Chicago polka king dies; co-wrote Sox fight song
August 22, 2006
BY DAVE HOEKSTRA Staff Reporter
During the 1940s and '50s, the neon strip of West Division Street between Ashland and Western was known as "Polish Broadway." The street consisted of 50 polka clubs filled with people dancing until dawn. Hardscrabble writer Nelson Algren took it in from his tiny apartment above a Division Street hardware store. And the night beat was set by Walter E. Jagiello, a k a "Lil' Wally the Polka King."
Mr. Jagiello died Thursday of heart failure at a Miami Beach, Fla., hospice. He was 76.
Mr. Jagiello, a 5-foot-6 drummer-singer who was born in Chicago, released more than 110 albums as "Lil' Wally," and he performed on West Division Street between 1944 and 1965. His hits included "I Like Her Golabka," "No Beer in Heaven" and "Polish Polka Twist," which charted in Billboard magazine in 1960. He was the first inductee into the Polka Hall of Fame in Chicago and made several guest appearances on the Lawrence Welk Show.
Played for the pope
But Mr. Jagiello said his finest moment was in 1984 when he was invited to play for Pope John Paul II in the Vatican. He performed his song "God Bless Our Polish Pope" as part of a two-hour concert.
Today, Chicago White Sox fans hear Lil' Wally at every home game. In 1959, he co-wrote the "Let's Go Go Go White Sox" fight song, recorded by Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers with the Lil' Wally Orchestra. The song was resurrected just last year. Lil' Wally was invited to this year's home opener but was too ill to make the trip.
Lil' Wally was to Chicago polka what Junior Wells was to Chicago blues.
He was a full-tilt innovator.
Mr. Jagiello was the pulsar behind Chicago-style polka, a slower polka he introduced in the 1940s on "Polish Broadway." Chicago style carries a more deliberate beat (think Charlie Watts in a polka setting) through a smaller five- or six-piece band that could easily fit into narrow Chicago taverns. Conversely, the Slovenian style popularized by Frankie Yankovic featured two accordions and sometimes a banjo with a dash of brass.
"I'm original," Mr. Jagiello told me in a 1987 interview. "My music is very simple to comprehend, whether it is la-la-la-la-la or ooh-la-la. And I sing in Polish fluently and I sing in English fluently. Chicago used to be the polka capital of the world. When I was playing regularly there, every place on Polish Broadway was packed. Now there are something like two polka lodges left simply because polka has been too Americanized."
In 1999, the Polkaholics polka-rock band brought Lil' Wally up from Florida and became his backing band for a show at the Zakopane Lounge, one of the last two Polish bars on West Division Street.
"Wally was one of the great 20th century American musicians," said Polkaholics guitarist-vocalist Don Hedeker. "He was on par with Johnny Cash in country and Charlie Parker in jazz. In resurgent country, a lot of those artists linked up with Cash and Hank Williams. That's what we did with Lil' Wally and bands like the Ampol-Aires. When Wally began, one of his basic rules was to have no music stands on stage and no notes. They played from the inside to the people. He was a consummate showman. When we brought him to Chicago in the late '90s, those were the greatest of shows. We had the old-time Wally fans as well as young Wicker Park hipsters. It was a celebration of Wally."
Began singing polka at 8
The other polka lodge left on West Division Street is Phyllis's Musical Inn, now an alternative country and rock club. On Sunday night when word filtered down of Mr. Jagiello's passing, the club held a moment of silence. When Phyllis Jaskot opened her club in 1954, Lil' Wally was headlining across the street at the Lucky Stop.
Mr. Jagiello began singing polka music at the age of 8 on Chicago's Northwest Side. He appeared at Polish picnics and weddings. Besides playing drums, he was self-taught on concertina. He began sneaking into Division Street bars at the age of 11. He would wear a sharp white shirt and stick an unlit cigarette in his mouth. He was a smooth operator.
Accomplished entrepreneur
Mr. Jagiello recorded for Columbia Records in 1949 and in 1951 he started his own Jay Jay Records ("Be Happy Night and Day with Jay Jay"). He picked the name "Jay Jay" because he wrote his melodies after listening to birds sing. Mr. Jagiello didn't record his first song in English until 1954, when he cracked Billboard's top 40 with "I Wish I Was Single Again."
Mr. Jagiello was as accomplished an entrepreneur as he was a musician. He debuted a polka radio show in 1950 on WCRW in Chicago. He later had shows on WLS and WTAQ and often would feature live feeds from gigs at the Lucky Stop and the Pulaski Ballroom. In February 1955, Lil' Wally was booked on an off night between the big bands at the Aragon Ballroom. The Aragon had never presented polka music. Lil' Wally and his band drew 4,000 people.
Mr. Jagiello was also a lifetime member of the National Academy Recording Arts & Sciences' Chicago chapter, having been with the group since it was formed in 1961.
In 1965, Mr. Jagiello and his wife, Jeanette, moved to Florida where he continued to play concerts, produce records and mentor young musicians. In 1984, he was hired to play the reception for Miss Poland and Miss Yugoslavia at the Miss Universe contest.
Mr. Jagiello is survived by Jeanette, his wife of 34 years, a brother Frank and many nephews and nieces. Visitation is from noon to 6 p.m Saturday at the Pietryka Funeral Home, 5734 W. Diversey. Funeral mass is at 6 p.m. at SS. Cyril and Methodius Polish National Church, 5744 W. Diversey. Internment is private.
dhoekstra@suntimes.com
GO-GO WHITE SOX!
White Sox! White Sox!
Go-Go White Sox!
Let's go, Go-Go White Sox
We're with you all the way!
You're always in there fighting,
And you do your best.
We're glad to have you out here in the Middle West.
We're gonna root-root-root-root White Sox.
And cheer you on to victory.
When we're in the stands,
We'll make those rafters ring;
All through the season,
You will hear us sing.
Let's go, Go-Go White Sox,
Chicago's proud of you!
White Sox! White Sox!
Go-Go White Sox!
Root-Root-Root for the White Sox. We'll cheer you on to victory.
When we're in the stands,
We'll make those rafters ring;
All through the season,
You will hear us sing.
Let's go, Go-Go White Sox,
Chicago's proud of you!
White Sox! White Sox!
Go-Go White Sox!
Let's go, Go-Go White Sox!
Chicago is proud of you!
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