Walter Ostanek
Encyclopedia
Walter Ostanek, CM
(born Ladislav Walter Ostanek 20 April 1935 Duparquet
, Quebec
, Canada
), is known as Canada's Polka King. He has received thirteen nominations for the grammy awards and won three.
his family moved to St. Catharines, Ontario
when he was a boy. A young Ostanek received his first accordion as a gift in 1944. After several years, Ostanek became a popular entertainer in Southern Ontario
, performing Cleveland-Style Polkas and Waltzes. He could be heard frequently on the radio in St. Catharines
and Welland
. Walter began playing polka after his best friend Geoffrey Grove introduced him to the accordion at age 5.
music. In 1963, Ostanek and his band, Walter Ostanek Band, would record their first of many albums. Over his career, Ostanek would become known as Canada's Polka King recording more than 50 albums. He has received three Grammy Awards and he has been nominated thirteen times. His style has been compared to America's Polka King, Frankie Yankovic
of Cleveland. As was the late Yankovic, Walter Ostanek is of Slovene descent.
Ostanek hosted his own television shows (one for fourteen consecutive years), radio shows, and polka tours. He has appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
, Phil Donahue
, Tommy Hunter Show
, Cleveland's Polka Varieties, and his own award-winning TV specials and telethons. He has appeared in concert with Roy Clark
, the Oakridge Boys, Ronnie Milsap
, Ray Price
, Mel Tillis
, Brenda Lee
, Slim Whitman
, Tom T. Hall
, T. G. Shepard, Tommy Hunter
, Lawrence Welk
, Myron Floren
, Frank Yankovic, Black Forest Band and Weiss Blau.
Walter Ostanek is a member of Canada's Walk of Fame
as well as the Polka Halls of Fame in Cleveland
and Chicago
. Currently Ostanek does two main concert sets each year: one at Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario
, the other during Oktoberfest
in Kitchener, Ontario
.
He is also the subject of the 2006 Bravo! network documentary The Cult of Walt: Canada’s Polka King. Ostanek is also cited as the inspiration for the Second City Television
polka parody, the Shmenge Brothers
. and the Osler show.
Walter currently resides in St. Catharines, Ontario. He is the owner of the popular music store "Ostanek's". He still plays locally.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(born Ladislav Walter Ostanek 20 April 1935 Duparquet
Duparquet, Quebec
Duparquet is a ville in northwestern Quebec, Canada in the MRC d'Abitibi-Ouest. It covers 157.4 km² and had a population of 650 in the Canada 2006 Census.-History:...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
), is known as Canada's Polka King. He has received thirteen nominations for the grammy awards and won three.
Early life
Originally from DuparquetDuparquet, Quebec
Duparquet is a ville in northwestern Quebec, Canada in the MRC d'Abitibi-Ouest. It covers 157.4 km² and had a population of 650 in the Canada 2006 Census.-History:...
his family moved to St. Catharines, Ontario
St. Catharines, Ontario
St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in Ontario, Canada, with 97.11 square kilometres of land...
when he was a boy. A young Ostanek received his first accordion as a gift in 1944. After several years, Ostanek became a popular entertainer in Southern Ontario
Southern Ontario
Southern Ontario is a region of the province of Ontario, Canada that lies south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14 to 15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of...
, performing Cleveland-Style Polkas and Waltzes. He could be heard frequently on the radio in St. Catharines
St. Catharines, Ontario
St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in Ontario, Canada, with 97.11 square kilometres of land...
and Welland
Welland, Ontario
Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada.The city has been traditionally known as the place where rails and water meet, referring to the railways from Buffalo to Toronto and Southwestern Ontario, and the waterways of Welland Canal and Welland River,...
. Walter began playing polka after his best friend Geoffrey Grove introduced him to the accordion at age 5.
Career
In 1957 Ostanek formed his own band playing Slovenian-style polkaSlovenian-style polka
Slovenian-style polka is an American style of polka in the Slovenian tradition. It is usually associated with Cleveland and other Midwestern cities. It is also known as "Cleveland Style."...
music. In 1963, Ostanek and his band, Walter Ostanek Band, would record their first of many albums. Over his career, Ostanek would become known as Canada's Polka King recording more than 50 albums. He has received three Grammy Awards and he has been nominated thirteen times. His style has been compared to America's Polka King, Frankie Yankovic
Frankie Yankovic
Frankie Yankovic was a Grammy Award-winning polka musician. Known as "America's Polka King," Yankovic was the premier artist to play in the Slovenian style during a long and successful career.-Background:Of Slovene descent, he was raised in South Euclid, Ohio...
of Cleveland. As was the late Yankovic, Walter Ostanek is of Slovene descent.
Ostanek hosted his own television shows (one for fourteen consecutive years), radio shows, and polka tours. He has appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
, Phil Donahue
Phil Donahue
Phillip John "Phil" Donahue is an American media personality, writer, and film producer best known as the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, also known as Donahue, was the first to use a talk show format. The show had a 26-year run on U.S...
, Tommy Hunter Show
Tommy Hunter
Thomas James "Tommy" Hunter, CM, O.Ont is a Canadian country music performer, known as "Canada's Country Gentleman".-Career:...
, Cleveland's Polka Varieties, and his own award-winning TV specials and telethons. He has appeared in concert with Roy Clark
Roy Clark
Roy Linwood Clark is an American country music musician and performer. He is best known for hosting Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969–1992. Clark has been an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and helping to popularize the genre...
, the Oakridge Boys, Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Lee Milsap is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country’s most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s...
, Ray Price
Ray Price (musician)
Ray Price is an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone has often been praised as among the best male voices of country music...
, Mel Tillis
Mel Tillis
Lonnie Melvin Tillis , known professionally as Mel Tillis, is an American country music singer. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s, with a long list of Top 10 hits....
, Brenda Lee
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
, Slim Whitman
Slim Whitman
Ottis Dewey Whitman, Jr. , known professionally as Slim Whitman, is an American country music singer and songwriter, known for his yodelling abilities. He has sold in excess of 120 million albums in unit sales and has had numerous successful recordings...
, Tom T. Hall
Tom T. Hall
Thomas "Tom T." Hall is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has written 11 #1 hit songs, with 26 more that reached the Top 10, including the pop crossover hit "I Love", which reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100...
, T. G. Shepard, Tommy Hunter
Tommy Hunter
Thomas James "Tommy" Hunter, CM, O.Ont is a Canadian country music performer, known as "Canada's Country Gentleman".-Career:...
, Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982...
, Myron Floren
Myron Floren
Myron Floren was an American musician best known as the accordionist on The Lawrence Welk Show between 1950 and 1982...
, Frank Yankovic, Black Forest Band and Weiss Blau.
Walter Ostanek is a member of Canada's Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame , located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of successful Canadians...
as well as the Polka Halls of Fame in Cleveland
Polka Hall of Fame
The Polka Hall of Fame is a museum in Euclid, Ohio, United States. It traces the history of the Cleveland-style polka, from its roots in Slovenia in the 19th century, through American factory and mining towns where it absorbed jazz and country expressions, to the post-war years when top ten polka...
and Chicago
International Polka Association
The International Polka Association, IPA is located in Chicago, Illinois and dedicated to the study and preservation of polka music and the cultural heritage of Polish Americans who have made this music tradition part of their heritage. The IPA hosts an annual festival and convention as well as its...
. Currently Ostanek does two main concert sets each year: one at Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls is a Canadian city on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The municipality was incorporated on June 12, 1903...
, the other during Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest, or Wiesn, is a 16–18 day beer festival held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, running from late September to the first weekend in October. It is one of the most famous events in Germany and is the world's largest fair, with more than 5 million people attending every year. The...
in Kitchener, Ontario
Kitchener, Ontario
The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...
.
He is also the subject of the 2006 Bravo! network documentary The Cult of Walt: Canada’s Polka King. Ostanek is also cited as the inspiration for the Second City Television
Second City Television
Second City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.- Premise :...
polka parody, the Shmenge Brothers
Happy Wanderers
thumb|right|250px|Yosh Shmenge and Stan Shmenge The Shmenge Brothers were a fictional polka duo who, along with their band The Happy Wanderers, featured on the SCTV television comedy program in 1982-1983. They were played by John Candy as clarinetist Yosh Shmenge and Eugene Levy as accordionist...
. and the Osler show.
Walter currently resides in St. Catharines, Ontario. He is the owner of the popular music store "Ostanek's". He still plays locally.
Awards and recognition
- 1992, 1993, 1994: winner, Grammy Award for Best Polka AlbumGrammy Award for Best Polka AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Polka Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality polka albums...
- 1999: appointed Member of the Order of CanadaOrder of CanadaThe Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
- 2001: inductee, Canada's Walk of FameCanada's Walk of FameCanada's Walk of Fame , located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of successful Canadians...
Walter Ostanek
- Music and FriendsMusic and Friends (Walter Ostanek album)Music and Friends is an album by the Walter Ostanek Band. In 1995, the album won Ostanek the Grammy Award for Best Polka Album.-External links:*...
- Marineland Favourites
External links
- Lifetime Achievement Honoree
- Order of Canada citation
- Grammy Awards: list of Walter Ostanek's Best Polka Album wins