As recently as 1988 Welk could be heard cueing his band with his "uh-one and uh-two" signature countdown on weekly rebroadcasts of his television shows on PBS outlets throughout the country.
Welk and his bubbling music-makers were a television staple for 36 years, making their debut in an era when Arthur Godfrey, Groucho Marx, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Kukla, Fran and Ollie and Jackie Gleason's Honeymooners were at the top of the Nielsens. Old Muggable Mork - Mork hangs a picture up of Lawrence Welk for the returning Cora as her favorite pin up boy.Mr. Mork and Mindy Meet Rick and Ruby - Mork does a Lawrence Welk impersonation as he does his initial intro on stage, quoting Wild Cherry's Play that Funky Music
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Mork's New Look - Mork does an impersonation of TV variety show host Lawrence Welk as he waits for Orson to answer his call in report. Mork and the Bum Rap - Mork's "Morkathon for Mindy's Kids' trying to raise money, is 'emceed' by his version of Lawrence Welk Weasel, up til then sounding like Peter Lorre, suddenly sounds like Lawrence Welk when introducing Mindy whose about to sing to the kids. Looney Tunes and Morkie Melodies - When Mork is hosting the kids show, Mr. Mork Moves In - When Mindy suggests she break out the 'fake' champagne, Mork does an impersonation of Lawrence Welk The Lawrence Welk Show continued on as a first-run syndicated program shown on 250 stations across the country until the final original show was produced in 1982, when Welk decided to retire. Welk thanked ABC and the sponsors at the end of the last network show. 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.ĪBC ended its run in 1971. As Welk's show targeted mainly older viewers, it seldom played recent music with which the audience might not be familiar. To make Welk's "Champagne Music" tagline visual, the production crew engineered a "bubble machine" that spouted streams of large bubbles across the bandstand. The show became a local hit and was picked up by ABC in June 1955.ĭuring its first year on the air, the Welk hour instituted several regular features. 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. In 1927, he graduated from the MacPhail School of Music in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The radio show led to many well-paying engagements for the band throughout the midwestern states. The Lawrence Welk Orchestra scored an immediate success and began a daily radio show, which lasted from 1927 to 1936.
He led big bands in North Dakota and eastern South Dakota. During the 1920s, he performed with various bands before forming an orchestra. On his 21st birthday, having fulfilled his promise to his father, Welk left the family farm to pursue a career in music. Welk was often referenced through the show, for his popularity with an older audience, his type of entertainment, or imitated by Mork. Welk was born in the German-speaking community of Strasburg, North Dakota, and as a result had a distinct accent and cadence to his voice, which made him a target of imitators. His style came to be known to his large audience of radio, television, and live-performance fans (and critics) as "champagne music". Lawrence Welk (Ma– 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.