In which we discuss the bizarre world of Lawrence Welk reruns

Poor Tom Netherton - he’s not even dead, and yet his thread has been taken over by discussions of JoAnn Castle’s drug-fueled benders.

So - does ANYONE watch the reruns un-ironically?

by Anonymousreply 143December 4, 2018 6:05 PM

My dear Aunt Mary was lucky enough to dance with Mr. Welk on one of the earlier shows.

by Anonymousreply 1January 11, 2018 10:44 PM

If it's on, I have to watch. They were in on the joke, to some degree. Here's LW dressed as a hippie.

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by Anonymousreply 3January 11, 2018 10:51 PM

Watched one a few weeks back, definitely a blast from another era. There was a bizarro segment where all these women stand in line to dance 15 seconds with Laurence...

by Anonymousreply 4January 11, 2018 10:56 PM

r2 Stop reposting erroneous information.

by Anonymousreply 5January 11, 2018 10:56 PM

R6 - One Toke Over The Line remains my favorite Lawrence Welk cover.

by Anonymousreply 7January 11, 2018 11:05 PM

I know it's pure schmaltz but if I'm flipping around channels and the PBS station over in Buffalo happens to be showing Mr. Welk et al, I'll watch for a few minutes. It brings back warm, cozy memories of watching with my grandparents back in the 70's when I was a kid.

by Anonymousreply 8January 11, 2018 11:07 PM

My grandmother's favorite show

by Anonymousreply 9January 11, 2018 11:09 PM

We had to sing this in choir...it took forever to learn the damn lyrics :)

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by Anonymousreply 11January 11, 2018 11:20 PM

The sweet spot of Lawrence Walk shows for me was the mid to late 70's.

In color, no Lennon Sisters, no fucking Joann Castle and her honky-tonk piano.

Larry Hooper before cancer finished him off, Ken Delo's amazing toupee, Tom, he's still single ladies, Netherton, Sandi, Gail and Mary Lou. They were good times.

by Anonymousreply 12January 12, 2018 1:27 AM

I thought Ken just did a massive comb over.

by Anonymousreply 13January 12, 2018 2:16 AM

Lynn Anderson appears to be a robot in that video and the song is just stupid. The last time I tried to watch Welk it was a tribute to Duke Ellington and the arrangements appeared to be tone deaf. The show was at its most typical around the time it made the transition to color--Neil Levang on the guitar, Irish Tenor Joe Feeney, Aladdin with those morose readings from Helen Steiner Rice of Cincinnati, Ohio (you can just picture thousands of poor Cincinnatians cringing), Joe Ann Castle mugging for the camera, Norma Zimmer and Jimmy Roberts as the chaset middle aged lovers, and Welk dancing with old ladies in the audience.

by Anonymousreply 14January 12, 2018 2:46 AM

R13: The show was one big combover.

by Anonymousreply 15January 12, 2018 2:47 AM

I thought the female piano player was a drag queen.

by Anonymousreply 16January 12, 2018 2:57 AM

Don't forget that pedo Bob Ralston--picked up an underage boy in Times Square and brought him to California. Bob was married and a very bad boy.

by Anonymousreply 17January 12, 2018 3:00 AM

LOL R15!

I, too, was tortured with my grandparents’ favorite show, R8.

I remember the night this hot tamale joined the cast.

She’s so sweet and purdy...

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by Anonymousreply 18January 12, 2018 3:28 AM

I liked it when Lawrence would do his version of the current hits, like "Let's Spend The Night Together."

by Anonymousreply 19January 12, 2018 11:00 AM

Oh yes we do, husband is a professional musician so we watch type of every music show because there are so few of them. He likes seeing the instruments and is mainly interested in the band. I am interested in imagining Myron Floren nude, myself.

We both were 1970s kids with those memories of watching it at Grandmother's house. The best singer of the bunch is the Irish tenor guy. The music isn't my style but I respect that kind of talent.

by Anonymousreply 20January 12, 2018 12:03 PM

My elderly mother still watches it religiously.

Amazing how all these men in late middle age kept a full head of dark hair.

Lawrence didn't hire baldies.

by Anonymousreply 21January 12, 2018 12:09 PM

Remember the 2 dancers, I think their names were Bobby and Sissy. Can't remember. I remember his blinding white perfect teeth. IIRC, he is a dance teacher in CA somewhere.

by Anonymousreply 22January 12, 2018 12:09 PM

R22: That's Bobby Burgess. He was one of the original Muskateers (along with dear dead Annette Funicello). His dance partner was Cissy (not Sissy).

As an eldergay, I watche an earlier version that most of you - the early 60's (also at my grandmother's house). "The Lennon sisters are on!"

Joe Feeney was my favorite. During the "family" Christmas show he would trot out all 93 of his children. A good Irish Cathoilc. He would die of lung cancer caused by 2nd hand cigarette smoke inhaled during his nightclub shows.

Interesting note about Ken Delo; I wonder about the rest of the cast.

The audience definitely skewed older; even at 5 years old, I knew what Geritol was for.

by Anonymousreply 23January 12, 2018 12:40 PM

Norma Zimmer, the Champagne Lady!

by Anonymousreply 24January 12, 2018 1:32 PM

I've always wondered if they actually sang live on camera or if it was all lip-synced? I can never fully tell when watching these weird reruns.

by Anonymousreply 25January 12, 2018 1:36 PM

Funny you should start this thread. Spent Christmas in Florida with my partner, and his mother at his older brothers house. They watch the Welk show every night completely unironically and remember all the names. They still love it.

by Anonymousreply 26January 12, 2018 1:48 PM

[quote]As an eldergay, I watche an earlier version that most of you - the early 60's (also at my grandmother's house). "The Lennon sisters are on!"

Me too. And even at seven years old I knew it was the lamest thing around.

The Lawrence Welk Show and Sing Along With Mitch.... good God.

But looking back on it today there is a genteel innocent charm...long gone... that I do miss in our society.

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by Anonymousreply 27January 12, 2018 1:49 PM

I love Ralna. Seriously. I still do, all these years later.

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by Anonymousreply 28January 12, 2018 1:54 PM

Well, I never promised you a rose garden.

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by Anonymousreply 29January 12, 2018 1:55 PM

I always loved the fact that Art Duncan - the only black in the cast - was also the show's only tap dancer.

by Anonymousreply 30January 12, 2018 3:56 PM

Eldergay here. I’ve been told I am an ‘old soul’. Even as a little gayling I preferred Judy At Carnegie Hall to the Doors and Led Zeppelin, which is what my classmates were listening to.

But I never could abide Lawrence Welk. Even my midwestern-born, Sinatra-era parents, whose idea of a fun Sunday night was an early dinner followed by The Ed Sullivan Show, thought Welk was too white bread for them

by Anonymousreply 31January 12, 2018 4:07 PM

I wunder if there were any backstage sexcapades.?

by Anonymousreply 32January 12, 2018 4:37 PM

I didn't like it much but I enjoyed watching it with my grandmother as a boy because it made her happy.

The musicians in fact are excellent it's just often what they're playing and the soupy arrangements make your skin crawl. They even turn the great Broadway and classical composers into muzak.

The only singers I liked were the Lennon sisters because I thought they were pretty and probably had hot boyfriends.

by Anonymousreply 33January 12, 2018 7:25 PM

But these were real human beings playing music. On instruments they had mastered. A living breathing orchestra! I don't care how square they are, and they are. really. square. Still, is it true that Miles Davis would sit in with these L-7's when they played at The Santa Monica Pier?

by Anonymousreply 34January 12, 2018 7:34 PM

My grandmother and great aunts always talked about how much I resemble Janet Lennon. I'm a guy.

by Anonymousreply 35January 12, 2018 7:49 PM

FUCK that Zimmer bitch!!!

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by Anonymousreply 36January 12, 2018 7:57 PM

Are you sure Janet isn't as well r35?

by Anonymousreply 37January 12, 2018 7:59 PM

R30. Even as a kid I knew that shit was wrong. And, they always paired him with the other "other" Anacani

by Anonymousreply 38January 12, 2018 11:13 PM

My grandmother is 101 years old and she still watches Lawrence Welk.

by Anonymousreply 39January 12, 2018 11:20 PM

Oh why couldn't Larry live forever?

by Anonymousreply 41January 12, 2018 11:54 PM

OMG, r14 -- Helen Steiner Rice!

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by Anonymousreply 43January 13, 2018 12:12 AM

Bobby and Cissy....clogging!

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by Anonymousreply 44January 13, 2018 12:17 AM

[quote]Aren't they just adorable?

Not in those fluorescent, magenta disco pants, they're not.

by Anonymousreply 45January 13, 2018 12:19 AM

Will love keep Bobby and Cissy together?

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by Anonymousreply 46January 13, 2018 12:22 AM

R29, if you believe that's Lynn Anderson, here's a photo of Reba McEntire for you.

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by Anonymousreply 47January 13, 2018 12:28 AM

I always thought the country singer was hot.

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by Anonymousreply 48January 13, 2018 12:32 AM

I'm like many here..I watch it once in awhile for sentimental reasons. My immigrant parents used to watch it and they're long gone now.

by Anonymousreply 49January 13, 2018 12:32 AM

Ooh, I REALLY like his sweater r48!

by Anonymousreply 50January 13, 2018 12:36 AM

R25, in a interview the Lennon Sisters said all songs were recorded on Thursday for Saturday's show.

by Anonymousreply 51January 13, 2018 12:44 AM

Natalie Nevins was on the show for five years. Welk fired her in 1970 after missing a concert appearance and lying about an illness. She died in 2010 at 85.

by Anonymousreply 52January 13, 2018 12:52 AM

r36, don't blame Norma. Alice quit over music choices and money. When the protest mail rolled in, Lawrence caved and offered Alice her job back. She refused. In 1960 Zimmer was given the "Champagne Lady" title.

by Anonymousreply 53January 13, 2018 1:01 AM

Saw it a lot as a preschooler. I remember the day I noticed the footage of the old people dancing was a loop.

by Anonymousreply 54January 13, 2018 1:04 AM

Another gay boy here who grew up watching it with my Grandma. My family would talk about those people like they knew them, which I always thought was so funny.

But, here I am on DL and can carry on conversations about 80s/90s pornstars...so I'm going to be a little less judgmental.

by Anonymousreply 55January 13, 2018 1:04 AM

Until recently Lawrence was on WLIW-21 in Metro New York at 5:00 on Saturdays. Now replaced by Beg-A-Thons.

by Anonymousreply 56January 13, 2018 1:08 AM

Guy and Ralna were the Brad and Angie in that group.

by Anonymousreply 57January 13, 2018 1:29 AM

Each show is one hour of flavorless, soulless, milky-white entertainment. This is what we'd be watching if the South had won the Civil War, except with more minstrels.

by Anonymousreply 58January 13, 2018 1:59 AM

I can't believe old people watched shit like Lawrence Welk

by Anonymousreply 59January 13, 2018 2:14 AM

You should watch Guy Lombardo. The band leader who was the Anderson Cooper of his day.

by Anonymousreply 60January 13, 2018 3:30 AM

I never heard of anyone playing spoons by hitting spoons on their thighs until this was on the LW Show. What part of the USA does that come from? I think the black guy did this.

by Anonymousreply 61January 13, 2018 4:00 AM

It was a vaudeville thing. Like people playing saws on a string.

by Anonymousreply 62January 13, 2018 4:20 AM

Big Bobby and Barbara fan here. I wanted to be Barbara so I could dance with Bobby.

by Anonymousreply 63January 13, 2018 4:26 AM

The Lawrence Welk Orchestra get LIT with the extended mix of the theme song from "Family Affair". I can't help it.... when that melodica and harpsichord go off I just lose my shit.

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by Anonymousreply 65January 13, 2018 4:58 AM

Nice find R65 - always cool to see those TV themes played by an orchestra, live all at once, the way they used to do it back then. That "melodica" sounds like the lead instrument in the Skippy theme, never really visualized what it was.

by Anonymousreply 66January 13, 2018 5:48 AM

I laughed so hard at R47.

by Anonymousreply 67January 13, 2018 1:03 PM

R47 That's a terrific picture of Reba, then. Here's a little more.

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by Anonymousreply 68January 13, 2018 1:09 PM

Fascinating stuff, these LWS stories. For some of the younger visitors to DL, this is the kind of show that filled air time when TV was new and each network tried to fill hour after hour with programming. Arthur Godfrey, Ed Sullivan, Your Hit Parade, Sid Ceasar, Milton Berle and Lawrence Welk and others (read about Steve Allen's original Tonight Show) made it possible to have fresh programming available on a weekly basis.

Yes it all seems bland and white now, but when TV was new, it was thrilling to have musical acts or comedy in your living room regularly. Honestly, if you look and early episodes of the programs (before they became very stale and repetitive) they were eye-opening for many viewers.

None of the men at the helm of the programs were nice - read about Arthur Godfrey - they were cheap, there were many demands upon them (think of how expensive a program with a full orchestra and cast of singer and dancers could be!) and they really did become tyrants.

Thankfully there are kinescopes and recordings of these programs - they provide a look at a very different America, one that would be gone by 1968.

I like Alice Lon's voice, surprised she didn't become a pop singer.

by Anonymousreply 69January 13, 2018 3:10 PM

[quote]I always loved the fact that Art Duncan - the only black in the cast - was also the show's only tap dancer.

And he always brought it on home by doing a windmill at the end, to thunderous applause.

by Anonymousreply 70January 13, 2018 3:31 PM

R68 makes me think Sunset Blvd. could have had a happy ending if they'd just ended at the police station with Norma having her mugshot taken... she'd have been thrilled!

by Anonymousreply 71January 13, 2018 3:57 PM

Arthur Duncan made me cringe--a black tap dancer as the only African-American person on the show, performing in a stereotyped idiom and basically doing the same thing every week (which was par for most people on that show). If they'd some other African-American performers (or even guests), it would have seemed more "normal".

According to wiki he's still alive and occasionally performs.

by Anonymousreply 72January 13, 2018 4:42 PM

The show was always an exercise in nostalgia. Welk had to be talked into doing "Calcutta" which was his one pop chart topping song, in 1960---George Cates, his arranger and, later, conductor was the one who pushed for it. Cates had much more eclectic tastes than Welk, even so, he probably was the one who was responsible for the awful arrangements that slowed things down or ended songs with flourishes. Welk had high technical standards for musicians but did not pay well, still a steady paycheck is better than none. and tv exposure got them gigs elsewhere.

by Anonymousreply 73January 13, 2018 4:49 PM

You been screwin' the milk man?!

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by Anonymousreply 74January 13, 2018 4:54 PM

He and Gregory Hines should have teamed up and toured the country tap dancing while making cakes r72.

by Anonymousreply 75January 13, 2018 5:01 PM

Hines, with and without his brother and father managed not to be cringeworthy despite doing tap when it seemed minstrel-ish.

My guess is that Duncan was/is gay as springtime.

by Anonymousreply 77January 13, 2018 5:09 PM

I recall seeing Arthur Duncan on an episode of Dick Van Dyke's "Diagnosis: Murder." He played, yes, a tap dancer, and he did a brief routine at the end of the show.

by Anonymousreply 78January 13, 2018 5:13 PM

You would be absitively, posilutely amazed how an accordian sounds in HI-FI!!!

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by Anonymousreply 79January 13, 2018 5:15 PM

If you're ever in Escondido, CA (northern San Diego Co.), you MUST stop in at the Welk Resort and check out the theater there-- the lobby is a veritable Lawrence Welk museum, complete with a giant champagne glass.

They actually do decent versions of musicals there, although ironically they use canned music instead of a live orchestra. I saw "The Full Monty" there, and it contains a song that name-checks Welk himself. How meta!

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by Anonymousreply 80January 13, 2018 6:08 PM

Isn't "The Fully Monty" a bit risque for the Welk Resort? It has homosexualist characters!

by Anonymousreply 81January 13, 2018 6:18 PM

The musical family seems surprisingly open minded and Welk himself is long expired--Bob Ralston the pedo has played in reunion shows. Jo Anne castle--a total trainwreck--had a couple second chances with Welk touring shows.

by Anonymousreply 82January 13, 2018 6:48 PM

Mr Welk used to make me watch him masturbate on the plastic plants in the lobby of his resort!

by Anonymousreply 83January 13, 2018 6:56 PM

Years ago, the reruns on PBS stations used to have recently filmed intros and remembrances from members of the musical family, including Jo Ann Castle, Norma Zimmer, Myron Floren, various Lennons and many others.

by Anonymousreply 84January 13, 2018 7:00 PM

My mother used to watch those reruns with the new intros every week and comment on who had aged well and who hadn't. She could have been a DL'er!

by Anonymousreply 85January 13, 2018 7:06 PM

On now with Bobby Burgess hosting. Bicentennial salute!

by Anonymousreply 86January 13, 2018 11:05 PM

Who was in line to be the new Mrs. Lawrence Welk? Our lovely Mexican senorita Anacani?

by Anonymousreply 88January 14, 2018 1:34 AM

Ana Cani was (is?) married to a judge in California. They were friends of friends.

by Anonymousreply 89January 14, 2018 3:40 AM

Mr. Welk? Massive pussyhound. Big Nixon supporter

by Anonymousreply 90January 14, 2018 3:42 AM

I want to know how Barbra learned the truth r87!

by Anonymousreply 91January 14, 2018 3:47 AM

Lawrence Walk looked like my Uncle Joe.

I miss Uncle Joe.

by Anonymousreply 92January 14, 2018 4:02 AM

My mother said she saw Bobby on a recent Mickey Mouse TV birthday celebration special, and that he (Bobby, not Mickey!) had become fat.

by Anonymousreply 93November 29, 2018 2:28 AM

Bobby Burgess married Kristie Floren, daughter of Myron Floren in 1971. True love or job security? They have four kids.

Bobby actually got Cissy kicked off the show when he got tired of working with her. Who knows what else was going on though.

Guy & Ralna got divorced as soon as the show ended, but still perform together. He got remarried, she did not.

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by Anonymousreply 94November 29, 2018 3:05 AM

[quote]I've always wondered if they actually sang live on camera or if it was all lip-synced

Welk always insisted on performing and recording the show straight through, as if it were being broadcast live. He felt this gave the show more energy and the performances would be better.

by Anonymousreply 95November 29, 2018 3:13 AM

I love watching this when I'm stoned!

by Anonymousreply 96November 29, 2018 5:00 AM

Wow, R87, who knew Mr. Welk could bring the sizzle to a '70s gossip rag?

by Anonymousreply 97November 29, 2018 5:09 AM

They were always making poor Anacani dress up like a Spanish doña or a Mexican maiden or Carmen Miranda.

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by Anonymousreply 98November 29, 2018 5:16 AM

The Lennon Sisters were pre-recorded. A few years ago I read an interview with one of the girls (the youngest?) and she said Welk was worried they'd mess up live so they lip-synched on the show.

by Anonymousreply 99November 29, 2018 6:14 AM

The Lennon Sisters' Velveeta-esque cover of "Georgy Girl" made Judith Durham seem like Etta James.

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by Anonymousreply 100November 29, 2018 6:19 AM

"Velveeta-esque." hahahahaha.

by Anonymousreply 101November 29, 2018 7:42 AM

R100, the fuck is wrong with them? Are they retarded? What's up with those weird facial expressions.

by Anonymousreply 102November 29, 2018 9:08 AM

Arthur Duncan wasn't the only tap dancer on the show. Bobby Burgess, Jack Imel and Mary Lou Metzger also tapped.

That gossip mag headline about "The New Mrs. Lawrence Welk" was a tease. It was probably a story about his son's engagement.. Lawrence Welk, Jr. married Tanya Falan, a singer on the show, in 1968. They had a couple of sons and then divorced in 1979.

I am so pleased to find that I'm not the only un-ironic Welk watcher or Joe Feeney fan. My very first crush was Joe Feeney when I was 11, just the beginning of a lifetime obsession with tenors.

by Anonymousreply 103November 29, 2018 9:50 AM

My grandma and my aunt & uncle who lived with her would watch this in the 70's on Saturday night. My mom preferred The Carpenters. Speaking of Helen Steiner Rice I remember giving my Mom a book of her for Mother's Day.

by Anonymousreply 104November 29, 2018 10:59 AM

[quote]You should watch Guy Lombardo. The band leader who was the Anderson Cooper of his day

I only know he had the New Years Eve show and as a kid I found it boring

by Anonymousreply 105November 29, 2018 11:04 AM

> Oh why couldn't Larry live forever?

Be careful what you wish for. We have CGI now. Do you *really* want a new series with Lawrence Welk doing bubbly weekly renditions of wholesome hits like "Make it rain, bitch"?

Come to think of it, that would be fucking HILARIOUS.

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by Anonymousreply 106November 29, 2018 11:13 AM

[quote]Arthur Duncan wasn't the only tap dancer on the show. Bobby Burgess, Jack Imel and Mary Lou Metzger also tapped.

Was Bobby Burgess a gay homosexual?

by Anonymousreply 107November 29, 2018 11:56 AM

Naw, he was one of them straight homosexuals.

by Anonymousreply 108November 29, 2018 12:11 PM

I still remember the night, oh so many decades ago, when one of the boy/girl couples were singing a song (I think it might have been Guy & Ralna) and the guy put his hand somewhere on the girl that the offstage Lawrence apparently didn't approve of, and in the middle of the song he marched out and grabbed the guy's hand and moved it to what he considered a more appropriate position. The guy keeps on singing, but the look on his face was priceless. Smiling but nervous, knowing he was in for a good chastising once the show was over.

I've read that LW was a tough taskmaster, and a cheap bastard as well. Those folks were paid a pittance. Most of them only made a decent living because of their work away from the LW show.

by Anonymousreply 109November 29, 2018 12:16 PM

Poor Tom Netherton. All those years in show business and had to die in a shitty V.A. hospital. Poor buy must have had no health insurance.

by Anonymousreply 110November 29, 2018 12:19 PM

I believe it was nostalgia for our grandparents, even back in the 60's. Welk was one of the last of a dying breed, big band-style music that was reminiscent of what the oldtimers danced and listened to in the 30's and 40's. They'd see it on movie screens, flocked to bands if they appeared locally and it was a morale booster during WWII. I too remember watching this with my grandmother, in fact, I'm sure it was the ONLY show she watched.

My weekly visits to some seniors in a nursing home doesn't actually end until I call one of them on Saturday evening, to remind her that Lawrence Welk is on. Have they seen each show a hundred times? Sure, but it doesn't matter to them. The memories it evokes brightens their lives, makes them think back to a kinder, more joyous and better place. One of the ladies always talks about she and her husband going out dancing, I suppose she feels young again. A good enough reason to watch.

by Anonymousreply 111November 29, 2018 12:20 PM

A friend was Head Dietician at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica. She said of all the celebs, LW was the worst. Complained about everything. Elizabeth Taylor one of the nicest.

by Anonymousreply 112November 29, 2018 12:29 PM

My grandmother would always comment on how gorgeous all the lady's costumes were at breakfast the next day. That show gave elderly people such joy back in the day. And I admit I'll watch it if I run across a rerun. It brings back sweet memories of a much simpler time.

by Anonymousreply 113November 29, 2018 12:32 PM

I watched the color 70s version, not of my own choice though. We only had one TV and when Welk was on it was my elderly grandfathers designated TV time. He’d usually ask my mother to watch with him. I don’t think she loved the show (she had a broad range of music tastes and appreciated newer music) but she did it out of old fashioned respect and duty to her elderly father. So that’s how I remember the show really, as a symbol of an older generation that lived by different rules and had different tastes. I have to say it does make me feel nostalgic and cozy.

by Anonymousreply 114November 29, 2018 12:38 PM

In which Gale and Dale sing about weed and Welk confuses it for a modern hymn

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by Anonymousreply 115November 29, 2018 12:59 PM

In a chit-chat with Mary Lou Metzger, one of the Lennon Sisters said everything was lip-synced. They recorded on Thursday. Wonder if orchestral selections were live. "The Champagne Lady" Alice Lon was fired for something that annoyed Lawrence. Replaced by Norma Zimmer.

by Anonymousreply 116November 29, 2018 12:59 PM

r116 I believe Miss Lon dared to hike her hemline ABOVE the knee.

I wonder what contemporary songs Welk would have on a present-day show?

by Anonymousreply 117November 29, 2018 1:17 PM

There was always PR emphasis on the singers all being avid church goers. My father would refer to the show being full of bible thumpers.

by Anonymousreply 118November 29, 2018 2:41 PM

Does anyone else remember the harpist? She always had such a pained expression on her face when the camera panned in her direction. It was almost as if she couldn’t play and smile at the same time.

Have to give props to the members of the Welk Musical Family, though. LW hit the big time in 1955 and some of the musicians were capitalizing on that gig 30, 40 and 50 years later.

LW was known for being notoriously cheap. He hated that if a band member played more than one instrument in a musical number he had to pay union scale for each instrument. I read somewhere he got into it with George Cates, the musical director, who would write pieces where the musicians in the wind section would play flute, clarinet and piccolo in one song. LW would have to pay three times as much as if folks like Dick Dale or Henry Costa had played just clarinet or saxophone in that one song.

by Anonymousreply 119November 29, 2018 6:22 PM

In the early years, the only member of the cast allowed to call him "Lawrence" on camera was Myron Floren. To everyone else, he was "Mr. Welk". I remember one episode being surprised when his daughter-in-law, Tanya Welk addressed him as "Mr. Welk". In later shows, Welk must have been less uptight about it as several of the male performers called him by his first name, but I only remember Jo Ann Castle and Gail Farrell calling him "Lawrence".

by Anonymousreply 120November 29, 2018 6:50 PM

Things were different back then. He appealed to a crowd that appreciated that kind of deference.

by Anonymousreply 121November 29, 2018 6:53 PM

Bobby Burgess and Barbara Boylan's first performance on the show.

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by Anonymousreply 122November 29, 2018 7:02 PM

We also have to keep in mind we didnt have a lot of choices back then.When I was growing up there were 3 stations and pbs. But yes,my grandparents and parents both loved this show.It does seem like it evokes good memories for a great many of us.My mom and grandma and I would exclaim over the gowns. I was all of 5-6 ! If I remember correctly didnt this come on right before Hee Haw?

by Anonymousreply 123November 29, 2018 7:05 PM

We watched Hee Haw too, haha. Good natured clean fun back then, I was just a kid but I remember liking it. What was up with the lighting though, Welk, Hee Haw, Carol Burnett, Mary Hartman, why did they look so bright and brash, with no depth? I don’t remember other shows looking quite so in your face and cheap.

by Anonymousreply 124November 29, 2018 7:07 PM

[quote]We also have to keep in mind we didnt have a lot of choices back then.When I was growing up there were 3 stations and pbs.

PBS didn't come around until the late '60s. Before that, it was NET.

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by Anonymousreply 125November 30, 2018 12:14 AM

Lawrence "Larry" Welk III (one of Lawrence's grandsons) was a helicopter pilot/reporter for LA TV stations for many years. He now runs his own aviation firm.

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by Anonymousreply 126November 30, 2018 12:16 AM

[quote]Be careful what you wish for. We have CGI now. Do you *really* want a new series with Lawrence Welk doing bubbly weekly renditions of wholesome hits like "Make it rain, bitch"?

Anna now, please welcome Miss Natalie Nevins to parfarm one of the newer-a songs, "Bodacka Yellah."

by Anonymousreply 127November 30, 2018 12:21 AM

Sometimes I watch the Lawrence Welk Show reruns and think, "Imagine a world so safe and honest and clean and happy that THIS is considered entertainment." But the world has never been that way and never will be.

I searched his name once thinking I would find all kinds of behind the scenes secrets, but it sounds like Mr. Welk walked it like he talked it.

by Anonymousreply 128November 30, 2018 1:43 AM

Why did he have that accent? He was born in America!

by Anonymousreply 129November 30, 2018 2:10 AM

He spoke-a only Cherman until-a his early twintiez.

by Anonymousreply 130November 30, 2018 2:12 AM

The Semonski Sisters, addressing Welk's sister act fetish.

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by Anonymousreply 132November 30, 2018 2:48 AM

R132 The child that says BOOM is a bit scary

by Anonymousreply 133November 30, 2018 4:02 AM

I had a crush on Clay Hart and liked it when his chest hair would play peek a boo.

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by Anonymousreply 134November 30, 2018 4:43 AM

R119, I don't remember a lady harpist. Perhaps you're thinking of Charlotte Harris, the cello player. She was the only woman in the Welk orchestra.

by Anonymousreply 135November 30, 2018 5:40 AM

R129 - My parents/grandparents had a great affinity for Mr. Welk, as he was one of their kind. That being of German-Russian origin, and coming from a similar background. My grandparents never did speak English, even though they arrived in Canada in 1906, and died in 1962. They always spoke a dialect of a low German, the same as the Welk's.

Yea, I know, too much information in the link not relevant to the topic.

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by Anonymousreply 136November 30, 2018 6:02 AM

I worked in a nursing home when I was in college, and the residents watched it faithfully every Saturday night. The dining room was set up like a club, with snacks and beverages, and singing and dancing were encouraged. One of my best memories from an otherwise very depressing place.

by Anonymousreply 137November 30, 2018 6:21 AM

I just went to YouTube to watch an old 70s clip because this piqued my interest after a long time of not seeing the show. Dammit, I didn’t last two minutes after the music started before my throat and eyes filled up and the tears were dropping. It made me remember my mother and my grandfather, with me sitting on the floor while they watched. Very sweet.

by Anonymousreply 138November 30, 2018 4:59 PM

Bobby was one of the original Mouseketeers and had three dance partners over the course of the show; Barbara Boylen, Cissy King, and Elaine Balden. Cissy was a crowd favorite but was often late for rehearsals and it caused friction between her and Bobby, so she was replaced.

As someone mentioned, cellist Charlotte Harris was the only female orchestra musician. Welk would always say, "Tanka ya Charlotte for all da beautiful sounds coming from between your firm thighs."

by Anonymousreply 139November 30, 2018 9:16 PM

I love to watch the reruns with Ken Delo - he could be the twin brother of a man I worked with in the 80's, who was married and about 20 years older than me. One day we both found ourselves working late when everyone else had left the office. We were moving files from one cabinet to another when I dropped an armful of them and bent over to pick them up. "Ken" bent down to help, I looked at him and his eyes said "I want you" more clearly than words could have. I had fantasized about him but never picked up on any gay vibes until that moment. He kissed me for what seemed like five minutes. We stood up, out came his big perfect cock and I gave him a blowjob. From there on we would arrange to come in early or stay late, just to jack each other off or suck one another. Lots of close calls, which made it all the more exciting. He wanted anal but it was too big for me to even consider. At times we would meet at a hotel.

One day he came into work and said his wife was divorcing him, she found out he was sleeping with men. He seemed to age ten years in one week, it was really sad. We would still play around at work, but the divorce took something out of him and it was never the same. I left for another job and haven't seen or heard from him in more years than I can recall. He was the only man who could make me come just by kissing me, he was the best. And when we were somewhere with no chance of being seen/caught, he LOVED my feet. I mean LOVED!

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by Anonymousreply 140November 30, 2018 9:39 PM

R140 Thank you for dirtying-up this thread while somehow managing to stay on topic.

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by Anonymousreply 141December 4, 2018 5:51 PM

Welk made his singers pay for their own costumes.. He was a total cheapscape.

by Anonymousreply 142December 4, 2018 5:55 PM

The Lennon Sisters are currently performing in Branson. Such longevity!

by Anonymousreply 143December 4, 2018 6:05 PM

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