In the 1940s, the German-speaking Welk played barn dances and theaters across the country in various bands. “I think he had a huge passion for music, and I think he loved doing what he did. “I don’t think my father really had a vision,” says Larry, who runs the continuing Welk businesses in Santa Monica, Calif. Taught by his father to play the accordion, he left the family’s sod home at 21 to play in dance and polka bands. One of eight children, he left school in fourth grade to work on his family’s farm in Strasburg, N.D. It’s the all-American story.”īy the time 52-year-old Welk premiered his show, he had already spent decades paying his dues. It’s really an unbelievable story of what my father was able to accomplish. “It makes everyone go back to a time when America wasn’t quite what it is today-a simpler, more peaceful time.” “It’s a tradition, a safe haven,” she says. Now that I have a family, we watch it on Saturday night,’” says singer Ralna English, who joined the show in 1969 at age 27. My family always watched the show when I was growing up, and then I stopped watching in high school and college.
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“I was at Kinko’s the other day, and this gal who was probably 35 said to me, ‘I watch you every Saturday night. It’s shown on 279 public television stations and viewed by more than 3 million people each week, attracting a larger Saturday night audience than BET, MTV and VH-1 cable networks combined.
LAWRENCE WELK CAST STILL LIVING SERIES
The magazine couldn’t have been more wrong.Ĭelebrating its 50th year anniversary this year, The Lawrence Welk Show remains the highest rated syndicated series on public television, according to Nielsen ratings.
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