Many of us way back when grew up in households where Lawrence Welk was almost a religious requirement. Once a week we sat through bright, cheery song-and-dance routines that always ended happy. There was no problem that couldn't be solved with a snappy tune and a big smile. And they co-opted music from sources that had dark origins, but properly sanitized and bowdlerized them to make them palatable to the (mostly) white, middle class audience, Note that I doubt Welk was deliberately trying to exclude anybody from his fan base. But by limiting our family's entertainment options, the real problems of the time- civil rights, Vietnam and the rest- could be easily ignored. After all, there were no problems that couldn't be resolved with a fun song and dance (that and a daily dose of Geritol). And what's more, there was only one type of problem to be solved, and that was romantic awkwardness. There were no other life issues.
This was the milieu in which the older church members all grew up. Do they really expect life to be like a Lawrence Welk show? Thanks.
Hi all,
Every now and then, I'll be flipping the channels and come across The Lawrence Welk Show on PBS, and pause and watch it for a bit. I've read several threads on TV/radio-related discussion forums asking how in the heck this show is still on TV, because the target demographic is most likely dead.
Which leads me to my question: what exactly would be the generation that would be most likely to find Welk's music appealing?
Several online commenters have proposed the Doughboy Generation (aka the "Lost Generation"), born from 1883-1900 and which came of age during WWI, but that seems a bit early to me. The music most likely to be popular during the WWI years would've been ragtime, and Welk's music doesn't really sound like ragtime. It sounds more like big band music, which would've been popular during the 1930s and '40s. Hence, the generation that big band music most likely appealed to would've been the "Greatest Generation" (born 1901-1924).
When you look at the audience of his shows during episodes, this theory seems to check out. Most of them look to be in around their 60s or 70s age-wise. When you factor in that the shows aired during the '70s (at least the colour shows which had cast members with pastel suits and outrageous hairstyles), this means the audience members in question would've been born in the 1900s or 1910s, aka The Greatest Generation.
Anyway, what do you fine folk have to say about this?
Thanks!
There’s a cringe but very catchy video on YouTube of their Mickey Mouse Mambo. The Lennon Sisters were a regular feature on the Lawrence Welk show in the ‘60’s and sort of grew up on stage. Very talented ladies with great harmonies. Perfect Lawrence Welk material, but- as young women they got a bit racy on stage once or twice in the more liberal ‘70’s. Fast forward, pre Covid, they still did Christmas Shows in the Midwest and today they have an active Facebook page.
https://preview.redd.it/v1l9i48p6zx61.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a8aa80fe22ac2fb8ad35ab775579ffbc17c24fbc
She was Miss Michigan in 1974 and was featured singing a song “Love is where you find it”. Her name is Susan Lillian Short and she was never able to see her own video. I’d love to surprise her with it!
She thinks it was filmed in 1976 but she may or may not be accurate on that. She also had a dance with Bobby Burgess. Thanks so much!
Edit: thank you so much to everyone helping and giving me more leads.
The Polkanos.
Anna 1 Anna 2 Anna 3 Anna 4.
She was Miss Michigan in 1974 and was featured singing a song “Love is where you find it”. Her name is Susan Lillian Short and she was never able to see her own video. I’d love to surprise her with it!
She thinks it was filmed in 1976 but she may or may not be accurate on that. She also had a dance with Bobby Burgess. Thanks so much!
