Will Glahé (February 12, 1902 – November 21, 1989) was a German accordionist, composer, and bandleader. Glahé was born at

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was in a doc ...

, Germany. In the 1930s, he was, along with Heinz Munsonius and Albert Vossen, one of the most successful accordionists in Germany. He led his own orchestra from 1932 and became successful particularly in

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...

. One of his most famous songs in Germany was his 1936 recording of "Rosamunde" (a German female forename), a cover version of the song "Škoda lásky" ("Wasted Love") by

Jaromir Vejvoda Jaromír, Jaromir, Jaroměr is a Slavic male given name. Origin and meaning Jaromír is a West Slavic given name composed of two stems ''jaro'' and ''mír''. The meaning is not definite: *Polish ''jary'' (archaic) = „spry, young, strong“; ''m ...

. Under the title "

Beer Barrel Polka "Beer Barrel Polka", also known as "The Barrel Polka", "Roll Out the Barrel", or "Rosamunde", is a 1927 polka composed by Czech musician Jaromír Vejvoda. Lyrics were added in 1934, subsequently gaining worldwide popularity during World War II a ...

", the tune hit No. 1 on the

Hit Parade A hit parade is a ranked list of the most popular recordings at a given point in time, usually determined either by sales or airplay. The term originated in the 1930s; ''Billboard'' magazine published its first music hit parade on January 4, 1936 ...

in the United States in 1939. It sold over one million copies by 1943, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the RIAA. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he was known as the "Polka King" in the U.S., and did both

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

arrangements with his orchestra. His " Liechtensteiner Polka" was also a hit in the U.S., hitting No. 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1957. The follow-up single "Sweet Elizabeth" (1958) appeared in all major U.S. charts, nearing the top 40 in Cashbox and Music Vendor. He had some success with "The Cuckoo Waltz" by Swede E. I. Jonasson in 1969, and the song is now used widely, in the Alice in Wonderland dark ride at

Blackpool Pleasure Beach Blackpool Pleasure Beach is an amusement park situated on Blackpool's South Shore, in the county of Lancashire, North West England. It operates as a secure facility, and has introduced epayments via smartphones for admission charges, replac ...

and in

Efteling Efteling () is a fantasy-themed amusement park in Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands. The attractions reflect elements from ancient myths and legends, fairy tales, fables, and folklore. The park was opened on May 31, 1952. It evolved from a nature p ...

, Holland. His album, ''Oktoberfest'' peaked at number 53 in Australia in 1973. He died at Rheinbreitbach.

References

Bibliography

* Joel Whitburn, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits''. 7th edn, 2000, p. 265. *

Elijah Wald Elijah Wald (born 1959) is an American folk blues guitarist and music historian. He is a 2002 Grammy Award winner for his liner notes to ''The Arhoolie Records 40th Anniversary Box: The Journey of Chris Strachwitz''. Life Wald was born in 1959 ...

, ''How the Beatles Destroyed Rock & Roll''. Oxford, 2009, ch. 10 & 11. 1902 births 1989 deaths German accordionists Polka musicians RCA Victor artists London Records artists 20th-century German musicians 20th-century accordionists {{Germany-musician-stub