Talk to any grandchild of George and Della Dixon and they will confirm that The Lawrence Welk Show was our grandparents favorite TV show.
It was the anti-rock n' roll.
And let's be honest... that youngest Lennon sister was kinda cute!
Music can identify a generation to an extent. (But it turns out my other grandparents were not Lawrence Welk fans. They weren't rockers either. I can't explain it.)
It's good to be forced to listen to the music of other generations. Besides watching and listening to Lawrence Welk's champaigne music every Saturday night that we stayed over with our grandparents, we were tempted with mom and dad's outstanding new stereo system... the one with the two speaker cabinets on opposite sides of the living room... and their limited record collection containing a few musicals, one comedy album (about JFK's clan, before he was shot) and a few classic crooners like Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mathis.
After exposure like this, and growing up with The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Four Seasons, Motown, and The Rolling Stones, I have become demented (in the musical eyes of my wife and kids). My wife Teri reacted to being forced to listen to 50's music by rebelling and won't allow it to be played in her presence to this day. Sarah is a little more understanding, but I can't say I've convinced her to love Jazz, Big Band or the crooners. Randy is still stuck on country and sports radio (The interior of Florida is a little like Texas).
So I'm stuck sneaking a little Tony Bennett, or XM 70, on the sly. Personally, I think they ought to give the inventors of satellite radio a Nobel Prize.
Or I can indulge in various musical genres when I'm with mom. Mom and I have seen Tony Bennett live (yes, he's still living as I write this) in Vegas and Michael Buble live (still living also... think Sinatra, Dino and Bobby Darin all wrapped up in one package... and the girls seem to love him!) in Jacksonville.
But I digress.
Lawrence Welk was a business genius, if not a musical genius. But he delivered what the people wanted. Just like Jay figured out that USA Today crossword puzzles alone justify a high-speed connection, George and Della probably figured it was time to buy a TV so they could watch Lawrence Welk. When ABC decided they couldn't make money off of the show, even though the ratings never fell (the geriatric demographic isn't too profitable) he went independent and the show went on via over 200 independent channels.
He had a (weak) big band, some boy and girl singers, the harmonies of the Lennon sisters, and some old-fashioned hoofers (that means dancers). And some guy with an accordian... who was a fan favorite. Don't make me describe it... it's still on the air in every TV market in the country. Sometimes you can catch it on PBS nowadays.
When George and Della got a stereo cabinet of their own, it was tricky trying to sneak a listen to WHUT-AM 1470, Anderson's rock and roll station, knowing that neither George or Della really approved or had any interest in listening to The Beatles, Donovan, or The Supremes. But thanks to technology and the Japanese, we had our $10 portable transistor radios (one of the first products that Japan successfully sold in America, along with Honda motorbikes).
It was the anti-rock n' roll.
And let's be honest... that youngest Lennon sister was kinda cute!
Music can identify a generation to an extent. (But it turns out my other grandparents were not Lawrence Welk fans. They weren't rockers either. I can't explain it.)
It's good to be forced to listen to the music of other generations. Besides watching and listening to Lawrence Welk's champaigne music every Saturday night that we stayed over with our grandparents, we were tempted with mom and dad's outstanding new stereo system... the one with the two speaker cabinets on opposite sides of the living room... and their limited record collection containing a few musicals, one comedy album (about JFK's clan, before he was shot) and a few classic crooners like Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mathis.
After exposure like this, and growing up with The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Four Seasons, Motown, and The Rolling Stones, I have become demented (in the musical eyes of my wife and kids). My wife Teri reacted to being forced to listen to 50's music by rebelling and won't allow it to be played in her presence to this day. Sarah is a little more understanding, but I can't say I've convinced her to love Jazz, Big Band or the crooners. Randy is still stuck on country and sports radio (The interior of Florida is a little like Texas).
So I'm stuck sneaking a little Tony Bennett, or XM 70, on the sly. Personally, I think they ought to give the inventors of satellite radio a Nobel Prize.
Or I can indulge in various musical genres when I'm with mom. Mom and I have seen Tony Bennett live (yes, he's still living as I write this) in Vegas and Michael Buble live (still living also... think Sinatra, Dino and Bobby Darin all wrapped up in one package... and the girls seem to love him!) in Jacksonville.
But I digress.
Lawrence Welk was a business genius, if not a musical genius. But he delivered what the people wanted. Just like Jay figured out that USA Today crossword puzzles alone justify a high-speed connection, George and Della probably figured it was time to buy a TV so they could watch Lawrence Welk. When ABC decided they couldn't make money off of the show, even though the ratings never fell (the geriatric demographic isn't too profitable) he went independent and the show went on via over 200 independent channels.
He had a (weak) big band, some boy and girl singers, the harmonies of the Lennon sisters, and some old-fashioned hoofers (that means dancers). And some guy with an accordian... who was a fan favorite. Don't make me describe it... it's still on the air in every TV market in the country. Sometimes you can catch it on PBS nowadays.
When George and Della got a stereo cabinet of their own, it was tricky trying to sneak a listen to WHUT-AM 1470, Anderson's rock and roll station, knowing that neither George or Della really approved or had any interest in listening to The Beatles, Donovan, or The Supremes. But thanks to technology and the Japanese, we had our $10 portable transistor radios (one of the first products that Japan successfully sold in America, along with Honda motorbikes).
No comments:
Post a Comment