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WISCONSIN POLKA: Dick Metko / Because Your Blue Eyes Blink / Polkaland 506 / 1953

Richard F. (Dick) Metko was born September 20th, 1931 in Mattoon, WI, to William “Bill” and Esther (Waldvogel) Metko. In 1935, the family moved from Mattoon to Appleton, where Dick began accordion lessons at age seven. By 1941, he was entertaining his neighbors, playing for house parties, and soon graduated to a weekly feature on the WHBY Sunday music radio program. At age 13, Dick was the youngest Wisconsin musician to be granted union membership by the American Federation of Musicians. While attending a radio broadcast featuring Lawrence Duchow and the Red Raven Orchestra on Easter Sunday, 1946, Dick met the legendary band leader and soon joined the band. Still in high school, Dick played an average of six dance dates each week, and participated in recording sessions for RCA Victor. In addition to live performances and studio recordings, Dick wrote new material for the band to record, including “Dick’s Polka” and “Ha Ha! Ho Ho!”. In 1953, Dick formed his own band (first ‘Dick Metko and his Komets,’ then ‘Dick Metko and His Boys’), and organized several “Battle of the Bands” doubles with his lifelong friend Dick Rodgers, which would later develop into a 20-year partnership in 1958. That same year, Dick joined Appleton-based welding giant Miller Electric, where he managed the company publication “Memco News” until his retirement in 1995. A longtime member of the National Rifle Association, Dick was an excellent marksman and an aficionado of antique guns. His great appreciation for nature and the environment inspired him to join the National Arbor Day Foundation, and he spent much of his free time tending to the trees he planted. Dick enjoyed a successful music career that spanned six decades. He passed away April 20, 2004, aged 72. [from Dick Metko’s obituary] The Polkaland Recording Company grew out of David A. Bensman’s recording studio, built in the back of his newly renovated Sheboygan Radio and Record Center which opened in 1949. Bensman, the son of Russian immigrants to Wisconsin, was the printer of a weekly newspaper during the 1930s, and provided PA systems for fairs and other public events. Early Polkaland releases were RCA masters recorded 1951-54. Recorded frequently by Bensman were Romy Gosz, Cousin Fuzzy, Dick Rodgers, Dick Metko, Russ Zimmerman and Bruno Randles, among many others. Bensman also operated WSHE radio in Sheboygan from 1955 to 1958. He passed away in 1963 at the age of 50 with no mention of Polkaland Records in his obituary. [Because Your Blue Eyes Blink, Dick Metko, Polkaland 506, recorded 1953, matrix E3KW-4107] The flip side of this disk is Wedding Dance Waltz:    • WISCONSIN POLKA: Dick Metko and his B...   Polka Playlist:    • Polka Time