Grammy_Award_for_Best_Polka_Album

Grammy Award for Best Polka Album

Grammy Award for Best Polka Album

Honor presented to recording artists for quality polka albums

The Grammy Award for Best Polka Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for quality polka albums. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".[1]

Quick Facts Awarded for, Country ...

Originally called the Grammy Award for Best Polka Recording, the award was first presented to Frankie Yankovic in 1986. Previously, polka recordings had been placed in the folk category.[2] While neither Billboard nor the Recording Industry Association of America tracked polka sales at the time the award category was introduced, polka musicians viewed its inclusion as a sign of respect and increasing popularity.[2][3] In 1987, a tie vote resulted in awards being presented to Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra for the album I Remember Warsaw as well as to Eddie Blazonczyk's Versatones for the album Another Polka Celebration. In 1992, the name of the category was changed to Best Polka Album. Beginning in 2001, award recipients included the producers, engineers, and/or mixers associated with the nominated work in addition to the recording artists. The Academy retired the award category in 2009 to remain "relevant and responsive" to the music community.[4][5]

Sturr holds the record for the most wins in this category, with a total of eighteen (including six as the leader of the group known as Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra). Sturr also holds the record for the most consecutive Grammy wins.[6] Walter Ostanek received the award three times consecutively, and the band Brave Combo was presented the award twice.[7] American artists were presented with the award more than any other nationality, though it was presented to Ostanek and his band from Canada three times. Lenny Gomulka holds the record for the most nominations without a win, with twelve.

Recipients

Frank Yankovic, the award's first winner
Seated, smiling man with wire-frame glasses, playing a piano accordion that is decorated with the name "OSTANEK".
Three-time award winner Walter Ostanek in 2011
Four people on a stage; from left to right, they are playing a keyboard, a trumpet, a drum set, a guitar, and a saxophone. In the background are various signs, and on the stage are microphone stands and other audio equipment.
Members of the two-time award-winning band Brave Combo
*
Indicates a joint award for that year
More information Year[I], Performing artist(s) ...

^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

Category retirement

In 2009, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced the retirement of the award category. President and CEO Neil Portnow stated that the Academy needed to do so in order to remain a "relevant and responsive" organization within a "dynamic music community".[4] Polka musicians and fans were disappointed with the category elimination.[31] Three-time award winner Walter Ostanek admitted he "[felt] sorry for the future artists" that would fail to be recognized by the Academy.[4] Carl Finch of the group Brave Combo stated the following: "Having a polka category was the most important step to legitimacy that we could ever hope to achieve. To have that taken away, it's like it was all for nothing."[32] Apart from ensuring that the "awards process remains representative of the current musical landscape", the Academy cited dwindling competition as one reason for the category retirement.[32] Others speculated that Jimmy Sturr's eighteen wins led to the elimination.[31][33] Due to the elimination of a polka-specific category, polka musicians are likely to submit recordings in the folk and world music categories.[2][31][33]

In 2011, the Grammy Award organization announced a major overhaul of Grammy categories, lowering the number of awards from over 120 to just 78. Several regional American roots genres, such as Hawaiian music or Native American music, were combined in the new Best Regional Roots Music Album category, for which polka albums would also be eligible.[34][35]

See also

References

General

  • "Past Winners Search". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved March 4, 2011. Note: User must select the "Polka" category as the genre under the search feature.

Specific

  1. [1]
    "Overview". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  2. [2]
    Smith, Wes (January 11, 1986). "'Polka Power' takes its spot in the race for the Grammies". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington: Cowles Publishing Company. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  3. [3]
    "New Grammy should help win respect for lowly polka". The Telegraph. Nashua, New Hampshire: Telegraph Publishing Company. February 10, 1986. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  4. [4]
    "Grammy board axes polka category to stay 'relevant and responsive'". CBC News. June 4, 2009. Archived from the original on June 10, 2009. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
  5. [5]
    Sisario, Ben (June 5, 2009). "Polka Music Is Eliminated as Grammy Award Category". The New York Times. p. C5. Archived from the original on May 10, 2013. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
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    Amos, Shawn (January 27, 2010). "Grammy Week: What You Don't Know About the Grammys". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on February 2, 2010. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  7. [7]
    Sisario, Ben (February 5, 2006). "The Polka King Rolls Out the Barrel for the 19th Time". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
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    "GRAMMY Awards Winners & Nominees for Best Polka Album". Grammys. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
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    Swartz, Kirsten Lee (January 16, 1988). "Walt Groller Honored By Grammy Nomination". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Tribune Company. Archived from the original on May 23, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
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    "Here's list of nominees from all 77 categories". Deseret News. Deseret News Publishing Company. January 12, 1990. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
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    "List of Grammy Awards nominations". Times-News. Hendersonville, North Carolina: The New York Times Company. January 11, 1991. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
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    Campbell, Mary (January 9, 1992). "R.E.M., Raitt tops in Grammy nominations". The Tuscaloosa News. The New York Times Company. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
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    "The 37th Grammy Nominations". Los Angeles Times. January 6, 1995. p. 7. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
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    "List of Grammy nominees". CNN. January 4, 1996. Archived from the original on December 7, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  18. [18]
    Campbell, Mary (January 8, 1997). "Babyface is up for 12 Grammy awards". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Journal Communications. Retrieved July 19, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  19. [19]
    "1997 Grammy Nominees". Orlando Sentinel. Tribune Company. January 9, 1998. p. 6. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  20. [20]
    "Academy's Complete List of Nominees". Los Angeles Times. January 6, 1999. p. 8. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  21. [21]
    "And the nominees are..." USA Today. Gannett Company. February 22, 2000. Archived from the original on July 8, 2001. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  22. [22]
    Boucher, Geoff (January 4, 2001). "Grammys Cast a Wider Net Than Usual". Los Angeles Times. p. 10. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  23. [23]
    "Complete List Of Grammy Nominees". CBS News. January 4, 2002. Archived from the original on October 10, 2003. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  24. [24]
    "Complete list of Grammy nominees; ceremony set for Feb. 23". San Francisco Chronicle. January 8, 2003. p. 4. Archived from the original on August 16, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  25. [25]
    "Complete list of Grammy nominations". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. December 5, 2003. Archived from the original on December 4, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  26. [26]
    Machosky, Michael (February 13, 2005). "White Oak family hopes Grammy will 'Come on Over'". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Tribune-Review Publishing Company. Archived from the original on November 3, 2007. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  27. [27]
    "The Complete List of Grammy Nominations". The New York Times. December 8, 2005. p. 4. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  28. [28]
    "49th Annual Grammy Awards Winners List". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on December 20, 2006. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  29. [29]
    "50th annual Grammy Awards nominations (part II)". Variety. Reed Business Information. December 6, 2007. Archived from the original on December 9, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  30. [30]
    Conner, Thomas (December 3, 2008). "Complete list of Grammy nominees". Chicago Sun-Times. Sun-Times Media Group. Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  31. [31]
    Rogers, John (June 5, 2009). "No more polka album Grammys for Jimmy Sturr". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 19, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
  32. [32]
    Sisario, Ben (June 4, 2009). "Polka Music Is Eliminated as Grammy Award Category". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
  33. [33]
    Patch, Nick (June 4, 2009). "Sad day for Ostanek as Grammys drop polka". Toronto Star. Torstar. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
  34. [34]
    "The Recording Academy Continues Evolution of Grammy Awards Process". The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on August 23, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  35. [35]
    Chun, Gary (April 6, 2011). "Grammys: Hawaiian category dropped". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Honolulu, Hawaii: Oahu Publications. Archived from the original on April 8, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2011.
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