Welk's show was a promotional tool in itself. Other notable band members included Big Tiny Little, Bob Ralston, Richard Maloof, Henry Cuesta, Frank Scott, Joe Livoti and Pete Fountain. Many of his band members were emigrants from dismembered big bands of the glorious jitterbuggin' days of the 1940s : Russ Klein of Freddy Martin's Orchestra "Peanuts" Hucko of Glenn Miller's Army band, Barney Liddell of Glen Gray and his Casa Loma Orchestra, and Bob Havens, trombonist for the Benny Goodman Orchestra. The Lawrence Welk Band - Welk's band was composed of some of the greatest clarinet-tooters and horn-blowers of the 20th century. On Jthe Dodge Dancing Party ( their sponsor, Dodge, renamed the show of course ) debuted and across the nation future grannies thrilled at the toe-tapping beat emitting from their teletubes.Īfter testing out various title's in the late 1950s ( Lawrence Welk Presents Top Tunes and New Talents: The Lawrence Welk Plymouth Show ) it was renamed The Lawrence Welk Show for its 1960 season and remains so till this day.
The Lawrence Welk Show - filmed live from the Aragon - aired on and lasted until 1955, when the show was picked up by ABC and aired nationally. When the crowds on some nights numbered over five thousand, the manager of a Los Angeles television station, KTLA, took notice and asked Welk if the band would like to appear on television.
In 1951, The Lawrence Welk band was signed for a 4-week engagement at the Aragon ballroom at Venice Beach, but were such a sensation that they stayed on.for four years! Audience members found out just how addictive champagne music can be. The band was featured in a few Hollywood short films when they moved out to California. In 1939 the Welk Orchestra hit it big when they were hired to perform at the Trianon Ballroom in Chicago. In 1927 he formed his first band and they traveled across the Midwest performing one night stands. At the age of 16 Welk asked his father to buy him a $400 accordion ( the equivalent of about $5000 today ) and for the next four years he worked on his parent's farm and performed at local functions to pay it off. He grew up speaking only his mother tongue, until he went to school, where he failed to lose his heavy accent. Lawrence came from a family of German immigrants and was born in the mostly-German city of Strasburg, North Dakota. Bubbles, colorful settings, beautiful gals in beautiful dresses ( thanks to the talent of costume designer Rose Weiss ), handsome men in matching suits ( or the occasional kilt ), and plenty of music makes the show an addictive pleasure to behold. You could come as you like and would always be welkome. Those watching his show feel that they are meeting up with old friends at the "same place, same time" to share some laughs, goof around, sing and dance and have a whale of a good time. What makes this show so darn appealing? Welk was infectiously joyous, as was the rest of the cast. There are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Welkies across America who love it too.and new fans are being born every leap year. If you still have your teeth, and most of your hair strands intact, and thrive on this wunnerfully hokey show then don't be all too ashamed, or amazed, at your peculiar tastes. The majority of the younger generation of today would consider the show, and the music being played, old people's entertainment but strangely, these "old people" watching the show today were young people forty years ago who lamented the same fact. Welk's music has a lilting quality that is delightfully light and bubbly and - almost - tickles your nose. It featured dancing, singing and plenty of band music in all forms : big band, jive, jazz, country, polka, Latin, pop, gospel and, of course, champagne music. The Lawrence Welk Show was one of the longest running variety shows on television, running for 27 years and still airing today on PBS.
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