Don Hedeker, leader of the long-running Polkaholics and probably Chicago’s most vocal polka advocate, blames his obsession on a lack of closet space. For years Hedeker and his wife, Vera Gavrilovic, were devoted thrift shoppers, scouring the racks and bringing home armloads of clothing every weekend. By the mid-90s they realized they had to stop–there was nowhere to put vintage duds. But Hedeker missed scavenging, so he decided to concentrate on something he didn’t have to keep in a closet: old LPs. Soon his focus narrowed further. “I began to notice all of these polka records,” he says. “They cost only 25 cents each, so I started buying some of them.”
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Hedeker, who’s lived in Wicker Park since 1981, soon discovered that he was surrounded by polka history. American polka has left a scant paper trail, but he happened upon Polka Happiness, a 1992 book by ethnomusicologists Charlie and Angeliki Keil and photographer Dick Blau that focuses on Chicago. “Division Street used to be called Polish Broadway,” Hedeker says. “I didn’t know anything about this musical history right in my own backyard that really connected in a sense with my ethnic background.” He started tuning in to polka shows on AM radio every weekend; before long he was checking out live polka at banquet halls like Polonia and Stardust.
In the summer of 1997 Hedeker, former Handsome Family drummer Mike Werner, and former New Rob Robbies bassist George Kraynak tried their hand at polka-rock fusion. “The only song we knew was ‘Beer Barrel Polka,’ which we must’ve played ten times in a row,” Hedeker says. “I had a K-Tel collection of polka greats, so we tried to learn every song on the record. These were like the ‘Louie Louie’ and the ‘Wild Thing’ of polka.” They tried some rock tunes like “Johnny B. Goode” and “Brand New Cadillac,” but those didn’t mesh well with the two-beat polka rhythm, so instead they spiked the K-Tel songs with distorted guitar.
The Polkaholics play Friday, January 31, 8 PM, at the Baby Doll Polka Club, 6102 S. Central, and Saturday, February 1, 10 PM, at Quenchers Saloon, 2401 N. Western.
