Same Song, Separate Voices; made for television version

I finally got to watch the Lennon Sisters pledge special last Sunday, let me just say I was not disappointed at one bit.

As you well know, the title of the special comes from the Lennon's best selling autobiography of the same name. It's a retrospective of their career in showbiz starting from their Christmas Eve debut on the Welk show to today.

And along the way, they made plenty of fans and friends, some whom are interviewed on this special.

Famous folk like Kathie Lee Gifford.....

.....and Andy Williams to name a few.

But the stars of the show are the Lennon Sisters themselves.

This special covers all the goods, not just from the time as members of the Musical Family, but when they worked with other showbiz heavyweights like Perry Como, Johnny Carson, Jimmy Durante and of course, Moon River Boy himself......

....plus all the trials, tribulations, tragedy and the joy of discovering Branson are covered too. If your public television station is carrying the special during it's pledge drive, make a date to watch it, or tape it, or do both.

It's just like reading the book, only it has moving pictures!

Same Song, Separate Voices; made for television version

Same Song, Separate Voices

There's a brand new pledge special coming to PBS on November 26th....

And in the spotlight, the Lennon Sisters!

Which in my opinion about flippin' time....

Promo - Lennon Sisters: Same Song, Separate Voices from Polly O. Entertainment on Vimeo.

Same Song, Separate Voices

At last, Toledo finally got to see that Marvin Hamlisch special

You know, the one everyone was talking about....

In a nutshell, it was originally a made as a public television pledge drive special hosted by Marvin himself. 

Marvin Hamlisch Presents the 70s; The Way We Were featured some of your favorite songs from the decade performed by the icons from that era, such as Freda Payne, Marilyn McCoo, Bobby Goldsboro, B.J Thomas and Ray Stevens just to name a few.

But for us Welk fans, it was that Guy & Ralna that was also featured amongst the roster of stars in the show, which was taped at Lindenwood University located just outside of St. Louis.

They sang "Just An Old Fashioned Love Song" which was a big hit for Three Dog Night in 1971. And by the way, our Favorite Singing Married Couple covered that same song some thirty odd years ago on the Welk show too.

That was not the only number they did, G&R also covered "Put Your Hand In The Hand", "You Needed Me" and "Lean On Me" in the show as well, but they were not included in the original broadcast. You have to get the companion CD and DVD for those numbers and much more bonus stuff as well.

Here they are, in all their glory....

And by the way, they were terrific as always!

At last, Toledo finally got to see that Marvin Hamlisch special

Lawrence Welk's Big Band Splash

And now the time has arrived for the 15th Lawrence Welk public television pledge special, Big Band Splash.

With your host Doc Severinsen!

It was an entertaining program, filled with clips from several episodes from the show featuring the band and the Musical Family performing the classic songs from that era.

Big Band icons like Glenn Miller, Harry James, The Dorsey Brothers, Artie Shaw and Duke Ellington were featured.

It was also nice that the special featured many of Welk's orchestra in the spotlight, such as Dave Edwards on the saxophone playing Contrasts made famous by Jimmy Dorsey.

I also liked Bob Ralston's rendition of Paul Whiteman's Rhapsody In Blue, in which every time I hear it, for some reason thoughts of the old United Airlines commercials with Gene Hackman narrating come to mind.

And what can I say about the trumpet section's arrangement of The Dipsy Doodle....

Johnny Zell, Mickey McMahan, Charlie Parlato and Norman Bailey were all outstanding!

But that was just a sample of the fine instrumentals featured in the program, many of the featured singers had the spotlight such as Tanya Falan's excellent version of the Sammy Kaye song Daddy.

 
Other singers featured were Mary Lou Metzger and Champagne Lady Alice Lon with different versions of Harry James' "You Made Me Love You". The differences were that Mary Lou went with the Dear Mr. Gable route while Alice from Dallas just sang it straight up.

I was disappointed that the special did not feature any Sandi, Gail and Mary Lou numbers. Their version of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy by the Andrews Sisters in my opinion would be considered big band and would have been a good fit.

But Toot Toot Tootsie by Bob Lido and the Hotsy Totsy Boys? That, by the way was the final number featured in the special, and by the way, I always thought Al Jolson was more Music Hall than Big Band.

Oh, and here's an extreme close up of Bob Havens and his trumpet.

  
Doc himself was featured, when he guested on the Welk show in 1972 playing the theme song from the movie "Love Story".

His performance and talent was picture perfect excellence and well done, but for his wardrobe.....we'll the jury is still out on that.

In all, it was a wunnerful, wunnerful special.

And no pledge special would be complete without Bob Allen and Mary Lou in the studio with the pledge breaks.

So until next time, keep a song in your heart and may the only Blues in the Night you get are the St. Louis Blues playing hockey. 

Lawrence Welk's Big Band Splash

The Big Band Splash Weekend has arrived!

This is the first Saturday and Sunday that public television stations across this great land will air the newest Lawrence Welk pledge special Big Band Splash.

Just be sure to check your local television listings for airdates...

I know that both WGTE and WBGU here in my neck of the woods will be showing it!

The Big Band Splash Weekend has arrived!

Yes, there will be a new Lawrence Welk PBS special

And it will be hosted by Doc Severinsen of Johnny Carson fame.....

These are the details I got from Welknotes today.....

The name of the special is LAWRENCE WELK'S BIG BAND SPLASH and it will air on many PBS stations starting March 5th and will air throughout the month.

I'm not sure which stations, including mine, but will find out soon.

The special is a celebration of big band hits, and ol' Doc himself will host....they'll even air his performance of "Love Story" when he guested on one of the Maestro's shows back in 1972.

Band soloists include Henry Cuesta, Bob Havens, Pete Fountain, Jo Ann Castle, Johnny Zell, Kenny Trimble, Jack Imel, Bob Ralston and Johnny Klein.

Vocal solos will include Alice Lon, Mary Lou Metzger, Tanya Falan, Guy Hovis and Ralna English and the dance numbers will feature Bobby Burgess, Cissy King, Elaine Balden, Jack Imel and Arthur Duncan plus many more!

I'll keep you posted on any further details.....stay tuned.

Yes, there will be a new Lawrence Welk PBS special

Milestones & Memories - It's already been ten years?

This weekend while I watched the latest regularly scheduled Welk episode on WGTE (Toledo's PBS affiliate), WBGU (Bowling Green's PBS affiliate) was in mini-pledge mode that plenty of stations have been doing lately.

And what did WBGU show instead? Milestones & Memories!

On both nights! So in between the regular Welk show on Saturday and football on Sunday, I checked it out...

As I watched, it dawned on me that this special was taped in Branson ten years ago this month....hard to believe it's been that long.

When the special was taped, the Welk reruns were just starting Season 14 on public television, today as I write....were now in Season 24.

Since then, four more Welk pledge specials have been made, this website and blog has been launched, You Tube was created to showcase musical numbers from the show and Saturday Night Live has spawned a successful recurring sketch.

And on a somber note, a few of the original 47 members of the Musical Family that appeared on the special are no longer with us.

Barney Liddell - trombonist (d. 2003)
Henry Cuesta - clarinetist/reeds (d. 2003)
Helen Ramsey - Champagne Lady (d. 2004)
Myron Floren - accordionist (d. 2005)
Joe Feeney - Irish tenor (d. 2008)
Jayne Walton - Champagne Lady (d. 2010)
Big Tiny Little - ragtime pianist (d. 2010)


I believe that by watching this special, as well as the regular Welk show, it's a way of keeping these folks in one's memory as well as in your heart.

Milestones & Memories - It's already been ten years?

The Champagne Five - Milestones & Memories moments

Usually, I'm not too crazy about pledge drives on my PBS station, but I don't mind if they show a great Lawrence Welk pledge special.

And one of my favorites, and yours, has to be Milestones & Memories

And in today's edition of the Champagne Five....here's my top five moments from the reunion of forty-seven members of the Musical Family taped at Fun City USA....Branson at the Champagne Theater.

5. THE SHOW'S OPENING

It opens with the stars all singing "We're Here....Milestones & Memories!" followed by a roll call in chronological order (for example: "1957 - Joe Feeney, Jack Imel, Pete Fountain;" "1959 - Jo Ann Castle") and pictured above is the class of 1968 featuring Johnny Zell, Sandi Griffiths and Sally Flynn.

That is also followed by the next number "Say It With Music" where each of the Music Makers, while singing, waltz out in front of the camera in pairs of boy with girl arm to arm....all which sets the mood for a great show.

You can tell what they were doing is lots of fun and then some.

4. TANYA SINGS "IT HAD TO BE YOU"

This moment is significant for this reason, the last time Welk fans saw Tanya Falan sing on television was back in 1977 and since then, she basically disappeared from the public eye.

For many fans, they have asked "Whatever happened to Tanya?", "Has she changed?" or "Does she still sing?" amongst the many questions asked.

So after twenty three years of not being heard from, all questions are answered with her rendition of "It Had To Be You", proving she still has the vocal chops.

3. BOBBY BURGESS AND ALL THREE OF HIS DANCING PARTNERS

Yes, we love to watch Bobby Burgess dance. Whether it's with Barbara Boylan, Cissy King or Elaine Balden....fans could not get enough.

But we never seen Bobby dance with all three of his partners on stage at the same time, that is until Milestones & Memories came along.

To the tune of "Night & Day", the kids waltz away the night fancy....

....with Barbara

...with Cissy

....and with Elaine.


2. ALL THE CHAMPAGNE LADIES COME TOGETHER

This was one of the more sentimental and emotional moments of the show, all the surviving Lawrence Welk Champagne Ladies share the stage, stretching from the days at the Aragon in Chicago during the 1940s to when the television show ended in the early 1980s.

Appearing on stage were Lois Best (1939-40), Jayne Walton (1940-45), Helen Ramsey (1947-49), Roberta Linn (1949-53) and Norma Zimmer (1960-present)

I think it's safe to say that this is a memorable, once-in-a-lifetime milestone.


1. THE INFORMAL MUSICAL FAMILY GET TOGETHER

This was the final part of the special, and the most fun at it! All the Music Makers got together, on the stage, sharing memories, singing songs and just plain having fun like real good friends should.

Who can forget Guy & Ralna singing together again?

Ken Delo singing "Babyface".....

Janet Lennon and Arthur Duncan doing that old soft shoe?

....and towards the end when everyone sings "That's What Friends Are For?"

That is what the special is all about, true friendship made together by song and the vision of a farmboy from Strasburg, North Dakota.

We'll never see magic like this, from a collection of talent like this on one stage ever again. But thanks to the magic of television, it's preserved for all of us to see over and over again.

The Champagne Five - Milestones & Memories moments

What did you do in the Great Pledge drive, Daddy?

Oh basically, without my weekly dose of Welk....I worked at my day job, watched the Oscars and other pledge drive specials and did some hard core blogging, Facebooking and Tweeting.

And speaking of Tweeting and pledge specials, I posted on my Twitter the following bit of original humor I like to call....

It's the made for public television specials that did not succeed in bringing in those dollars to PBS stations from coast to coast.

Such as.....

CELTIC WOMAN SINGS SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE

Nothing beats our favorite five Irish lassies singing "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)", "Dance To The Music" and "I Want To Take You Higher"

WAYNE DYER'S POWER TO PISS PEOPLE OFF

I think he does that already

RICK STEVES' NORTH DAKOTA

After visiting Europe, Rick shows you the exotic locales of Devils Lake, Fargo and Strasburg

MY MUSIC: GANGSTA RAP MEMORIES

The latest in the My Music series brings you musical memories straight outta Compton, I can just picture Nick Clooney and Suge Knight together during pledge breaks

DANIEL O' DONNELL'S DISCO PARTY

A charistmatic Irish crooner, white polyester and covers of Bee Gees, Village People and Donna Summer, who can ask for anything more?

GREAT PERFORMANCES: THE SPICE GIRLS

Forget Pavarotti, Bocelli or even Reba doing South Pacific....this Fab Five blows all others out of the water

THIS OLD HOUSE vs EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITION

I just wanna see Norm Abram kick Ty Pennington's ass in this Battle Royale of these home improvement titans.


I wonder if Mary Lou would ask for your financial support for these programs?

What did you do in the Great Pledge drive, Daddy?

The blogmaster's Top Ten Welk moments of the decade

The 2000s are almost to a close, man it only seems like yesterday when we rang in the year 2000 on January 1st. Back then I was just a senior in college, working on my bachelor's degree.

I did watch the Lawrence Welk Show reruns on PBS, taping them on yes....VHS tapes. Also, I was just about to harness the power of the Internet, little did I know that by decade's end, how powerful it would be.

As the second decade of the 21st century dawns, we'll countdown the top ten Lawrence Welk moments that had a personal and long lasting influence on yours truly.

10. Four Wunnerful Women in Toledo (May 2002)

 
This was my very first Welk concert, it's kinda like your first date....you'll never forget it. I just joined the Welknotes Yahoo! Group few months earlier and was able to go to the show on tickets I got as a Christmas gift. What a day at the Valentine Theatre, I got to see perform and meet Gail Farrell, Ava Barber, Ralna English and Mary Lou Metzger....such wunnerful ladies!

9. Milestones & Memories pledge special (winter 2001)

Up until it aired, I was just a casual watcher....taping the occasional show on my VCR. When this very popular and groundbreaking PBS pledge special aired on WGTE, everything changed.

 
Who can ever forget 47 of the Music Makers all on one stage, friendly faces plus some old favorites we haven't seen in a while. The music was great, the performances were spectacular.

Kinda makes me wish I was there in Branson

I loved it so much that for the first time ever, I made a pledge to my station....and in return I got plenty of thank you gifts such as the Memory Book, framed cast picture but most importanty, it laid the foundation of bigger things to come.

8. The Live Lawrence Welk Show comes to Toledo (March 2003)

This was my second Welk concert, where I met Jack Imel, Dick Dale, Henry Cuesta, Tim Padilla and dancers Pasha and Ilona for the first time.

 
I also got to see Ralna, Mary Lou and Ava again. I had just started the web page three weeks earlier and this was great material to post online!

What a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, this was the catalyst for future and great Live Welk Shows in Toledo for 2005 and 2007.

7. Road trip to Lancaster (July 2006)

This was my most ambitious road trip to date. I drove more than 400 miles from my home in Toledo to the Amish countryside of Lancaster, Pennsylvania where I went to see the Welk stars perform live at the American Music Theatre.

This was also the first time I saw live and got to meet stars Anacani, Arthur Duncan and Jo Ann Castle. I also got to see Guy & Ralna perform again after seeing them the first time up in Mount Pleasant the previous January.

It was there I also met good friends and fellow Welk fans Doug Minier and Louis Teller.

Here's me and Louis during intermission.

Driving the same 400 miles back was a chore, took all night...but that experience was worth it!

6. The Lennon Sisters in Columbus (July 2009)

This one was very special, it doesn't happen alot but once it does....you take advantage. 

It was the first time in twenty years the Lennon Sisters came to Ohio for a series of concerts. One of them was in Columbus, so I thought what better way to spend a day in Ohio's Capitol City where Kathy, Janet and Mimi Lennon were scheduled to perform at the Aladdin Shrine Theater.

 
This was the first time I saw America's Sweethearts of Song perform live, and loved every minute of it.

And yes, Columbus is more than just the home of THE Ohio State University.


5. Forever Blowing Bubbles in South Euclid (April 2004)

The Forever Blowing Bubbles concert series was one of my personal favorites, I have seen a total of four shows, all were wunnerful and memorable but you never forget your first one....like on that Sunday afternoon in the Spring of '04.

It was where I met the Aldridge Sisters, Sheila and Sherry for the first time.

Sheila was the very first member of the Musical Family to come into contact with me via my webpage, she liked it alot which made the upcoming trip one to look forward to.

I got to see Gail perform again, and it was the first time I met Sally and Clay Hart, Tanya Falan, Cissy King, Ken Delo, Joe Feeney and Michael Redman.

Here's Sherry with Tanya, a very nice picture if I say so....

The next three shows took place in Eastlake; in 2005, 2006 and 2008. I got to meet Clay & Sally, Sheila and Sherry, Joe, Gail, Michael and Ken again plus many more.

But it all began on that day in April, five years ago....still puts a smile to my face.

4. I join the Welknotes Yahoo! Group (March 27, 2002)

One of the best decisions I ever made, I been on Yahoo! before and heard about these online groups. There was one dedicated to the music of Lawrence Welk and his Music Makers so I decided to join. I met alot of lifelong friends there, several whom I saw live at concerts.

Folks like Judy Shaw, our fearless leader, and comrades in arms like Tracy Goodwin, Rosanne Galetta, Charles Letterman, Debbi Knight, Roger Bosley, Sam Carpenter plus many many more numerous to name who mean alot.

And as I write this, I'm still a loyal member....thanks guys for the memories.

3. Sandi, Gail and Mary Lou at Bear Creek Farms (July 2008)

I have heard of this rustic getaway out in the middle of Jay County in Indiana....where so many Welk stars have come to perform live in concert. So when I heard that the lovely trio of Sandi Griffiths, Gail Farrell and Mary Lou Metzger were to perform there, I had to go pay a visit!

The show was awesome, and the girls were super sweet. I also got to meet Sandi and her family for the first time. This would lead to later trips to Bear Creek which included a return date by the Trio in May 2009 and this past October, the Aldridge Sisters and Otwell Twins.

I am already looking forward to the next time, especially who will be on stage next.

2. My trip to Branson (September 2008)

This was the big one, the culmination of all the Welk events I've been a part of. I prepared for this vacation since January, saving my money and planning for all the events. The big one of them all was the Welk Stars Reunion Concert at the Champagne Theatre.

I spent four days and three nights at the Welk Resort, did plenty of sightseeing, caught up with old friends and saw the stars live on stage and off the stage as well!

It was also the first time I met Tom Netherton, a fine gentleman with a singing voice powerful enough to move mountains.

And I got to see the stars in the lobby, like Sherry and Sheila!

It was one of the best vacations I ever took, I can just go on and on and on talking about it....

1. The launch of Welk Musical Family.com (March 3, 2003)

It all began as a humble, crummy little Yahoo! Geocities site featuring a few scattered pictures of the Maestro, the show and his Musical Family.

Little did I know it that by decade's end, it would grow into the empire that it is today, complete with blog, and presence on both Facebook and Twitter.

And the site itself has doubled, no tripled, no quadrupled into size filled with pictures, fun facts and everything dedicated to Lawrence Welk and his Music Makers!

Today, Welk Musical Family is seen online in every corner of the planet. It's the biggest and most popular of all the Lawrence Welk webpages.

And it's you the fans and visitors that made it all possible, thank you.

Now that the Aughts come to a close, I wonder what new memories the Teens would bring.

Only time would tell.

The blogmaster's Top Ten Welk moments of the decade