The music from this album comes from Don Hunjadi’s Franksville, Wis., recording facility. Much of it hews toward the Cleveland Slovenian style polka, with accordion and brass instruments often taking melodic lead together while banjo strums provide rhythmic accompaniment to a drum kit and electric bass bottom. Even with occasionally melancholy lyrics (on a set comprised overwhelmingly of instrumentals), the music’s insistent pep belies blue moods, and may encourage the most stubborn wallflower to reconsider cutting a rug.
Prominent local acts past and present headed by bandleaders including Kenny Brandt, Don Gralak and Joey Klass have graced HG’s microphones, but Hunjadi and Steve Meisner may provide the most potent blast of nostalgia on the collection—their music for WTKM’s polka dance announcements. As an added bonus, the album ends with a demo of radio commercials for nearby businesses recorded at HG. The studio is no longer a full-time operation for Hunjadi, but he can still be heard Saturday afternoons hosting WJYI’s “Polka Parade.” This anthology highlights some of his own contributions to the ongoing cavalcade.
