Trustees Honor Roll

Kramer, Frankie

Accordionist and Bandleader (1937-1993)
Inducted on November 25, 2000

Frankie Kramer blazed into the polka scene like a shooting star, one of the best of the new generation of polka players after the glory years of the 1950's. Frankie started playing the accordion at age 9 and was largly self-taught. He organized his first band when he was 14. By the 1960's, the Frankie Kramer Orchestra attracted an avid following and made regular appearances on the "Polka Varisties" televsion show in WEWS in Cleveland. In the mid-1960's, Frankie also managed Kramer's Lounge in Cleveland. Kramer's Lounge became a polka haven in the Midwest for musicians and fans. As a musician, Frankie had a knack for taking a waltz or a polka and giving it his own kick-up-your-heels style. He recorded three Delta International albums, "TV Polka Party," "Earth-Moving Polka," and "Polkas Cabaret Style." He moved to Minnesota in 1975, where he continued to entertain on the accordian.