Billy Starkel
Click here to hear a sample from Billy Starkel's "The Beach Polka" (4.47 MB .wav file)
Billy Starkel, a native of Portland, Oregon began his successful musical career at the early age of nine years. The earlier years were spent entertaining in the Pacific Northwest and the San Francisco areas, where he appeared on stage as well as radio networks.
In 1942, Billy joined the United States Marine Corps and served in the South Pacific. After being discharged, Los Angeles became a new challenge, playing in such well-known hotels as the Ambassador, the Chapman Park, and the exquisite Hotel Bel Air. Also, during part of his time, Billy was heard weekly on their own radio show the "Star Kings" from NBC in Hollywood.
Mr. Starkel moved to Las Vegas in 1950 and during his twelve and a half year sojourn there, he played in all the fabulous resort hotels. There was a short leave of absence for several months to play in Honolulu at the Moana-Surfrider and Royal Hawaiian hotels.
Shortly after his return to Portland, the Portland Hilton Hotel had its grand opening with Billy chosen as the Director of Music. His orchestra play nightly for the members and guests of the Hilton's International Club.
Source: From the back album cover of "Dance Portraits in Melody" produced by Spiral Records, Inc., 4406 NE 92nd Portland, Oregon 97220
Note: William Vincent Starkel was born November 3, 1914 and died January 19, 1988. A memorial service was held at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon on Friday, January 22, 1988.
Billy's father, Henry Starkel was born about 1890 in Grimm Colony. Henry's mother was Christine Strecker born February 23, 1894 in Grimm, Russia. They married in Portland, Oregon 01 Nov 1913. Henry was an accordion player who performed at weekend dances in a hall above Weimer's Hardware store on Union Avenue (to the dismay of the religious community).
Short Stories About My Father, Billy Starkel
by Randy Starkel
A short story about Billy in his early years: "Billy and his father Henry played at grange halls on weekends. Some halls had pianos which were terribly out of tune. One Friday, Henry was trying to tune an old upright and told Billy to give him an A note. As Billy played the A, Henry tightened the wire more and more. All of a sudden the wire broke, whipped around, and stuck through Billy's cheek into his tongue. Henry saw this and pulled the wire out. He reached into his back pocket and brought out a handkerchief. Henry used the handkerchief to wipe off the blood, turned back to the piano and said "give me an A"."
Another one: "Henry was convinced that Billy had true talent. A famous accordion teacher made trips to the Portland area each week to teach other students. On a Friday, Henry told Billy to pack up his accordion. They took the bus downtown to the teachers studio. When they arrived Henry was told that the teacher was booked solid and could not accept any more students. Being a stubborn German, Henry sat in the outer office until the teacher was done for the day. Henry asked the teacher to listen to Billy even if he could not be a student. Billy played and the teacher rescheduled his time so that Billy could play, practice and undergo training every Saturday morning."
"Talk about the Volga Germans being resourceful, Billy often put the cap on it. Billy was in a Marine reserve unit awaiting orders to attack one of the South Pacific Islands. He had his accordion with him and often played for his buddies. A young officer heard him and asked if Billy would play for the officers at their makeshift O Club. Billy said he would and entertained the officers all that night. The next day the young officer stopped by and thanked Billy for the entertainment and asked if there was anything he could do for him. It was that time of the month when each man received his ration of beer. Even warm beer is better than no beer. Billy asked the officer, a Marine pilot, if he could load a couple of cases of beer in his plane and chill it down during training flights. The officer said that he could. Billy Starkel was the only Marine on that entire island who had ice cold beer."
"Billy was transferred to the Merry Men of the Marines, a group of professional musicians under the direction of Bob Crosby. They played up and down the West Coast for Marines being shipped out. At MCRD San Diego Billy was doing a solo. As he played he heard laughter from the audience. The Merry Men were also great practical jokers and Billy thought that he was the target. He continued to play and the laughter got louder. He looked left and right but saw nothing. He felt his fly thinking that it was open. All to no avail. Finally the laughter got to be too much and for the first time Billy stopped right in the middle of a tune. He looked all around and finally looked down at a 1 1/2 year old baby standing right next to him. He picked me up and put me on top of the accordion, walked to the mike, and said for all to hear "This is my son". That little act brought the house down and after the tune I was promptly returned to the waiting arms of my mother."
More about the Starkel family