Saturday 9: Too Fat Polka

Too Fat Polka (1947)

Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here.

1) Have you ever danced the polka?

Please....I'm from southwestern Pennsylvania (just a little southeast of Pittsburgh).  Back in the day folks around here were born doing the polka.  Every wedding reception worth it's salt featured a band that could play polkas as well as Top 40. I "officially" learned to polka in junior high when it was taught as part of the dance unit in gym...right along with square dancing and disco. We're not quite as ethnic these days, but you still might hear a polka at a good reception and our local radio station still has a polka show on Saturdays.

2) The centerpiece of a traditional Polish polka band is the accordion. The accordion is a substantial instrument. Have you ever tried to play it?

I have.  One of our neighbors when I was a kid was the accordion player and lead singer in an all female polka group called "The Polka Powderpuffs."  She let me give it a go.  She is also the one who let my toddler son try out the drum set in her basement and informed us he "wasn't just beating on them," alerting us to a gift to be nurtured.

3) The plump lady of this song cannot fit into the singer's car. How many passengers does your car comfortably seat?

Five.  Two up front and three in the backseat.

4) Would you like to lose a few pounds?

I'd like to lose more than a few.

5) In the long ago 1940s, this song was considered amusing. Do you think it's still funny today?

I've been hearing this song my whole life and never thought of it as funny.  I'm not offended by it or anything, it's just not my style of humor.  I suppose there are probably some who'd find it funny.

6) Arthur Godfrey, who recorded this song, was a popular radio and TV host from the 1930s to the 1970s. Before this week's Saturday 9, had you ever heard of him?

I've heard of him, but I don't think I ever watched his program.

7) One of his more popular radio shows was Talent Scouts. A 1940s-50s version of American Idol, this show gave previously unknown singers their first national exposure. Godfrey could point with pride to having helped discover Tony Bennett and Patsy Cline, but he made a mistake by rejecting Elvis Presley. Tell us about something you'd do differently if you could get a "do over."

Sticking to a musical theme...I'd go see Ricky Nelson with my mom.  Ricky was the teen idol that made my mom's heart beat quicker so she was excited when she came to visit us for the holidays back in 1985 Orlando and discovered he was playing a free concert in the park downtown.  She really wanted to go, but the rest of us made all kinds of excuses and talked her out of it....the crowds would be awful, it would be a drunken mess, she could go see him in comfort some other time, etc.  He died in a plane crash that New Year's Eve.  I've never heard the end of it.  So, yeah, I'd go back and go to the dang concert.

8) In 1953, Godfrey made news by having one of the nation's very first hip replacements. Have you ever been/would you be part of a clinical trial, either for a new drug or a new medical procedure?

Nope.  My dad, however, had one of the very earliest skin grafts when he burned his foot in the steel mill.  Doctors came from all over to observe his progress and his case was well documented in medical journals of the time, I'm told.

9) RANDOM QUESTION: You and a friend are shopping. She tries on an expensive sweater and enthusiastically asks what you think. You think it looks awful. Do you tell her the truth?

If she's a close friend, then yes, I'd probably let her know (gently) that it wasn't particularly flattering for her.

Thanks, as always, to Sam for creating the Saturday 9 each week.  Stop by and visit her to join in the fun or to find links to the other bloggers participating.