Fezz Fritsche
Deceased Category – Inducted 1984
Born in 1908, Victor “Fezz” Fritsche started his
own band in 1940. He used seven men mostly, sometimes three or four.
In the early 50’s, he had the “Fezz Fritsche Show” on KHUJ radio in New
Ulm, Minnesota. He called his orchestra the “Goosetown Band”. Fezz
sprung out of
 Goosetown,
the area that New Ulm sonamed because geese roamed free on the streets
and yards in pioneer days. He profited from his band and those long,
sleepy rides through the night, home from dance halls in Wisconsin,
Iowa, South Dakota, as well as Minnesota. He was one of the best
old-time band leaders in New Ulm, ranking with Harold Loeffelmacher,
Babe Wagner and Whoopee John Wilfahrt. Fezz Fritsche and the Goosetown
Band made many radio appearances, locally, in Minnesota, and other
states. They were featured many times on KEYC-TV in Mankato,
Minnesota. They were always hired for the Polka Day Show which
advertised Polka Day in New Ulm. He was a great showman and always had
lots of jokes and stories to tell, for which he would change words and
names to fit the occasion.
His first cancer operation took place in 1965 and
he wasn’t expected to live. After recuperating he was in good health
until 1977 when he contracted cancer of the colon. In 1979 he was
hospitalized again and then ran into trouble with lung cancer. His
death came in 1980, long after the first time Fezz “died” of cancer.
Fezz Fritsche’s baton was his clarinet. “Tanta
Anna” was his theme, and his big nose his trademark.
One evening during Polka Days in New Ulm in the
'50s, nine bands paraded at 8:00 p.m. and took their places on big
flatbed trailers. They played polkas, schottisches and waltzes until
midnight, then dispersed after a few encores. The crowd numbered about
25,000. But the music of the Goosetown band lingered on. Taverns
closed, but the celebrants wouldn’t give up. The music of Fezz kept
them at his feet a swaying mass shoulder to shoulder. It wasn’t until
1:30 a.m. that the great showman promised he would sing “Tanta Anna”
one more time if they would let him stop and go home. |
