Dick Rodgers TV Recording Orchestra: Polka City, USA

Plus some vintage footage you’ll love!

Feb 16, 2024

Dick Rodgers’ Polka City, USA is the featured album in this week’s Polka Time with DJ Shotski. We’re coming up on the anniversary of the Pulaski polka musician’s birth on March 1, 1927. I think I just chose this record because of the cover art.

Dick Rodgers was a major recording artist in the polka world. His orchestra recorded on Wisconsin labels like Cuca and KL, but also major labels like Decca. He’s a recognizable figure in large part because he had a TV and radio program for 25 years including on WLUK in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Polka music runs in Dick’s family. His father, Joe, played in a polka band from 1925-45. In 1945 Dick got his friends together when they were seniors in Pulaski High School to start their own polka band.

They had a strong regional following and traveled around the country and around the world to play. Dick managed it while maintaining a day job selling insurance, but it’s worth noting that his wife, Joan, managed the band’s bookings and bookkeeping. Behind every great man is a woman keeping the plates spinning.

Rodgers had lots of awards and acclaims including being the first person from Wisconsin to be inducted into the International Polka Hall of Fame in 1976. He also was recognized by the World Concertina Congress Hall of Fame and the Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame.

There aren’t a lot of videos of his TV show online that I could find, but here are a few performances that spark joy.

Here’s a short one of the Dick Rodgers Orchestra on the show Bandwagon on KEYC-TV in Mankato, MN in 1992. It’s worth watching to see some senior citizens cutting a rug. You’ll spot the iconic red and white outfits and embroidered vests of members of the Polka Lovers Klub of America.

You can also find a couple episodes of the Polka Variety show on WFRV-TV in Green Bay on YouTube. This one was recorded at the Stop Inn in 1989. The whole thing is worth watching, but zoom ahead to 13:43 when Dick introduces the members of his band.

Listen to this week’s episode of Polka Time with DJ Shotski to hear “My Mary Polka” by Dick Rodgers and his TV Recording Orchestra as well as the “Bartender Song.” The show will air LIVE on 98.7 FM WVMO on Sunday, February 18. Tune in on your terrestrial dial in Monona or on Madison’s east side. The show will rebroadcast on participating stations the following weekend.

All stations stream on the web at the links below. All times CST.