Lawrence Duchow (May 9, 1914 – December 16, 1972) was an American bandleader recorded on the
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...
label from 1932 to 1954.
Career
Born in
Potter, Wisconsin
Potter is a village in Calumet County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 253 at the 2010 census.
History
Potter was established near a Native American village along the Manitowoc River. It was originally named Muskratville becau ...
, Duchow was a member of the
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 ...
and
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 w ...
. With his Red Raven Orchestra, named after the
Red Raven Polka,
[ ] he competed in polka contests against the bands of
Frankie 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 ...
,
Whoopee John Wilfahrt,
Romy Gosz
Roman 'Romy' Louis Gosz (August 2, 1910 Grimms, Wisconsin - August 29, 1966, Manitowoc, Wisconsin) was a popular and commercially successful polka musician in the upper Midwest. Gosz's music featured the Bohemian brass style and appealed to the ...
,
Louis Bashell, and
Harold Loeffelmacher.
Duchow played many of his shows at Kleist's Hall in
Potter, Wisconsin
Potter is a village in Calumet County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 253 at the 2010 census.
History
Potter was established near a Native American village along the Manitowoc River. It was originally named Muskratville becau ...
. At one time, he had a weekly radio show on
WGN in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. In November 1947, he had a
''Billboard'' chart hit with "Swiss Boy", which reached number 23.
He was involved in a bogus check scandal in 1953 and arrested in New York.
[ ] He then resettled in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
,
but he returned to Wisconsin in 1969.
References
1914 births
1972 deaths
People from Calumet County, Wisconsin
Musicians from Wisconsin
20th-century American musicians
Polka musicians
{{Wisconsin-stub