Eddie Blazonczyk was born in
Chicago, Illinois, to Polish immigrant parents of
Goral heritage. The
records he made for these labels were
rockabilly sides, and
novelty songs. "The Great Great Pumpkin", released on Lucky Four #1012, is probably the most noteworthy of these recordings. This recording is still occasionally heard around
Halloween and is highly sought by
record collectors.
Lenny LaCour, the owner of Lucky Four Records, encouraged Blazonczyk, at the age of 22, to specialize in polka music, rather than to continue as a rockabilly singer. Blazonczyk has said, "I took his advice, and never regretted it." He is credited with inventing the rhythmic polka subgenre known as "Chicago push," The Versatones played a mix of both traditional and original tunes, with Blazonczyk singing in both
Polish and English. The band consisted of a fiddler and
concertina player, two trumpeter/clarinetists, a drummer and Blazonczyk himself on vocals and electric bass. Though his focus remained on the polka genre, Blazonczyk was a fan of
rock,
country,
bluegrass and
Cajun music and liked to incorporate those styles into his music when he felt it was appropriate. Blazonczyk retired from performing in 2002. At that time, he turned over responsibility for his band, The Versatones, to his son, Eddie Blazonczyk Jr. The Versatones played their last performance on New Year's Eve, 2011. ==Death==