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Walter Ostanek
Ladislav John "Walter" Ostanek, CM (born 20 April 1935) is a Canadian musician. He is known as "Canada's Polka King." He has received twenty-one nominations for Grammy Awards and won three. Early life Born in Duparquet, Quebec in 1935, 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 Slovenian-style (also known as 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 introduced him to the accordion at age 5. Career In 1957 Ostanek formed his own band playing Slovenian-style polka music. In 1963, Ostanek and his band, the Walter Ostanek Band, would record their first of many albums. Over his career, Ostanek would record more than 50 albums and become known as Canada's Polka King. He has received three Gram ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marineland Of Canada
Marineland (official name Marineland of Canada Inc.), is a themed zoo and amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The park has performing marine animal shows, sea mammal and land animal exhibits, and amusement rides. It keeps dolphins, sea lions, an orca, and beluga whales. The park also keeps bears, deer, and other land animals. It was founded and operated by John Holer, a Slovenian immigrant, from 1961 until his death in 2018. It is privately owned-and-operated by his family. The park's keeping of sea mammals is controversial, and the park is involved in several lawsuits related to the practice. The keeping of the sea mammals is opposed by animal rights activists and Marineland has been the site of numerous animal rights demonstrations. Facility Marineland of Canada keeps about 4,000 land and marine animals. Marineland operates 16 rides ranging from rides for children, to thrill rides for adults. The marine animals perform several times daily at King Waldorf Stadi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Clark
Roy Linwood Clark (April 15, 1933 – November 15, 2018) was an American singer and musician. He is best known for having hosted ''Hee Haw'', a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969 to 1997. Clark was an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and in helping to popularize the genre. During the 1970s, Clark frequently guest-hosted for Johnny Carson on ''The Tonight Show'' and enjoyed a 30-million viewership for ''Hee Haw''. Clark was highly regarded and renowned as a guitarist, banjo player, and fiddler. He was skilled in the traditions of many genres, including classical guitar, country music, Latin music, bluegrass, and pop. He had hit songs as a pop vocalist (e.g., " Yesterday, When I Was Young" and "Thank God and Greyhound"), and his instrumental skill had an enormous effect on generations of bluegrass and country musicians. He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1987, and, in 2009, was inducted into the Country Music ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polka Hall Of Fame
The National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum in Euclid, Ohio, United States. It traces the history of the Cleveland-style polka, from its Slovenian roots from 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 hits got the nation on the dance floor. Awards show The Polka Hall of Fame holds an annual awards show on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, during the three-day Thanksgiving Polka Weekend at the Holiday Inn Cleveland South in Independence, Ohio. The show awards local and national polka groups and talents. Hall of Fame Members Location The museum is located in the historic old city hall of Euclid, Ohio. The building was renovated in 2000. See also * List of music museums *International Polka Association *Frankie Yankovic *Verne Meisner *Joey Miskulin *Walter Ostanek Ladislav John "Walter" Ostanek, CM (born 20 April 1935) is a Canadian musician. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canada's Walk Of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame (french: link=no, Allée des célébrités canadiennes) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of Canadians who have excelled in their respective fields. It is a series of maple leaf-like stars embedded in 13 designated blocks' worth of sidewalks in Toronto in front of Roy Thomson Hall, The Princess of Wales Theatre, and The Royal Alexandra Theatre on King Street as well as Simcoe Street. The first group was inducted in 1998, and it now includes 204 Canadian activists, scientists, philanthropists, athletes, coaches, actors, directors, writers, producers, musicians, comedians, cartoonists, models and others. History The Walk of Fame was conceived in 1996 when co-founder Peter Soumalias, suggested the idea of a Walk of Fame for famous Torontonians to the board of the Toronto Entertainment District Association. They rejected his idea, but he went on to establish a Walk of Fame for Canadians in par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Forest Band
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have often been used to describe opposites such as good and evil, the Dark Ages versus Age of Enlightenment, and night versus day. Since the Middle Ages, black has been the symbolic color of solemnity and authority, and for this reason it is still commonly worn by judges and magistrates. Black was one of the first colors used by artists in Neolithic cave paintings. It was used in ancient Egypt and Greece as the color of the underworld. In the Roman Empire, it became the color of mourning, and over the centuries it was frequently associated with death, evil, witches, and magic. In the 14th century, it was worn by royalty, clergy, judges, and government officials in much of Europe. It became the color worn by English romantic poets, businessmen a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Yankovic
Frank John Yankovic (July 28, 1915 – October 14, 1998) was an American accordion player and polka musician. Known as "America's Polka King", Yankovic was considered the premier artist to play in the Slovenian style during his long career. He was not related to fellow accordionist and song parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic, although the two collaborated. Background Yankovic was born to Slovene immigrant parents: Andrew Yankovic (''Andreas Jankovič'', 1879–1949) from Kal and Rose T. Yankovic (née ''Theresia Mele'', 1886–1968) from Cerknica, who married in 1910. Yankovic was raised in the Collinwood neighborhood on Cleveland's East Side. He released over 200 recordings in his career. In 1986, he was awarded the first-ever Grammy in the Best Polka Recording category. He rarely strayed from Slovenian-style polka, but did record with country guitarist Chet Atkins and pop singer Don Everly. He also recorded a version of the "Too Fat Polka" with comedian Drew Carey. History Yankov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myron Floren
Myron Floren (November 5, 1919 – July 23, 2005) was an American musician best known as the accordionist on ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' between 1950 and 1980. Floren came to prominence primarily from his regular appearances on the weekly television series in which Lawrence Welk dubbed him as "the happy Norwegian," which was also attributed to Peter Friello. Floren was highly regarded by Lawrence Welk, who was an accomplished accordion player in his own right. Floren functioned as Welk's principal assistant and second-in-command. In Floren's autobiography ''Accordion Man'', written with his daughter Randee Floren, he recalled handling road manager duties when the band traveled, including hotel arrangements and other logistics. Prior to his death, he hosted some of the repeats of ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' on PBS. Early years Floren was born to Ole and Tillie Florence. A first-generation American of Norwegian immigrant parentage, he grew up on a farm near Roslyn in Day County, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, television, and live-performance audiences. Early life Welk was born in the German-speaking community of Strasburg, North Dakota. He was sixth of the eight children of Ludwig and Christiana (née Schwahn) Welk, Roman Catholic ethnic Germans who emigrated in 1892 from Odessa, Russian Empire (now Ukraine). Welk was a first cousin, once removed, of former Montana governor Brian Schweitzer (Welk's mother and Schweitzer's paternal grandmother were siblings). Welk's paternal great-great-grandparents, Moritz and Magdalena Welk, emigrated in 1808 from Germanophone Alsace-Lorraine to the Ukraine. The family lived on a homestead that is now a tourist attraction. They spent the cold North Dakota winter of their first year inside an upturned wagon cov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom T
Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character in the 1998 American science-fiction disaster movie '' Deep Impact'' * Tom Buchanan, the main antagonist from the 1925 novel ''The Great Gatsby'' * Tom Cat, a character from the ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoons * Tom Lucitor, a character from the American animated series ''Star vs. the Forces of Evil'' * Tom Natsworthy, from the science fantasy novel ''Mortal Engines'' * Tom Nook, a character in ''Animal Crossing'' video game series * Tom Servo, a robot character from the ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' television series * Tom Sloane, a non-adult character from the animated sitcom ''Daria'' * Talking Tom, the protagonist from the ''Talking Tom & Friends'' franchise * Tom, a character from the '' Deltora Quest'' books by Emily Rodda * Tom, a cha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slim Whitman
Ottis Dewey Whitman Jr. (January 20, 1923 – June 19, 2013), known as Slim Whitman, was an American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist known for his yodeling abilities and his use of falsetto. He claimed he had sold in excess of 120 million records, although the recorded sales figures give 70 million, during a career that spanned over seven decades, and consisted of a prolific output of over 100 albums and around 500 recorded songs, that not only consisted of country music, but also of contemporary gospel, Broadway show tunes, love songs and standards. In the 1950s, Whitman toured with Elvis Presley as the opening act. In the 1990s and 2000s, a new generation was exposed to Whitman through his songs featured in the film ''Mars Attacks!''. His "Indian Love Call" (listened to by the elderly character played by veteran actress Sylvia Sidney) would kill the invading Martians by causing their heads to explode every time the record was played. This proves the key to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed only by Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Ray Charles. She is known for her 1960 hit " I'm Sorry" and 1958's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", which has become a Christmas standard. At 4 ft 9 inches tall (approximately 145 cm), she received the nickname "Little Miss Dynamite" in 1957, after recording the song "Dynamite" when she was 12, and was one of the earliest pop stars to have a major contemporary international following. In 1969, Lee returned to the charts with her recording "Johnny One Time" penned by A. L. "Doodle" Owens and Dallas Frazier. The song reached #3 on ''Billboard''s Adult Contemporary Chart and #41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song also earned Lee her second Grammy nomination for Best Pop Female Vocal. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mel Tillis
Lonnie Melvin Tillis (August 8, 1932 – November 19, 2017) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s as part of the outlaw country movement, with a long list of Top 10 hits. Tillis' biggest hits include " I Ain't Never", "Good Woman Blues", and "Coca-Cola Cowboy". On February 13, 2012, President Barack Obama awarded Tillis the National Medal of Arts for his contributions to country music. He also won the Country Music Association Awards' most coveted award, Entertainer of the Year. Tillis was a member of the Grand Ole Opry, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Country Music Hall of Fame. Additionally, he was known for his stutter, which did not affect his singing voice. His daughter is 1990s country hitmaker Pam Tillis. Early life Mel Tillis was born in Tampa, Florida, US. His parents were Burma (née Rogers; 1907–1990) and Lonnie Lee Tillis (1907–1981). While he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
