I once saw the Shmenge brothers in a bingo hall in Sandusky, Ohio back in the 80s. Amazing show. The place was packed, the cabbage rolls were fantastic, and no instant coffee, they had drip coffee!!!
Unlike almost everything else they did, this has no sad or cruel downside. It's almost a perfect representation of the UHF polka show that existed in every large city in the 60s and 70s, and in some cases even further out than that, and those people certainly never saw themselves as figures to be mocked.
@@ianmichalski7997 After his seventh coffee in an hour, I saw Yosh stuff a whole cabbage roll in his mouth! Mrs. Vilve Jaczke led him away by the ear! Crazy times!
What a great tribute and so well done by two of Leutonia's favourite sons.........long live the Schmenge's.....well almost anyway.......too bad that Yosh is no longer with us.......the world is less rich because of that.
It was indeed a tragedy how Yosh was lost. I was at the show in Buffalo when the announcement was made that there was not enough cabbage rolls and coffee for the unexpected turnout. The resulting riot was without question the absolute worst polka riot in history. The enraged fans turned on Yosh and Stan, and while Stan was able to slip away in the chaos, Yosh was caught in the angry mob and beaten mercilessly with his own clarinet. While the clarinet managed to make a full recovery, Yosh sadly did not.
You bastards. I watch these videos to laugh, not cry about the loss of the wonderful, talented, and sainted Yosh Schmenge. Unrelated, but “Yeah, you're right. I talk too much. I also listen too much. I could be a cold-hearted cynic like you, but I don't like to hurt people's feelings. Well, you think what you want about me. I'm not changing. I.. I like me. My wife likes me. My customers like me. 'Cause I'm the real article. What you see is what you get.” Heart too big for this dumb world. Take 'er easy, Johnny. John Franklin Candy, 1950-1994
What's weird about watching this 41-year-old footage is the fact that a tribute was not only delivered to a living composer but one who is STILL composing for movies. The only bittersweet thing about this is that John Candy has long since passed away.
I saw this when it first aired in the early 80’s and I’ve never forgotten it. SCTV had me rolling on the floor, there was nothing else like it! Now is the time for the exchanging of the socks!
Aw, miss John so much. Proud Leutonian here too! Funny thing but true, I know the backup band, have for years, Matt, Joe and Mario, great bunch of guys!
I just watched Rick Beato breaking down the last minute of the E.T. soundtrack and had to come here immediately afterwards! I cannot see the name John Williams without hearing Yosh in my head!
It's interesting how many things you can polka, isn't it? Or, eh.. polka-fy? Uh, what's the uh, verb action subject on that er ah? Y'know what I'm trynna say.
I did hear on the radio, many years ago, a speed- bluegrass rendition of "I'll Be There" by Bobby Darin. It was brilliant, but apparently not available for my audio pleasure, instantly and for free on UA-cam. I'm so disappointed.
@@patricknorton5788 Bobby went thru a phase or phases. He went from smooth Vegas Sinatraesque cool to Otis Redding soul man to longhaired mustachioed folk-rock guitar singer. But he was always Bobby Darin. I liked him.
@olddoggeleventy2718 interesting. My special memory of that song is that it was constantly on the radio when my dad drove us up from Northern Virginia to run the NY Marathon in something like 1984. Good song.
I love Leutonia. Been there many times. Best vacation spot in the world! But everyone has a big mole on their face over there. Outside of that, I give it 5 stars!! Greetings from USA.
The fighting by collectors would result in bloodbaths wherever the records went on sale. They knew the power of their music and widely decided to forego the profit for the sake of the fans.
Add "Stairways to Heaven" and "The Queen-Haters" to Them as well as "The five Neat Guys" , I can do without Gordon Lightfoot sings every song, Oh I'd Love to own the soundtrack to "Gimme Jackie" as well...
I like that you can see the real accordion player and the real oboe player in the band. Candy and Levy do a great job of fake playing the instruments! Everyone is well coordinated!
I'm going to see the Niagara Symphony Orchestra tonight and they are doing a tribute to John Williams. I will be thinking of this skirt the whole time lmao!
Concerning the comments on taping over the original music because of copyright concerns -- I would have thought that could be avoided in the format of a parody. Apparently not. Even so, it's still a great clip and a funny tribute to John Williams. I can't imagine that he personally would have objected.
Regardless if the original creator or author objects or not, lawyers go fishing all the time. And when they come across someone who simply doesn't care, then the legal creeps crawl away. Their first communication use heavy language, serious looking mail, etc. But when it becomes clear to lawyers they are not being taken seriously and will have to actually work, they always run away and chase a buck somewhere else.
A friend/colleague has a published arrangement of one of the later Star Wars scores. He said it had to go to the John Williams estate, which is a HUGE business, with at least dozens of employees (lawyers, arrangers, etc), who have to OK each application for publication. I don't think John Williams himself has been involved with that aspect of his music empire for at least a decade.
It's a big shame too. This video is nearly about ruined without the original music. You can now barely make out the likenesses if at all. The Can You Read My Mind parody to start the show was great in the original. Not even recognizable now. The arrangements were at least half the comedy.
This clip does not have the original Shmenge covers of the John Williams film music. New music has been dubbed in, which sounds less like Williams -- obviously some kind of copyright flapdoodle. But Shatner Method, you shouldn't be posting this clip without warning people that it's a bowdlerization -- indeed, a censored version -- of the original SCTV routine.
More likely that the people who owned the rights to SCTV back when this aired in syndication didn't want to pay the music royalties (which could be quite high -- see, for example, the case of "WKRP In Cincinnati").
Just watched it and thought I was going senile, like, "I remember these covers sounding like the original melodies. Was I wrong?" Turns out it's different music. Glad I found the unaltered clip elsewhere.
@@paulthiessen6467 Indeed. And just think of the money 20th Century Fox could have saved if they had hired Yosh and Stan instead of those overpriced Hollywood types. Of course, all the caterers would have had to supply would have been - well, you know 😋
Keno City working underground in a silver mine. Dawson in the summer on the Creeks plaster mine for Gold about that time I bought the infamous Firebird. Sawadee Khap Bai Mai.👍🇹🇭🇨🇦🙏
Someone overdubbed "stand in" music for the John Williams music. Look up "SCTV -salute to John Williams" -- spelled like that, and go watch the original, the quality is poorer because it was taped off of a degrading vhs, but you'll see the correct version.
I once saw the Shmenge brothers in a bingo hall in Sandusky, Ohio back in the 80s. Amazing show. The place was packed, the cabbage rolls were fantastic, and no instant coffee, they had drip coffee!!!
I heard about the wild parties in the Winnebago! Some went as late as 10:30 PM!
Lucky you! ❤
@@RideAcrossTheRiver some of us where rebels all the way to 10:40
@@PALACIO254 Ohhh, that extra cup of coffee, you naughty gablozskcos
Too bad they never toured it woulda been so awesome
In the original Superman comics books Superman landed in Leutonia. His family only later moved to Smallville. They were Leutonian.
As a proud Leutonian-American, I'm so grateful to the Schmenge Brothers for giving us this heartwarming tribute to Leutonia's very own JOHN WILLIAMS.
VILLIAMS!!!
Where is it!
@@marywilliams9858 Leutonia? The dark side of the Balkans
@@hellbillybilly4770
Not the dark side of the Balkans?
@@jolielaide9942 my bad thanks
The talent these 2 gentlemen had was off the chart. Loved watching sctv because of John and Eugene
SCTV was so brilliant! Ethnic humor without being demeaning is almost impossible, but they did it!
And it accurately taught you about other cultures!
....every time.
Can't do this kind of comedy today. Someone would surely get offended and sue them
Too many woke folks have no sense of humor.
@@jeancarl3822 anyone complainin about the "woke folks" is most definitely part of the problem lol.
Unlike almost everything else they did, this has no sad or cruel downside. It's almost a perfect representation of the UHF polka show that existed in every large city in the 60s and 70s, and in some cases even further out than that, and those people certainly never saw themselves as figures to be mocked.
Used to party with the Schmenges back in the 70s. Hooboy were those guys dangerous! We were up all hours ... sometimes to 11 PM!
I heard stories of how Yosh could get after too much coffee....
@@ianmichalski7997 After his seventh coffee in an hour, I saw Yosh stuff a whole cabbage roll in his mouth! Mrs. Vilve Jaczke led him away by the ear! Crazy times!
I love how there are literally an accordion and clarinet player in the band playing behind both Yosh and Stan.
What a great tribute and so well done by two of Leutonia's favourite sons.........long live the Schmenge's.....well almost anyway.......too bad that Yosh is no longer with us.......the world is less rich because of that.
Steve Hughes Yosh was a great loss.
It was indeed a tragedy how Yosh was lost. I was at the show in Buffalo when the announcement was made that there was not enough cabbage rolls and coffee for the unexpected turnout. The resulting riot was without question the absolute worst polka riot in history. The enraged fans turned on Yosh and Stan, and while Stan was able to slip away in the chaos, Yosh was caught in the angry mob and beaten mercilessly with his own clarinet. While the clarinet managed to make a full recovery, Yosh sadly did not.
@@ianmichalski7997 Yes a sad note to end on for sure.............
@@ianmichalski7997 It was as if the Schmenges had their own Altamont day
You bastards. I watch these videos to laugh, not cry about the loss of the wonderful, talented, and sainted Yosh Schmenge.
Unrelated, but
“Yeah, you're right. I talk too much. I also listen too much. I could be a cold-hearted cynic like you, but I don't like to hurt people's feelings. Well, you think what you want about me. I'm not changing. I.. I like me. My wife likes me. My customers like me. 'Cause I'm the real article. What you see is what you get.”
Heart too big for this dumb world. Take 'er easy, Johnny.
John Franklin Candy, 1950-1994
What's weird about watching this 41-year-old footage is the fact that a tribute was not only delivered to a living composer but one who is STILL composing for movies. The only bittersweet thing about this is that John Candy has long since passed away.
I saw this when it first aired in the early 80’s and I’ve never forgotten it. SCTV had me rolling on the floor, there was nothing else like it! Now is the time for the exchanging of the socks!
Did you register?
you can never unsee this 🤪
This is the most amazing thing I've seen today. COMPLETELY AWESOME!
The look of horror on my son's face as I played this for him was a Mastercard moment.
He doesn't appreciate a good polka?
Umm kalumpkas un cafefoe!
No more cabbage rolls and coffee for him!
Waya525 Dont you mean a Kodak moment?
Awww we have fun.
Im 87 yo ,I have watched Laurence welk for many years , but I have never heard if these guys.They are great
Aw, miss John so much. Proud Leutonian here too!
Funny thing but true, I know the backup band, have for years, Matt, Joe and Mario, great bunch of guys!
I just watched Rick Beato breaking down the last minute of the E.T. soundtrack and had to come here immediately afterwards! I cannot see the name John Williams without hearing Yosh in my head!
I remember watching this in 1982 while eating my cabbage rolls and drinking coffee! SCTV was a wonderful show.
Mmmmmm Mmmmmmm Good !
John Candy in the jaws head.......his finest hour.
John Candy had SO MANY finest hours.
Thank you for all of the laughs over the years. RIP.
You just haven't lived till you've heard the Star Wars theme done as a polka...awesome!
It's interesting how many things you can polka, isn't it? Or, eh.. polka-fy?
Uh, what's the uh, verb action subject on that er ah? Y'know what I'm trynna say.
@@John_McDonnell Oompahesquifous?...lol
I did hear on the radio, many years ago, a speed- bluegrass rendition of "I'll Be There" by Bobby Darin.
It was brilliant, but apparently not available for my audio pleasure, instantly and for free on UA-cam. I'm so disappointed.
@@patricknorton5788 Bobby went thru a phase or phases. He went from smooth Vegas Sinatraesque cool to Otis Redding soul man to longhaired mustachioed folk-rock guitar singer. But he was always Bobby Darin. I liked him.
@olddoggeleventy2718 interesting. My special memory of that song is that it was constantly on the radio when my dad drove us up from Northern Virginia to run the NY Marathon in something like 1984. Good song.
I love Leutonia. Been there many times. Best vacation spot in the world!
But everyone has a big mole on their face over there. Outside of that, I give it 5 stars!!
Greetings from USA.
Imagine, John Veeliams is Leutonian! How proud all Leutonians must be.
HORRIDLY Proud
In Leutonia, he's called Yonny.
@@fjccommish He did an album with Linsk Minyk!
@@RideAcrossTheRiver I bought many copies because it wore out from all the play.
My hands are hurting from clapping so much.
Just good clean silly laughs. I love this old stuff, miss the good old days.
These two are really nutty and make this truly funny. They both went onto become huge stars in movies too. RIP John Candy!
simply the Best. love the 'shave and a haircut' coda to all their songs.
Watched this for the first timed baked out of my mind. Almost suffered a cardiac from laughing so hard.
HA-HA! Me too dude. Polka goes well with weed.
John Candy giving me the Spaceballs feels. ❤😊 RIP
In my heart he will always be Del Griffith and Uncle Buck
Long live Barf.
The arrangements are brilliant.
That Jaws tribute? Magic!
Only the wonderful Shmenge brothers could give all of these wonderful movie themes, the polka variations they so truly deserve.
I’m Leutonian and don’t you forget it!
This is like a time capsule. Blue polyester, plaids and floral prints. On point.❤
Yosh's wife does all the costumes!
I wish I had some cabbage rolls and coffee.
Mmm Mmmm good.
I can give you my grandma's recipe, John Bolton.
Ask Mrs. Vilve Yache for some
@@hankolio234 Sadly she passed away in 2001 at the ripe old age of 120. Her daughter Cookie Yachke now holds the family recipe.
Love it. No matter what song they play, they put in that intro/fanfare.
What a great show that was. SCTV
SCTV was ahead of it's time. Hilarious show
Thanks to Mrs Vilvayatchke for the coffee and cabbage rolls.
The Shmenges and 5 Neat Guys records not released for sale is one of the biggest tragedies in the universe.
The fighting by collectors would result in bloodbaths wherever the records went on sale.
They knew the power of their music and widely decided to forego the profit for the sake of the fans.
Add "Stairways to Heaven" and "The Queen-Haters" to Them as well as "The five Neat Guys" , I can do without Gordon Lightfoot sings every song, Oh I'd Love to own the soundtrack to "Gimme Jackie" as well...
Patsy has the largest breasts in town...
@@wabankikI dream of finding in a book sale a surviving copy of Jackie’s autobiography, “Damn You Daddy Sir”.
Long Live Leutonia and The Shmenges!!!!
I think the last tune played is a hilarious version of the Close Encounters 5 note theme. Brilliant!!
Loved Stan's muffled voice in the Darth Vader helmet. =)
Sure but have ya ever seen Darth Vader in a Stan Schmenge mask?
So.sweet and innocent and funny beyond belief
Rest in peace Mrs. Vilvayatchke -- no one will ever top your cabbage rolls!
I know that right now she's up there with Yosh and he's polishing off the cabbage rolls as fast as she can make them :)
I like that you can see the real accordion player and the real oboe player in the band. Candy and Levy do a great job of fake playing the instruments! Everyone is well coordinated!
I watched JFK the other day, I forgot how good John Candy was, one of the stand out characters In the film.
Gone too soon but what a talented person.
Who did he play in JFK? I've seen that movie probably 5 times and can't remember, or maybe didn' t recognize him.
@@pinesiskin59 Cashew piece?
They were soooo awkward and the production values/polka music was spot on 1970s TV.
Steven Spielberg is also Leutonian.
His name is really Stepheslaus Spielgzhe.
Let's face it: most of us are actually Leutonian and just passing.
@@fjccommish Don't forget Jorj Lukasz and Duke Alek Gujnness!
Mrs Vilve Yachke is so fantastic!
I don't know which she does better - cabbage roles or coffee.
James Haury It's such a shame we never got to meet her.
Back in the day, she also was a vonnderful dancer! 💃
So proud to be a sitinzen of the Grand Duchy of Leutonia!
Citinzen...the outer space...the star wars...brilliant.
Keep in mind, a music composer had to write this and then have a band rehearse and play it on cue.
Cleveland is the home of the Polka Hall of Fame.
Good thing they were fueled with cabbage rolls and coffee
Yeah. We know that. His name was John Williams.
@@outtathyme5679 And let's all thank Mrs. Vilve Yachke for that.
And somebody with a keen idea for fashion had to outfit the band...
It’s no secret as to Yosh’s abilities on the clarinet. His two students were Pete Fountain and Ackerman Bilk.
I wish I could have tried one of Mrs Vilviatchky’s cabbage rolls!
Reminds of alot German and eastern Europe weddings polka variety and Lawrence welk show rember him
The Schmenge Brothers "crush them all". Leutonia Rules.
These guys have class
I'm going to see the Niagara Symphony Orchestra tonight and they are doing a tribute to John Williams. I will be thinking of this skirt the whole time lmao!
They ought to do a tribute to the Schmenge Brothers. Now that would be woth going to.
worth
"Born in 1911"... that would make John Williams well over 111 years old.
Leutonians have great genes. His mother is a young 137.
Still got the 8 track version of the great songs. A great tribute to John veeliums. Lol.😆
The Schmenge Brother versions sounded nothing like the theme songs. Brilliant! So funny.
Mrs. Vilve Yachke lived next to my parents in Melonville. She would bring us cabbage rolls every Christmas.
I dig Stan's blue leisure suit.
More real than most people realize.
1970s Midwest American TV had a lot of this type of show.
My hometown band.
Those costumes a riot
I loved Yosh's roll in the Home Alone movie
His American accent alone should have won him the Oscar...
I love how all the old folks were down with the joke, must have been all the free cabbage rolls and coffee..
Mmm mmm good !
True. Just mention free cabbage rolls and coffee and the old people will come running in droves.
Concerning the comments on taping over the original music because of copyright concerns -- I would have thought that could be avoided in the format of a parody. Apparently not. Even so, it's still a great clip and a funny tribute to John Williams. I can't imagine that he personally would have objected.
Regardless if the original creator or author objects or not, lawyers go fishing all the time.
And when they come across someone who simply doesn't care, then the legal creeps crawl away.
Their first communication use heavy language, serious looking mail, etc.
But when it becomes clear to lawyers they are not being taken seriously and will have to actually work, they always run away and chase a buck somewhere else.
A friend/colleague has a published arrangement of one of the later Star Wars scores.
He said it had to go to the John Williams estate, which is a HUGE business, with at least dozens of employees (lawyers, arrangers, etc), who have to OK each application for publication.
I don't think John Williams himself has been involved with that aspect of his music empire for at least a decade.
It's a big shame too. This video is nearly about ruined without the original music. You can now barely make out the likenesses if at all. The Can You Read My Mind parody to start the show was great in the original. Not even recognizable now. The arrangements were at least half the comedy.
This clip does not have the original Shmenge covers of the John Williams film music. New music has been dubbed in, which sounds less like Williams -- obviously some kind of copyright flapdoodle. But Shatner Method, you shouldn't be posting this clip without warning people that it's a bowdlerization -- indeed, a censored version -- of the original SCTV routine.
More likely that the people who owned the rights to SCTV back when this aired in syndication didn't want to pay the music royalties (which could be quite high -- see, for example, the case of "WKRP In Cincinnati").
If that is the case then they did a fantastic job of matching it to the musicians finger movements.
@@RonJohn63 exactly right.
This is the DVD version - but other fans have posted the original elsewhere - just keep searching here on UA-cam.
Just watched it and thought I was going senile, like, "I remember these covers sounding like the original melodies. Was I wrong?" Turns out it's different music.
Glad I found the unaltered clip elsewhere.
My favorite band ever!
Awesome movie accurate r2-d2 costume.
Genius !
Cabbage rolls and coffee ❤️
I miss Josh so much
I would love to see the Happy Wanderers Christmas Show with the Traditional Exchanging of The Socks
SCTV is still the very best!
Eugene Levy’s eyebrow action is always on point. 😂
Little known fact Eugene Levy had to shave his moustache halfway through the skit.
I did not know who that shark was who was playing the clarinet, but then I realized it was Yosh...hahahahaaaa.
Who are the loyal band of fans that appear at every event?
Neighbors, cousins, members of the First Leutonian congregation, a couple of wannabes.....! 😏
They are Schmenge Heads, much like Dead Heads they follow the Tour, making bootleg tapes and consume homegrown "cabbage rolls " and electric coffee.
@@matthewgray469 I thought the Schmenges bought the Rolling Stones Mobile Unit? Mick is Stan's cousin, so they got it for $500
Members of the Leutonian Longshoremens Assoc.
In the original sketch they were playing arrangements of John Williams' actual music -- why is it replaced here with non-Williams music????
Look at Josh...he's the FEESH from the MEUUU-VEE!!! ROFLMAO
The acoustic guitar is the key to a great polka band.
These guys were playing at Summer Fest in Milwaukee in 1985. They were the opening act for Wierd Al Yankovic.
4:22
When you realize how badly you needed Darth Yankovic.
Also, John Candy (RIP) as Minnie Pearl as R2D2.
The Schmenges remind me of my now deceased cousins, RON AND HANK WASILCHAK...GOD REST THEIR SLOVAK SOULS ---THE RUSSYN PARTS OF THEIR SOULS ALSO...😮😢
I saw one where the tuba player did a solo. only tuba solo i ever saw.
The Baston Paps LOL
Can't be beat
Actually it can be beat.. this is not the original Shmenge Brothers music but something the uploader edited in.
Forget Laurel and Hardy, forget Abbott and Costello, Yosh and Stan were the greatest comic duo ever
Shmenges' should have provided soundtrack for episodes one, two and three.
D Evans and acted in it
@@paulthiessen6467 Indeed. And just think of the money 20th Century Fox could have saved if they had hired Yosh and Stan instead of those overpriced Hollywood types.
Of course, all the caterers would have had to supply would have been - well, you know 😋
Alcyone K I don’t think anyone would have the space balls to cast either of those two in a motion picture.
Who else looked up John Williams bio after this? lol BTW, if you are a Stan and Yosh fan, check out their New Wave special!
Jaws likes "cabbage rolls" LOL ahahahahhh
Reminds me of the Strikes Spares and Shmenges t-shirt I found on Google
Eugene Levy with that gold tooth...Hilarious
And the planetoid growing on his face that some would call a mole.
Did John Candy and Eugene Levy play their own instruments?
Keno City working underground in a silver mine. Dawson in the summer on the Creeks plaster mine for Gold about that time I bought the infamous Firebird. Sawadee Khap Bai Mai.👍🇹🇭🇨🇦🙏
Reminds me of the Serbian festivals in Lorain Ohio my step dad took me to back in the day.
“We’re from the outer space!”
Someone overdubbed "stand in" music for the John Williams music. Look up "SCTV -salute to John Williams" -- spelled like that, and go watch the original, the quality is poorer because it was taped off of a degrading vhs, but you'll see the correct version.
Pause the vid right as Yosh says: "Then vote."
Candy is SERIOUS! 4:13
Please, register to vote. Then do what Yosh says. Please.
I was trilled by the Guitar playing..
I am on the Rise...
I am polkas craZy..
* That backwards "S" is the Bizarro logo!
Love the shmenge bros!