Joey Tomsick and his orchestra big winners at Polka Hall of Fame Awards Show; get Recording of the Year for "Polka Funhouse"

By Jeff Piorkowski , Sun Messenger Newspaper

December 04, 2009, 6:08AM

Joey Tomsick accepts the Recording of the Year award at the Polka Hall of Fame Awards Show. The image on the right is his projection on a big screen.The 22nd installment of the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame Awards Show took the theme “Polkas International,” but a local performer and his band carried away the most hardware.

The big winner at Saturday afternoon’s awards show, held for the second consecutive year at the Slovenian National Home, 6409 St. Clair Ave., was Joey Tomsick and the orchestra that bears his name.

Tomsick and his band mates made repeated trips up the stairs to the stage at the packed, 85-year-old hall to pick up their awards and deliver their thanks.

Tomsick, whose band has been performing for 25 years, had bestowed upon his group for the first time the award for “Band of the Year.”

The Joey Tomsick Orchestra then took home the prize for “Recording of the Year” for “Polka Funhouse,” its first release in 10 years. “Polka Funhouse” was also lauded as “Best New Original Polka or Waltz,” as selected by the voters of the hall of fame, located on East 222nd Street in Euclid.

Further, Tomsick was named “Best Musician — Individual,” and members of the JTO, saxophone player Phil Hrvatin of Lyndhurst and bassist Hank Guzel, were given two of the three “Best Musician — Sideman” trophies, along with Jack Tankovich of the Bob Kravos Orchestra.

“I’m in a whirlwind right now,” said an elated Tomsick immediately following the two-hour show. “When I think about all the ups and downs we went through.”

Tomsick called the awards sweep “a great comeback.” In 1999, the JTO last released an album, “Smile,” also an award winner. During the last decade, Joey Tomsick concentrated on spending more time with his family

“My mom (Anne) had a quadruple bypass, and I wanted to get an album done this year so she would have something to listen to while she recuperated,” Tomsick said. “She’s fine now.”

Tomsick, of Concord, featured his father, Ken, on “Polka Funhouse.” The senior Tomsick, who was at the awards show, recorded with the Four Feathers Quartet, a barbershop harmony group.

The JTO took a snippet of a 1951 Four Feathers recording and spliced it into “The Four Feathers Polka” on “Polka Funhouse,” released in May.

“Winning the Band of the Year for the first time was the icing on the cake,” Joey Tomsick said of perhaps the show’s most coveted award.

The Joey Tomsick Orchestra and Tomsick's daughter Faith, 6, had a big day at the Polka Hall of Fame Awards show. Enjoying the moment are (from left) Tomsick, drummer Jim Penko, bassist Hank Guzel and saxophonist Phil Hrvatin.A big fan of the JTO, which also consists of drummer Jim Penko, is State Rep. Kenny Yuko, D-Richmond Heights. Yuko, who attended the awards show, said he is a friend of Tomsick’s and owns a copy of “Polka Funhouse.”

“Joey Tomsick is a great musician who plays from his heart,” Yuko said. “The title of the album says it all. It puts a smile on the face of listeners.”

Host Ray Somich was awarded for emceeing his 20th show, a show that featured the installment of two new Lifetime Achievement Award winners. This award is equivalent to being inducted into the hall of fame.

The two new members are the late Art Perko, who died in 2008, and Del Sinchak of Youngstown.

Perko, born in 1935, was raised in the St. Clair/East 65th Street neighborhood and attended St. Vitus School. The accordionist’s bands of the 1960s and ‘70s issued four albums and scored a national pop hit in 1965 with “Peanuts Polka.” That song reached number nine on a Cleveland radio station’s chart when the Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride” was number one.

Sinchak, 74, is a longtime accordionist, polka radio DJ, and polka tour host. He has been nominated twice for Grammy Awards in the polka category.

An early rock and roller who recorded a few singles for Chicago’s famed Chess label, Sinchak’s band backed Youngstown’s Edsels in 1959 when the group recorded the hit “Rama Lama Ding Dong,” which became a national R&B hit three years later.

Putting into perspective what the awards mean to those who receive them was Wisconsin polka radio DJ Greg Drust. Drust spoke of interviewing the late polka great and hall of famer Johnny Vadnal backstage at the first awards show in 1988.

“(Vadnal) said, ‘I’ve won a lot of awards, but this is the one that really means something,” Drust said. “And if it meant something to Johnny Vadnal. . .”

Also at the awards show:

• SNPJ Heritage Center received the “Cultural/Heritage Award.”

• The “Support/Promotion Award” went to John and Helen Kuzman.

• The award for “Best Button Box (Player) — Individual/Duo” was accepted by Ron Likovic.

• The award as “Best Vocalist” was taken home by John Ross. It was the first time Ross won the award after 11 nominations.

• Selected as the “2009 Greatest All-Time Hit Songs” were “Waltz of Love” and “Glas Harmonike Waltz.”

The show’s international theme led to polka medleys performed in Cleveland-style, Italian, Polish and German.

Photos: Phil Hrvatin