"It was like one end of the universe calling out to the other." This is how Jeffrey Barnes describes the union of singer/ukulele player/musicologist/pop culture icon Tiny Tim with the most classic of all Classic Rock songs, Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven."

Barnes ought to know. As a member of Brave Combo, quite simply the coolest band on earth, he was there in the studio when it happened. The resulting transformation of the Page-Plant warhorse from rock cliche to loungealicious toe-tapper has been captured for all eternity on Tiny Tim's new album Girl, recorded with Brave Combo.

Here's how it happened. Brave Combo Headquarters just happens to be in Denton, Texas, where James "Big Bucks" Burnett just happens to run a record store, as well as both the Tiny Tim and Mr. Ed fan clubs. Way back in 1988, "Big Bucks introduced Tiny Tim to Brave Combo, when Tim was in town for a club date. Arrangements were made to record some tunes together, including "Stairway." It took years of on-and-off recording, but eventually Girl was completed and released earlier this summer. It's a classic left-of-center pop album, featuring everything from a catchy cha-cha take on the Beatles' "Hey Jude" to a revival of an obscure 1890s showtune, "Sly Cigarette." With its wide-ranging background and musical versatility, Brave Combo is the perfect band to accompany Tiny Tim, whose idiosyncratic talent remains unclassifiable after all these years.

"If you or anyone else would meet Tiny Tim, he's have his ukulele in his shopping bag and he's sit down for hours and play songs for you," Barnes says. "He knows a blue million of them; he's a wonderful archive."

The same could be said of Brave Combo, who have been pursuing their unique musical vision since 1979. The band was the brainchild of Carl Finch, who says that a conscious decision he made about 20 years ago to stop using judgmental language in daily speaking and thinking put him on a life path that eventually led to polka music. When Finch opened his mind and ears to all the records he discovered in Woolworth's bargain bins, he found a world of intriguing music just waiting to be heard and enjoyed. He also discovered his life's mission: to form a rock-oriented band that could play the heck out of polkas and, in fact, dance tunes from all over the world.

And thus, Brave Combo was born. After playing incessant dates and releasing four albums on the independent Four Dots label, the Combo hooked up with Rounder Records, whose first order of business was to compile the Four Dots material into a handy compilation, Musical Varieties. This 1987 collection is still an excellent introduction to the band: its 24 tracks include wildly re-imagined versions of the Doors' "People Are Strange" and Tennessee Ernie Ford's "Sixteen Tons"; polka standards like "Julida" and "Clarinet Polka"; a cool tune from an exercise record ("Let's Trim Twist Again"); nifty Finch originals like the surreal "Ice Machine in the Desert"; and, of course, "Beer Barrel Polka" (to say nothing of "O Holy Night Cha Cha Cha").

Around the same time Musical Varieties hit the streets, Brave Combo released an all-polka extravaganza, Polkatharsis. Since then, Brave Combo has toured all over and released a series of excellent albums on Rounder. Some, like Humansville (1988) and A Night on Earth (1990) continue in the eclectic mode of Musical Varieties, while others like No, No, No, Cha Cha Cha (a 1993 study in hi-fidelity Latin rhythms) and Polkas for a Gloomy World (1994) are more in-depth presentations of a particular style. They've even recorded a seasonal album, It's Christmas, Man! (1992), a wild affair that would shift any lame office party into high gear.

While the idea of performing a Doors tune as a Yiddish polka or turning "O Holy Night" into a cha cha might seem silly to some, Brave Combo (whose current lineup includes Bubba Hernandez, Joseph Cripps, Alan Emert, and Danny O'Brien, in addition to Barnes and Finch) is no mere novelty band. First of all, these guys are all accomplished musicians and can really jam together. Secondly, although Brave Combo can be irreverent, they have the utmost respect for the types of music they play, which have often been relegated to "uncool" status by unfortunate folks who just don't know any better. Finally, unlike a great deal of novelty music, the Combo's albums stand up to repeated listenings.

Barnes, who just celebrated his 13th anniversary playing sax and a variety of other instruments with the band, says that Brave Combo's sound is inspired by a variety of influences, beginning with an album that is a particular favorite of Carl Finch's, Delirium in Hi Fi by Elsa Poppin and Her Pixieland Band. Polka and other ethnic dance records from around the globe have been obvious inspirations, as is a South Texas accordion player Esteban Jordan, "one of the monster musicians on the planet right now," according to Barnes, who calls Jordan, "the Jimi Hendrix of accordion."

The band is also inspired by an entire network of polka-playing bands, including The Dynatones, a Buffalo polka band featuring a concertina player named Scrubby who "travels around in a thick cloud of charisma. Everybody loves him, and why not?" Barnes says.

Of course, now that Brave Combo has been around for awhile it has developed its own legion of fans and admirers. Fans in the United States include David Byrne, They Might Be Giants and music fans everywhere who know a fun and amazing band when they hear one. Brave Combo also has a solid fan base in Japan, which has allowed them to tour that country three times, and even to appear on a Japanese "Name That Tune"-style game show, on which they sang "Blue Mountains," a Japanese standard written by Ryuichi Hattori, one of the greatest Japanese songwriters. Dance music diva Jodi Watley appeared on the same episode as the Combo, but unfortunately, the band did not get to meet her.

Brave Combo's popularity in Japan has allowed them to record and release albums exclusively for the Japanese audience, including a collaboration with Kikusuimaru, a popular artist who plays ondo, a popular form of Japanese storytelling music. Also, some of Brave Combo's domestic albums, including No, No, No, Cha Cha Cha and It's Christmas, Man!, were first released in Japan. Brave Combo's relationship with its Japanese audience has introduced a whole new audience to its work, while allowing the band to expand its musical paramaters.

Brave Combo has always been a busy band, and this year is no exception. One project, a collaboration with singer/songwriter Lauren Agnelli of The Washington Squares has been already released in Japan, with its release to follow in the U.S. eventually. The album, titled Allumettes, has yielded a single that hit the Japanese charts. The song, "A Way to Say Goodbye," is a cover of a tune sung by singer and actress Francoise Hardy. In addition to Allumettes, the band is working on a studio album that will probably include "Three Ducks," a Brave Combo instrumental that appeared on the Kikusuimaru album but has not made it to domestic release yet. And, on top of that, Brave Combo is currently hard at work on Hokey Pokey: Music for Organized Dancing [released in 1997 as Group Dance Epidemic]. This album, which is an expansion on an EP the band released last year, will contain Brave Combo's adventurous versions of a bunch of classic dance tunes, including "Chicken Dance '97," "Do the Hustle," and rock and hip-hop versions of the classic title song.

While all this activity is limiting Brave Combo's time to tour, it will certainly help to advance the central philosophy behind the band, which is, according to Barnes, "to eradicate people's misconceptions about what's hip." Polka, for example, "is incredibly happy music, beautiful and sophisticated. It does things our poular music is not doing." Barnes is right on the money there -- when was the last time you saw Alanis Morrisette or Silverchair actually make someone smile. Barnes says he gets annoyed with the perception some critics and music fans have that Brave Combo is a novelty band who records "one-joke albums." Combating these misconceptions and throwing off people's ideas about "hip" music is part of Brave Combo's master plan. But even more important it's showing that, in Barnes' words, "Music is more important than a lifestyle accessory. It's soul medicine."

As long as Brave Combo is around, you'll never need a spoonful of sugar to make their happy medicine go down.

Reprinted with the permission of Rich Wilhelm & Cool and Strange Music Magazine