Mama's got a squeezebox, Daddy never sleeps at night

June 1, 2007 7:08 AM

Today begins National Accordion Awareness Month. Check out some fun accordion facts, and make sure to polka! polka! polka!. (It was big in Sheboygan).
posted by mr_crash_davis (28 comments total)

Polka, you say?? (audio link)
posted by jonmc at 7:16 AM on June 1, 2007

Martin White has some popular tunes done by the piano-and-bellows, as well as his own compositions. Includes John Cage's 4'33"!
posted by liquidindian at 7:22 AM on June 1, 2007

I'd completely forgotten about accordions. Thanks for the reminder.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:34 AM on June 1, 2007 [1 favorite]

Maybe this is a sign.

This post comes immediately after I lost my grandfather's accordion on the train back from NYC.

I was distracted by an even more dismal situation.

But!

I'm going to take this post as a good omen and call information right now to see if they have a match!
posted by Esoquo at 7:35 AM on June 1, 2007

Oh and Martin White is great.

Plus this.
posted by Esoquo at 7:38 AM on June 1, 2007

The accordion is alive and well in the U.S..... and its not about polka
posted by vacapinta at 7:45 AM on June 1, 2007

Funny, I was just reading Accordion Crimes.
posted by chuckdarwin at 7:51 AM on June 1, 2007

Very fun! Perhaps some of you - if you're in the area - can join me at the Accordion Kings and Queens tomorrow night.
posted by dog food sugar at 7:55 AM on June 1, 2007

Sheboygan is a very nice town.

And it is building a spaceport.
posted by blahblahblah at 7:58 AM on June 1, 2007

I know that it's incredibly narrow-minded and wrong to hate an particular musical instrument. But I hate the accordion. I really do. With the heat of a thousand suns.
posted by psmealey at 8:35 AM on June 1, 2007

Today is National Donut Day too. Which can be enjoyed accompanied by the dulcet tones of an accordian.

But maybe not while dancing a polka.
posted by elendil71 at 8:51 AM on June 1, 2007

I thoroughly enjoyed Accordion Crimes.
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing that the 1st link goes to ladyofspain.com
posted by MtDewd at 9:01 AM on June 1, 2007

My local support group.
posted by Danf at 9:03 AM on June 1, 2007

Sweet! I'll have to break out my accordion to mark the occasion when I get home. (Advance apologies to my neighbors and anyone else within earshot.)
posted by malocchio at 9:28 AM on June 1, 2007

Use an Accordion, go to jail. It's not just the law, it's a good idea.
posted by doctor_negative at 9:28 AM on June 1, 2007

Welcome to Hell. Here's your accordion.
posted by eriko at 9:29 AM on June 1, 2007

Without months that are dedicated to particular people, causes, objects or events, I would have never even known about black people.
posted by flarbuse at 9:30 AM on June 1, 2007

Brave Combo
posted by hortense at 9:45 AM on June 1, 2007

Accordion like you've never heard it before: Belizean Brukdown.
posted by micayetoca at 9:57 AM on June 1, 2007

Anything that Weird Al likes can't be all bad.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 10:30 AM on June 1, 2007

I always enjoy some exciting accordion music.
posted by Wolfdog at 11:01 AM on June 1, 2007

Fuck, where'd that accordion come from? Was it always there? Damn, that's weird.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 11:21 AM on June 1, 2007

Jerry's Got a Squeezebox, by Red Elvises.
posted by Soliloquy at 12:21 PM on June 1, 2007

Planet Squeezebox is three CDs full of the dream of the international accordion lover. I like the three tracks my friend sent me, anyway.
posted by dreamyshade at 2:15 PM on June 1, 2007

I haven't picked up my accordion in months. Today seems like a good day to fix that.
posted by Durhey at 2:45 PM on June 1, 2007

What's the difference between an accordion player and a terrorist?

Terrorists have sympathizers.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 3:24 PM on June 1, 2007 [1 favorite]

Wow. what a bunch of instrument-haters here :)

As a music lover and collector of traditional instruments, I've got a decent little collection of Russian accordions, as well as a huge traditional piano accordion. I picked it up at an estate sale- it's named "Betty" (in big shiny chrome letters down the side!)

To make matters worse for my neighbors, it has an electric pickup built in...

Seriously though, while there's a huge range of bad accordion music out there (forced childhood trips with my grandfather to "Polkafest" in northern Minnesota come to mind) there's also tons of music from around the world that sounds wonderful when played on the accordion.

That being said, I don't play them much; the neighbors think it's strange and most folks I know have so much repressed hurt caused by Lawrence Welk reruns that they shudder at the mere sight of an accordion. It's an unfortunate thing.

Although having just moved to an urban area that is predominantly Mexican, I hear an awful lot of Tejano pumping out of cars that drive past my house these days...
posted by EricGjerde at 8:30 PM on June 1, 2007

About fifteen years ago I attended a live concert, something of a novelty, which was called something like "Accordians that shook the world". There were four acts, each with a different kind of accordian, each playing an entirely different kind of music. The strangest was a guy who played avant-garde modern music on his very-high-tech one. But there was also a guy who played Celtic music, and one who played music from Brittany, and one who did Mexican music. It was fun.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 8:58 PM on June 1, 2007