Talk:Lawrence Welk/Archive 1

Editing Suggestions
Since there are two "Aragon Ballrooms", the first mention should be to unambiguously clarify the different roles that each had.

Opinions
is it too old fashioned to talk about lawrence welk?? :) i thought his music, his show was spectacular and my friends think its too corny!!!


 * I kind of liked him too. To characterize his accent as "slight" is unjustified understatement.  He was totally understandable, but his accent was not slight.  It was a German accent, since he grew up in a German-speaking community in the Mid-West.

Lawrence Welk is da bomb.

The square comment is a little rough. He was a decent man and was enormously popular back in those days.

While I think the music is a little corny I enjoyed it. What was the name of that redhead? I always had the hots for her! :)

Corny? I don't think his music is corny it was diverse there were several genres played and sang on that show. Also people have to remember that this show is old when people listened to different types of music than they do today... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.116.180.169 (talk) 01:50, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

One of my grandmothers loved his show. The other one loves his show. I couldn't stand it then. I can't stand it now. Maybe when I'm 90 I'll finally like it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.23.105.146 (talk) 09:17, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

Anti-Semitic?
I've heard over the years that Lawrence Welk was anti-Semitic, but I have never seen any evidence. Any ideas?

probably just someone over-generalizing saying "German == Anti-Semitic" I saw no evidence of anti-Semitism. Does anyone know how many Jewish performers he had on his show? if the answer is zero, that might be evidence. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.249.162.120 (talk) 18:03, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

Welk was one of many Americans who wanted us to stay out of a European war and publically campaigned for that policy. Is that Anitsemitic? It doesn't prove anything one way or the other. George Cates his music director was Jewish. That doesn't prove anything either. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:246:C202:FB18:D5A9:D22:7A79:6B00 (talk) 03:43, 3 July 2017 (UTC)

Here's an idea
He featured lots of Gershwin tunes on his show. He also featured Irving Berlin, Aaron Copeland, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Jerome Kern, Lorenz Hart and Yip Harburg (who wrote "Over the Rainbow"), and others. They were all Jewish, and among the most popular composers in America during his time. Hope this dispels the thought that he was anti-semitic. He occasionally would have his Irish tenor, Joe Feeny, sing a jewish medley from the high holidays or have his cast do a Chanuka skit. Selections from Fiddler on the Roof were always popular with his audiences. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.100.225.39 (talk) 06:11, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

$400?
Four hundred dollars would have been more than a year's salary for a farmhand in the '20s. Seems a bit high; maybe $40? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Iroll (talk • contribs) 02:05, 9 September 2007 (UTC)
 * agreed it seemed crazy high to me too - i'm guessing this is where it came from http://www.parabrisas.com/d_welkl.php


 * Nope, his autobiography "Wunnerful, Wunnerful" explains that it was indeed $400, a huge sum of money at the time. The deal he made with his father was that if dad bought the accordian, Lawrence would stay on the farm and work for four years, plus dad got every dime made from music gigs played during that time. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.162.211.210 (talk) 05:26, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

I agree. The $400 figure is taken from his book, "Wunnerful, Wunnerful." He also tells about another accordion purchase he made, for less money, but states that it fell apart after very little use. He thereby learned the importance of quality. It would be interesting to know whether his father received an adequate "return on investment" in the transaction.

John Paul Parks (talk) 15:12, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

........................... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.71.8.56 (talk) 19:49, 24 October 2010 (UTC) Prices of things as we know them nowadays are no comparison. My father told me that his father bought a speaker for a radio (separate from the radio) in the early 1920s, and it cost about $300. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.71.8.56 (talk) 19:47, 24 October 2010 (UTC)

According to a standard inflation converter I found, $400 in 1920 would be about $4,750 today. It must have been a very fine accordion. Perhaps it was hand made and imported.John Paul Parks (talk) 03:35, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Reason for Exclusivity of German Language
The article states, "Welk didn't learn English until he was 21 because he always spoke German at home." While it is true that Welk did not begin to learn English in earnest until he was 21, the statement is not completely logical. Merely because a person speaks a certain language at home does not necessarily affect his or her ability to learn or speak another language. According to the book, "Wunnerful, Wunnerful," when Welk was in elementary school, a group of nuns from Germany attempted to teach the children English (think about that: German nuns, in the United States, teaching U.S. children English). Welk states that it finally dawned on the nuns: even if they were successful in teaching the children to speak English, there was no one in the town of Strasburg, North Dakota, with whom the children would be able to converse in English, so they decided that attempting to teach the children English was pointless, and they gave up. It was only after Welk left home (age 21) that he finally found it necessary to learn English. He always had a very noticeable accent, which I am sure was a handicap, but in later years, it was one of his distinguishing characteristics, and of great benefit to him in a notoriety sense.

John Paul Parks (talk) 15:12, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

I also agree that it is completely wrong linguistically to attribute Welk's German accent to his having spoken that language at home. I recall listening to him on many programs as a young girl and it never bothered me to hear him nor did I know where he was from exactly. But to suggest he was affected because he spoke a language other than English at home is inaccurate. We use more than one language in our home now and it has not affected us. I find it much more fascinating that the German language was maintained and would say more families need to do the same. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.224.197.35 (talk) 03:53, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

Maestro
The repeated use of "maestro" makes this sound like a fan magazine. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.70.201.128 (talk) 01:45, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

Start of show year?
I saw here that the show started in 1951, but http: //www.welkshow.com says 1955. Which is right? could 1955 be the oldest one we have recordings from? I know many TV shows were broadcast live in those days. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.249.162.120 (talk) 18:06, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

The television show did indeed start in 1951, but for the first 4 years was a local (Los Angeles area) show and was done live. The first National broadcast was in July of 1955. Garr1984 (talk) 23:44, 4 November 2012 (UTC)

Toking with Lawrence
A youtube of the Lawrence Welk Show featuring "One Toke Over the Line" is found t http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye3ecDYxOkg Did they know what they were singing and just fooling with the old man or were they really that far out of it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.239.84.21 (talk) 21:54, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

Misprint?

 * "Died May 17, 1992 (aged 89)

Spouse(s) Fern Renner (August 26, 1931 - February 13, 2002)"

How could they have been married until 2002 if he died in 1992? Is that a misprint or did I misread it? 24.117.205.161 (talk) 22:42, 4 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Article could use cleanup there. The 2002 date is that of the death of Fern. findagrave.com1archie99 (talk) 16:25, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Frank Zappa?
He actually did covers of Frank Zappa tunes? Somebody should prove that, because I'd think his music would've been a little too weird and freaky and far out for the man. DanTD (talk) 01:11, 25 February 2010 (UTC)

Website
Is the website link official? It looks more like just a regular fansite, though I could be wrong. If it is just a fansite, should we remove it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.114.134.112 (talk) 20:52, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

Story about Alice Lon's firing disputed
The article Alice Lon disputes that Welk fired Lon because she "showed too much leg." That sounds like a made-up reason to me too -- after all, these were show people. It would be great if someone with more knowledge could step in here. Dratman (talk) 00:56, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

Content issues
The book "Music: Then and Now" by Bernie Keating (see ) contains content identical to parts of this article. Mr. Keating may well have reused this content, in which case there is no problem, or the content may have been taken from his book. His book is listed at around $25.00 online (USD), so I doubt he merely copied from Wikipedia. Does anyone know what is up? The relevant article content begins with "Much of the show's appeal was Welk himself." Other content appears to be taken from this book, which is never cited in the article, and is mingled with properly-sourced content. —Theodore! (talk) (contribs) 16:09, 9 July 2014 (UTC)