PENNSYLVANIA POLKA: The Bell Hops / Battman Polka / Dyno 369 / 1966

A notice in the 1964 guide to the International Polka Convention in Chicago describes “The Bell Hops” as “a family group” directed by Leo J. Gibala of Irwin, PA, located southeast of Pittsburgh. Indeed, the group was made up of the children of McKeesport residents Leo Gibala and his one-time band mate, Henry Jasiewicz, a trumpeter and violinist, who helped Leo form the Bell Hops in the mid-1950s. Initially, the band consisted of Leo’s four children, Ted (accordion), Frank (reeds), Jeannie/Virginia (piano) and Ronnie (drums); and Henry’s son, Henny (trumpet). [Newspaper accounts list Henny as a cousin of the Gibala children.] Their debut was at the dedication of the Boys’ Club of McKeesport in 1957. The age range of the children in 1963 was 14 to 20 years old. Henry Jasiewicz also played with the band.

The Gibala-Jasiewicz clan attended performances of the teenaged Jarusinski brothers, Ed (accordion) and Ray (drums), whose band, the Polkats, played Sundays at the PNA (Polish National Alliance) Club in Glassport. When the Bell Hops’ drummer went into the military, Ray was asked to join the band. He also shared vocals with Henry’s daughter Dee-Dee Jasiewicz (Ogrodny) who had begun singing with the group. (Ray’s brother, Ed, may have been involved with the Bell Hops, as their issue of ‘Battman Polka’ gives him composer credit.)

When the Bell Hops disbanded in 1970, Henry, Henny, and Dee-Dee joined the “Polish All Stars,” while Ray formed “Ray Jay and the Carousels” (along with Ted Gibala, Walt Shutty, Bobby Shutty, Stanley Ogrodny [Dee-Dee’s husband] and Edward Ogrodny). Henny Jasiewicz went on to found “Henny and the Versa J’s,” which included his childhood bandmate Frank Gibala, and eventually their children.

Members of the International Polka Association Hall of Fame include Henry Jasiewicz, Henny Jasiewicz, Dee-Dee (Jasiewicz) Ogrodny, and Ray Jarusinski.

[Battman Polka, The Bell Hops, Dyno 369, recorded 1966, matrix GQP-913-A]
The flip side of this disk is Staro Baba Oberek:    • PENNSYLVANIA POLKA: The Bell Hops / S...  
Polka Playlist:    • Polka Time