Polka Dot Ragged

What the hell, this will be my second post dealing with Polka music. I think any reader who does not know me would think I am some huge Polka fan. This is not exactly the case, although I do enjoy an occasional Mark Halata record and have co-produced a recording of Chicago push music for the Cracker Barrel chain. Cathy is not the biggest fan of the form (and truthfully, hates most of the music I like) and makes me listen to polka when she is out of the house.

It was announced recently that the Grammy's were doing away with the Polka category. As they say:

"To ensure the Awards process remains representative of the current
musical landscape, the Best Polka Album has been eliminated, which
brings the total number of Grammy categories to 109."

I can name a slew of very active bands, and gangs of fans who would
take umbrage with this statement.

It is sad that the foundation never did the work to support the
category and the field. A genre that once flourished across the U.S., especially in the Mid-West, New England, and parts of Texas, really has been on the wane for a while. But there are literally hundreds of active bands recording and making a living. Some of them extremely talented and fantastically creative. What the Grammy's have done is pronounced the genre, not only on the wane, but dead, with no active representative recordings being released.

The Polka category has been around for 24 years, and for 18 of them, it has gone to just one artist, the totally boring Jimmy Sturr. Maybe it is better that the Grammy's keep their paws off of the style. Their lack of care over the years, and seemingly purposeful dismissal of a field they were set to honor could have only hurt this once dominant American musical form. I guess we should say "good riddance." Still, I once worked with Karl & The Country Dutchman, whose drummer at the time (and possibly still), was a young lady who could drink any of you under the table and who worked in the field of pig castration when not on the road. If it is decided that the Academy made the wrong decision, I nominate her to go over there and set them strait.