MICHIGAN POLKA: Art Walunas / Cloverleaf Polka / Heartbeat 1002 / 1962

Arthur Charles Walunas, 11/14/31-3/5/17, was born in Ludington, MI, and grew up in nearby Custer, MI, graduating from Custer High School in 1950. An accordion player, he was credited with the English-language lyrics of “No Beer In Heaven” (“In Heaven There Is No Beer”) (1) with which he had a hit recording in 1963. In the 1960s he recorded a series of singles for the Heartbeat and Dearborn record labels (based in Chicago, IL, and Dearborn, MI, respectively). Art served in the United States Air Force in the 1950s, and raised a family of four, all of whom became members of the band. In the 1970s, the family settled in Parowan, UT, and owned the “Swiss Village Restaurant” where they also performed. (2) (1) English Wikipedia credits Walunas, while German Wikipedia credits Dick Baker. Baker’s recording (Heartbeat 3-A) credits “Baker-Schwartz-Walunas” while Walunas’ (Heartbeat 26) credits “Siegel-Haensch-Schacht.” The composers of the original German-language version were Ernst Neubach and Ralph Maria Siegel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Heav... https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Im_Himm... (2) https://www.masoncountypress.com/2017... [Cloverleaf Polka, Art Walunas, Heartbeat 1002, recorded 1962, matrix N8OW-4516] The flip side of this disk is You Call Everybody Darlin':    • MICHIGAN POLKA: Art Walunas / You Call Eve...   Polka Playlist:    • Polka Time