At last....the Meryl Sisters!

I knew the time was near, NBC aired the episode of Saturday Night Live that featured the oh-so hilarious Lawrence Welk skit!

So, naturally....I taped it on my DVR

Without further delay....the sister act from the Finger Lakes!

"I'm Janice".....

"I'm Holly".....

"I'm Nora".....

..."and I'm Denise!"

"Was her forehead really that big, or was I looking through a couple of bubbles?"

Best SNL skit....ever

Pledge Naseum

Alas, it's pledge time again for the public televison networks.....which means no regular Welk shows for two weeks.

This week, we got "Say It With Music" for the second time this season and in condensed, edited-for-pledge breaks form. That is a first for me in all the years I have watched Lawrence Welk on my local PBS.

According to OETA, they scheduled "Songs of Johnny Mercer" from 1976....did anyone get to see that?

Back to the show I got (and the rest of Northwest Ohio as well)....several numbers were cut....such as Clay Hart's "Gentle On My Mind", Buddy Merrill's "It May Be Silly But Ain't It Fun" and the Calcutta number just to name a few.

Remember the good ol' days when they didn't edit and cut any numbers during pledge drives? That seems like ages ago....

....and now, a pledge haiku.

What's on PBS?

They're asking for your support

Empty your wallet

Hey, at least they didn't cut Gail Farrell's number.

....and that's always nice.

Saturday haiku

The perfect remedy to those Thanksgiving leftovers!

What's Lawrence up to?

He's got the accordion

and ready to play

Poll results on Black Friday

Of the 57 ballots that were tallied, the latest poll showed that with 84% of the vote (48 votes) that folks watched both the Lawrence Welk Show...

.....and Hee Haw when both were in first run syndication.

While 15% (9 votes) did not....

So it looks like alot of you out there were a pickin' and a grinnin' on the count of ah-one an ah-two.

Thanks for voting....the new poll is up...so make your voice heard!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope yours goes well today, may your turkey be juicy, the mashed potatoes smooth and the pumpkin pie be fresh!

And of course, may the football be exciting and competitive.

Of course, the latter may be difficult considering the Detroit Lions are playing....

Inspiration for the day before Thanksgiving

This one takes on a "Music Man" theme here....

The Welk Stars - Through The Years

I got my latest issue of Musical Family News yesterday, and the cover story featured is the upcoming new Welk special for public television.

This one, for the record is number 15...it is titled "THE WELK STARS - THROUGH THE YEARS".

Mary Lou Metzger will serve as your host, and it comes to you courtesy of Bob Allen, Bill Trash, Susan Dowdy and our friends from OETA.

From what I have read, the special will spotlight select members of the Musical Family through short bios, vintage pictures plus plenty of clips from the Welk show.

Here are the stars that will be featured....

ANACANI

BOBBY BURGESS

JO ANN CASTLE

HENRY CUESTA

DICK DALE

KEN DELO

ARTHUR DUNCAN

RALNA ENGLISH

JOE FEENEY

THE LENNON SISTERS (DIANNE, PEGGY, KATHY & JANET)

MARY LOU METZGER

TOM NETHERTON

BOB RALSTON

JIMMY ROBERTS

NORMA ZIMMER

It's scheduled to air on PBS stations (during pledge drives of course) in March 2009....I can't wait to see it!

Johnny Zell's birthday

And I do have the gift that beats all birthday gifts....a haiku!

He is Johnny Zell

and he can play the trumpet

just like Harry James

Back home for Thanksgiving

I'm back from a short stay in Baltimore-Washington DC, and found out that these following great things have happened.

UT actually won a game, 42-14 over Miami of Ohio....

and OSU beat Michigan....again

But I am back in time to celebrate Thanksgiving, in both real life and on public television courtesy of the Champagne Music Makers from 1973!

Here's Ralna having a bit of holiday cheer after singing "Y'all Come"....

Larry Hooper is trying to sing his number, but the trombone section won't have any of it.....

Tanya is singing "What the World Needs Now (Is Love Sweet Love)".....

The duo of Gail (Farrell) and (Dick) Dale keeping warm by singing "Button Up Your Overcoat"

And let's dance with Cissy and Bobby by doing the Jenny Lind Polka!

Later....O-H-I-O!

Gonna get me some crabcakes

I'm going to Baltimore for the next few days, will be back on Sunday to resume normal blogging.

Hope all of you are staying warm....

Sleigh Ride

One of my favorite Christmas songs is "Sleigh Ride", of course the musical family has sung it on the show numerous times before...

But the best version (and why it's my favorite) is sung by the Ronettes from the early 1960s. I can just picture the orchestra along with a trio of the Welk girls (such as Gail, Sandi & Mary Lou) performing it Ronette-style.

Just listen for yourself....and you can see why.

In The Alps: February 26, 1966

This one Welk episode is where the Musical Family salutes the songs of Vienna, the Alps and the Habsburgs.

Here's the gang getting things started with a nice Viennese waltz...

Next are the Lennon Sisters with the song "In The Alps"

Now it's time for the Lichensteiner Polka with Aladdin and Jo Ann Castle!

Here's Bobby and Barbara dancing to the Tales of Vienna Woods....

Now it's time for a Austrian sing-a-long that Archduke Franz Ferdinand would love!

Auf Weidersehn!

Songs of the South

This one is a blast from the past, 1967 that is....

The fellas sing "Chattanooga Choo Choo"

Let's head on down to Bourbon Street fro some of that New Orleans Dixieland style music!

Where Jo Ann Castle and the gang will be playing!

I was down south yesterday, it was actually Southwest Michigan for the UT-Western Michigan game (which the Rockets lost....again).

Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away, but you don't have to wait that long as next week's show celebrates that holiday!

Only 41 days left until Christmas!

I gotta get started on the shopping....my pocketbook is gonna take a beating.

In the meantime, yours truly will get an early start on sending out Christmas cards....just my way (and inexpensive at times) of spreading some of that Noel cheer.

It will be a pretty busy time for me and my family this Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year's season....maybe I can find some vintage Welk christmas shows on the tape trading circuit!

And just to get things started, here's a holly jolly musical number from Santa's YouTube workshop.

A Mary Lou haiku

It is Mary Lou Metzger's birthday today, and that means a special birthday haiku I have prepared just for her!

Hope she likes it!

Watching Mary Lou

sing "No No Nanette" and dance

makes Welk fans happy

Hope you have a very Happy Birthday today!

I want a Dodge cuz Lou Crosby says so

And now, our favorite announcer from the Silver Champagne era has some of the newer models he like to show you....

Auto crisis? That's unheard of....

....as long as Mr. Welk and Lou will have you behind the wheel!

Happy Veterans Day

On behalf of everyone from Welk Musical Family.com....we salute our men and women in uniform that have served our country.

Remember that freedom is not free!

Inspirational Monday

This one is a two-fer....featuring the guitar twins!

Salute to Sinatra

Some highlights from this week's episode.....

Cissy and Bobby do the quickstep to "Chicago"....

Kathie Sullivan singing "I Only Have Eyes For You" with Paul Humphrey on drums and Richard Maloof on bass

Ken Delo with his rendition of "That's Life".....

Norma Zimmer singing "Memories" with some photographic memories added in....

Gail Farrell and Dick Dale singing "Love And Marriage" also known as the theme song from "Married, With Children".

Next week, it's the Southern Show from 1967....see ya' then!

Another excellent haiku of mine

This week's subject? Bob Lido.

Plays the violin,

sings Winchester Cathedral

The fans love Bob Lido

Randy Zimmer's obit in Orange County Register

Welk Musical Family is sadded to hear that Randy Zimmer, husband of Champagne Lady Norma Zimmer has passed away on November 1st.

Our thoughts and prayers go to Norma, Mark, Ron and the rest of the Zimmer family.

The Orange County Register has his obituary posted online. Click here to view it and you can also leave condolences and memories there as well.