Do you remember The Lawrence Welk Show?

[EarlJam]

It was the last breath of the true big band era. Show ended in the 70s. Welk ended soon after.

I was very young, but remember mom and dad watching it. It was so old school. I remember the show's participants pitching the sponsor's products....e.g. Geritol.

-Earlitol

[Indoor66]

It was the last breath of the true big band era. Show ended in the 70s. Welk ended soon after.

I was very young, but remember mom and dad watching it. It was so old school. I remember the show's participants pitching the sponsor's products....e.g. Geritol.

-Earlitol

I watched the show off and on. I enjoyed it with my grandparents in the early 50's.

[hurleyfor3]

My grandparents watched it. I've seen reruns on pbs in recent years.

[throatybeard]

It was the last breath of the true big band era. Show ended in the 70s. Welk ended soon after.

In the early 80s. Actually he lived until I was in HS in the early 90s. he was pretty old. My grandparents watched reruns of it until they died in the early 90s.

[billybreen]

No clue.

[sue71, esq]

No clue.

This could be a first for you, at least on these boards. :p

(PS Still LOVE my Mac... just need to learn it better)

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I never watched it, but I remember it.

[billybreen]

(PS Still LOVE my Mac... just need to learn it better)

Good to hear!

[bjornolf]

I watched it with my grandmother in the 70s and early 80s when I went to visit her. We watched that, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Jokers Wild, Price is Right, and Tic Tac Dough. Oh, and once in a while I'd get her to watch Press Your Luck.

Ah, the good old days. Couldn't get her to watch Dallas though (that was the one night a week my parents let me stay up late. We'd watch Dallas together and then I'd usually fall asleep on the couch during Falcon Crest's opening song.)

[sue71, esq]

Oh, and once in a while I'd get her to watch Press Your Luck.



No whammy! No whammy!

[rthomas]

Lawrence Welk is a no brainer. Who remembers the Ted Mac Amateur Hour?

My grandparents made me turn off The Beatles when they came on Ed Sulivan!

[Indoor66]

Lawrence Welk is a no brainer. Who remembers the Ted Mac Amateur Hour?

My grandparents made me turn off The Beatles when they came on Ed Sulivan!

I remember Ted Mack as well as You're Hit Parade. A fellow I went to high school with won the Ted Mack Amateur Hour playing the Alto Sax.

[rthomas]

I remember Ted Mack as well as You're Hit Parade. A fellow I went to high school with won the Ted Mack Amateur Hour playing the Alto Sax.

Damn, you are old! Me too.:)

[CameronBornAndBred]

What I remember most about the Lawrence Welk show (and Hee-Haw for that matter) was that it was the time slot before the Muppet show. I always wished they'd hurry the hell up and play so I could watch Kermit and company.

[rthomas]

Here is what you should remember about the Lawrence Welk Show:

They are hip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye3ecDYxOkg

[dkbaseball]

My grandparents made me turn off The Beatles when they came on Ed Sulivan!

Holy sh_t! Did they ever come to understand that they had stolen the totemic cultural event of your youth away from you? Trivia question: What was the first song sung by the Beatles in their first appearance on Sullivan? And what was the one song they sang that night not written by Lennon-McCartney?

Lawrence Welk was on every Sunday at my house. I particularly enjoyed the basso profundo of Larry Hooper. And a onea, and a twoa.....

[rthomas]

Just a quick google of the Ted Mack Amateur hour reveals that:

Louis Walcott appeared on camera on “Ted Mack and The Original Amateur Hour” in 1948. Walcott would later go on to change his name and career and become world famous as the Reverend Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam.

Ann-Margret Olson appeared on camera on “Ted Mack and The Original Amateur Hour” in 1957 at age 16.

Pat Boone (age 19) appeared with Ted Mack on “The Original Amateur Hour” in 1953.

Accordianist Connie Francis (Connie Francanero). Ted Mack would go on to ask her to not play the accordian and just sing, a move that launched her singing career.

Jose Feliciano. May 9, 1962.

Gladys Knight, age 7, appeared on “Ted Mack and The Original Amateur Hour” on April 29, 1952.

[throatybeard]

My grandparents made me turn off The Beatles when they came on Ed Sulivan!

I wish I could meet them, to shake their hands and possibly salute.

[CathyCA]

I still LOVE watching Lawrence Welk re-runs on PBS!:D:D

[happydays1949]

I still LOVE watching Lawrence Welk re-runs on PBS!:D:D

Me, too. Saturday night

[Bob Green]

Trivia question: What was the first song sung by the Beatles in their first appearance on Sullivan?

I know the answer to this one. All My Loving


And what was the one song they sang that night not written by Lennon-McCartney?

I had to cheat and Google this one.

[rthomas]

I wish I could meet them, to shake their hands and possibly salute.

Seriously, the family tradition of ours in SC was to spend Sunday afternoon/evening with my grandparents (who I loved dearly and I still cherish those days). But every Ed Sullivan when Paul Revere, the Doors, the Rolling Stones or the Beatles, Animals, etc came on. The TV would go off thanks to my Grandaddy. My brother and I learned very quickly to say we wanted to leave and go home when we heard that a good band was coming on Ed Sullivan.

However, my grandfather loved Kate Smith, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara and Jose Jimenez. and many others. Just not the long hair stuff. He was born in 1888.

[Indoor66]

However, my grandfather loved Kate Smith, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara and Jose Jimenez. and many others. Just not the long hair stuff. He was born in 1888.

I get that one. My grandfather was born in 1880. He was 37 at the start of US involvement in WW I!

[rthomas]

I get that one. My grandfather was born in 1880. He was 37 at the start of US involvement in WW I!

Did you watch Hee Haw?

[Indoor66]

Did you watch Hee Haw?

Occassionally. It was a little after "my time."

[killerleft]

Anacani. I had a big crush on Anacani. She was (and still seems to be) beautiful.

http://www.welkgirls.com/anacanialbum3.html

[verga]

i'd start out watching it to make fun of the old fashioned singing and morals and end up singing some stupid song i swore i hated. I'd watch the different characters come and go. I knew i was getting old when the dancer on the show Bobby, brought on his kids one night. Bobby was on the Mickey Mouse Club when i was in my preteens, along with Annette Funicello and others. After the Mickey Mouse Club, there was Spin & Marty (if you remember this, you are getting old). The thing about being brought up in the 50's was, it was a time of opposites. Elvis & Sinatra, Ed Sullivan & Steve Allen, who i could just look at and start laughing and Sid Caeser and his show of shows with Imogene Coca and Mel Brooks I listened to the station out of Nashville , i believe WLS?? They played all night and they played Joe Turner and Hank Ballard and the Midnighters and Johnny & Joe. It was the only time i heard black music until i found out there was a station here in town (Durham) WSRC and i knew i had found my life's passion Music, all forms. Looking back the 50's were the best years of my life and some of the best years for this country.

[dkbaseball]

I know the answer to this one. All My Loving



I had to cheat and Google this one.

What the ....? You were four years old Bob, how do you remember that? Great job; I asked it at a trivia quiz with 30 contestants and no one got it. As to question number 2, now that I think about it there were two songs Lennon-McCartney didn't write, one of them from a completely different genre.

[2535Miles]

I answered no because I don't remember watching the show. But I am aware of the show and have even seen episodes.

[dukemomLA]

Wasn't a big Lawrence Welk fan, since my love is rock'n'roll and R&B. But since Guy & Ralna became good friends during the 80's, I watched many episodes and specials.

Guy and Ralna (although divorced) continue to perform together to packed houses. Who knew.

And yes, in retrospect, the Lawrence Welk Show was more amazing than we could imagine. P.S. Ted Mack's Amateur Hour was the beginning of "reality TV."

[Indoor66]

P.S. Ted Mack's Amateur Hour was the beginning of "reality TV."

...and unlike much of today's "reality TV," it was real!

[duke74]

Seriously, the family tradition of ours in SC was to spend Sunday afternoon/evening with my grandparents (who I loved dearly and I still cherish those days). But every Ed Sullivan when Paul Revere, the Doors, the Rolling Stones or the Beatles, Animals, etc came on. The TV would go off thanks to my Grandaddy. My brother and I learned very quickly to say we wanted to leave and go home when we heard that a good band was coming on Ed Sullivan.

However, my grandfather loved Kate Smith, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara and Jose Jimenez. and many others. Just not the long hair stuff. He was born in 1888.

Jose Jimenez = Bill Dana. Not sure that character would fly today, though.....

[rthomas]

Jose Jimenez = Bill Dana. Not sure that character would fly today, though.....

you are correct, his character was Jose Jimenez. It's been a long time but I seem to remember he played an astronaut too.

I agree with you point too.

[duke74]

you are correct, his character was Jose Jimenez. It's been a long time but I seem to remember he played an astronaut too.



Yup. Had a good run for a while, including album(s).

[EarlJam]

What I remember most about the Lawrence Welk show (and Hee-Haw for that matter) was that it was the time slot before the Muppet show. I always wished they'd hurry the hell up and play so I could watch Kermit and company.

This reminds me of the header under Tennessee from The Onion's "Our Dumb World" atlas:

Tennessee: Like Hee Haw, but a State.

Incidentally, my grandfather loved to watch Hee Haw. Never missed a week. He was a farmer in Orange County before he got ran over by a transfer truck while driving his tractor. He got very killed very quickly.

-EJ

[Bob Green]

What the ....? You were four years old Bob, how do you remember that? Great job; I asked it at a trivia quiz with 30 contestants and no one got it. As to question number 2, now that I think about it there were two songs Lennon-McCartney didn't write, one of them from a completely different genre.

Several things combined allow me to know the answer despite being four years old when it happened:

1. Older sister
2. All the neighborhood kids older than me
3. Reruns

I did watch The Beatles on Ed Sullivan live but the event has been shown many times over the years. I also remember watching JFK's funeral procession on TV. Just don't ask me what I ate for lunch.

[captmojo]

It was the last breath of the true big band era. Show ended in the 70s. Welk ended soon after.

I was very young, but remember mom and dad watching it. It was so old school. I remember the show's participants pitching the sponsor's products....e.g. Geritol.

-Earlitol

Not only did I watch, I was forced to watch, by my parents, as an antidote to rock n' roll. :mad:

[captmojo]

Lawrence Welk is a no brainer. Who remembers the Ted Mac Amateur Hour?

My grandparents made me turn off The Beatles when they came on Ed Sulivan!

Howa ya, howa ya, howa ya. :D I remember Arthur Godfrey.

And now...the Chordettes.

[Indoor66]

Howa ya, howa ya, howa ya. :D I remember Arthur Godfrey.

And now...the Chordettes.

I attended an Arthur Godfrey Show at the Kenilworth Hotel in Miami, FL in 1953. A fun experience at the time.