It presents more examples than a "Hair Club" or "Sassoon" catalog ever could. It displays more comb-overs, dye jobs and toupees, per capita, than anywhere on the planet. One also might pose the riddle: What television show - at the same time - had the most and fewest bald and/or gray-haired performers? The answer surely would be this show. If you watch the originals and then view the periodic current/special event/reunion shows, it is interesting to view the aging process at work. The shows which, say, 30- or 40-years-ago were nostalgia pieces then, are even more so now. The older ones are several decades old, and present a variety of music which was contemporary then and nostalgic now.
The shows provide a lot of nostalgia, whether one may have seen them originally, and whether or not the viewer is a great fan of Welk's music. Hodges, of course, before he went on his own, was simply Duke Ellington's lead sax player. One of the finest albums I have has an eclectic group of numbers, all by Johnny Hodges with the Welk orchestra. People have criticized Welk's music as corny and unimaginative - but while the folksy manner of the host and most of the performers may have seemed a bit excessive at times, one must remember this orchestra spawned Pete Fountain, whom I have seen at Welk reunion shows, both on TV and live.
We stayed there one week with friends, and it's the only hotel I've ever seen where the registration card has a place to check "if you have heart problems." Now living in Tulsa, our Oklahoma public television organization is the producer of the Welk Show programs regularly public TV. The facility is away from the cacophony of noise from Branson's "main drag," has one of the finer theaters, as well as entertainment in the dining area. Having lived for some time in southwestern Missouri, and having had many occasions to be in Branson - personally and on business - I was there when the Welk Resort was constructed (by Lawrence Welk, Jr.).
0 kommentar(er)
