Richie Vadnal

National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum

605 East 222nd Street
Euclid, OH 44123

USA

E-mail: Polkashop@aol.com

Phone: 216-261-3263

Toll Free: 1-800-66POLKA

Fax: 216-261-4134

Richie Vadnal and his orchestra created one of the Cleveland-style Polka’s signature sounds of the Seventies. With his fresh, confident style, catchy tunes, and boy-next-door charm, Richie won over audiences both in the U.S. and Slovenia. Richie was the youngest in the Vadnal family of musicians, raised next door to the Slovenian parish of St. Mary’s in Cleveland’s Collinwood neighborhood. His mother Anna encouraged him to take up the accordion at age four. When he showed promise, Richie went on to study with Joe Trolli, Tops Cardone and Rico Pallotta, accordionist for the Cleveland Orchestra. He started his first band as a teen and performed with brothers Johnny on lead accordion, Frankie on guitar and Tony with bass and vocals in the Johnny Vadnal Orchestra. Richie soon caught the attention of Frank Yankovic and was invited to tour with America’s Polka King. The experience proved valuable. When Johnny moved to Florida in 1966, he asked Richie to take over as bandleader. With the addition of Bill Srnick on drums and Frank Mahnic on sax, the Richie Vadnal Orchestra became the most popular and entertaining polka band of the era. The Vadnals were frequent guests on the nationally-syndicated “Polka Varieties” television show where Richie’s charisma was shown to advantage. The group’s recordings were popular and several tunes became Cleveland-Style classics, such as “It Thrills Me So,” “Slovenian Picnic Waltz,” and “We Left Our Wives at Home.” Many songs were English-language updates of Slovenian favorites. Richie partnered with radio host Tony Petkovsek and Kollander Travel to lead the first polka tours to Slovenia, Hawaii and the Caribbean. The orchestra’s appearances in the homeland captivated a new audience and made Richie Vadnal a celebrity in Slovenia. He was one of the few Cleveland-style artists with fans on both sides of the Atlantic. Richie and the orchestra often returned to Slovenia to perform at festivals and on television and recordings. They are still fondly remembered for their American-accented version of “Ta Glažek Je Prazen (This Glass Is Empty)” and “No Beer on Sunday,” with the Slovenianized sing-along of “no pivo today.” Richie retired in the 1980s and Johnny returned to Cleveland to continue the swinging Vadnal sound into the 2000s. Richie’s musical legacy lives on through his many recordings and in the memories of polka-lovers around the world.

Inducted in 1997