- I'm Jake, and this is the Chardon Polka band.

Since I was 16, polka music has been my job, Since I was 16, polka music has been my job, and at that job I get into some pretty crazy stuff.

There's Mitch, Mike, Brian and Bob.

You never know what we're gonna do or who we might run into, but we're gonna share it all with you on "The World According to Polka."

(lively polka music) (van zooming) My buddy Kent says that if you take a regular peanut butter and jelly sandwich and you fill the middle with granola, (granola pouring) what you've got is the perfect fuel for a day of surfing at the beach.

My buddy Kent also gave me these, vintage Birdwell Beach Britches.

They're board shorts and they are very short, but you never want to go to the beach without 'em.

We'll talk more about that later.

Right now we wanna talk about what kind of music we can pair with this peanut butter, jelly and granola sandwich.

And maybe we'll catch a wave or two today on "The World According to Polka."

(waves lapping) (lively polka music) (music continues) ♪ When the sun beats down and burns the tar up on the roof ♪ ♪ And your shoes get so hot ♪ You wish your tired feet were fire proof ♪ ♪ Under the boardwalk, down by the sea, yeah ♪ ♪ On a blanket with my baby is where I'll be ♪ ♪ Under the boardwalk ♪ Out of the sun ♪ Under the boardwalk ♪ We'll be havin' some fun ♪ Under the boardwalk ♪ People walking above ♪ Under the boardwalk ♪ We'll be fallin' in love ♪ Under the boardwalk, boardwalk ♪ (instrumental break) (music continues) ♪ Under the boardwalk, down by the sea, yeah ♪ ♪ On a blanket with my baby is where I'll be ♪ ♪ Under the boardwalk ♪ Out of the sun ♪ Under the boardwalk ♪ We'll be havin' some fun ♪ Under the boardwalk ♪ People walking above ♪ Under the boardwalk ♪ We'll be fallin' in love ♪ Under the boardwalk, boardwalk ♪ Originally recorded back in the year 1964 by the Drifters, the opening tune in today's beachtastic episode was "Under the Boardwalk."

And folks, I love the beach.

I love the ocean, the sand, the salt water, and all that groovy stuff that goes along with it, which is why I am particularly excited about bringing you today's episode.

It's very personal and it hits close to home.

Before landing here in Ohio, I resided for a time in the coastal hamlet of Wilmington, North Carolina.

Our family took full advantage of living near the ocean with weekly activities on the water and at the beach.

I still return to the Carolinas when I can and have made so many great memories there at the beach.

And who knows, if I had not ended up a polka musician, maybe I would've been a beach bum instead.

But this, this is the next best thing.

We're mixing up beach vibes with good old fashioned polka music, and it doesn't get any more epic than this next arrangement.

We're taking the surf rock hit "Wipe Out" and combining it with everyone's favorite old time polka, "the Beer Barrel Polka."

Let it rip.

(band playing polka version of "Wipe Out") (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) (song shifts to "Beer Barrel Polka") (music continues) (musical flourish for ending) There you have it folks, surf polka.

Ocean oompa.

We're creating an entirely new genre on the program today, and I am loving it.

I hope you guys are loving it too.

Now, here in Ohio, we're a little bit landlocked, but we don't wanna let that stop us from exploring the deep blue sea, which is why we've enlisted the help of surfers and ocean enthusiasts, like my good friend Jane from the California Surf Museum.

- My name is Jane Schmauss, and I'm the historian at the California Surf Museum in Oceanside, California.

Surfing music started out to be primarily instrumental music.

Dick Dale was especially interesting because he was of Lebanese extraction and he had grown up with very very exotic Middle Eastern chords and keys that he was able to bring to a lot of his music.

One of the most famous being, of course, "Misirlou."

It just brought that touch of energy that surfers felt in the water.

They didn't need words to express the power and the thrill of catching a good wave, and yet they could hear that type of music in their head.

("Misirlou") (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) - Mike Franklin leading us on strings in "Misirlou."

While that song started out as an old folk tune, Dick Dale infused it with the surf sound and vibes that most of us are familiar with.

And speaking of infusing things with surf vibes, we've got one of my favorite bands from the West Coast here to do just that.

They're Die Sauerkrauts from sunny California and they started back in 2016 as the house band at a German restaurant.

Today they are certainly one of the Golden State's most in demand polka bands.

They've even caught the ear of famed accordionist "Weird" Al Yankovic, who said of the group, "Die Sauerkrauts is one of my top 10 favorite Weird Al polka cover bands."

- Hello, I'm Fraulein Roxy from Die Sauerkrauts, coming to you all the way from Southern California.

Now there's three things that we love in California: sunshine, surfing, and of course polka!

(waves lapping) (seagulls calling) (polka music playing) (music continues) ♪ My friend, the accordionist ♪ Holds concerts in his RV ♪ I can't afford his gas ♪ So I'm stuck here watching TV ♪ (instrumental break) ♪ I don't have internet ♪ I don't have diddly squat ♪ It's not having what you want ♪ ♪ If polka's what you've got ♪ I'm gonna soak up the sun ♪ I'm gonna tell everyone to lighten up ♪ ♪ I'm gonna tell 'em that I've got no one to blame ♪ ♪ 'Cause I never feel lame in a polka club ♪ ♪ I'm gonna soak up the sun (instrumental break) (music continues) ♪ I've got a crummy job ♪ It don't pay near enough ♪ To buy the things it takes ♪ To play polka every day ♪ Every time I turn around ♪ I'm looking up, you're looking down ♪ ♪ Maybe something's wrong with you ♪ ♪ If you think polka isn't cool ♪ ♪ Maybe I am crazy too ♪ I'm gonna soak up the sun ♪ Gonna tell everyone to lighten up ♪ ♪ I'm gonna tell 'em that I've got no one to blame ♪ ♪ 'Cause I never feel lame in a polka club ♪ ♪ I'm gonna soak up the sun (instrumental break) (song ends) - There you have it, folks.

No one delivers bodacious beach vibes like our good friends Die Sauerkrauts We're grateful to have been able to feature them on the show today.

And we hope that we're hitting you with wave after wave of awesome salty polka hits on "The World According to Polka."

- Coming to you live from Venice Beach.

Eric G, check it out.

We're out here.

That's Malibu in the distance.

Surfing is just the absolute best.

It's so much fun.

Saw whales breaching yesterday, dolphins, even saw a shark.

We all surf harmoniously together.

Sometimes there's friction, but it's all about the next wave.

Love to surf.

Enjoy your day everybody.

Polka rules.

- Hi, I'm Allie and I'm from New Jersey and surfing is about the community of friends, just going out and having a beautiful day like today and hanging out.

- We're not gonna do a beach episode without mentioning the Beach Boys.

And here to play a Beach Boys jam for us is our good friend Daniel Pupp.

(playing a polka version of "I Get Around") (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) Our next tune comes to us from another icon: Harry Belafonte, or as we call him in the polka industry, Harry Belafonsky.

Three time Grammy winner Belafonte popularized calypso music all across the globe in the 1950s and 1960s.

His album "Calypso" broke records and he also recorded this next tune, "Angelina," which sounds pretty darn good with a polka beat.

In fact, I first heard it played that way over two decades ago by a polka band called Freeze Dried.

And the Chardon Polka Band is gonna do our best polka rendition of that tune for you right now.

(strumming banjo) ♪ Angelina, Angelina, please bring down your concertina ♪ ♪ And play a welcome for me ♪ 'Cause I'll be coming home from sea ♪ (band joining in) ♪ Angelina, Angelina, please bring down your concertina ♪ ♪ And play a welcome for me ♪ Cause I'll be coming home from sea ♪ ♪ Its been so long since Ive been home ♪ ♪ Seems like there's no place to roam ♪ ♪ Well I've sailed around the Horn ♪ ♪ I've been from San Jose up to Baffin Bay ♪ ♪ And I've rode out many a storm ♪ ♪ Angelina, Angelina, please bring down your concertina ♪ ♪ And play a welcome for me ♪ Cause I'll be coming home from sea ♪ ♪ Oh yeah ♪ Angelina, Angelina, please bring down your concertina ♪ ♪ And play a welcome for me ♪ Cause I'll be coming home from sea ♪ ♪ Well I've heard the bawdy tunes ♪ ♪ I've been in honky tonk saloons ♪ ♪ I took my liquor by the vat ♪ Well I stayed on call for a rousing brawl ♪ ♪ Home was where I hung my hat ♪ Angelina, Angelina, please bring down your concertina ♪ ♪ And play a welcome for me ♪ Cause I'll be coming home from sea ♪ ♪ Angelina, Angelina, please bring down your concertina ♪ ♪ And play a welcome for me ♪ Cause I'll be coming home from sea ♪ (instrumental break) (music continues) ♪ Well I've courted many a girl ♪ ♪ I've been in ports all around the world ♪ ♪ But my rambling days are done ♪ ♪ I've been from Curacao up to Tokyo ♪ ♪ And I've found there's only one ♪ ♪ Angelina, Angelina, please bring down your concertina ♪ ♪ And play a welcome for me ♪ Cause I'll be coming home from sea ♪ ♪ Angelina, Angelina, please bring down your concertina ♪ ♪ And play a welcome for me ♪ Cause I'll be coming home from sea ♪ - Hi, my name is Ava and I'm seven-years-old and I like to surf because it's really fun and my mom and dad like to do it too.

(waves lapping) - Jack Johnson is a singer-songwriter whose music you might know, but he was also on the professional surf circuit, which is why I've invited one of my favorite ocean lovers to perform a Jack Johnson song on the program with me today.

I'm talking about my beautiful wife, Emily Kouwe.

All right, we got Emily, Luke, and Benjamin.

- And we love taking our boys to the beach.

- That's right.

So we're gonna sing you a song called Better... - [All] Together.

- Because we're better together.

- Count us in Luke.

- A one, a one, a one two three.

(band playing) ♪ There's no combination of words ♪ ♪ I could put on the back of a postcard ♪ ♪ No song that I could sing, but I can try for your heart ♪ ♪ Our dreams, and they are made out of real things ♪ ♪ Like a shoe box of photographs with sepia-toned loving ♪ ♪ Love is the answer ♪ At least for most of the questions in my heart ♪ ♪ Like why are we here and where do we go ♪ ♪ And how come it's so hard ♪ It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving ♪ ♪ I'll tell you one thing ♪ It's always better when we're together ♪ ♪ It's always better when we're together ♪ ♪ Yeah, we'll look at the stars when we're together ♪ ♪ It's always better when we're together ♪ ♪ It's always better when we're together ♪ (instrumental break) - Breakdown!

♪ It's always better when we're together ♪ ♪ We'll look at the stars when we're together ♪ ♪ We'll look at Jupiter together ♪ ♪ It's always better when we're together ♪ Are you guys better together?

- Yeah.

- Always a delight to have Emily and the kiddos on the program.

And we hope y'all enjoyed today's show as we said cowabunga and caught a wave or two.

Now you'll see I'm wearing my Birdwells and as promised, they are quite short.

But you never go to the beach without 'em.

Now if you guys go to the beach in person anytime soon, remember, respect the wildlife.

Do not litter.

And for crying out loud, stay off the dunes.

What's up, Ryan?

Now I know we veered away from a strict polka sound today as we explored some of our favorite ocean anthems and surf songs.

But we hope we captured that salt water and sunshine vibe and that we captured it adequately.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's my good friend Sophia.

She is the associate producer of our program right here at PBS Western Reserve.

- Hi Jake.

- Is that an Emmy?

- It is an Emmy.

Just not for this show.

- Fair enough.

But we can keep trying, keep hoping and keep dreaming.

And that, that's where I was going with the sunshine and salt water vibes.

Because you know what those sunshine and salt water vibes are so important when you live in a place where the sunshine and the salt water seem so far away.

But I want you to know something.

The sunshine is never that far away when you live in this world, because this is not just any world.

This is "The World According to Polka."

(polka version of "Steal My Sunshine" playing) (music continues) ♪ I was lying on the grass of Sunday morning of last week ♪ ♪ Indulging in my self-defeat ♪ My mind was thugged, all laced and bugged ♪ ♪ All twisted, wrong and beat ♪ Uncomfortable at three foot deep ♪ ♪ Now the fuzzy stare from not being there ♪ ♪ On a confusing morning week ♪ Impaired my tribal lunar speak ♪ ♪ And of course you can't become ♪ ♪ If you only say what you would have done ♪ ♪ So I missed a million miles of fun ♪ ♪ I know it's up for me ♪ If you steal my sunshine ♪ Making sure I'm not in too deep ♪ ♪ If you steal my sunshine ♪ Keeping versed and on my feet ♪ ♪ If you steal my sunshine ♪ I was frying on the bench slide ♪ ♪ In the park across the street ♪ ♪ L-A-T-E-R that week ♪ My sticky paws were into making straws ♪ ♪ Out of big fat slurpy treats ♪ An incredible eight-foot heap ♪ ♪ Now the funny glare to pay a gleaming tare ♪ ♪ In a staring under heat ♪ Involved an under usual feat ♪ And I'm not only among but I invite who I want to come ♪ ♪ So I missed a million miles of fun ♪ ♪ I know it's up for me ♪ If you steal my sunshine ♪ Making sure I'm not in too deep ♪ ♪ If you steal my sunshine ♪ Keeping versed and on my feet ♪ ♪ If you steal my sunshine All right, let 'er rip Mitch.

(instrumental break) (music continues) ♪ I know it's done for me ♪ If you steal my sunshine ♪ Not something that’s hard to see ♪ If you steal my sunshine ♪ Keeping dumb and built to beat ♪ ♪ If you steal my sunshine ♪ My Sunshine ♪ If you steal my sunshine ♪ My sunshine ♪ If you steal my sunshine ♪ My Sunshine ♪ If you steal my sunshine ♪ My Sunshine (waves lapping) (no audio)