query: when did the lawrence welk show first air

pos: The Lawrence Welk Show original stars and/or a family member of the performers are included; these clips are occasionally updated. On May 11, 1951, "The Lawrence Welk Show" began as a local program on KTLA in Los Angeles, the flagship station of the Paramount Television Network and the first commercial television station in California and west of the Mississippi River. The original show was broadcast from the since-demolished Aragon Ballroom at Venice Beach. The show made its national television debut on ABC Television on July 2, 1955, and was initially produced at the Hollywood Palladium, moving to the ABC studios at Prospect and Talmadge

pos: Aragon Ballroom (Ocean Park, Santa Monica, California) manager of Los Angeles television station KTLA, offered Welk the opportunity to appear on television, and on May 11, 1951, the station began broadcasting a weekly show live from the Aragon featuring Welk's band. The show evolved into "The Lawrence Welk Show," broadcast each Saturday night on ABC. Welk’s stint at the Aragon ended in 1955, when he moved "The Lawrence Welk Show" to a television studio in Hollywood. The Aragon soon went into decline. From 1965-66 it became a roller skating rink. A famous Roller Derby skater, Charlie “Spec’s Saunders was the owner. Around 1967 it became the Cheetah

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show affiliates on which he had previously appeared, along with some stations affiliated with other networks. The syndicated version of the program aired from 1971 to 1982. When the show debuted nationwide, "The Lawrence Welk Show" was billed as the Dodge Dancing Party in 1955 and 1956. From 1956 to 1959, Lawrence Welk was broadcast two nights per week. The second show's title was Lawrence Welk Presents Top Tunes and New Talent (1956–58) and then Lawrence Welk's Plymouth Show, after another Chrysler vehicle (1958–59). The Plymouth show was the first American television program to air in stereophonic sound. Due to the

neg: Lawrence Welk was renamed "The Plymouth Show", which ended in May 1959. During that time, the Saturday show was also known as "The Dodge Dancing Party". During this period, the networks were in the process of eliminating programming that was seen as having either too old an audience, did not appeal to urban residents, or both (the so-called Rural Purge). As "The Lawrence Welk Show" fit into this category, ABC ended its run in 1971. Welk thanked ABC and the sponsors at the end of the last network show. "The Lawrence Welk Show" continued on as a first-run syndicated program shown on

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show Bobby Burgess. Neither the Welk Organization nor the OETA have released any episodes of "The Lawrence Welk Show" on home video, nor are there any plans to do so. Welk Musical Family specials, however, are available on DVD, and can be obtained with a donation during reairs on local PBS stations. "All of these singers and performers were part of the Music Family, with Welk on the lead." Rose Weiss was the long-term Welk costume designer and manager. The Lawrence Welk Show The Lawrence Welk Show was an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk.

neg: Anacani which led to appearances on the variety show "Las Estrellas y Usted" (The Stars and You) followed by several more appearances on Latin American television and live concert tours as well. After completing high school, Anacani's career took a new turn when she and her family went to the Lawrence Welk Resort in Escondido, California, where she was discovered by bandleader Lawrence Welk himself. Soon enough, she was the resort's singing hostess and later made her first appearance on the "Lawrence Welk Show" in January 1973. After a few more guest appearances, she was soon hired as a regular performer

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show The Lawrence Welk Show The Lawrence Welk Show was an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 1955 to 1971, followed by 11 years in first-run syndication from 1971 to 1982. Repeat episodes are broadcast in the United States by Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations. These airings incorporate an original program—usually, a color broadcast from 1965 to 1982—in its entirety. In place of the commercials, newer performance and interview clips from the

neg: Mary Lou Metzger theater group in 1990. Metzger continues to perform with Welk alumni on concert tours, and regularly appears on pledge drives for PBS, which now airs "The Lawrence Welk Show" on more than 250 stations. Through much of the late 2000s, she hosted the wraparounds of the show featuring interviews with members of the Musical Family, conducted by Metzger herself. (She has since been replaced by Bobby Burgess for most episodes, though episodes hosted by Metzger continue to air.) She is married to Richard Maloof, who played double bass and tuba on "The Lawrence Welk Show". They live in Sherman Oaks,

neg: Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the television program "The Lawrence Welk Show" from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known to his large audience of radio, television, and live-performance fans (and critics) as "champagne music". Welk was born in the German-speaking community of Strasburg, North Dakota. He was sixth of the eight children of Ludwig and Christiana (née Schwahn) Welk, Roman Catholic ethnic Germans who immigrated in 1892 from Odessa, Russian Empire (now Ukraine). Welk was a first cousin, once removed,

neg: Lawrence Welk the target audience, the type of music on "The Lawrence Welk Show" was conservative, concentrating on popular music standards, show tunes, polkas, and novelty songs, delivered in a smooth, calm, good-humored easy-listening style and "family-oriented" manner. Although described by one critic, Canadian journalist and entertainment editor Frank Rasky, as "the squarest music this side of Euclid", this strategy proved commercially successful, and the show remained on the air for 31 years. Welk's musicians included accordionist Myron Floren, the concert violinist Dick Kesner, the guitarist Buddy Merrill, and the New Orleans Dixieland clarinetist Pete Fountain. Though Welk was occasionally rumored to

neg: KOLD-TV "The Price Is Right" on a one-day delay when it initially broadcast the current version of the show, and at one point it ran many of CBS' daytime programs out of pattern. In 1971, KOLD picked up the Tucson rights for the syndicated version of "The Lawrence Welk Show", which ran on KGUN-TV from its launch in 1956 until ABC cancelled it late in the 1970-71 TV season. KOLD often pre-empted the 7:00 MT or even the 7:30 MT portion of the CBS Saturday night line-up in order to air the "Welk" show; CBS pressured the station to air it

neg: Pete Fountain scout for Lawrence Welk, who saw Fountain performing at the Pier 600, invited him to join Welk's orchestra in Los Angeles, where he relocated and lived for two years. Fountain became well known for his many solos on Welk's ABC television show, "The Lawrence Welk Show". He was rumored to have quit when Welk refused to let him "jazz up" a Christmas carol on the 1958 Christmas show. Other accounts, including one in Fountain's autobiography "A Closer Walk With Pete Fountain," indicate he in fact played a jazzy rendition of "Silver Bells" on the show which upset Welk, leading to

neg: The Lennon Sisters career, their faith has had a major influence/role in both their lives and careers. Many of their songs are either hymns or of a religious or spiritual nature. The quartet made its television debut on "The Lawrence Welk Show" on Christmas Eve - December 24, 1955. A high school classmate, Larry Welk, son of Lawrence Welk, brought them to the attention of his father. Welk was at home, sick in bed, when his son brought the sisters in to sing for him. Welk was so impressed that he immediately booked them for that week's show. They were a mainstay on

neg: Ranwood Records Group for ten years. Ranwood Records Ranwood Records was an American record label started in 1968 by Randy Wood (after he left Dot Records) and Lawrence Welk. Lawrence Welk owned all of the recordings that he released on Dot as they were produced and manufactured by Teleklew Productions and leased to Dot. These were repackaged for reissue on Ranwood. Lawrence did not own or buy those recordings he made for Coral and they continue to be owned by Universal Music. Most of Welk's later recordings were released on Ranwood. The label released albums by "The Lawrence Welk Show"'s cast members,

neg: Ranwood Records Ranwood Records Ranwood Records was an American record label started in 1968 by Randy Wood (after he left Dot Records) and Lawrence Welk. Lawrence Welk owned all of the recordings that he released on Dot as they were produced and manufactured by Teleklew Productions and leased to Dot. These were repackaged for reissue on Ranwood. Lawrence did not own or buy those recordings he made for Coral and they continue to be owned by Universal Music. Most of Welk's later recordings were released on Ranwood. The label released albums by "The Lawrence Welk Show"'s cast members, including Jo Ann Castle,

neg: Dick Dale (singer) Algona in 2006. Dick Dale (singer) Richard L. "Dick" Dale (September 14, 1926 – December 26, 2014) was an American singer and musician, best known as a featured singer and saxophone player on the television variety show "The Lawrence Welk Show". A native of Algona, Iowa, he served in the United States Navy during World War II after graduation from Algona High School. His entertainment career began when he worked for several bands such as Harold Loeffelmacher and his Six Fat Dutchmen polka band. He was discovered by Lawrence Welk in 1951. During his tenure on "The Lawrence Welk Show",

neg: Dick Dale (singer) Dick Dale (singer) Richard L. "Dick" Dale (September 14, 1926 – December 26, 2014) was an American singer and musician, best known as a featured singer and saxophone player on the television variety show "The Lawrence Welk Show". A native of Algona, Iowa, he served in the United States Navy during World War II after graduation from Algona High School. His entertainment career began when he worked for several bands such as Harold Loeffelmacher and his Six Fat Dutchmen polka band. He was discovered by Lawrence Welk in 1951. During his tenure on "The Lawrence Welk Show", in addition to

neg: Lawrence Welk dance with the band's female vocalist, the "Champagne Lady". His first Champagne Lady was Jayne Walton Rosen (real name: Dorothy Jayne Flanagan), who left the show after her marriage. After Welk and his band went on television, she appeared as a guest on the show, where she sang Latin American songs and favorites that were popular when she was traveling with the Welk band. Novelty numbers would usually be sung by Rocky Rockwell (1923-2013), originally from St. Joseph, Missouri. Welk also reserved one number for himself to solo on his accordion. As Welk's show mainly targeted older viewers, they seldom

neg: Johnny Zell Johnny Zell Johnathan Zell (born November 24, 1947) is an American musician, best known as a trumpeter from "The Lawrence Welk Show", a musical, variety-show television series. Zell was born at Fort Benning, a United States Army post located southeast of the city of Columbus, Georgia. While growing up in Los Angeles, California, he began studying music at an early age, starting first with the violin and later moving on to the trumpet. His first attempt to audition for Lawrence Welk came when Zell was fifteen years old. Welk's orchestra was playing at the Hollywood Palladium and when he asked

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show (automobile maker), later to be followed by Geritol (a multivitamin), Sominex (sleep aid), Aqua Velva (aftershave), Serutan (laxative), Universal Appliances (manufacturer of home appliances), Polident (a denture cleanser), Ocean Spray (fruit juice) and Sinclair Oil (automobile fuel) served as associate sponsors for a short time. (During later years, a number of "Welk" cast members appeared in commercials for many of the show's sponsors, filmed specifically to air during "Welk" broadcasts.) While the show was highly rated and continued to attract more audiences, ABC canceled it in 1971 for two reasons. The first was that the network had to cut three-and-a-half

neg: Charlotte Harris an episode of "The Lawrence Welk Show", she played for Welk because, at the time, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra did not allow women musicians. In 1956, she appeared in the film "Around the World in Eighty Days" as a musician. By this time, she had moved to Los Angeles, California, where she worked as a session musician and with various bands. It was in early 1961 that she was hired by Lawrence Welk as the orchestra's new cellist where she performed both on his television show, and in their live concerts, whenever they went out on tour and at the

neg: Buddy Merrill moved to Los Angeles, California in the early 1950s, he continued to perfect his musical skills, playing both the acoustic guitar and the steel guitar. He also began to do home recordings of himself playing rhythm guitar to a song. Buddy Merrill joined "The Lawrence Welk Show" in 1955, the same year it first went national on ABC. On the Welk Show, he performed his guitar version of "Blue Suede Shoes," a popular hit by Elvis Presley in 1956. (Retrieved from "The Lawrence Show." PBS TV. May 12, 2018) He briefly left the show from 1959 to 1962 when he

neg: Frank Scott (musician) music director at radio station WDAY in Fargo from 1944 to 1956 where he scored over 2,500 arrangements for the station while composing music for community theater groups and conducting local ice shows. In 1956, bandleader Lawrence Welk asked him to join his orchestra and his nationwide television show. He appeared on "The Lawrence Welk Show" playing piano and harpsichord during his tenure on the show until 1969, when he was replaced by the late Bob Smale. He also worked behind the scenes of the Welk show as an arranger, assisted the production staff and furnished programming ideas. Scott also

neg: Sally Flynn Sally Flynn Sally Flynn (born July 23, 1946 in Ontario, Oregon) is an American singer and musician (also known as Sally Hart) who was a featured performer on "The Lawrence Welk Show" television program. A graduate of Brigham Young University (BYU), she and BYU classmate Sandi Griffiths joined "The Lawrence Welk Show" in 1968 as the singing act of "Sandi & Salli". The duo was very popular on the show until late 1972, when Sally left to pursue a solo career on Broadway. On December 6, 1974, she married Clay Hart, a country singer who was on the Welk show

neg: Lawrence Welk awarded four US design patents: A devout Roman Catholic, Welk was a daily communicant, as corroborated by numerous biographies, by his autobiography and by his family and his many staff, friends and associates throughout the years. After retiring from his show and from the road in 1982, Welk continued to air reruns of his shows, which were repackaged first for syndication and, starting in 1986, for public television. He also starred in and produced a pair of Christmas specials in 1984 and 1985. In addition, he owned a restaurant and club in Escondido, where he filmed lead-ins for reruns of

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show appeared with the "musical family". The Oklahoma Educational Television Authority acquired the broadcast rights to the series in 1986. In order to introduce the show to a new generation, they produced a documentary film, "Lawrence Welk: Television's Music Man", hosted by Kathy Lennon of The Lennon Sisters. The film was a retrospective on Welk's life and career, featuring interviews with surviving members of Welk's "musical family", and scenes from the show. After its airing, reformatted versions of the Welk show were released to public television stations. Welk's segments from "Memories with Lawrence Welk" were used until his death, after which

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show his retirement, he was 79 years old, making him at the time the oldest host of a regularly scheduled US entertainment television series (a feat later surpassed by Bob Barker in 2003 and later by Betty White in 2012). Classic shows — largely, from 1967 to 1982 — were repackaged with new footage (either Welk or the show's cast introducing segments) for syndication during the 1982–1983 season as "Memories with Lawrence Welk", after which they were withdrawn from distribution for a short time. In 1985, "The Lawrence Welk Christmas Reunion" was produced. It was the last show in which Welk

neg: Lawrence Welk studios in and around nearby Hollywood, while the more intimate numbers were recorded live on tape or film. Welk was married for 61 years, until his death in 1992, to Fern Renner (August 26, 1903 – February 13, 2002), with whom he had three children. One of his sons, Lawrence Welk Jr., married fellow "Lawrence Welk Show" performer Tanya Falan; they later divorced. Welk had many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. One of them, his grandson Lawrence Welk III, usually known as Larry Welk, was a reporter and helicopter news chopper traffic pilot for KCAL-TV and KCBS-TV in Los Angeles until 2010.

neg: Lawrence Welk 250 stations across the country until the final original show was produced in 1982, when Welk decided to retire. While many longtime TV shows suffered a serious ratings drop during the counterculture movement of the late 1960s, "The Lawrence Welk Show" survived largely intact and even had increased viewership during this time. For the entire run, musical numbers were divided fairly evenly between prerecorded lip- and finger-sync performances and those recorded live on film or tape. Generally, the big production numbers featuring dancing and singing performances were recorded earlier in the day or the day before, often at famous recording

neg: Lawrence Welk Welk Music Group, which operates the record labels Sugar Hill, Vanguard and Ranwood. From the late 1950s to the mid-1980s, the Welk Group was known as Teleklew, in which "tele" stood for television and "klew" was Welk spelled backwards. The "Live Lawrence Welk Show" makes annual concert tours across the United States and Canada, featuring stars from the television series, including Ralna English, Mary Lou Metzger, Jack Imel, Gail Farrell and Anacani. Welk's variety show has been repeatedly parodied in U.S. popular entertainment for decades. The comedy show "Saturday Night Live" had a recurring sketch during the 2000s, in which

neg: Myron Floren Myron Floren Myron Floren (November 5, 1919 – July 23, 2005) was an American musician best known as the accordionist on "The Lawrence Welk Show" between 1950 and 1980. Floren came to prominence primarily from his regular appearances on the weekly television series in which Lawrence Welk dubbed him as "the happy Norwegian". Floren was highly regarded by Lawrence Welk, who was an accomplished accordion player in his own right. Floren functioned as Welk's principal assistant and second-in-command. In Floren's autobiography "Accordion Man", written with his daughter Randee Floren, he recalled handling road manager duties when the band traveled, including

neg: Lawrence Welk he was portrayed by Fred Armisen. All books written with Bernice McGeehan and published by Prentice Hall (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.), except where indicated: Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the television program "The Lawrence Welk Show" from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known to his large audience of radio, television, and live-performance fans (and critics) as "champagne music". Welk was born in the German-speaking community of Strasburg, North Dakota. He was sixth of the eight children of Ludwig and Christiana (née

neg: Ava Barber She was off the country charts, until 1981, when she made a comeback with the single "I Think I Could Love You Better Than She Did". When "The Lawrence Welk Show" ended in 1982, Barber and her husband Roger returned to Knoxville, where they purchased their own bus and formed their own band, Sweet Apple. They toured the United States and Canada singing and performing. In 1990, Barber and Sullivan went into business with Dick Dale and leased a theater located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, which they operated until 1996. From 1997-2000, Barber worked at the Welk Theatre in Branson,

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show fact that stereophonic television had not yet been invented (it would be 25 more years before it would become standard), ABC instead simulcast the show on its radio network, with the TV side airing one audio channel and the radio side airing the other; viewers would tune in both the TV and the radio to achieve the stereophonic effect. Starting with the 1959–60 season the two shows were merged into "The Lawrence Welk Show", reverting to monophonic broadcasts. The name stuck, and it became the most popular variety show ever. The primary sponsor of "The Lawrence Welk Show" was Dodge

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show generally older "standards", she rebelled against such restrictions. After two years and a string of short-lived vocalists, Norma Zimmer was hired, starting in 1960. Zimmer stayed with Welk for the rest of the show's run. Another example of being bound by Welk's set of morals was famed clarinetist Pete Fountain, renowned for his New Orleans-style jazz. He was a valued member of the Welk cast, who was rumored to have quit when Welk objected to his efforts to "jazz up" the Christmas standard "Silver Bells" on the 1958 Christmas show. In an interview, Fountain admitted he left Welk because "Champagne

neg: Thomas Organ Company which would turn up in Thomas models. Thomas also took over manufacturing rights of the Moog synthesizer and enjoyed heavy celebrity endorsement from the likes of Lawrence Welk, whose organist Bob Ralston both played a Thomas on "The Lawrence Welk Show" and on tour at organ and piano shops to demonstrate the greatly improved tonal quality of the new models, and Lucille Ball, who featured a Thomas on at least one episode of "The Lucy Show". Welk had a high-end model named after him in 1968, the aforementioned "Lawrence Welk" spinet model. Joe Benaron was President of Thomas during its

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show Time); also in many areas, it competed against another show that was cancelled by CBS and resurrected in syndication, also in 1971 — "Hee Haw". Welk's program was among a group of syndicated niche programs, others including "Hee Haw" and "Soul Train", that flourished during this era. (The success of "Lawrence Welk" and "Hee Haw" in syndication, and the network decisions that led to their respective cancellations, were the inspiration for a novelty song called "The Lawrence Welk-Hee Haw Counter-Revolution Polka", performed by Roy Clark, one of the co-stars of "Hee Haw".) Welk retired in 1982; at the time of

neg: Lawrence Welk show has been repackaged for broadcast on PBS stations, with updates from show performers appearing as wraparounds where the original shows had commercial breaks. The repackaged shows are broadcast at roughly the same Saturday night time slot as the original ABC shows, and special longer rebroadcasts are often shown during individual stations' fund-raising periods. These repackaged shows are produced by the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority. A resort community developed by Welk and promoted heavily by him on the show is named for him. Formerly known as Lawrence Welk Village, the Welk Resort and Champagne Village are just off Interstate 15

neg: Bob Smale Bob Smale Robert Claire Smale, known as Bob Smale (March 21, 1931 – November 9, 2010), was a pianist. Smale performed from 1969 to 1982 on "The Lawrence Welk Show". He was also a musical arranger, conductor, and writer for Welk and in other venues as well in the musical scene in Los Angeles, California. Smale joined the Welk orchestra in 1969 when two of the show's pianists, Frank Scott and Larry Hooper, left the program. (Hooper would fill in for Smale from time to time before rejoining the show in 1973.) At the time, the Welk series was still

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show and bourbon don't mix." (The departure was amicable; Fountain would reappear in Welk reunion shows after the show ended.) Welk relied on fan letters to tell him who was popular and who was not. Often, performers who received a positive reaction were prominently featured on future shows, while those who did not meet muster with the audience saw their solo opportunities diminish and sometimes were eventually let go. Among the performers that were wildly popular with audiences during the years it was on ABC were The Lennon Sisters, Joe Feeney, Steve Smith, Larry Hooper, Jo Ann Castle and electric guitarist

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show in Hollywood shortly afterwards. For 23 of its 27 years on the air, the show would originate there. The 1965-66 season was taped at the Hollywood Palace because that was ABC's only West Coast TV studio at the time equipped for live or taped color production; Welk had insisted that the show go color in 1965 because he believed that being broadcast in color was critical to the continued success of his program. Once a couple of studios at the ABC Prospect and Talmadge facilities had been converted to color in 1966, the show moved back there. The show also

neg: Lawrence Welk north of Escondido, California, about 38 miles north of downtown San Diego. Welk lived in a rather affluent "cottage" in Lawrence Welk Village. The resort is open to the public and contains two golf courses, dozens of upscale timeshares, and a theater that contains a museum of Welk's life. The Welk Resort Theatre performs live Broadway musicals year-round. His organization, the Welk Group, includes Welk Resorts (run by his grandson Jon Fredricks), properties in Escondido; Palm Springs; Branson, Missouri; Lake Tahoe; and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It also includes Welk Syndication, which broadcasts the show on public television, and the

neg: Sally Flynn sings frequently with the Melbourne Swingtime Band and other local groups. Flynn is a Latter-day Saint. Sally Flynn Sally Flynn (born July 23, 1946 in Ontario, Oregon) is an American singer and musician (also known as Sally Hart) who was a featured performer on "The Lawrence Welk Show" television program. A graduate of Brigham Young University (BYU), she and BYU classmate Sandi Griffiths joined "The Lawrence Welk Show" in 1968 as the singing act of "Sandi & Salli". The duo was very popular on the show until late 1972, when Sally left to pursue a solo career on Broadway. On

neg: Myron Floren in St. Louis, Missouri at which the Lawrence Welk Orchestra was then playing. When the maestro recognized the accordion virtuoso in the audience, he invited him to play a number with his band. The number turned out to be "Lady of Spain", and from the overwhelming positive response from the audience, Lawrence hired Myron to be a permanent member of his band. "Lady of Spain" also became Floren's trademark song and he played it countless times on the Welk show. Although Floren's musical technique made him a much better accordion player than Welk, the two men developed a close working

neg: Steve Smith (singer) Steve Smith (singer) Steve Smith (born May 30, 1945) is an American singer best known from television's "The Lawrence Welk Show". Born and reared in San Francisco, California; he graduated from San Lorenzo High School and attended the Christian Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, where he met fellow Westmont students Bob Duncan, Greg Dixon, and Johnny Johnson. The foursome sang all over campus as a quartet, which in 1965, drew the attention of bandleader Lawrence Welk. They were at the Hollywood Palladium watching Welk's music makers perform when they got the chance to audition for Welk. The Blenders, with

neg: Barbara Boylan Barbara Boylan Barbara Boylan (born in Long Beach, California) is an American dancer and former television personality who was featured on "The Lawrence Welk Show" from 1961 to 1967, and briefly for a few months in 1979. She was the first of Bobby Burgess's three dancing partners on the show. The two have known each other since childhood; both attended the same dance school where they were first paired together. Boylan and Burgess made their Welk debut in the spring of 1961 when they won the "Calcutta" dance contest at the Aragon Ballroom in Santa Monica sponsored by the Maestro.

neg: The Semonski Sisters got to sing in public for the first time when they and their parents went to see Donald O'Connor perform at Disney World's Top Of The World dinner theater. O' Connor invited the girls onto the stage to perform two numbers. The band leader at Top of the World knew that Lawrence Welk was coming to Florida for the Disney Golf Classic, and he arranged an audition for the sisters with Welk at Channel 9 studios in Orlando, Florida. Encouraged by their audition, Welk invited them out to California to be on his show. The Semonskis spent two and half

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show member on the short-lived "Star Time" throughout its 1950–51 run.) James Hobson (also known as Jim Hobson) served longest as producer (1962–1982) and director of "The Lawrence Welk Show". Hobson died on April 26, 2013, in Santa Monica Hospital, California. The surviving episodes from the first 10 seasons on ABC, which began in 1955, exist today as black and white kinescopes or videotape, as the show was broadcast live for the first 10 years, right up through the 1964–1965 season. A few of these have been broadcast on public television. Nearly all episodes shown on PBS stations today are from

neg: The Lawrence Welk-Hee Haw Counter-Revolution Polka audiences, in favor of shows that were thought to pull in the more desirable younger demographics. The two shows mentioned in the title and throughout the song—"Hee Haw", a CBS series on which Clark was a co-host; and "The Lawrence Welk Show", which aired on ABC—were among those shows canceled by their networks in 1971 as part of the rural purge; demographics (a rural audience for "Hee Haw", an elderly-leaning audience for "Lawrence Welk") was the most cited reason. Both "Hee Haw" and "Lawrence Welk" were revived that fall through syndication to local stations, and were immediate successes in syndication.

neg: Jo Ann Castle Jo Ann Castle Jo Ann Castle (born September 3, 1939) is an American honky-tonk pianist, best remembered for appearing on "The Lawrence Welk Show". She adopted her stage name from the name of an accordion manufacturer, another instrument she played proficiently. She was often referred to as "Queen of the Honky-Tonk Piano" by Lawrence Welk himself. Originally introduced to Welk by Joe Feeney in 1959, Castle became a permanent member of the Welk Family, replacing the departing Big Tiny Little. Shortly after joining the Show, Castle married cameraman Dean Hall. They divorced in 1966 after having a daughter. Castle married

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show Buddy Merrill, just to name a few. Lynn Anderson, Clay Hart, and Ava Barber used the show as a springboard to launch their own successful careers as country music solo artists. At the height of the show's popularity, members of the Musical Family were featured in several celebrity tabloid magazines alongside other mainstream television and movie stars. Tap dancer Arthur Duncan became the second African-American to appear regularly on a sponsored television variety program, and the first since 1951, when he was hired as a permanent music maker by Welk in 1964. (The first was Teddy Wilson, a regular band

neg: Barney Liddell eventually joining Lawrence Welk in 1948. From 1948 until 1982, Barney was an integral part of the Lawrence Welk Orchestra not only as first trombonist, but was also in charge of the band's luggage when the Music Makers went out on concert tours. He first joined the band back when they played regularly at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, and made the move to Southern California in 1951 when Welk moved his organization out there on a permanent basis. That same year the Music Makers made their television debut on KTLA in Los Angeles and later made the transition to

neg: Lawrence Welk amused, and when he met Freberg years later, claimed he never used the "Wunnerful! Wunnerful!" term. Ironically, it became the title of Welk's 1971 autobiography. Despite its staid reputation, "The Lawrence Welk Show" nonetheless kept up with the times and never limited itself strictly to music of the big-band era. During the 1960s and 1970s, for instance, the show incorporated material by such contemporary sources as the Beatles, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Neil Sedaka, the Everly Brothers and Paul Williams (as well as, in the most notorious example, Brewer & Shipley), all arranged in a format that was easily

neg: Lynn Anderson of Triangles" (1967).) In 1967, Lynn Anderson became a regular performer on "The Lawrence Welk Show". and toured with the Welk Road Show. Her appearances on the show would later redound to her benefit. Because of the Welk show's widespread appeal, she was able to achieve success on the pop charts. In 1969, as her popularity grew, she left the Welk show in favor of sporadic guest appearances (Clay Hart would ultimately take Anderson's place in the Welk "musical family"). In 1968, Anderson married songwriter and producer Glenn Sutton, who would later produce and write many of her records during

neg: Big Tiny Little in the touring "Live Lawrence Welk Show". Little also performed at President Ronald Reagan's inaugural balls in 1985 and returned to television in the PBS special; "Lawrence Welk: Milestones and Memories," which featured a reunion of stars from the Welk show. "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" of January 20, 1963, was devoted entirely to masters of the piano, featuring Dinah Shore's four guests, Liberace, Peter Nero, Ray Charles and Big Tiny Little. He lived in Carson City, Nevada, and died there on March 3, 2010, aged 79. "Big Tiny" Little's Brunswick recording of Twelfth Street Rag, from the album "Honky

neg: Alice Lon era and the years that followed, each of Lawrence Welk's female vocalists was always nicknamed "The Champagne Lady". Lon assumed the title in 1955, during the TV program's first season. Her alto singing voice graced Welk's show weekly until 1959, when she left the show over musical and money issues, although a popular legend developed that she was fired for showing too much leg and for crossing her feet on Welk's desk, something he didn't like. Viewers missed the popular Alice Lon, and Welk received many messages in the American Broadcasting Company mailbox demanding that she be rehired. Welk tried

neg: Joe Feeney While he attended to his studies at the University of Nebraska, he entered several singing contests, which included a spot on the Arlene Francis program, "Talent Patrol". In 1956, while he was working at radio station WOW in Omaha, the station manager sent recordings of Feeney's voice to the Welk offices in Santa Monica, California where Lawrence Welk offered him a job on his show. After their second child was born, Feeney had to drop out of the university for financial reasons. He sold children's encyclopedias until the position on the Welk show became available. From 1957 to 1982, when

neg: Jayne Walton Rosen the Lawrence Welk Orchestra in the mid-1940s to pursue a solo singing career. She enjoyed success in Chicago and New York City. She largely retired from the professional entertainment circuit in 1952, when she married her husband and adopted the name Jayne Walton Rosen. She continued to make guest appearances on Welk's long-running television show, "The Lawrence Welk Show". Rosen later worked as a salesperson at the Rhodes department store and Dillard's at the Central Park Mall. She retired circa 1990. Rosen remained in good health throughout most of her life. However, she suffered from failing health during her later

neg: Lawrence Welk Welk Champagne Towers", and Welk made his personal residence in the complex. He built the adjacent 11-story Wilshire Palisades office building at 1299 Ocean Avenue, at Arizona Street. Designed to resemble a white ocean liner, it has a wedge-shaped "bow" edge, receding "decks" with railings, and air conditioner covers that look like smokestacks. Its shape creates a landscaped plaza on the corner, and the result is a landmark. Welk enjoyed playing golf, which he first took up in the late 1950s, and was often a regular at many celebrity pro-am tournaments, such as the Bob Hope Desert Classic. Welk was

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show to more contemporary shows such as "Hee Haw", "The Johnny Cash Show" and "This Is Tom Jones") were pulled from network schedules (particularly ABC and CBS) in a demographic move known colloquially as the "rural purge". In response to ABC's move, Welk started his own production company and continued producing the show for syndication. Some independent stations put it in its old Saturday timeslot, and in many cases, it drew higher ratings than the network shows scheduled at that time. In many markets, the syndicated Lawrence Welk aired before the start of network prime-time on Saturday nights (7 p.m. Eastern

neg: Jimmy Roberts (singer) School. In 1954 he was hired by Lawrence Welk as a soloist when Welk's orchestra performed on local television station KTLA and at the Aragon Ballroom in Santa Monica, California. A year later, when the Lawrence Welk orchestra made the move to national television on ABC, Roberts' natural singing talents made him nationally famous. During his tenure on the show, his signature numbers such as "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" and "My Old Kentucky Home" made him an audience favorite, especially among the show's female fans. He also sang duets with the show's Champagne Lady Norma Zimmer. Although

neg: The Hollywood Palace the Beatles' music videos for "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever", introduced by guest host Van Johnson. The show, as well as all the ABC's Talmadge Main Lot programming, was televised in black and white until September 1965, when color telecasts were begun. The facility was the first color studio renovated by ABC Television on the West Coast, converted during "The Hollywood Palace's" summer hiatus. Sharing the studio, scheduling Sunday through Wednesday, "The Lawrence Welk Show" was moved to Vine Street to broadcast in color at the band leader's request, but the Welk Orchestra's size of players-members were forced to

neg: Avalon Hollywood Hollywood Palace studio from a black and white camera studio into their first West Coast Color Broadcast facility during the 1965 summer lay-off. On September 18, 1965, the Palace initiated their broadcasting into all Color. The Lawrence Welk Hour TV show moved from the ABC-Talmadge lot alternating their taping schedule with the Hollywood Palace. ABC installed color cameras and renovated the Welk Stage to color during this period. The Welk show moved back to the ABC lot after their 1966–67 season of shows. Vanoff and Harbach produced the King Sisters Variety Show as a pilot in August 1967. This pilot

neg: Lawrence Welk Group for 10 years. In 1951, Welk settled in Los Angeles. The same year, he began producing "The Lawrence Welk Show" on KTLA in Los Angeles, where it was broadcast from the Aragon Ballroom in Venice Beach. The show became a local hit and was picked up by ABC in June 1955. In 1952 the Jules Herman Orchestra was asked to be the house band at the Prom, a Ballroom at 1190 University Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota. The 11-piece troupe was led by Welk's former trumpet player Jules Herman and included his wife Lois Best, who sang and played

neg: Dave Edwards (musician) Douglas Show", the "Today Show", and NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson". After being discharged from the Army, he moved to Los Angeles and joined the Lawrence Welk Show orchestra in early 1968. In his first season with the show he replaced Mahlon Clark on 2nd alto sax in the reed section and then moved later to playing the lead alto/reed chair with Russ Klein moving to tenor. Edwards performed on "The Lawrence Show" while it was carried on ABC-TV (up to 1971) and then in syndication; he left in 1979, when he was replaced by reedman Skeets Herfurt.

neg: Myron Floren international accordion movement. In July 1996, the American Accordionists' Association honored Floren for his achievements. Myron Floren Myron Floren (November 5, 1919 – July 23, 2005) was an American musician best known as the accordionist on "The Lawrence Welk Show" between 1950 and 1980. Floren came to prominence primarily from his regular appearances on the weekly television series in which Lawrence Welk dubbed him as "the happy Norwegian". Floren was highly regarded by Lawrence Welk, who was an accomplished accordion player in his own right. Floren functioned as Welk's principal assistant and second-in-command. In Floren's autobiography "Accordion Man", written with

neg: Lawrence Welk digestible to older viewers. Originally produced in black and white, in 1957 the show began being recorded on videotape, and it switched to color for the fall 1965 season. During its network run, "The Lawrence Welk Show" aired on ABC on Saturday nights at 9 p.m. (Eastern Time), moving up a half-hour to 8:30 p.m. in the fall of 1963. In fact, Welk headlined two weekly prime-time shows on ABC for three years. From 1956 to 1958, he hosted "Top Tunes and New Talent", which aired on Monday nights. The series moved to Wednesdays in the fall of 1958 and

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show Line" (a mock gospel tune riddled with drug references) as a modern spiritual, apparently oblivious to the meaning of the word "toke." Brewer responded that although it was "absurd", the duo "got more publicity than we could pay for" from the out-of-place performance. Welk, for his part, blamed ABC for pressuring him into including the song, among others he felt did not fit the show's format. Almost all of the music performed on the show was done in-house by the show's "Musical Family." Special musical guests were a rare and irregular occurrence; these ranged from Henry Mancini to more contemporary

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show pianists, but one would specialize in ragtime piano while the other would handle easy listening pieces; the show's numerous singers and dancers were similarly typecast). One of the most prominent positions in the Musical Family was the "Champagne Lady", who always sang a down-tempo solo number toward the end of each show. These musicians were bound by an unofficial set of morals (artistic and personal) dictated by Welk, and if he believed the audience did not find them wholesome enough, they would be fired. According to popular belief, former "Champagne Lady" Alice Lon was fired in 1959 for crossing her

neg: Lawrence Welk "The Lawrence Welk Show". Welk completely retired from all public appearances in 1992 at the age of 89. He died on May 17 in his Santa Monica apartment, surrounded by his family. He was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, in Culver City, California. <nowiki>*</nowiki> "Shame On You" also made the US Country charts (#1) as well as its flip side, "At Mail Call Today" (#3)<br><nowiki></nowiki>** "Calcutta" also made the US R&B chart, reaching #10<nowiki></nowiki> In 1961, Welk was inducted as a charter member of the Rough Rider Award from his native North Dakota. In 1967, he received the Horatio Alger

neg: Tom Netherton to Welk by Harold and Sheila Schafer, owners of a North Dakota theater where Netherton had been performing. Netherton appeared regularly on the Lawrence Welk show from 1973 to 1982. In 1979, he wrote an autobiography titled "In The Morning of My Life". Apart from his long-time attachment to the Welk program, Netherton recorded both Christian and secular music albums while still on the program and after. His career post-Lawrence Welk included touring and performing around the United States as well as acting in stage musical productions of "Oklahoma!" and "Carousel". During the 1970s and 1980s he appeared on television

neg: Tom Collier the Seattle/Tacoma area. His mother, Ethel, often played piano in her husband's quartet. Tom Collier made his first public appearance in Puyallup, Washington on April 2, 1954 at age 5 on the xylophone and in the spring of 1957, he appeared on "Top Tunes and New Talent, a nationally televised television show hosted by bandleader Lawrence Welk. His first professional performances were at age 9 as a marimba player, and then at age 13 he was a guest artist at the 1962 Seattle Worlds Fair with Lawrence Welk in concert at the Seattle Center Coliseum. With the emergence of rock

neg: Dean Fredericks of baby boomers." Steve Canyon toys and related products prolonged the popularity of the program in pop culture long after its initial television run. The "Steve Canyon" series first aired at 9 p.m. Saturdays between "The Perry Como Show" and "Cimarron City" and opposite CBS's "The Gale Storm Show" and ABC's "The Lawrence Welk Show". After a few months, it was moved to Thursday and then Tuesday evenings and did not receive the benefit of a stable time slot. The program was repeated April to September in 1960 on ABC. The series was sponsored by Chesterfield cigarettes. The first twenty-four

neg: Tanya Falan Welk-Roberts Day Telethon and in 1971, guest starred on the soap opera "General Hospital". In 1969, she recorded the album "Let It Be Me" which was released by Ranwood Records. She left the show in 1977, and two years later (1979) her marriage to Larry Welk ended. Tanya Falan Welk-Roberts Tanya Falan Welk (born May 4, 1948) is an American singer who appeared on "The Lawrence Welk Show" from 1968 to 1977. Born and raised in Glendale, California, Tanya began singing at age four at her uncle's Los Angeles restaurant. As a teenager, she worked at Disneyland where she had her

neg: Tanya Falan Welk-Roberts Tanya Falan Welk-Roberts Tanya Falan Welk (born May 4, 1948) is an American singer who appeared on "The Lawrence Welk Show" from 1968 to 1977. Born and raised in Glendale, California, Tanya began singing at age four at her uncle's Los Angeles restaurant. As a teenager, she worked at Disneyland where she had her own band known as Tanya and the Thunderbirds. While in high school, she developed her skills with other instruments such as the drums, cello, bass and xylophone in addition to singing. Tanya made her Welk show debut on New Year's Eve 1967, and shortly afterwards was

neg: Broadcast syndication syndication in the 1970s also made it possible for some shows that were no longer wanted by television networks to remain on the air. In 1971, ABC canceled "The Lawrence Welk Show", which went on to produce new episodes in syndication for another 11 years, and currently continues to much success in weekend reruns (with new segments featuring Welk cast members inserted within the episodes) distributed to PBS stations by the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority. Also in 1971, CBS dropped "Lassie" and "Hee Haw", the latter show's run ending as part of the network's cancellation of all of its rural-oriented

neg: Johnny Zell 1968, while with the NORAD band, Zell had a second chance to audition for Welk. Zell was asked to do a television commercial for U.S. Army recruiting and part of the job was to do an interview for the Welk show and to play trumpet for the band. After his performance on that show, Welk hired him into the band upon his completion of his military service which was nine months away. From 1968 until the television series ended in 1982, Zell was one of "The Lawrence Welk Show"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s most-popular musicians and was often featured in trumpet solos including "At

neg: The Aldridge Sisters The Aldridge Sisters first auditioned for Lawrence Welk in 1977 when he and his musical family held a concert in nearby Nashville; although impressed, there weren't any openings at the time. It wasn't until three more auditions in the following months that they were asked to appear on the show as guest stars, after that initial appearance on national television followed by the resignation of Tanya Welk., they were hired as regulars. Not long after that, they were teamed with Roger and David Otwell, another newly hired sibling act to form the musical act of The Aldridge Sisters and Otwell

neg: Jack Imel He made the trip up to Los Angeles to audition for the television show of bandleader Lawrence Welk. He was invited to join the cast of the show, and cemented his status on it in his debut performance in 1957. After Imel spent about three months on the show, the Welk Show began receiving mail saying that he was "conceited" and a "show-off." To rectify the situation, Welk suggested that Imel take a place in the band, since all soloists on the show came from the band. Since the marimba was not designed to be a part of the orchestra,

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show left the Prospect and Talmadge studios between 1976 and 1979, returning to the Hollywood Palace for one season, then moving to CBS's Television City studios in 1977 and staying for two seasons, before coming back to the Prospect and Talmadge studios in 1979 and remaining there for the rest of its run. The show aired on ABC until 1971. When the show was cancelled by the head of programming there, Welk formed his own production company and continued airing the show, on local stations and, often from 7 to 8 P.M. Eastern Time on Saturdays over some of the ABC

neg: Ava Barber Missouri. Since 2000, she has toured with former members of "The Lawrence Welk Show" and performed on her own. She does reunion specials with previous members of the show on PBS. She is working on a new show in Branson called "The Grand Ladies of Country Music." Her husband acts as her agent. Ava Barber Ava Barber (born June 28, 1954) is an American country music singer and performer. She is best remembered for her performances on "The Lawrence Welk Show" throughout much of the 1970s and early 1980s. She is also known as a recording artist, her best-known hit

neg: Lawrence Welk the organ, was Welk's first official "Champagne Lady". Herman would front the Prom Orchestra for the next 35 years. During its first year on the air, the Welk hour instituted several regular features. To make Welk's "Champagne Music" tagline visual, the production crew engineered a "bubble machine" that spouted streams of large bubbles across the bandstand. While the bubble machine was originally engineered to produce soap bubbles, complaints from the band members about soapy build-ups on their instruments led to the machine being re-worked to produce glycerine bubbles instead. Whenever the orchestra played a polka or waltz, Welk himself would

neg: Ann Carter her "'leaning to port'," and it was discovered that "the muscles were all gone down one side of [her] back." After an electromyogram at Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles, and physical therapy and swimming (at the Hollywood Athletic Club), she was strengthened enough to "carry around a cast, [which was] huge and weighed 55 pounds." During her recovery from polio, Carter's parents "helped bring Lawrence Welk to prominence," when Dodge, the automobile corporation, was "looking for someone to sponsor on television" c.1950/51. Carter's mother was "all excited about "The Lawrence Welk Show", which she thought was wonderful," convincing her husband

neg: Tanya Falan Welk-Roberts made a regular member of the cast. A few months later in the summer of 1968, she also became a member of Lawrence Welk's own family when she married his son Larry, Jr. The couple would have two sons, Lawrence Welk, III (born 1970) and Kevin (born 1971). During her tenure on the show, she sang solo numbers and in many group numbers, pairing with Anacani as a duo and often as a trio with fellow Italian-American music makers Bob Lido and Charlie Parlato. Tanya also branched out in other areas of television, making guest appearances on Jerry Lewis' Labor

neg: Joan O'Brien of entertainer and Country Music Hall of Fame member Cliffie Stone, who hired her as a regular performer on his television show "Hometown Jamboree" before her high school graduation. In 1954, she became a regular on "The Bob Crosby Show", and stayed until shortly before the show's cancellation in 1958. She co-starred with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis in the 1959 movie "Operation Petticoat". Lawrence Welk hired O'Brien as a one-week replacement for his champagne lady Alice Lon in July 1959. O'Brien had come to Welk's attention years earlier when she was a singer on Bob Crosby's show, but Welk

neg: Johnny Klein Johnny Klein John A. Klein, Jr. (June 4, 1918 – January 31, 1997) was an American musician who played drums for the Lawrence Welk orchestra from 1951 to 1976 and on "The Lawrence Welk Show" from 1955 to 1976. He was also Welk's second cousin. Born in Strasburg, North Dakota, Klein was the son of German-Russian parents and the oldest of five children. It was during his early years that he took up music, especially the drums, which he played with several area bands. Upon graduating from high school in 1936, Johnny first enrolled at the University of North Dakota.

neg: Mickey McMahan married longtime Brown vocalist Jo Ann Greer. He also played with the Freddy Martin, Tex Beneke, Billy Vaughn, and Stan Kenton bands. He joined Lawrence Welk and his Champagne Music Makers in 1966 as first trumpet, performing both on television show and live concert dates. In 2008 Mickey died at home in Van Nuys, California from complications of neuropathy. He is survived by his three children, Jayme, Bryan, Patrick and stepson Steve Land. Mickey McMahan Mickey McMahan (August 23, 1930 – June 11, 2008) was an American born big band musician who played with the Lawrence Welk orchestra from 1966

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show Anacani, who hadn't joined the show until 1973. The show was a top 30 hit for five seasons, according to ClassicTVHits.com's ratings database. The show would often open by showing bubbles floating around and was accompanied by a sound effect of a bottle of champagne opening, including the opening theme (originally "Bubbles in the Wine", composed by Welk and Frank Loesser, later replaced with a derivative theme and fanfare composed by George Cates). Each week, Welk would introduce the theme of the show, which usually inspired joyous singing and/or patriotic fervor. He was most known for delivering these monologues in

neg: Anacani on the show. During the course of the show's run, and afterward, she was popular as a soloist with songs like "Vaya Con Dios", "Luna", and "It's Impossible". She also did duets with fellow Welk star Tanya Falan, toured with rest of the music makers on the road and released an album called "Lawrence Welk presents Anacani" through Ranwood Records and she serves as the Latino spokesman for Yuban Coffee. She also had a bit part in the 1981 feature film Zoot Suit. Today, Anacani lives in Escondido with her husband Rudy Echeverria and her daughter Priscila. In addition to

neg: Ava Barber Gardner and singer Marlene Dietrich. While growing up, Barber often played in her brother's band. Barber began listening to country music when her father would turn on the radio to a country music station every morning. Soon, every Saturday night, Barber would go to the auditorium of WNOX Radio, where "The Tennessee Barndance" was performed. She began singing professionally at age 10. She started performing, and recorded records for some local labels. Her mother was an avid fan of a popular television show at the time, "The Lawrence Welk Show", and suggested that her daughter write to Welk. Barber wrote

neg: Buddy Hayes (musician) Buddy Hayes (musician) Theodore Harmon "Buddy" Hayes (August 1, 1916 – April 26, 1997) was a big band musician who was a member of the Lawrence Welk orchestra. His instruments were the bass and the tuba. Born in Weston, West Virginia from a family of performers, he first started performing at age four with his parents' band. He later joined the Welk orchestra in 1954, a year before the Welk show went on national television , after a stint in the US Army and with several other bands in the Greater Los Angeles area. During his tenure with the Masetro's

neg: Bobby Burgess Lawrence Welk Show", which appeared nationally on ABC. After their initial appearance, Burgess and Boylan continued to guest on the maestro's show for the next few weeks, either dancing to "Calcutta" or to the orchestra's next hit song "Yellow Bird". The positive fan response led to Welk hiring the dance couple as permanent members of the show, which was described by the maestro as having created a job for themselves. Over the course of the show's run, first on ABC and later in syndication; Burgess had three dance partners: Barbara Boylan from 1961–67 and was a temporary fill-in for a

neg: Ludwig and Christina Welk Homestead Register of Historic Places. The Lawrence Welk Birthplace, officially called the Ludwig and Christina Welk Farmstead, has been restored and is run by local volunteers including Lawrence Welk's niece Edna Schwab. Although Welk donated to other local efforts, surprisingly he specified that none of his money be used for the restoration of his birthplace. Ludwig and Christina Welk Homestead The Ludwig and Christina Welk Homestead built in 1893 is an historic farm house located at 845 88th Street, South East in Strasburg, North Dakota. It is also known as the Lawrence Welk Birthplace, the Mike Welk Farm and ND SITS

neg: The Lawrence Welk Show consisted almost entirely of them. Welk often demonstrated multiple times on-camera how the champagne bottle sound was created, by placing a finger in his mouth, releasing it to make the popping sound, and making a soft hissing sound to simulate the bubbles escaping the bottle. One such instance is part of the opening sequence of the public television reruns seen today. Welk frequently had performers sing and play standards from the big band era and the first half of the 20th century. He had a particular admiration for those composers contemporary with him, such as Hoagy Carmichael, Henry Mancini, Johnny

neg: J. Hill eventually replaced on the show by Van Alexander who did the remainder of the show's run. With Harry James J. Hill J. Hill (born James Hill) is an American music arranger who worked extensively in his earlier years as a brass player in big bands, later on taking up music arranging. He has received three Emmy Awards. He created many arrangements for the Les Brown Orchestra. He eventually spread out into freelance arranging, doing charts for Lawrence Welk, Harry James and others. He also became chief arranger for the first four years of the Dean Martin Show (which featured Bandleader

neg: The Semonski Sisters the Lawrence Welk Show. The Semonski Sisters The Semonski Sisters were a family musical act that appeared on television's "The Lawrence Welk Show" from 1975 to 1977. The sextet consisted of sisters Diane (born 1956), Donna (born April 20, 1958), Joanne (born July 23, 1960), Valerie (born March 1, 1962), Audrey (born March 28, 1963) and Michelle (born August 16, 1967). They were born and raised in Hackettstown, New Jersey to parents Joe and Roberta "Rusty" Semonski; the family was of Polish and Irish descent. Musically gifted, the family moved to Altamonte Springs, Florida in 1974 and after just two

neg: Ava Barber Ava Barber Ava Barber (born June 28, 1954) is an American country music singer and performer. She is best remembered for her performances on "The Lawrence Welk Show" throughout much of the 1970s and early 1980s. She is also known as a recording artist, her best-known hit being the song, "Bucket to the South", which peaked at No. 13 on the Hot Country Songs list in 1978. She has done many reunion specials on PBS for "The Lawrence Welk Show" over the past number of years. Ava Marlene Barber was born and reared in Knoxville, Tennessee, named after actress Ava

neg: WVTV by sister division Gaylord Entertainment), "The Lawrence Welk Show" as well as syndicated reruns of "Green Acres" and "The Andy Griffith Show". The station also aired "All Star Wrestling" during the 1970s and 1980s. The station aired the CBS version of "The Merv Griffin Show" after WISN-TV (channel 12) rejected it. After Griffin was canceled by CBS, WVTV aired "The Dick Cavett Show", which had been preempted by WITI. The station also aired "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" from 1984 to 1988, due to WTMJ-TV (channel 4) being denied permission by NBC to air the program in a later

neg: John O'Hara the Republican Party nominee Barry Goldwater for U.S. president by identifying his cause with fans of the corny accordionist and band leader Lawrence Welk. "I think it's time the Lawrence Welk people had their say," wrote O'Hara. "The Lester Lanin and Dizzy Gillespie people have been on too long. When the country is in trouble, like war kind of trouble, man, it is the Lawrence Welk people who can be depended upon, all the way." In his fifth column, he argued that Martin Luther King should not have received the Nobel Peace Prize. The syndicated column was not a success,

neg: Ava Barber to Welk in 1973, and he responded, suggesting that if she was on the West Coast, she should be on the show. About this same time, she married singer and musician Roger Sullivan. Soon, Barber was hired as a regular on "The Lawrence Welk Show", and found herself performing on his television series on the West Coast. At the same time, Barber was trying to get her country music career off the ground. Chart success didn't come initially, but she released her first charting single in 1977 with the song, "Waitin' At the End of Your Run", a truck-driving song.