Volume 5 – #3 – March 2002

First of all, for those of you who don’t know, Brave Combo did not win a Grammy this year. Elmo and Jimmy Sturr won. Neither of them showed up at the awards ceremony, so we didn’t get a chance to congratulate them, but I’ve imagined them dining together, planning strategies or whatever. Anyway, we rocketed to Los Angeles and rocketed home and are back to business as usual. I’m thinking about our next polka record and wonder what shape it will take. Stay tuned.

Speaking of polkas, and I do often, my radio show on www.247polkaheaven.com is up and running and available to your ears many times a week: Monday night at 10pm (EST), Wednesday morning at 1am (EST), Thursday morning at 11am (EST), Friday afternoon at 5pm (EST) and Sunday morning at 10am (EST). I record the show at our “Peace Thru Polka” studio in Denton and toss it to radio station WELW in Cleveland, Ohio. So far, I have learned a lot and feel that I’ve only scratched the surface.

Still speaking of polkas, I have this vision of billboards all over the country with the word “POLKA” on them. The letters are huge and the colors are vibrant and electric, maybe like complimentary colors (red/green, orange/blue or yellow/purple). There’s no explanation or any reference to any particular style or attitude. Just the word, “POLKA.” So, I’ve been calling outdoor advertising companies, getting an idea of what’s involved in billboard advertising, and I think this could be more than a dream. If I could get about a million dollars a month from devoted polka people (200,000 people could pitch in $5 each a month) that would cover about 100 high-visibility billboards all over the country for about a year. And the main company I’ve been talking to said they’d work with us. Maybe I could find some wealthy people or corporate sponsors to donate half of the cost. Boy, this is either something cool or a recipe for disaster. There are so many ways to get into trouble here. But, I think it’s worth a try. Let’s say there are 100 regions of varying sizes around the USA that have active polka communities. If you divide the total yearly expense by 100, each community would be responsible for coming up with about $120,000 a year. If there are just 200 crazy polka fanatics in each community, that would mean only $600 a year per person. Hmmm, that will never work. Okay then, we need 1000 people per community to donate $120 each a year. Maybe if I hit people up while they’re drunk and on their way to the bank with cash. Maybe I could start with just three billboards; one on the East Coast, one on the West Coast and one in Denton. Anyway, see what I mean? This could happen. Am I an idiot? This is a stupid idea, isn’t it?

According to a recent newspaper article, the citizens of Krum, Texas (near Denton), a little rural community a few miles off interstate 35, are excited and delighted that they’re finally getting a fast food chain restaurant; a Subway sandwich shop. On the same day I read the article, my cat, Biscuits, ate some cat food and I watched television.

RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME. When I was a kid I really liked comic books and monster magazines. I bought more of them than any of my friends. Way more. And I held on to most of them. I was a neat child and very careful with my stuff. There was a little grocery store near my grandmother’s house where I did most of my literature shopping. One day I bought an issue of AMAZING FANTASY (Marvel comics) that introduced a new kind of super hero; Spiderman. A short time later the first issue of AMAZING SPIDERMAN appeared. So, I bought that, too. About once a year, I open my safe deposit box at the bank and look at them. They’re sealed up properly in Mylar with acid-free cardboard backing. Peter Parker, Spiderman’s true identity, was a brainy high school science nerd. Jocks made fun of him and the cute popular girls ignored him. One day a spider that had been exposed to radiation from one of his science projects bit him. Of course, this gave him spider-like super powers. I wanted to be Peter Parker (or the Texarkana equivalent) and date Hayley Mills. Hayley Mills was my dream girl. I had posters of her all over my room, I had recordings by her and I wrote her letters. One day I realized that she didn’t even know I existed (How could that be? I spent so much mental energy on her and she spent none on me). A few years later I got over her and moved on. Texarkana girls were tangible and possibly available. And some of them were pretty cute; especially the ones that looked sorta like Hayley Mills.

The famous R&B singer, Louis Jordan, once recorded a song called, “The Texarkana Twist.” The flip side was “You’re My Mule.” I found it at a little record store that sold used 45-rpm singles for 33 cents apiece. I believe the store was called Music Land. I often wondered what the Texarkana Twist looked like. I wondered what Louis Jordan’s connection to Texarkana was. A few years ago there was a restaurant in New York City called Texarkana. I heard that their specialty was chicken fried steak with cream gravy. Just think, people get hungry and contemplate what they would like to eat. Then they may decide to go somewhere besides home for food. So they walk into a restaurant, still feeling hungry, of course, and order a meal. It shows up and either meets expectations or not. Then those same people leave the restaurant feeling full. That’s a pretty effective distraction. Primal things, like eating, are interesting. It’s funny to think about making those animal instincts more sociable. We’re quite a collection of influences: part human, part animal and part machine. I wonder what the Texarkana Twist looked like.

You know, it really took guts for the band, Iron Butterfly, to record and release “In-a-gadda-da-vida.” How did they know that the listening public was ready for such a long song? And our lesson here is that you never know what’s going to happen next. So, be thankful for right now and notice all the elements that make up the current moment. If you discover a tarantula on the floor in your living room, is this a nuisance and an inconvenience or is it a refreshing departure from the norm? Does the juxtaposition excite you or unnerve you? Are you grossed out, scared or sympathetic? Do you immediately name the little fella or do you carefully place a bowl over him and wait for someone brave to come over? Examine your emotions and bore your friends with the details. That’s cool.

I will now say good-bye as I think about a row of confused dogs trying to do the can-can to the wrong music. Come out and see us live and in person. Bubba plays bass and tuba and sings, Jeffrey plays woodwinds, whistles and harmonica and sings, Danny plays trumpet, Alan plays drums and I play guitar, piano and accordion and sing. We still call ourselves Brave Combo.