Eddie Blazonczyk and the Versatones - Sugartime

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Eddie Blazonczyk is the King of Polish Polka. His music rocks, it rolls, it hops, it pushes. The horn riffs in and out and around in intricate patterns that leave you breathless even if you’re sitting down. The accordion and concertina sound as infectious in polka as they are in cajun and zydeco music, and the rhythmic drive gets you in the gut. Eddie’s warm vocals, though, get right in to your soul.

“You got to have soul to play it the way we do,” he says, and the proof is in the 20 tracks collected for this album. No matter where the songs come from-country hits, pop standards, polka classics, witty originals-it all becomes something new and fresh, and altogether as real as is the heart of the polka tradition and the working class Americans who have lived by it for generations.

Eddie Blazonczyk’s style, incredibly, has been collected on 47 albums since, “Polka Parade”, his first, came out in 1963. Ten of his albums have been nominated for Grammy awards, and he took home a Grammy in 1986 for “Another Polka Celebration”, Yet with all the acclaim, there are still people who don’t know Eddie B’s music-who don’t know polka!

Enter Steve Popovich. Like Eddie B., Steve grew up on polka, tamburitza, rock n roll, and country and western. Steve is the man who launched one of the most successful production companies of all time, Cleveland International, which released Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell, one of the top three selling albums in music history. After a stint in Nashville, rebuilding the roster at Polygram’s country division, Steve returned to his roots and his label, Cleveland International. One of the label’s first releases is 20 of the Best from Eddie Blazonczyk, Volume 1. - Jim Bessman