SPEW, BABY, SPEW. I fear the BP oil explosion and gushing leak in the Gulf of Mexico will be America’s Chernobyl. At the time of this writing, the earth’s lubricant was not yet contained and it’s now a fact that this dwarfs the Exxon Valdez disaster. Like Chernobyl, this could be a boo-boo that is too big for humans to correct. I don’t need to say anymore.

BIG NEWS THAT ISN’T BAD. Well, we suddenly decided we needed a new CD for summer touring and the myriad polka events in our near future. So, we booked studio time, picked several songs, honed them to razor sharp perfection, took a deep breath and before we knew it, twelve new songs were mixed, mastered and ready to manufacture. The music part happened so quickly, we’ve had no time to think about the artwork, although we do have a title. Should I reveal that now or wait? Oh, what the heck. It’s called KIKIRIKI. Tracks include, “Kikiriki,” “Road to Praha,” “Kiev Waltz,” “Prairie Dogs Polka,” “Big Head,” “Beethoven Song,” “Just Because” and four more potential hits. We hope to have actual copies in our hands (in one form or another) by mid-June.

Speaking of polka events, starting with the fabulous Ennis National Polka Fest on Memorial Day weekend, imminent 2/4 dancing is upon us and can also be enjoyed at the Sugarcreek Slavik Festival in Kansas City June 11 and 12, Our Lady of the Lake Street Dance on June 26 in Chicago and the always amazing Polka Fireworks Festival at Seven Springs Resort right outside Champion, Pennsylvania on July 2. A second, much larger wave of polka insanity hits with Westfest on Labor Day Weekend and followed by two months of non-stop action. So make your plans to come out and dance, buy our new CD and have fun. All three will enrich your life.

The band is currently being stalked by a video producer and camera crew for an upcoming documentary. The prestigious team of Bart Weiss and Mark Birnbaum are popping up in the strangest places, I guess because we’re playing in those places. But they’re also at the office, at rehearsals, at recording sessions. How could this possibly be of interest to anyone? Once Brave Combo turned 30 weird things started to happen. I discovered gold in my backyard while digging up grub worms, trying to save them from suffocating. Jeff now regularly walks in on strangers that have already checked into his motel room and stays. Danny noticed mysterious things about his pet chicken. Little Jack learned a different way to say a word in German and Alan finally found the perfect small sensory-deprivation environment. As well, people wonder what it’s been like doing this for 30 years, but not many wondered what 28 or 29 were like.

So, in this issue of the Machine’s Pump I will do an overview of the first half of the second decade of Brave Combo, which I see as our big travel decade, including many trips to Europe and Japan. Since I’ve made myself give this a lot of thought, I decided t call the first decade (which I previously covered), “The Wild and Wooly Years.” I call the second decade, “The International Years” and the third decade, “The Down to Business Years” or “The Established Years.” The first decade was marked by great discovery and constant risk-taking with astounding support form the media. During the second decade our traveling increased, performing out of the country, on the average once a year. And the third decade started with our first Grammy win, followed by another win five years later. And, of course, we also got to do that cool gig on THE SIMPSONS, playing polkas for Homer and Marge at the Springfield Oktoberfest, just a few years ago. Whatever, here is 1990-1995

1990
Release album, A NIGHT ON EARTH, on Rounder Records (CD and cassette)
Tour France and the Netherlands, including Printemps de Bourge Festival.
Play original Knitting Factory and Lone Star Café in NYC. Take audience outside.
1991
Release album of old Japanese songs, called EEJHANAIKA, on P-Vine Records.
Tour Japan in March. P-Vine Records asks us to record Christmas album for Japan.
Release ALLUMETTES (KISS OF FIRE), album with Lauren Agnelli in Japan only.
The song, “A Way to Say Goodbye” from KISS OF FIRE charts (#86) on Tokyo FM.
Release IT’S CHRISTMAS, MAN in Japan only.
Big Christmas tour of Japan in December.
1992
Appear on GARRISON KEILLOR’S AMERICAN RADIO COMPANY.
Phil Hernandez replaces Mitch Marine on drums.
Joe Cripps joins Brave Combo as full-time percussionist.
Continue to record with Tiny Tim.
Perform at Steirisher Herbst Festival in Graz, Austria.
Release IT’S CHRISTMAS, MAN in USA on Rounder Records.
1993
Appear on PBS program, MOUNTAIN STAGE in Charleston, WV.
Release NO, NO, NO, CHA CHA CHA.
Perform at CBGB and Lincoln Center, back-to-back, in NYC.
Release album, ONDO SAVES THE WORLD, in Japan with singer, Kikusuimaru.
Perform at opening of Japanese club in Paris, right by the Bastille, on Bastille Day.
Robert Crumb attends show in Davis, California and really likes Brave Combo.
BC song, “Busy Office Rhumba” used as theme for Fox TV’s BAKERSFIELD, PD.
Continue to record with Tiny Tim.
1994
Alan Emert replaces Phil Hernandez on drums
Pittsburgh’s modern performance group, Dance Alloy, choreographs BC songs.
Brave Combo performs live for Dance Alloy performance in Pittsburgh.
Release HOKEY POKEY EP CD.
Ice Dancers, Punsalon and Swallow, skate to “Requerdos” at Olympics in Norway.
1995
Continue to record with Tiny Tim
Matt Groening shows up at gig in Santa Monica and draws Homer in our dressing room.
Bubba and I see the mysterious Marfa Lights after BC gig in remote Ft. Davis, TX.
Begin recording music for the Chuck E. Cheese robot band shows, worldwide.
Release POLKAS FOR A GLOOMY WORLD on Rounder Records.

So, there are some important highlights from the first half of BC’s second decade. Perusing the calendars is somewhat overwhelming, but I’m finally getting through it. This is just way harder to pull together than I originally thought. I’m leaving out so much; cool gigs, songs licensed for movies and television, lots of press, awards and just plain ol’ bizarre, but significant, stuff. We were meeting so many people and things were escalating almost faster than we could handle, but I guess we did. Or, at least the best we could. We were still driving long distances in the 90s and trying to cover as much as possible. I’ll cover the second half of the second decade next time.

Speaking of BC history, also check out Tim Walsh’s “Early Years” Diary, now on our site. And if you’re a Tim fan (and you should be) come to our show at the Kerrville Folk Festival. Tim will be joining us for three-horn orgy of polka melodies. Then you can camp out and stay up and sing and drink with your neighbors.

Okay, I can’t talk about myself or Brave Combo anymore. It’s starting to get to me. It wasn’t my intention to make something like Brave Combo that would last so long and, consequently, create so many memories. One day just led to the next and every year showed up with new opportunities. Anyway, let’s talk about you for a while. I’ll ask you a personal question. What do you like the best about Brave Combo?