Saluting 'America's Polka King'

The Cleveland Plain Dealer paints a provocative portrait of Frankie Yankovic, the hard-squeezin' guy who took the polka to the top of the music charts.

According to the story, which coincides with a Cleveland polka party for the release of the biography America's Polka King: The Real Story of Frankie Yankovic and His Music by Bob Dolgan, Yankovic was a blue-collar gig-aholic who played tons of shows and made tons of dough with his band, the Yanks. But he was also a smooth-talking ladies' man, a brawler, a cheapskate and "a bit of a kleptomaniac."

One tidbit from the Plain Dealer:

In 1948, the Yanks played Milwaukee in front of 8,000 people -- a show that earned Yankovic the title of America's Polka King. He was presented a trophy from which he and his bandmates drank whiskey, wine and beer.

Now that's extreme squeezeboxing.