Lawrence Welk

It would be difficult to exclude The Lawrence Welk Show from any collection of remembrances from the 60s and 70s. His show was a stalwart on Saturday nights and in our house when my Dad's mother was visiting the set was invariably tuned to the show come 7:30 PM.

I would be lying if I said I enjoyed watching the show in those days but through the wonder of reruns I can now say I do appreciate the professionalism which the show exhibited. Lawrence Welk conducted the orchestra and no doubt had a hand in every aspect of the show which bore his name. Yes, the clothing was loud but they started broadcasting in color in 1967 so they had to give people who had spent the big bucks on a color TV something for their money, right?

The music was tame but it had a well-rehearsed look and the shots of the audience always confirmed these were the tunes they came to hear and sometimes get up and dance to. Accroding to our pals at Wikipedia: In 1996, Welk was ranked #43 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time. the show was on the air from 1955 to 1982. His "Champagne Music" has never gone out of style for some folks and probably never will.