So, I had a series of vintage polka sides ripped and ready, and I decided to do a post--so, I added three or four tracks, and here we are.
I guesstimated the year of Polka Bum-Cyk-Cyk as 1910, and from comparing the catalog number (not always a reliable method). A lively, "modern"-sounding polka, the number has vocal refrains which include a standard, strange high female voice which shows up on many a polka side. And the lively, almost-nonsense chorus seems quite ahead of its time.
The polkas run the gamut from Polish, to Slovenian, to German, to "Bohemian," to Finnish, and a couple of triple-time obereks are in the mix. I thought I had at least one mazurka, but gazing at the track list, I don't see one. And I found a photo of the Hoyer Trio on line, but I don't want to get a copyright complaint, so I won't present it.
The musical units include peasant orchestras, village bands, and large brass bands, but there's a nice unity of style throughout the selections. Some of these are in frequently-played condition (as in, played on a gramophone), so expect some condition issues, though nothing serious. Oddly enough, the first selection fared best with an aftermarket 2.7 mil stylus--my better (3.0 and 3.5 mil) needles had the record sounding quite distorted in spots. Which has me suspecting that the grooves are unusually close together for a Victor 78 of this vintage.
A handful of selections have a formal, large-orchestra sound, while most have something (more or less) closer to the commercial sound to arrive come the 1930s. With the folk performances, there are some amusing errors by way of chord-change glitches, but the musicians typically adjust quickly to these moments and get right back on track. Nearly all of these feature the usual multiple-strain/multiple-key form, with the modulations usually going to the subdominant or dominant. "Related" keys, in other words. Most selections include no segue passages between the modulations.
The "sokol" band is Czech, and the "bandas" are Polish. Ditto for the orkiestras. All of these, far as I know, were recorded in the United States--typically, Chicago or New York. The "concertina" orchestra is likely German. The Polish polkas and obertas strike my ears as the most complicated, musically (at least in the area of polyphonic ornamentation).
Almost finished right now are two more posts: One of my favorite junk-label LPs (TV Western Themes on Coronet, with only two of the selections actual TV themes!), and eight 1947 Percy Faith tracks which originally appeared on a Majestic 78 album.
I guesstimated the year of Polka Bum-Cyk-Cyk as 1910, and from comparing the catalog number (not always a reliable method). A lively, "modern"-sounding polka, the number has vocal refrains which include a standard, strange high female voice which shows up on many a polka side. And the lively, almost-nonsense chorus seems quite ahead of its time.
The polkas run the gamut from Polish, to Slovenian, to German, to "Bohemian," to Finnish, and a couple of triple-time obereks are in the mix. I thought I had at least one mazurka, but gazing at the track list, I don't see one. And I found a photo of the Hoyer Trio on line, but I don't want to get a copyright complaint, so I won't present it.
The musical units include peasant orchestras, village bands, and large brass bands, but there's a nice unity of style throughout the selections. Some of these are in frequently-played condition (as in, played on a gramophone), so expect some condition issues, though nothing serious. Oddly enough, the first selection fared best with an aftermarket 2.7 mil stylus--my better (3.0 and 3.5 mil) needles had the record sounding quite distorted in spots. Which has me suspecting that the grooves are unusually close together for a Victor 78 of this vintage.
A handful of selections have a formal, large-orchestra sound, while most have something (more or less) closer to the commercial sound to arrive come the 1930s. With the folk performances, there are some amusing errors by way of chord-change glitches, but the musicians typically adjust quickly to these moments and get right back on track. Nearly all of these feature the usual multiple-strain/multiple-key form, with the modulations usually going to the subdominant or dominant. "Related" keys, in other words. Most selections include no segue passages between the modulations.
The "sokol" band is Czech, and the "bandas" are Polish. Ditto for the orkiestras. All of these, far as I know, were recorded in the United States--typically, Chicago or New York. The "concertina" orchestra is likely German. The Polish polkas and obertas strike my ears as the most complicated, musically (at least in the area of polyphonic ornamentation).
Almost finished right now are two more posts: One of my favorite junk-label LPs (TV Western Themes on Coronet, with only two of the selections actual TV themes!), and eight 1947 Percy Faith tracks which originally appeared on a Majestic 78 album.
Anyway, polka time!!
DOWNLOAD: Vintage Polka Party 6-2026.zip
Polka Bum Cyk-Cyk-Cyk--Karol Namyslowski's Peasant Orch., circa 1910
Grasshopper Polka--John Lager and Eric Olson, accordion duet (Scandavian, approx. 3/1918)
In the Green Grove--Polka--Lous Solar's Concertina Orchestra, 8/1918
Polka Bum Cyk-Cyk-Cyk--Karol Namyslowski's Peasant Orch., circa 1910
Grasshopper Polka--John Lager and Eric Olson, accordion duet (Scandavian, approx. 3/1918)
In the Green Grove--Polka--Lous Solar's Concertina Orchestra, 8/1918
Husia Siusia--Polka--Pulaski Instrumental Trio, 1928
A Dark Forest Around--Polka--Fr. Dukli Wiejska Banda, 1926
Obertas from Dukla--Same
Clarinet Polka--Edw. Krolikowski i. Jego Orkiestra, 1929
Wasa Polka (Finnish)--Maki Trio, 1929
Crawniak--Polka--Deta Orkiestra Ludowa (small folk orch.), 1921
Goraca Krew--Polka--Polska Orkiestra M. Tesmera, 1926
Goraca Krew--Polka--Polska Orkiestra M. Tesmera, 1926
Julinka Polka--Obersteirische Bauerkapelle (Upper Styrian Farmers' Band, 1912 or 1913)
The Wedding in the House of Wilkos--Orkiestra Witkowskiego, 1927
The Wedding in the House of Wilkos--Orkiestra Witkowskiego, 1927
Happy Girl (Polish)--Fr. Dukli Wiejska Banda (The Village Gang), V: Jan Kapalka, 1927
Sokolska Koracnica (Falcon March)--Slovenian--Hoyer Trio, 1927
The Golden Prague--Cleveland Sokol Band, 1926
Lee
7 comments:
Lee, I downed this zip & extracted the files. All looks good. When i play each file using my windows media player, they all play great. When I use my VLC player, they all play perfect. NO PROB here.
Timmy,
Thanks much! Yes, and when I extracted the files with my PC's extraction feature, all was fine. The reason for the glitch (to my limited understanding) is that some of the files are located in multiple spots on my PC. Thus, my PC is "confused."
Downloaded, extracted and played just fine for me, no issues. Thanks for the polka fun!
Ernie,
Glad everything worked--halfway during my "What is going on here??" reaction, it occurred to me that the problem might be unique to my PC. And it has to do with registry values and with my VL Player not knowing which value (or whatever) to open. Also, when I used the "extract" option, all was fine, so...
Not sure how you do it, but I always make sure I extract the contents of the ZIP file to a folder and then delete the ZIP. Some people try to perform actions directly on the items while they're still zipped up and that seems to lead to trouble sometimes. YMMV
Dave from Ardmore doffs his hat to the only person who could get him to listen to 15 polkas without going, pardon the pun, dotty. But, seriously, these records have every right to be retrieved from oblivion. By the way, I never realized how much the march and the polka mediums were akin. I especially enjoyed "The Clarinet Polka." Those muisicians were having fun. So were the singers on Polka Bum Cyk-Cyk-Cyks. On the other hand, the musicians on the Juliana Polka are obviously amateurs. The music seems to be giving them great difficulty, especially after the breakneck speed and impressive precision of the preceding "Goraca Polka." Did you intend that pairing as a contrast in musicianship? Anyway, thanks for renewing my respect for the wood block. What would the Internet be wthout you?
Dave from Ardmore,
Thanks! And I'm ripping several more as we speak, believe it or no. And, as far as the farmers' band, my intention was simply to place it low enough in the playlist to ensure it came as less of a shock. I was very surprised by the lack of skill in that one, since I've grown used to lively offerings, and--esp. in the case of "Clarinet" and "Gorca"--top musicianship. In the batch I'm ripping now, there's a rough 1909 offering, but it's not nearly as (shall we say) clunky as "Julinka." As far as monotony goes, I just now had the thought "These are sounding too much alike" upon ripping the 1929 Wesola Orchestra "Polka Kokoszka." And classic polka form is very much like march and waltz form, with multiple strains and related-key modulations.
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