Mr. J. R. Gayer ]

The Hesitations

 

Artist: The Hesitations

LP: The New Born Free

Song: "Let's Groove"

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I spent nearly two hours last night rubbing and peeling to get the giant promo sticker off the lower third of the front of this LP cover (it hid the 3 guys in white, yellow and green shirts up to their eyelids) and I got a big blister on my thumb in the process. (I'm willing to suffer for my art.) Unfortunately, someone put a series of scratches across the first side of the record, which pretty much ruins four of the tracks. You can hear the scratches when "Let's Groove" begins, but they mostly disappear after about a minute since the song is near the end of the side. Formed in Cleveland in the mid '60s, The Hesitations split up temporarily after the accidental shooting death of lead singer George "King" Scott in February of 1968. You can read a little about the group here, and visit the website of the newly formed Hesitations here if you'd like to book them for a special event. Notes and photos from the back of "The New Born Free" LP, released in 1968, are included here: