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 during his long career. He shares no relation to fellow accordionist "Weird Al" Yankovic.
Background
Yankovic was born in Davis, West Virginia to Slovene immigrant parents: Andrew Yankovic (Andrej Jankovič, 1879–1949) from Kal and Rose T. Yankovic (née Terezija Mele, 1886–1968) from Cerknica, who married in 1910. Yankovic was raised in the Collinwood neighborhood on Cleveland's East Side. He recorded over 200 songs and sold over 30 million records in his career. In 1986, he was awarded the first-ever Grammy in the Best Polka Recording category. He rarely strayed from Slovenian-style polka, but did record with country guitarist Chet Atkins and pop singer Don Everly. He also recorded a version of the "Too Fat Polka" with comedian Drew Carey.
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 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. 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, 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. 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.
In 1970, a house fire destroyed the gold records for "Just Because" and "Blue Skirt Waltz". has jokingly suggested that he was given accordion lessons as a child because his parents thought "there should be at least one more accordion-playing Yankovic in the world." Frankie featured Weird Al on "Who Stole the Kishka?" from his 1996 album Songs of the Polka King, Volume 1. Weird Al used a portion of Frankie's "The Tick Tock Polka" in the song "Polka Face" from the 2011 album Alpocalypse, as part of a parody take on "Tik Tok" by 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. 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.
Honors
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Frankie Yankovic visited Cerknica, the hometown of his parents, in 1952 or 1953 and again in 1995.
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, and in a ceremony on August 21, 2007, the square at the intersection of Waterloo Rd. and East 152nd St. in Cleveland (), not far from where Yankovic grew up, was named in his honor.