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| Li'l Wally & The Lucky Harmony Boys |
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Walter E. Jagiello, who recorded 110 albums as "Lil' Wally the Polka King," and who gained fame as the co-writer of the Chicago White Sox fight song, died Thursday August 17, 2006 of heart failure in Miami Beach, Fla. He was 76.
His death was reported by Bob Pietryka, owner of the Pietryka Funeral Home in Chicago.
Jagiello was a drummer and singer largely credited with creating the Chicago-style polka, characterized by a slower, more deliberate beat. He was the first musician inducted into the Polka Hall of Fame in Chicago.
His reign as the polka king centered on a strip of Chicago's Division Street known during the 1940s and 1950s as "Polish Broadway." At its peak, the North Side neighborhood had 50 polka clubs.
Jagiello hit Billboard's charts with "Polish Polka Twist" and "I Wish I Was Single Again." He sang fluently in both Polish and English. He also appeared on the Lawrence Welk Show several times.
In 1959, he co-wrote "Let's Go Go Go White Sox," the team's fight song. It was recorded by Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers with the Lil' Wally Orchestra and began to be used again last year.
He often said the highlight of his career was performing his song "God Bless Our Polish Pope" at the Vatican in 1984 for then-Pope John Paul II.
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