Lawrence Welk
Ben Skversky
Matthew Kruk
>
> Can anyone tell me when Lawrence Welk died & when he was born.
May 17, 1992 (pneumonia), March 11, 1903.
Rev Chuck
>
> Can anyone tell me when Lawrence Welk died
How could they tell?
TooMuchJoy
Thomas Coleman
of all that was square and cornball, his show is now considered to be
well worth a look, sometimes.
JSTONE9352
>He died in 1983 at the age of 80. Once considered to be the definition
>of all that was square and cornball, his show is now considered to be
>well worth a look, sometimes.
>
I thought he died at age 89. The show
is cornball especially when they dress up
in some kind of period costume to do a
song, I cringe and laugh when I see that.
Matthew Hubbard
> He died in 1983 at the age of 80. Once considered to be the definition
> of all that was square and cornball, his show is now considered to be
> well worth a look, sometimes.
Some people consider PBS stations who re-run this crap to be traitors
to the cause of public television.
It's still square and cornball, and if you watch, it also has creepy
racial overtones. A great example of the bad old days.
MattH
Patrick Danville
Thomas Coleman <tho...@webtv.net> wrote:
>He died in 1983 at the age of 80. Once considered to be the definition
>of all that was square and cornball, his show is now considered to be
>well worth a look, sometimes.
I did cue cards for the Welk show at ABC and Welk was generally
thought of as one of the nastiest SOB's in TV, with which I concurred.
His show was run/presented on the "fear" principle--if you didn't fear
the old bastard, you didn't last. And yes, I also concurred with the
sentiment that it was about as cornball as anybody's imagination could
conceive.
I for one, don't miss him or the show.
>
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/ / \ / / / / /__ / \/ /___ /
J.D. Baldwin
Thomas Coleman <tho...@webtv.net> wrote:
> He died in 1983 at the age of 80. Once considered to be the
> definition of all that was square and cornball, his show is now
> considered to be well worth a look, sometimes.
"Well worth a look," that is, if your interests run to the square and
cornball.
I think Welk contributed more to American culture by the controversy
over federal funding for a museum/memorial/monument at his birthplace
than he ever did in his entertainment career. For several years,
"Lawrence Welk birthplace" was a sort of Executive Summary of what's
wrong about how the US federal government spends money.
--
From the catapult of J.D. Baldwin |+| "If anyone disagrees with anything I
_,_ Finger bal...@netcom.com |+| say, I am quite prepared not only to
_|70|___:::)=}- for PGP public |+| retract it, but also to deny under
\ / key information. |+| oath that I ever said it." --T. Lehrer
***~~~~-----------------------------------------------------------------------
John Lupton
Danville) wrote:
>In article <1387-38...@storefull-293.iap.bryant.webtv.net>,
>Thomas Coleman <tho...@webtv.net> wrote:
>>He died in 1983 at the age of 80. Once considered to be the definition
>>of all that was square and cornball, his show is now considered to be
>>well worth a look, sometimes.
>
>
>I did cue cards for the Welk show at ABC and Welk was generally
>thought of as one of the nastiest SOB's in TV, with which I concurred.
>His show was run/presented on the "fear" principle--if you didn't fear
>the old bastard, you didn't last. And yes, I also concurred with the
>sentiment that it was about as cornball as anybody's imagination could
>conceive.
>
>I for one, don't miss him or the show.
This brings to mind a joke that was going around a year or two back:
Q: What's the difference between the Lawrence Welk Orchestra and a moose?
A: The moose has the horns up front, and the asshole in the rear...
**********************************************
John Lupton, Network Services Manager
School of Arts & Sciences Computing
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA
**********************************************
jlu...@sas.upenn.edu
natteringnabo...@nospam.org
>
> He died in 1983 at the age of 80. Once considered to be the definition
> of all that was square and cornball, his show is now considered to be
> well worth a look, sometimes.
may have been cornball, and I despised it at the time, because it was
stuff my folks liked. Being from Kansas...Welk was from North Dakota
just up the road a piece...but it earned me an A+ in music back in
the late 50s from a music teacher who thought that getting kids to
listen to his stuff would help them appreciate music of all kinds.
It did give me an appreciation but I'm not certain it was of all of it.
Some of the music was considered controversial, I suppose just as it was
back when Welk first started his Big Band. Every age is that way and
yes I've heard he was a tyrannical about doing it his way or the highway
Hugo
Thomas Coleman
sets and costumes and the like, it sometimes gets downright bizarre.
Also ironically the Welk gang hit their peak in the '60's sometimes
musically hitting high points. Jo Anne Castle played gaudy looking
pianos in a honky tonk style that really rocked! She also did Hold That
Tiger on accordion accompanied by a horn section with a kind of energy
that a lot of today's alterna-bands could learn from. As for the "creepy
racial overtones" mentioned I have yet to really perceive any, unless
you count having only 1 black or 1 hispanic (pcic) as racial. An account
was once given of Welk buying a bunch of flower children shoes to wear
because he didn't like seeing them go without. Sure I know that Welk did
watered down lame versions of a lot of standards but they could do
almost anything pre-rocknroll, and whoever produced that show were
brilliant. Plus it's fun watching Bobby and Cissy doing the Turkey Trot.
Welk was a Nixon crony wasn't he?
mack
funny parody of his music..."Help-a Help-a ...turn off the bubble
machine-a" as the Aragon ballroom floats out to sea on a bunch of bubbles.
Matthew Hubbard
>
> ... As for the "creepy racial overtones" mentioned I have yet to
> hispanic (pcic) as racial.
What I remember was the one black performer, who was a singer and a tap
dancer; I was watching once while flipping channels, and a romantic song
was being sung by many couples, all of them holding hands, EXCEPT the
one black man who was not touching his white partner in any way, shape
or form. Reminded me of the old Sesame Street song: "One of these
things is not like the others..."
And that's your Creepy Racial Overtone replay for today!
MattH
Matthew Kruk
It would be interesting to find out the date of the program and whether it was
before the infamous Star Trek racial kiss.
Besides, my complaint is that in those days I couldn't even see Barbara Eden's
cute bellybutton in I Dream of Jeannie :-)
Hoodoo
wrote:
>Q: What's the difference between the Lawrence Welk Orchestra and a moose?
>
>A: The moose has the horns up front, and the asshole in the rear...
Oh man. That is choice!!! Thanks a bunch.
In return, an unrelated one. At my former place of employment we took
great pleasure in posting these words on one of the walls:
The only difference between this place
and the Titanic was they had a band.
--
Please remove obvious pest deterrent in email
address for personal replies.
There are more love songs than anything else.
If songs could make you do something we'd all
love one another. - Frank Zappa
Matthew Kruk
> ...
> The only difference between this place
> and the Titanic was they had a band.
Definitely applicable to one of my former employers too (fortunately they have
been far and few).
(Like the Zappa quote too. He was such a brilliant person. Sure miss him.)
Brad Ferguson
<mk...@netcom.ca> wrote:
> Matthew Hubbard wrote:
> >
> > Thomas Coleman wrote:
> > >
> > > ... As for the "creepy racial overtones" mentioned I have yet to
> > > really perceive any, unless you count having only 1 black or 1
> > > hispanic (pcic) as racial.
> >
> > What I remember was the one black performer, who was a singer and
> > a tap
> > dancer; I was watching once while flipping channels, and a romantic song
> > was being sung by many couples, all of them holding hands, EXCEPT the
> > one black man who was not touching his white partner in any way, shape
> > or form. Reminded me of the old Sesame Street song: "One of these
> > things is not like the others..."
>
> It would be interesting to find out the date of the program and
> whether it was before the infamous Star Trek racial kiss.
The Star Trek kiss never happened. I don't know how these things get
started.
Take a look at it. It's in "Plato's Stepchildren." Shatner and
Nichols get close, they almost do it, and then Shatner pivots Nichols
down and toward the camera as he stares up at those mind-control guys
with some approximation of hatred. You can see that his lips are not
touching Nichols'.
It was about this time, though (1968 or so) that some people went crazy
because Harry Belafonte put an arm around Petula Clark (or maybe it was
the other way 'round) during a duet on television. I don't see Welk as
the kind who'd break new ground by letting the tap dancer go into a
clinch with the Champagne Lady.
Oh, and to answer your question directly, "Plato's Stepchildren" was
originally broadcast on Nov 22 1968. Arthur Duncan, the tap dancer,
was on Welk's show from 1964 to 1982, when the show finally left the
air. There's no telling when you saw Duncan not touching anyone, but
the odds seem pretty good that it was after "Plato's Stepchildren" was
seen.
Boy, that's a long way to go for so little.
Matthew Kruk
> ...
> > It would be interesting to find out the date of the program and
> > whether it was before the infamous Star Trek racial kiss.
>
> The Star Trek kiss never happened. I don't know how these things get
> started.
You are correct Brad. What I should have done in my reply was surround the word
kiss with double quotes. Regardless, radio2@bigfoot's reply makes a good point
for that era.
Brad Ferguson
<mk...@netcom.ca> wrote:
It surely does, and I agree with radio2. What I'd quarrel with is
Welk's outting Duncan in the production piece if he wasn't going to use
him. Maybe it's a damned-if-he-did, damned-if-he-didn't situation, but
the fact that you remember Art Duncan being out there so conspiculously
alone even after (perhaps) thirty years might mean that Duncan should
have been allowed to sit that one out.
Actually, it's hard for me to believe that Welk couldn't find a black
female singer or dancer to pair with Duncan on production numbers. I
have to believe he just didn't care.
MFaust1071
of all that was square and cornball, his show is now considered to be
well worth a look, sometimes. >>
I'd have to disagree with that. In an era when just about any kind of pop music
from a past decade has a cult following somewhere, I'm unable to find anything
worthwhile on the Welk shows that play on our PBS station. Maybe if I could
stand to watch more than a few minutes I might find the occasional able player
getting a chance to cut loose, but the arrangements are so insipid that I find
myself unable to ignore my remote control.
M.
Matthew Kruk
>
> In article <387DF71D...@netcom.ca>, Matthew Kruk
> <mk...@netcom.ca> wrote:
>
> > Brad Ferguson wrote:
> > > ...
> > > > It would be interesting to find out the date of the program and
> > > > whether it was before the infamous Star Trek racial kiss.
> > >
> > > The Star Trek kiss never happened. I don't know how these things get
> > > started.
> >
> > You are correct Brad. What I should have done in my reply was
> > surround the word kiss with double quotes. Regardless,
> > radio2@bigfoot's reply makes a good point for that era.
>
> It surely does, and I agree with radio2. What I'd quarrel with is
> Welk's outting Duncan in the production piece if he wasn't going to use
> him. Maybe it's a damned-if-he-did, damned-if-he-didn't situation, but
> the fact that you remember Art Duncan being out there so conspiculously
> alone even after (perhaps) thirty years might mean that Duncan should
> have been allowed to sit that one out.
Small correction, you're confusing me (w.r.t. Art Duncan) with my namesake and
not-to-be-seen-on-the-Blackwell-forsaken-dressed list, Mr. Hubbard. :-)
Brad Ferguson
<thir...@frXOXed.net> wrote:
> In article <387DF71D...@netcom.ca>, Matthew Kruk
> <mk...@netcom.ca> wrote:
>
> > Brad Ferguson wrote:
> > > ...
> > > > It would be interesting to find out the date of the program and
> > > > whether it was before the infamous Star Trek racial kiss.
> > >
> > > The Star Trek kiss never happened. I don't know how these things get
> > > started.
> >
> > You are correct Brad. What I should have done in my reply was
> > surround the word kiss with double quotes. Regardless,
> > radio2@bigfoot's reply makes a good point for that era.
>
>
> It surely does, and I agree with radio2. What I'd quarrel with is
> Welk's outting Duncan in the production piece if he wasn't going to use
I meant "putting." Damn the typos, full speed ahead.
> him. Maybe it's a damned-if-he-did, damned-if-he-didn't situation, but
> the fact that you remember Art Duncan being out there so conspiculously
> alone even after (perhaps) thirty years might mean that Duncan should
> have been allowed to sit that one out.
>
King Daevid MacKenzie
Beechnut Show" in 1958 when Jerry Lee Lewis played "Great Balls of Fire"
and actually set fire to the piano on camera. Clark claims the piano had
been lent to his production company by Welk's...
King Daevid MacKenzie, UltimaJock!
Ultim...@webtv.net http://come.to/ultimajock
returning in January to http://www.webradio.com/wsuw
"If I've offended you for any reason, you needed it." ROBIN TYLER
("|`-´´-/").___..--´´"`-._
`6_ 6 ) `-. ( ).`-.__.`)
(_Y_.)' ._ ) `._ `. ``-..-´
_..`--´_..-_/ /--´_.´ ,´
(il),-'' (li),' ((!.-'
Bob Nunes
Mr. Welk passed away in 1992 at age 89.
Thanks for reading.
Bob
cspa...@cdsnet.net
Thomas Coleman wrote:
He died in 1983 at the age of 80. Once considered to be the definition
Bob Nunes
Thanks for reading.
Bob
cspa...@cdsnet.net
JSTONE9352 wrote:
>
>He died in 1983 at the age of 80. Once considered to be the definition
>of all that was square and cornball, his show is now considered to be
>well worth a look, sometimes.
>
I thought he died at age 89. The show
Brad Ferguson
<mk...@netcom.ca> wrote:
> Brad Ferguson wrote:
> >
> > In article <387DF71D...@netcom.ca>, Matthew Kruk
> > <mk...@netcom.ca> wrote:
> >
> > > Brad Ferguson wrote:
> > > > ...
> > > > > It would be interesting to find out the date of the program and
> > > > > whether it was before the infamous Star Trek racial kiss.
> > > >
> > > > The Star Trek kiss never happened. I don't know how these things
> > > > get
> > > > started.
> > >
> > > You are correct Brad. What I should have done in my reply was
> > > surround the word kiss with double quotes. Regardless,
> > > radio2@bigfoot's reply makes a good point for that era.
> >
> > It surely does, and I agree with radio2. What I'd quarrel with is
> > Welk's outting Duncan in the production piece if he wasn't going to use
> > him. Maybe it's a damned-if-he-did, damned-if-he-didn't situation, but
> > the fact that you remember Art Duncan being out there so conspiculously
> > alone even after (perhaps) thirty years might mean that Duncan should
> > have been allowed to sit that one out.
>
> Small correction, you're confusing me (w.r.t. Art Duncan) with my namesake and
> not-to-be-seen-on-the-Blackwell-forsaken-dressed list, Mr. Hubbard. :-)
Oops. Sorry about that.
Hoodoo
wrote:
>(Like the Zappa quote too. He was such a brilliant person. Sure miss him.)
Yep, ain't no one near as unique as he was.
Matthew Kruk
Twenty lashes with a wet noodle.
Matthew Kruk
>
> ..some of you may recall the night on Dick Clark's "Saturday Night
> Beechnut Show" in 1958 when Jerry Lee Lewis played "Great Balls of Fire"
> and actually set fire to the piano on camera. Clark claims the piano had
> been lent to his production company by Welk's...
This is priceless. Probably re-enforced Welk's opinion of rock'n'roll.
King Daevid MacKenzie
..which, in turn, lends extreme irony to the fact that, in the '80s,
Welk's music publishing house bought Vanguard Records, thus making Welk
the owner of the majority of recorded works by Joan Baez, noted user of
the U.S. flag for post-coital cleansing (according to Bob Dylan), and
Country Joe & The Fish, of "Gimme an F!" fame...
Matthew Kruk
>
> mk...@netcom.ca (Matthew Kruk) quotes me 'n sez:
>
> <<<..some of you may recall the night on Dick Clark's "Saturday Night
> Beechnut Show" in 1958 when Jerry Lee Lewis played "Great Balls of Fire"
> and actually set fire to the piano on camera. Clark claims the piano had
> been lent to his production company by Welk's...>>>
>
> <<This is priceless. Probably re-enforced Welk's opinion of
> rock'n'roll.>>
>
> ..which, in turn, lends extreme irony to the fact that, in the '80s,
> Welk's music publishing house bought Vanguard Records, thus making Welk
> the owner of the majority of recorded works by Joan Baez, noted user of
> the U.S. flag for post-coital cleansing (according to Bob Dylan), and
> Country Joe & The Fish, of "Gimme an F!" fame...
Unreal. I don't think I can take anymore. Thanks for the info. Just imagine
... "anda one anda two anda ... the night they drove ol' Dixie down and Larry's
accordian was playin', the night ..."
Thomas Coleman
to find anything worthwhile on the Welk >shows that play on our PBS
station. Maybe if I >could stand to watch more than a few minutes >I
might find the occasional able player getting >a chance to cut loose,
but the arrangements >are so insipid that I find myself unable to
>ignore my remote control.
versions of both classic and cornball standards, however sometimes good
music can come from anywhere and the Welk show is no exception. I have a
feeling there might be more interesting stuff from the vaults but they
usually rerun the same shows. The sets and costumes they wore at that
time seem to take on a life all their own now and other people have also
noticed this. I recorded the 1965 Halloween program and believe it could
stand next to anything. The Lennon Sisters in skeleton costumes singing
"Them Bones" was awesome. They left the show BTW because they wanted to
change and Welk didn't, so Lawrence Welk turned out to be too square for
the Lennon Sisters!!
Gary Smith
>
> << Once considered to be the definition
> of all that was square and cornball, his show is now considered to be
> well worth a look, sometimes. >>
>
> worthwhile on the Welk shows that play on our PBS station. Maybe if I could
> stand to watch more than a few minutes I might find the occasional able player
> getting a chance to cut loose, but the arrangements are so insipid that I find
> myself unable to ignore my remote control.
>
I agree. Just as insipid as the musical arrangements is the formulaic
directing which was used for every production number. The director used
a standard pattern for just about every segment. It was definitely the
connect-the-dots approach to the art of television production. If you
really want to see the finest television musical variety programming
from the 1960's (or any other era) I suggest you buy Pioneer
Entertainment's box set collection of "The Judy Garland Show" which is
the complete antithesis of the drek which was "The Lawrence Welk Show".
Gary Smith
Gary Smith
>
> ..some of you may recall the night on Dick Clark's "Saturday Night
> Beechnut Show" in 1958 when Jerry Lee Lewis played "Great Balls of Fire"
> and actually set fire to the piano on camera. Clark claims the piano had
> been lent to his production company by Welk's...
>
Could be. They taped on the same lot.
Gary Smith
gjw
<cspa...@internetcds.com> wrote:
>Mr. Welk passed away in 1992 at age 89.
You can see a photo of his headstone at
http://seeing-stars.com/ImagePages/LawrenceWelkGravePhoto.shtml
He's one of the few celebrities who has his photo (well, image,
anyway) on his marker. At least his tombstone is original...
Gary
Brad Ferguson
> King Daevid MacKenzie wrote:
> >
> > ..which, in turn, lends extreme irony to the fact that, in the '80s,
> > Welk's music publishing house bought Vanguard Records, thus making Welk
> > the owner of the majority of recorded works by Joan Baez, noted user of
Okay. Let's see 'em pass a constitutional amendment against _that_.
RChamp7927
>Joan Baez, noted user of
>> > the U.S. flag for post-coital cleansing...
>
>
>Okay. Let's see 'em pass a constitutional amendment against _that_.
I would question the authenticity of this story. I don't think that Baez would
be that tasteless or idiotic.
Bob Champ
Thomas Coleman
sure you're right without even seeing it. The Ford Show (as in Tennessee
Ernie) had great production too, they're rerunning that on PBS. He's
like a southern fried Lawrence Welk.
King Daevid MacKenzie
..well, as I noted when first bringing the subject up, my source for
this story was a Bob Dylan quote...