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Lawrence Welk Is Still On: I Don't Get It

Is it true that George Cates, Welk's musical director and band boss for the entire ABC and syndicated TV run (1955-1971, 1971-1982) threatened to quit if "Calcutta" wasn't recorded and released as a single? Or was Cates against the release of the song on Dot Records? It went to #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 in February, 1961.

I understand there was a dispute between Cates, Welk, TV director Jim Hobson and others...who was on what side? (The doggone song even made the Billboard R&B Chart at #10, also in February, 1961!)
 
Another reason Lawrence Welk got booted off ABC in 1971 was the fact that the FCC implemented the Prime-Time Access rules that year, and each of the three networks had to reduce their prime-time schedules by three-and-a-half hours a week (they eventually would be able to regain the fourth hour of prime-time on Sunday nights).

Had PTAR not come into being in 1971, I think Welk might have remained on ABC's prime-time schedule.

On the other hand, most "big three" affiliates suddenly had a full hour on Saturdays from 7 to 8 P.M. ET/PT to program, and Welk's producers were able to syndicate his show to local stations (most of whom aired it in that hour; at least a few of them were ABC affiliates who had carried the show in it's network days).

When "Welk" came to an end in 1982, it wasn't because the audience was too old or too small; Welk had decided to retire (although for a couple of years after that, he did tape new introductions to shows originally broadcast between 1965 and 1982 which were rebroadcast under the title "Memories With Lawrence Welk").
 
The King Bee said:
Is it true that George Cates, Welk's musical director and band boss for the entire ABC and syndicated TV run (1955-1971, 1971-1982) threatened to quit if "Calcutta" wasn't recorded and released as a single? Or was Cates against the release of the song on Dot Records? It went to #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 in February, 1961.

I understand there was a dispute between Cates, Welk, TV director Jim Hobson and others...who was on what side? (The doggone song even made the Billboard R&B Chart at #10, also in February, 1961!)
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No, it's not true. Apparently, the two had an excellent relationship. Reportedly, Cates brought Calcutta to Welk and Welk wasn't sure if it was right for him. It was more contemporary than he was used to. Cates then said he'd like to record it himself. Cates h,as instrumental hits under his own name, including The Theme From Picnic.. Welk immediately said, "George, if it's good enough for you, it's good enough for me" And recorded "Calcutta." And now you know the rest of the story.
 
jfrancispastirchak said:
landtuna said:
I know of no one in their 40's (or later) who watch Welk or listen to rap, Pink or Gaga.
Click to expand...

I do.  But, putting it in perspective, the appeal for me is rooted in the Welk-"effect" I mentioned here much earlier (surprised this thread re-emerged), as opposed to the quality of the music and the routines they did, which I sometimes found to be campy & schmaltzy.  It certainly was not a sophisticated show.  Welk simply brings me back to a much more comfortable time.  For an hour or so, I feel safe again.
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I'm 48, and I've been to the champagne dark side.    It ain't all that bad, once you get used to it.  :-D

Seriously, over the last 5-10 years I've come to appreciate Lawrence Welk -- camp, schmaltz, warts and all -- and what he brought to music, and to television.  I have copies of a couple dozen early Welk B/W kinescopes, and enjoy watching those every now and again, along with the PBS repeats (which I can get on South Carolina ETV). 

I truly love what you said, jfrancis -- "for an hour or so, I feel safe again."     Both my grandparents loved Welk in their day, and for them it was appointment television.  When Lawrence Welk is on my television, I feel their spirit in the room with me.  And I like that.  A lot.

The earlier shows, to my way of seeing it, had more fizz in the champagne.  Even right up to the end of Welk's ABC run, there was still a network to answer to ... a nudge, however light or infrequent, of keeping the show toward the younger end of its "65-to-deceased" target demographic.  But once LW became his own boss on the syndie circuit, there was no longer the checks and balances of ABC.  The show then seemed to dig in its geriatric heels, and taking on a looks of a "you-damn-kids-get-off-my-lawn" production. 

This person in his 40s would sooner take a Lawrence Welk marathon over the horse dung that passes for 90% of today's television.    Take that, with a swig of Geritol for a chaser.  Oh, and get off MY lawn......    ;D ;D

--Russell
 
I didn't like the Welk show overall and rarely watched it but if Myron Floren happened to be playing his accordion I would be glued to the set for the duration. I have never understood how a human can learn to play that instrument as well as he did.
 
The earlier shows, to my way of seeing it, had more fizz in the champagne. Even right up to the end of Welk's ABC run, there was still a network to answer to ... a nudge, however light or infrequent, of keeping the show toward the younger end of its "65-to-deceased" target demographic. But once LW became his own boss on the syndie circuit, there was no longer the checks and balances of ABC. The show then seemed to dig in its geriatric heels, and taking on a looks of a "you-damn-kids-get-off-my-lawn" production.
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I agree. I was born in late 1970, so I never saw Welk on ABC, but I did witness the syndicated version of his show on occasion as I was growing up. My grandparents were regular viewers of Welk and my mom seemed to have a fondness for him, as well. Throughout the 10 or 11-year syndication run, the show seemed to basically stand still, almost as if it was an antithesis to the times...one last show still on for the old folks.

Had the Welk show managed to remain on ABC in 1971, I doubt it would have made it passed 1974, or at the very latest, 1976. It would be hard to imagine Welk on the same network as "Charlie's Angels" and "Three's Company," although I'm sure many ABC affiliates ran the syndicated Welk show (as my local one did) right up to the end.

I agree with the nostalgia factor playing into the success of the Welk reruns on public stations. I've been known to flip by it on Saturday night and maybe watch for two or three minutes...it does take you back. However, I just can't get passed the cheesiness of it to watch any longer.
 
SteveRichards said:
I was born in late 1970, so I never saw Welk on ABC, but I did witness the syndicated version of his show on occasion as I was growing up. My grandparents were regular viewers of Welk and my mom seemed to have a fondness for him, as well. Throughout the 10 or 11-year syndication run, the show seemed to basically stand still, almost as if it was an antithesis to the times...one last show still on for the old folks.
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I was still too young to remember the ABC series, but Saturdays at our place during much of the 1970s, it was always "Hee Haw" at 6:30PM, followed by the second half of Welk at 7:30PM on the other channel.
 
And don't forget that "Hee Haw" was canceled by CBS for basically
the same reasons ABC canceled Welk; its audiences were too old
and too rural (CBS was changing its image with shows like "All In
The Family" and Mary Tyler Moore at the time, 1971). Like Welk,
"Hee Haw" was also usually seen in syndication on Saturdays at 7 (ET)
and, at least in my neck of the woods, mostly on CBS affiliates (I've
mentioned before that WBTV Charlotte stuck out like the proverbial
sore thumb since they took Welk while the other CBS affiliates in
North Carolina preferred Buck and Roy and the cornfield).

BTW, I'm also getting Welk banners on this site now.
 
"One Toke..." wasn't the only time Welk and his entertainers went "out there" lyrically. I never saw the Welk bunch do "One Toke...", but on a MwLW, I saw the singers do Three Dog Night's "Just an Old Fashioned Love Song", with the line "you swear you've heard it before."

ixnay
 
Don't laugh, but many of the women on Welk's show were quite attractive. And they had hairstyles that I remember seeing on the girls at school back then. I can usually tell (within a year or so) when a program was taped, just by the hairstyles on the women on the show back then.
 
firepoint525 said:
Don't laugh, but many of the women on Welk's show were quite attractive. And they had hairstyles that I remember seeing on the girls at school back then. I can usually tell (within a year or so) when a program was taped, just by the hairstyles on the women on the show back then.
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Were you attracted to any of them? I sure wasn't. There wasn't an ounce of sexiness in the whole bunch. Heck, sexy got you fired. What's the opposite of "hottie?" Goody-two-shoes. Susie Sorority. Up-with-people. Most of them came right out of Catholic girls' schools or BYU. Now, without Lawrence Welk around any more, that type does local TV news.
 
No, I never watched the show in its heyday. Not even sure if my parents ever did. Just making comments about channel-surfing across them. To be sure, they are all WAY older than me, those who are still alive, that is.
 
I truly love what you said, jfrancis -- "for an hour or so, I feel safe again." Both my grandparents loved Welk in their day, and for them it was appointment television. When Lawrence Welk is on my television, I feel their spirit in the room with me. And I like that. A lot.

Thanks, Russell. Someday in the hereafter, I hope to meet your grandparents and maybe enjoy the honor of a dance with them (to Welk music, of course).
 
What did you guys think of the gals on "Hee Haw": Misty Rowe, Gunilla
Hutton, Barbi Benton, Marianne Gordon, Lisa Todd, Cathy Baker?
(Roni Stoneman wasn't much of a looker, with that gap between her two
front teeth, but her sister Donna--who wasn't on "Hee Haw" but was on
the Stonemans' syndicated show--was a hottie in the '60s.)

I'd take all except Roni, Gunilla and Lisa; although I like the Laverne and
Ida Lee Nagger sketches Roni did with Gordie Tapp, I still don't find her
attractive, even in regular clothes, and for whatever reason, Gunilla and
Lisa do nothing for me.

And I remember hairstyles like the women on Welk's show wore, and I think
they were pretty tacky. I don't have a favorite female from the Welk show,
either, although I'd rather listen to Alice Lon over Norma Zimmer anytime.
 
bpatrick said:
What did you guys think of the gals on "Hee Haw": Misty Rowe, Gunilla
Hutton, Barbi Benton, Marianne Gordon, Lisa Todd, Cathy Baker?
(Roni Stoneman wasn't much of a looker, with that gap between her two
front teeth, but her sister Donna--who wasn't on "Hee Haw" but was on
the Stonemans' syndicated show--was a hottie in the '60s.)
Click to expand...

Pretty bold stuff for the C&W industry, considering that these front-loaded sex props debuted in the late '60s. Barbi arrived a little later than the rest. Her earlier Playboy Centerfold exploit made me uncomfortable. I remember a Hee Haw player validating her because she could "sing" country (ever hear her sing? I would offer a long, breathy raspberry). I felt her Playboy legacy tainted Hee Haw's value as an otherwise safe "family" show.
 
jfrancispastirchak said:
bpatrick said:
What did you guys think of the gals on "Hee Haw": Misty Rowe, Gunilla
Hutton, Barbi Benton, Marianne Gordon, Lisa Todd, Cathy Baker?
(Roni Stoneman wasn't much of a looker, with that gap between her two
front teeth, but her sister Donna--who wasn't on "Hee Haw" but was on
the Stonemans' syndicated show--was a hottie in the '60s.)
Click to expand...

Pretty bold stuff for the C&W industry, considering that these front-loaded sex props debuted in the late '60s. Barbi arrived a little later than the rest. Her earlier Playboy Centerfold exploit made me uncomfortable. I remember a Hee Haw player validating her because she could "sing" country (ever hear her sing? I would offer a long, breathy raspberry). I felt her Playboy legacy tainted Hee Haw's value as an otherwise safe "family" show.
Click to expand...
Misty Rowe also posed for Playboy, though her pictorial may have been overlooked--it was in the November 1976 issue in which then-candidate Jimmy Carter made some controversial statements. Yes, people have read Playboy for the articles. BTW, the month after Carter's interview appeared, the magazine interviewed a gentleman from Buffalo named Simpson.
 
Re, Reply 178^^^... Hard to picture Jimmy Carter upstaging Misty Rowe, but his "lusting in my heart" revelation did create quite a sensation. Actually I never knew about Misty posing. And I'm guessing the first name of that fellow from Buffalo isn't Bart or Homer. Besides, they reigned from Springfield. No, I'm guessing you mean "the juice", OJ.
 
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