Polka Legend Barrels Back Into Contention

After a year in exile, the “Polka King” is a step closer to reclaiming his Grammy throne.

Jimmy Sturr’s “Shake, Rattle & Polka!” on Thursday scored a nomination for best polka album, capping a campaign to correct what his fans saw as an egregious slight last year. That’s when polka’s all-time Grammy winner failed to secure a nomination for the first time since 1986, a victim, some say, of catty infighting within the genre.

Sturr is the man polka purists love to hate. He copyrighted the name Polkapalooza, teamed up with country star Willie Nelson and 1950s rock icon Duane Eddy, performed on “Saturday Night Live” and was the answer to a $250,000 question on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

When the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences failed to nominate him last year, fans blamed detractors who felt that Jimmy Sturr & His Orchestra had grown too big for its accordion.

“There’s so much polka jealousy,” said Steve Popovich, a Sturr friend and founder of Cleveland International Records. “Some people dislike Jimmy because he’s so successful.”

Now, the Sturr band’s “Shake” album, featuring such oldies as “Rock Around the Clock” and “I Walk the Line” is up against the likes of the Del Sinchak Band’s “Polka Pizzazz,” and “Time Out for Polkas and Waltzes” from Walter Ostanek and Ron Sluga.

Competitors believe that cozying up to country and rock stars has given Sturr a leg up in the Grammy voting. That’s because thousands of Grammy voters are eligible to cast polka ballots, even though many of them might not know good tuba from bad.

“Jimmy doesn’t get the polka community’s vote,” said Eddie Blazonczyk, leader of the Versatones, a group whose “Under the Influence” polka album also was nominated. “He wins because he gets votes from Nashville and from his rock star friends.”

Sturr, an Irish American in a genre dominated by Poles, Germans and Slavs, is used to being branded an interloper. Still, that didn’t prevent him from getting hired as national spokesman for Mrs. T’s Pierogies, a Shenandoah, Pa., company that makes the delicacies popular in Poland and other Eastern European countries.

Sturr’s trademark is broadening polka’s appeal with the addition of rock, pop, Cajun and salsa. But his critics say he’s diluting polka’s ethnic roots.

People “say that he’s degraded their heritage by mixing up all the different styles,” said Blazonczyk, who said he remained a Sturr admirer even though his band had lost to him 10 times at the Grammys.

One Sturr slur posted online at newsgroup alt.music.polkas reads: “Jimmy Sturr doesn’t play real polka music. It’s ballroom dancing music. Which is a far cry from the Polka music that us real hard-core fans grew up with.”

But in the 20 years since the Grammys first started honoring polka, Sturr has won 14 times, exceeding the victories of Madonna, Michael Jackson and the Beatles while becoming the best-selling living polka musician, with 2 million albums sold.

Sturr was careful not to gloat Thursday.

“I’m sure there were people whispering to the Grammy movers and shakers,” Sturr said. “I think the Grammys have been getting complaints about me always winning from other bands for years.”

He added, however: “You don’t win 14 Grammys unless you’re making great records.”

Sturr, 54, lives in the same home where he grew up in Florida, N.Y., a German and Polish enclave of about 2,500 whose every entrance sports a sign proclaiming it to be the home of “Polka King Jimmy Sturr.” The clarinetist and saxophonist started leading his band at age 11 in 1962.

Although Sturr was disappointed when last year’s “Rock ‘N Polka” wasn’t nominated, the snub was seemingly more traumatic for his fans.

Ignoring Sturr, said fan club member Ron Sechak, was “a crime” that Thursday’s recognition finally makes right.

“This year’s nomination proves that jealousy can’t kill innovation and creativity,” the 70-year-old Sechak said.

For U2 or Mariah Carey, a Grammy may be less about money than recognition. Not so in polka.

After Sinchak’s band was nominated in 1998 for “Let the Sunshine In,” sales of the album jumped by almost 400% to 13,000 copies.

“I can’t tell you how many unexpected calls I got to play music fests and new concerts,” said Sinchak, whose band lost out to Sturr’s at the Grammys.

But Sinchak’s Grammy nod also brought out the polka pettiness that insiders say too often lurks behind the beer and kielbasas.

“Some of my best polka friends didn’t show up at our celebration party because they were jealous,” Sinchak said. “I heard some very hurtful things.”

Label head Popovich said he quit signing new polka acts and visiting dance halls because he grew weary of the trash talking.

“I refer to polka as our people’s Prozac,” he said. “You go to a gig, and seemingly everybody is getting along. But underneath that exterior is a huge competition.”

Like other musicians in more obscure Grammy categories, Sturr relies on grass-roots support. He is a prolific sender of thank-you notes to just about anyone who does him a favor, and acknowledges that many go to academy members eligible to cast ballots.

“I don’t think there is anything wrong with asking someone to vote for me,” Sturr said.

Even if he doesn’t win a Grammy in February, Sturr said, he’s happy riding his luxury coach bus on the polka circuit.

“I never called myself the No.1 polka band in the country,” he said by phone while preparing for a concert in Scranton, Pa. “Everybody else does, but I don’t. I’m a pretty humble person. I just want to play the music I love.”