How have we praised them? Let us count the ways....

May 5, 1989: It's difficult to describe exactly what Brave Combo does that makes them so special. Most of the music they play has been dismissed by music fans as overly familiar. But when they played "The Happy Wanderer," they reclaimed the song as music, making it sound alive again.

Jan. 10, 1990: Brave Combo...dares to go where no other rock band has gone -- with a repertoire of witty and hip polka music.

Feb. 8, 1991: The last time this quartet was in town, it led a merry parade of music lovers out the doors of Furst Rock and into the streets of Laclede's Landing...Brave Combo will put you in the mood to follow them anywhere....

Aug. 2, 1991: Whatever Lawrence Welk and the Schmenge Brothers have done to quench your appetite for the polka, chances are good that Brave Combo can revive it.

Nov. 13, 1992: Brave Combo is one of the world's ultimate party bands, a group that has returned polka to a level of hipness it hasn't seen for more than 40 years, and a group that knows about 20 other dance styles inside and out.

May 28, 1993: This loveable bunch of guys produces some of the most exciting and entertaining dance music you can find.

Oct. 26, 1994: Every time we see this most eclectic of dance bands, with their wild mixture of polka, Latin music, rock and just about anything else you can shake a leg to, we think they can't get any better -- and then they do!!

All true. All so very true.