CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— Extensions of Remarks E480 HON

E480 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks March 18, 1999 That is why we must respond forcefully tween our economy and our salmon, which is His ear for music that is outside the main- when foreign firms are dumping their products precisely what those advocating the removal stream, and his willingness to dedicate himself in the United States at prices under the fair of dams are asking us to do. Instead, I believe to it and the musicians who perform it, has en- market value. That is why we must respond we can have both a strong economy and abled him to be successful for over 36 years. forcefully when huge import surges threaten healthy fish runs. With his son at his side, Steve will undoubt- American jobs. This bipartisan measure dem- This Congress must make it clear that de- edly continue to help all types of great music onstrates to the rest of the world that there is stroying the dams on the Columbia and Snake find an audience. a right way and a wrong way to pursue Rivers is not a ``silver bullet'' solution to restor- Ladies and gentlemen please join me in globalization. ing salmon runs. Losing the flood control, irri- honoring Steve Popovich. The plight of Birmingham Steel, which oper- gation, clean power generation, and transpor- THE POLKA PUNK ROCKER ates a mini-mill in the Ninth District of Ten- tation benefits of these dams would be a By Laura Demarco nessee, is an example of how the current cri- grave mistake, and one not easily corrected. Steve Popovich made Meat Loaf a main sis is affecting working families in our country. Instead, the federal government and the peo- course and helped tell the world ‘‘Cleveland In Memphis, Birmingham Steel employees ple of the Pacific Northwest must work to- Rocks.’’ Now, he’s looking to strike gold manufacture steel that is eventually fashioned gether to address the entire range of factors again with the ethnic music of his roots— into wire rods. Since 1993, wire rod imports impacting fish populations: habitat, harvest polka—and the DIY spirit of his son’s pas- from non-NAFTA nations have increased 60 levels, hatcheries, dams, predators, and nat- sion—punk rock. The walls of Steve Popovich’s office don’t percent, and in the past 18 months these im- ural climate and ocean conditions. Mr. Speaker, I am confident that the people have to talk to tell his story. Mixed in ports have increased by 16 percent. Surely, among the rows of gold and platinum records we need to rectify this situation. of the Northwest will save our salmon. But we hang ‘‘I love kieska’’ and ‘‘polka naked’’ We also need to be wary of the macro- must do so in a realistic and comprehensive bumper stickers. A ‘‘Cleveland Rocks’’ stick- economic effects of the surge in imports. A re- way, and not by grasping for easy answers. I er decorates the window. His son’s high cent Business Week article noted that the encourage all my colleagues to who believe school class photo hangs near a backstage merchandise trade deficit widened by 25 per- that we can balance human needs with the snapshot of Bruce Springsteen and Billy cent in 1998, to a record $248 billion. Most of needs of endangered and threatened species Joel. A huge, psychedelic poster of Meat to support this resolution. Loaf is framed near a smiling reproduction this can be attributed to surging imports, such of Frankie Yankovic. f as the steel surges from Brazil, Russia, and It’s a scene as colorful and complex as the Japan. Economists agree that while the U.S. IN HONOR OF STEVE POPOVICH man himself. Each memento stands for a economy continues to prosper and grow, a part of Popovich’s life: Music mogul. Proud ballooning current account deficit could prompt ethnic. Even prouder father. Genius Meat a correction in stock prices, a weaker dollar, HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH Loaf marketer. Polka promoter. The man and possibly even a recession. In other words, OF OHIO who helped Ian Hunter tell the world ‘‘Cleve- our unprecedented record of high growthÐ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES land Rocks.’’ Thursday, March 18, 1999 He’s also the busy head of two new subsidi- while keeping inflation and unemployment aries of his Cleveland International Record lowÐis jeopardized by import surges. Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to label, the ethnic/polka Our Heritage * * * About two decades ago, the U.S. steel in- recognize Steven Popovich, founder of the Pass It On line and the punk/metal offshoot, dustry was widely criticized for lagging com- Cleveland International Record label. Grappler Unlimited. petitiveness, excessively high prices, and low Over the past 36 years Mr. Popovich has Why polka and punk? Like the other music labor productivity. Both management and labor achieved considerable success in the music Popovich has championed through his 36- realized that they had to reinvent the way business by taking chances on artists and year music industry career, they’re styles that often get overlooked. Both have a de- steel was produced in the United States. They music at the fringes of the mainstream. For voted core of fans who buy the records, wear did so through reinvestment, streamlining, and example, Popovich signed Meat Loaf to the the fashions and seek out the shows. Neither hard work. The steel industry has since turned Cleveland International label after Meat Loaf gets radio play nor respect in mainstream itself into one of the most admired, productive had been rejected by several record compa- media. Then again, neither did a certain sectors of U.S. business. nies. After signing Meat Loaf, Popovich hefty singer, until Popovich made Meat Loaf Now, as world trading rules are being flaunt- launched what is considered one of the most a household name. ed, it is time for us to come to the aid of this successful marketing campaigns ever. Popovich may look like anything but a music mogul in his jeans, Cleveland Inter- proud industry, an industry that is crucial to Popovich mixed the powerful CBS marketing national T-shirt and Pat Dailey’s baseball our national defense and our American herit- department with grassroots efforts to make cap, but he has struck gold more than once age. Our steel workers deserve better. The Meat Loaf a national icon. by betting on the underdog. Today, he’s try- world trading system deserves better. For Popovich's success with Meat Loaf provides ing it again. these reasons, I am proud to be a cosponsor just one example of how and why Popovich COAL MINER’S SON of the Bipartisan Steel Recovery Act of 1999. has been successful. Once he believes in Popovich doesn’t like to talk about the f someone he puts everything he has into mak- past. He’s rather discuss what he’s working ing that person successful. This dedication on now—expanding Our Heritage * * * Pass INTRODUCTION OF A SENSE OF has worked for Popovich regardless of the art- It On and promoting Grappler’s first band, CONGRESS RESOLUTION RE- ist or type of music he is promoting. Porn Flakes. GARDING THE DAMS ON THE CO- In 1986 Popovich applied this formula to But to understand how Popovich got to LUMBIA AND SNAKE RIVERS this cluttered, homey midtown office, you Polygram Nashville and turned the label into a have to look at where he came from. success. Acts like Johnny Cash, Kris Born in 1942 to a Serbian father and Cro- HON. DOC HASTINGS Kristofferson, the Everly Brothers, and Kathy atian-Slovenian mother in the coal-mining OF WASHINGTON Mattea signed with Popovich and Polygram town of Nemacolin, Penn., Popovich’s early IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Nashville. life was a long way from the Manhattan of- Popovich also signed polka legend Frankie fice buildings he would find himself in years Thursday, March 18, 1999 Yankovic, the Polka King, to the label. later. His father was a miner who opened a Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Speaker, the people of Yankovic won a Grammy for his 1986 album grocery store in the last two years of his life. the Pacific Northwest are currently engaged in It was from him and another father figure, ``70 Years of Hits'', which Popovich co-pro- Popovich’s lifelong friend, Father Branko a debate on the best way to ensure the sur- duced. Yankovic and his polka music were Skaljac, that his love for music began. vival and recovery of endangered and threat- quick hits in Nashville. Popovich has since ‘‘My dad played in a tamburitza band with ened salmon and steelhead. These fish are started Our Heritage, a polka and ethnic music his two brothers and a couple other guys. very important to the people of our region, and subsidiary of Cleveland International. They always played music around the house we are dedicated to ensuring their survival. In the fall of 1998 Popovich, along with his and sang. Fr. Branko came and taught us However, Mr. Speaker, ongoing studies by son, Steve, Jr., Ed Shimborske, and Michael tambura [a stringed Balkan instrument] the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Na- Seday, formed another subsidiary of Cleve- every Thursday.’’ Looking back, Popovich sees the impor- tional Marine Fisheries Service into the feasi- land International, Grappler Unlimited. With tance of music for people in a place like bility of removing federal dams to enhance fish Grappler Unlimited, once again, Popovich is Nemacolin. runs have focused the fish recovery debate focusing on music that is perhaps outside the ‘‘I really believe polka was our people’s too narrowly. We do not need to choose be- mainstreamÐpunk. Prozac,’’ he says. ‘‘When they were working CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E481 in the mines, factory jobs, they’d get de- tive left New York to form an independent Loaf, who appeared in multiple interviews, it pressed, so they’d throw on their music or label called Cleveland International that was could have something to do with a 1995 law- pick up their accordion or tambura.’’ backed by Columbia. suit that Popovich’s Cleveland Entertain- A few years after learning the tambura, ‘‘Cleveland was a very important market ment Inc. filed against Sony Music Enter- another stringed instrument caught in those days,’’ says Popovich. ‘‘It really was tainment Inc. and CBS Records in Cuyahoga Popovich’s attention: the upright bass. He WMMS . . . they made a real big impact na- County Common Pleas Court. The suit al- formed a polka-rock band called Ronnie and tionally. That was the reason I moved back leged that Popovich was defrauded out of the Savoys that played out at local hotels here from New York. It was such a viable royalties for Bat Out of Hell through various and the Masontown, Penn., Italian Club. record breakout market that I thought bas- devices, including fraudulently calculated When Popovich’s father died in 1960, he ing a company here would be a good idea.’’ royalties for the sales of CDs. Meat Loaf, moved to Cleveland with his mother and sis- He was correct. Not seven months after the who re-signed to Sony following the filing of ter, where they had family. He attended label started, Popovich signed another un- Popovich’s initial complaint, was expected John Carroll on a football scholarship, but derdog no one else would be near, but one to testify against Popovich at the trial. quit after a year, spending the next few year who soon put Cleveland International on the But the suit never made it to court. doing odd jobs. map. Popovich, who sought $100 million, and Sony Then in 1963, two articles in a paper he was ‘‘Meat Loaf was too fat, too ugly. His hair settled for a confidential amount last Feb- reading caught his attention. The first was a was too long, the voice was too operatic,’’ ruary. Ancillary litigation filed in New York notice that Columbia Records was opening a says Popovich. federal court by Meat Loaf against Sony and Cleveland warehouse. The second was a story That’s what the labels that passed on Meat Cleveland Entertainment was dismissed at saying one of his favorite polka artists, Loaf thought. But the fans thought other- the same time. Cleveland’s Frankie Yankovic, who recorded wise. The product of songwriter Jim Today, Popovich will only say that his suit for Columbia, had been injured in a car acci- Steinman, producer Tod Rundgren and a one- was settled ‘‘amicably.’’ For the first time in dent. of-a-kind singer with a voice big enough to two decades, Meat Loaf is off his plate— ‘‘So I called Frank out of the blue and said match his girth, Marvin Aday (a.k.a. Meat though Popovich says that as a result of his ‘hey you don’t know me, but I play your Loaf), Bat out of Hell is an album few rock Sony lawsuit he does receive royalties from music back in Pennsylvania. Can you get me fans can claim not to have heard—it has sold sales of Bat Out of Hell. an interview?’’’ says Popovich. ‘‘And he did an astonishing estimated 28 million copies. OLD WORLD that from his hospital bed. I never forgot But at the time New York attorney David Popovich grabs a black-and-white photo off that.’’ Sonenberg was shopping it around, no one in a pile of papers on his desk. ‘‘Here, look what Popovich got the job ad thus began his the music business new what to think about I found,’’ he says, talking to his son, Steve, music industry career; schlepping boxes it. So they just stayed away. Except for Jr., who just walked into his office, a mus- around 80 hours a week for $30. On his nights Popovich. cular, spiky haired, tattooed contrast to his off he would play with the Savoys, who had After signing Meat Loaf, Popovich em- barked on what is regarded as one of the father. followed him up to Cleveland. The photo shows a young boy, about 6- But with his strong work ethic, Popovich most successful marketing campaigns ever years-old, standing proudly, hands on his quickly climbed out of the warehouse. He in the music industry. It included radical hips talking to a group of men around him. soon found himself working promotions in tactics, such as Popovich showing up at The men are Johnny Cash, Hank Williams the local Columbia office, and in 1969 was of- radio stations and retailers across the nation Jr. and Cowboy Jack Clements. The boy is fered a promotions job in the label’s New to drop off Meat Loaf tapes—an unheard of Steve, Jr. York office. activity for a record company president. He ‘‘You’re talking to them like you’re Clive A year later, at age 26, Popovich became also convinced CBS to make a $25,000 Meat Davis,’’ his father continues, laughing. the youngest vice president of promotions Loaf promotional film for play in movie the- The photo was taken during Popovich’s ever at CBS Records (Columbia’s parent aters—a noval idea will before the video age. years as vice president of Polygram Nash- company). While there, he worked with the He also battled CBS to put the full force of ville, a position he took in 1986. label’s roster, including rising stars Bruce its marketing department behind the album. ‘‘I had been through a pretty intense di- Springsteen, Boz Scaggs and Chicago. He was ‘‘Adroit marketing propels Meat Loaf up the vorce . . . there had been a whole series of the first and youngest recipient of the Clive charts,’’ proclaims the Wall Street Journal misadventures, including coming out of hav- Davis Award for promotion (named for the in a 1978 front-page article that raved about ing one of the biggest acts in the world and legendary president of CBS Records), and for Popovich’s tactics. ending up with very little,’’ says Popovich two years in a row was named top promotion But though he may have been the biggest, about his decision to shut down Cleveland executive in the country by Billboard. Quite Meat Loaf wasn’t the only act on Cleveland International. ‘‘The reality of that set in, an accomplishment for a ‘‘hunky’’ International. The label was also home to and out of the blue an old friend of mine who (Popovich’s slang term for ethnics) from a Ellen Foley, Ronnie Spector and others; it took over Polygram in New York called and part of America most record execs not-so- was the management company for Ian said ‘hey, you want to have some fun,’ and I fondly dub ‘‘fly-over country.’’ Hunter. It was Popovich who convinced the was like, ‘I’m ready for that.’ ’’ Promoting artists led to signing artists E Street Band to back Hunter on his 1979 In typical Popovich fashion, he took Nash- when Popovich became head of A&R (artists You’re Never Alone With a Schizophrenic ville’s least successful label and built it into and repertoire) in 1974 at CBS subsidiary record, which includes the now infamous a powerhouse, signing Johnny Cash, Kris Epic. If his promotions career seemed re- ‘‘Cleveland Rocks.’’ Kristofferson and the Everly Brothers and markable, his time in A&R was even more LAWSUITS, TV SHOWS AND MEAT LOAF turning Kathy Mattea into a star. impressive. Popovich presided over the sign- ‘‘We were conveniently left out of it. Hey, In not so typical Nashville fashion, ing of Michael Jackson, Cheap Trick, Bos- people try to change history, but a fact’s a Popovich signed his old friend, Frankie ton, Ted Nugent and Southside Johnny & the fact,’’ says Popovich. Yankovic—whose 1986 Grammy Award-win- Asbury Jukes. He also helped Steubenville’s He’s referring to a recent VH–1 ‘‘Behind ning album, 70 Years of Hits he co-pro- Wild Cherry, of ‘‘Play that Funky Music the Music’’ show on Meat Loaf that failed to duced—to the label. Yankovic became a (White Boy)’’ fame, and Michael Stanley find mention of his role in the making of Mr. quick favorite in Nashville, selling out con- a home on Epic. (Decades later, Popovich Loaf. certs and recording one album, Live In Nash- helped another local band when he took a ‘‘It’s been well documented everywhere, ville. tape of Dink to Capitol Records head Gary the historical role the marketing of that But Popovich wasn’t a country boy for Gersh, who signed the band). record played, the fact that it had been [re- long. In 1993, he returned to Cleveland. Sales at Epic rose from $12 million to over jected by] three or four other labels before ‘‘My son wanted to go to Lake Catholic $100 million in three years under Popovich. we got it.’’ High School to play football and wanted to He credits this to his ability to look for art- Popovich says that when he found out the see more of his mother. My family’s up here, ists where other A&R pros never bothered. show was in the works, he called the presi- and I thought it was an opportune time to ‘‘Small-town America, I always try to rep- dent of VH–1, John Sykes, whom he had start another label.’’ resent that,’’ he says. ‘‘What’s going on with worked with when Sykes was a promotions It wasn’t long before he revived Cleveland the blue-collar people . . . those have always man for Columbia in Buffalo. International, this time in partnership with been the fans.’’ ‘‘I called him before it ran and said ‘John, Cleveland businessman and metalwork fac- Cleveland (International) rocks ‘‘Cleve- just tell the truth,’ and [the show] didn’t. tory owner Bill Sopko, a friend since the land, in fact, back then did rock,’’ says He’s the president of VH–1, he knows better.’’ ‘70s. Popovich, leaning forward in this chair, the When questioned about Popovich’s ab- ‘‘The concept was to try to find some new red sticker with the motto he brought to the sence, the producers of ‘‘Behind the Music’’ people that the big companies were not in- world looming on the window behind him. replied that ‘‘regrettably, in the course of terested in, to try to do something region- ‘‘Through it sounds really trite and old fash- telling a person’s life story, someone always ally,’’ says Sopko. ‘‘And he would keep his ioned to now even say the words ‘Cleveland feels left out.’’ Sykes did not return a call ears open and possibly pick another winner. rocks.’ ’’ asking for a comment. We’re still trying to accomplish that.’’ For Popovich, this wasn’t just a slogan. In Why the black out? Considering that the Since Cleveland International’s humble re- 1976, he and two other CBS Records execu- show was obviously sanctioned by Meat birth—it has a staff of two, including E482 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks March 18, 1999 Popovich, who often even answers the com- Steve, Jr., in chain-clad baggy jeans and a music-industry convention, in hopes of get- pany phone—the label has released 31 al- button-down Adidas shirt, pulls up his sleeve ting world licensing for the group. bums. to reveal the words Zivili Brace, Zivili Despite his connections, Popovich realizes The diversity of sounds is striking: Danish Sestra, a Serbo-Croatian saying meaning it’s not going to be easy to break Porn pop-rock from Michael Learns to Rock to roughly ‘‘to life brother, to life sister.’’ It’s Flakes or any other new band. The times Hanne Boel; a Browns protest compilation also the name of a polka by Johnny have changed since he started in the music called Dawg Gone; a Cockney folk duo called Krizancic. industry, and different rules now apply. Chas and Dave; the cast album from the Like father, like son. High-priced consultants who dictate touring Woody Guthrie American Song pro- A cliche´ perhaps, but a saying that rings playlists across the country rule contem- duction; Ian Hunter’s 1995 Dirty Laundry; true for the Popoviches. Nineteen-year-old porary radio, making a grassroots regional new releases from Polish polka king Eddie Steve, Jr. has just made his move into the push like the one used with Meat Loaf al- Blazonczyk; and the Grammy-nominated 1995 music world, in partnership with his father most impossible. And Cleveland is far from release by Frankie Yankovic and Friends, and the owners of Toledo-based punk-metal the music hub it was in the days when Songs of the Polka King. But it’s his return label Sin Klub Entertainment, Ed WMMS mattered. to his ethnic roots that Popovich is most ex- Shimborske and Michael Seday. The four ‘‘The problem is you have five major com- cited about. have just formed Grappler Unlimited, a sub- panies that control American radio. You ‘‘Maybe that’s what I’m supposed to do at sidiary of Cleveland International. have great local radio people still, people 56 years old. This is what I grew up with, so Unlike Our Heritage, this label has nothing like Walk Tiburski and John Lannigan. The maybe as you get older what you grew up to do with Popovich’s love for the Old World. people are here. The ownership unfortu- with becomes more important. Or maybe it’s It has everything to do with his love for the nately is not here, and the consultants for a reaction to the Sony-fication of the little boy who once stood talking to Johnny the most part are not based here. They live world,’’ he says. Cash and Hank Williams Jr. in Washington, D.C. or Texas and are adding This roots revival has led Popovich to cre- Steve, Jr. was a major reason Sin Klub records in Cleveland, Ohio.’’ ate Our Heritage . . . Pass It On, a mid- first caught his father’s attention. Seday Still, Popovich predicts a future when priced label he describes as ‘‘meant to reflect was dating Popovich’s daughter, Pamela. He radio might not matter that much. the ethnicity of Cleveland and the Midwest.’’ and Steve, Jr. became friends, and he took ‘‘Mushroomhead is not on the radio, and So far, the label features releases by Cleve- the younger Popovich to Toledo to see some they’re packing bars. People love it, and land crooner Rocco Scotti and the Here of Sin Klub’s bands, including a heavy rap- they still manage to attract a crowd. It’s be- Come the Polka Heroes compilation, and punk called Porn Flakes. yond that now going into the next century. Popovich plans to expand the variety of na- ‘‘Something just clicked, I was just drawn You don’t need A&R people now. If you be- tionalities represented on the subsidiary. to it,’’ says Steve, Jr. ‘‘It was like a disease. lieve in what you do, get somebody to put up He’s looking into working with Irish and It was catchy, it really was.’’ the money to press up a thousand records Latin music groups, and he recently assisted Steve, Jr. was so impressed with Porn and put them in stores in consignment. If Cleveland’s Kosovo Men’s Choir, a Serbian Flakes that he came back to Cleveland and, those records go away, get a thousand more. church group, in releasing a record on their at age 16, promoted his first show, a concert And then go on with your Website. You can own label that he may pick up for Our Herit- at the Agora featuring Porn Flakes, Fifth start that way. Then at some point you need age. Wheel, Cannibus Major and Cows in the to be seen at South by Southwest or one of But while his first reason for Our Heritage Graveyard. He also told his father about those New York gigs.’’ may be his love for the music, it’s not what he saw. Steve, Sr. began to take notice Popovich also has some forward thinking Popovich’s only impetus. ‘‘I’d like to see this of this young label that was taking the same ideas about Cleveland International. He’s break through, and I’d be the king of polka kind of regional marketing approach that he talking about starting an Internet radio sta- records. If Sony wanted to deal with polka had always practiced. tion and believes that to sell records you music, they’d have to come to me,’’ he says. ‘‘Popovich started putting his hand into need to get them into unorthodox places, He sees a real future in celebrating the [Sin Klub] and helping us out, giving us ad- like hotel lobbies and drug stores, not just past. vice. He was kind of like a father figure to mega-record stores. ‘‘There is a hunger for the Euro-ethnic. the label,’’ says Shimborske. ‘‘He helped ‘‘I need a person who is a head of sales who Whether it’s in books, music or videos. I’m throw his weight around a little, getting us has no rules, who can think into the next not saying on a titanic level at all, but some better shows.’’ century,’’ he says. Still, there are some troublesome factors. there’s something very interesting going ‘‘He admired the fact that we stuck it out ‘‘It’s a questionable time to be doing what on,’’ he says. for so long,’’ he says. ‘‘Plus, I think he need- I’m doing, given the fact that people can now To prove his point, he pops a video into the ed, or wanted, to kind of fill the void with make their own CDs and that there’s MP3,’’ VCR next to his desk. Groups of brightly his conglomeration of labels, as far as having says Popovich. ‘‘The industry’s going clad dancers emerge on the screen, doing a a younger, more cutting-edge sound. A fresh- through a lot of changes.’’ Croatian folk dance. er, alternative sound.’’ Popovich admits appealing to a younger So why start Grappler? ‘‘You have this group [The Duquesne Uni- ‘‘They’re kind of keeping me in balance,’’ versity Tamburitzans] in Pittsburgh, 35 born audience was a factor behind Grappler. ‘‘We established a certain kind of image he says. ‘‘There’s a whole new world of 19- and raised in America Euro-ethnic kids who year-olds out there who don’t necessarily go and do two hours shows to standing ova- for Cleveland International, and I got a little concerned when people would think it was love ’N Sync or Backstreet Boys or what tions and play all over the country. And then MTV is trying to shove down their throats. you go see them after the show, and they’re only a polka label,’’ he says. Grappler was finally formed in the fall of I’ve always loved that end of the business. wearing their Nine Inch Nails T-shirts.’’ ’98 with Porn Flakes as the first signing. Most of the artists I dealt with no one be- He pops in another video, and the screen is lieved in, in the beginning.’’ filled with polkaing twentysomethings. Though in some ways the new subsidiary has a loose, family feel—Shimborske’s parents That’s how he got all of those records on ‘‘He pops in another video, and the screen the wall. is filled with polkaing twentysomethings. help out with art and photo work, and ‘‘This goes on at Seven Springs on July 4th Popovich once took Frankie Yankovic to f Shimborske’s grandparents’ house for home- every year,’’ he explains, refering to an an- GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN nual polka-fest held at the Pennsylvania ski made pierogis—all four partners are very se- resort. ‘‘I’m the oldest one there. rious. Seday and Shimborske, who still run PREVENTION ACT OF 1999 ‘‘They should get PBS in Pittsburgh down Sin Klub, are doing A&R and marketing. there. This is America, man. If I say polka, Steve, Jr. is doing promotions out of his fa- ther’s office. And Steve, Sr. is doing what he HON. GEORGE W. GEKAS people are like, ‘the p word’. . . but you see OF PENNSYLVANIA the ages of these dancers. The whole floor’s can to help without trying to run the show. ‘‘I don’t want my rules to apply to that IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES going nuts. ‘‘We need someone with a TV camera. label. It’s whatever they feel people their age Thursday, March 18, 1999 want. These are three pretty talented guys Someone interviewing these people about Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the the history of this thing and why they love who know the music business,’’ he says. ‘‘They’re real passionate, and that’s the key NFL owners approved the use of an ``instant this. They don’t hear it on the radio, they replay'' system to review controversial calls in don’t see it on TV, they don’t see it on movie word.’’ ‘‘Cleveland International funded it. I try to theaters, but it stays alive. Why? It’s an un- football games. Well, it looks like the NFL is stay in the background and bring these guys derground thing and has been for the greater one step ahead of Congress. The Government along with what contacts I have.’’ part of this century. That’s what I love Shutdown Prevention Act would be an ``instant So far this has meant making calls to about it.’’ radio stations on the label’s behalf and tak- replay'' for the budget, so there is never a NEW WORLD ing the label’s product to conventions. This threat of a shutdown as the clock ticks down ‘‘Show her your tattoo, Pop,’’ says Steve week, Popovich, his son and Seday have on the fiscal year. There have been innumer- Popovich to his son, using the nickname taken Porn Flakes product to the Midem able ``controversial calls'' as budget negotia- they call one another. conference in France, the world’s largest tions have stalled and even completely broken