Those Darn Accordions

Every few weeks the members began engaging in what were called "accordionista raids", where a mass group of accordionists – sometimes upwards of twenty or more[7] – would run around town and barge uninvited into random restaurants, start playing accordion standards like "Lady of Spain" and "Beer Barrel Polka", announce the location of their next show and then quickly disperse "before the maître d' has time to throw us out".

[4][11] Despite competing in the "pop" category, Rogers recalled that judges didn't respond well to the group's opening rendition of "Stairway to Heaven" and, due to a technicality, TDA ultimately placed fourth out of only two bands.

Nevertheless, the audience reaction to TDA was overwhelmingly positive; the band even appeared on the front page of a local newspaper and were invited on the spot to perform at the International Accordion Festival in Vilnius, Lithuania, which they later did in 1992.

[3][4][11] TDA independently released their debut album Vongole Fisarmonica on cassette tape in 1992, featuring a seventeen-member line-up and largely consisting of cover songs including everything from "Beer Barrel Polka" and "Duck Dance" to "Stairway to Heaven" and "It's Not Unusual".

This major shift in direction, as well as Rogers' strict adherence to regular rehearsal sessions, would inevitably contribute to the departure of several members, whittling the band down to a more manageable unit of around eight to ten musicians.

[4][12] In addition to tightening up their musicianship, TDA had also redefined their visual style into a uniquely offbeat and bizarre combination of retro and kitsch sensibilities, appropriating such attire as shiny lamé jackets, fishnet stockings, beehive hairdos, cat eye glasses and even a cowboy outfit, an aesthetic the Chicago Tribune described as looking like "The B-52s meet the Village People".

[10][14] Along with featuring prominently on their album covers and press photos, Forsman sang lead on several TDA songs, and soon became one of the main attractions of the band's concerts when he would sing The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Fire" and Rod Stewart's "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?

[6][10] Their sole album with Flying Fish, Squeeze This!, was a marked step forward from their debut, serving as a showcase for the band's new rock and pop-oriented original songs while still retaining their trademark flair for polkas and quirky covers.

Already a popular live draw for their oddball concept and energetic stage shows, the resulting press from publications including Los Angeles Times and Entertainment Weekly giving Squeeze This!

By 2001, TDA was operating with the smallest line-up of their career, consisting of a five-piece of accordionists Rogers, Patty Brady and Suzanne Garramone, bassist Lewis Wallace and drummer Bill Schwartz, all of whom had been with the band since Vongole Fisarmonica.

After a few more years of sporadic touring and the departure of drummer Schwartz, TDA released Squeeze Machine in 2007, mixing elements of country, cabaret and New Orleans styles into the band's pop/rock influences, as well as featuring the "Glass of Beer Polka", a comic duet with Drew Carey.

The final stop of the tour was at the Cafe Du Nord nightclub in San Francisco, where former original members Big Lou and Tom Torriglia joined the band to perform a set of old favorites.

[28] As of 2014, Those Darn Accordions continue to sporadically play shows across the Pacific Northwest and occasional music festivals in the Midwest, though the band has made no indication of any future plans to return to recording or extensive touring.

[10][11] Structurally, TDA has always consisted of multiple accordionists backed by a rhythm section of bass guitar and drums, though the band's earliest shows prior to the release of their first album were typically all-accordion ensembles.

[6][30][31] Prior to joining TDA, Paul Rogers fronted and played keyboards for the San Francisco rock bands The Dinks, Jimmy Knight and the Daze and the Baxter Brothers, and since TDA has played keys for the country group Transistor Rodeo and contributes several instruments to the "acoustic folk-skiffle-swing holiday" ensemble The Christmas Jug Band, the latter of which Rogers has also composed numerous songs for, including the humorous "Santa Lost a Ho" which NPR voted Christmas Song of the Year in 2005.