Peppermint’s Rhamy becomes hall of famer
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Gary Rhamy probably has recorded as many polka hall of famers as anyone in the business.
Now he joins them in the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame.
The owner of Peppermint Recording Studio in Youngstown was inducted into the hall during a ceremony Saturday in Independence.
He found out he was being honored by the organization in mid-October, but actually being at the ceremony was an emotional experience.
"It's kind of overwhelming," Rhamy said. "You're in front of a room full of people, many of the people I've recorded throughout the years … (Youngstown polka legend) Del Sinchak said there probably isn't one musician in the room who hadn't recorded at the studio with me."
Rhamy has worked with musicians in all genres over the years, but since opening Peppermint Recording Studio in 1971, he has produced more than 500 albums by more than 175 polka artists. Five of those albums won Grammy Awards, including the Frankie Yankovic release that won the very first best polka album Grammy. Dozens of others have been nominated.
Rhamy, a longtime radio DJ who hosts a Sunday show on WRQX (AM 600), is no stranger to being behind a microphone. But Saturday's ceremony took him out of his comfort zone.
"Traditionally, most of the awards have gone to musicians, the people who play the music," he said. "I don't play the music, except on the radio."
But at the ceremony, he performed "Another Christmas Fruitcake," a spoken word piece with backing music that he recorded and plays during the holidays. The song was originally written by Bob "Mad Dog" McGuire, a Cleveland musician who also wrote "Moon Over Parma," which was the original theme song for "The Drew Carey Show."
"He gave it to me one day and said maybe I could use it," Rhamy said. "I reworked it a little bit, adapted it into a Christmas song," and he received permission from Joey Miskulin to use the piece of music he recorded for a Christmas album.
"This was the first time I ever performed it publicly," Rhamy said. "I performed it with the stage band. Having live music backing me up and supporting this poem, it was unique. It gave me a couple goosebumps. I'm just not used to a live band playing while I'm doing something."
Rhamy laughed when asked if being a hall of famer would raise his price as a producer.
"It raises my appreciation of the people who have brought me their musical babies, if you will, and let them grow in the studio and become works of art," he said. "It's nice to be appreciated."