Somebody pinch me....

13 - 10

That's the final score of today's game between my UT Rockets and the Michigan Wolverines.

Let me be more clear....

13 to 10, the University of Toledo WINNING against Michigan!

Up north in Ann Arbor, at the Big House! (107,501 seat Michigan Stadium)

I am still in shock, in a good, giddy and excited way....

Now I know what the kids and alums from Appalachian State feel like last year.

Allow me to bask in the glow of victory....and get ready for a great Welk episode tonight.

GO ROCKETS! WHO HOO!

Somebody pinch me....

Alice from the palace

Here's some nice pictures of legendary Champagne Lady Alice Lon, a sure-fire way to brighten anyone's day!

Here's Alice showing off her down-home Texas charm.....

.....as Bob Lido would find out,

.....two Champagne Ladies! Alice with Norma Zimmer

....and it's time for the Town & Country Polka with Rocky Rockwell

Alice from the palace

Friday time is Haiku time!

I think this one is one of my best yet....

Catch a falling star

and put it in your pocket

They wear some strange clothes

Friday time is Haiku time!

I've Got A Crush On You

From 1972, here's Tanya with Buddy Merrill in this very cute musical number titled "I've Got A Crush On You"



Back then, Buddy must've been thinkin "Man, this is exciting.....ahem....must concentrate on guitar"

I've Got A Crush On You

And now....another episode of Welk stars with mustaches

Here's Ken Delo, clean shaven....

...and here's Ken again, sporting a mustache!

very David Niven-esque, I would say....

And now....another episode of Welk stars with mustaches

More Welk-SNL chatter....

Last Saturday's parody of the Lawrence Welk show on Saturday Night Live had me thinking....it was the first time I can remember the folks at 30 Rock spoofed the Champagne Music Makers, I can only imagine what would it be like if they did this earlier?

Just think of some of the members of the Musical Family that could have been parodied by the Not Yet Ready For Prime Time Players....past or present!

For instance....

Ken Delo would have been played by Phil Hartman

Henry Cuesta played by Jon Lovitz

Ralna English played by Jane Curtin

Myron Floren played by Dan Ackroyd

....and there are many more to choose from

More Welk-SNL chatter....

SNL's Welk skit....much better quality

Looks like YouTube has pulled it down, have no fear....here's the skit back again, this time from NBC's official SNL page

SNL's Welk skit....much better quality

Paul Humphrey

Today is Paul Humphrey's birthday, and...surprise, surprise...I have a haiku written for him!

Listen to the beat

Paul knows how to move the sticks

He has good rhythm

Paul Humphrey

Gail Farrell

Today is Gail's birthday.....and guess what? I have a haiku written for her!

Let's listen to her

as she teams up with Dick Dale

They make a great pair

Happy Birthday Gail!

Gail Farrell

SNL's Lawrence Welk sketch

Didn't take long for it to appear on YouTube, so here it is....Saturday Night Live's parody of the Lawrence Welk Show!

SNL's Lawrence Welk sketch

Musical Masterpieces

Any of you guys watched last night's Saturday Night Live? They did a pretty funny parody of the Lawrence Welk Show.

Fred Armisen does a pretty food job of being the Maestro, I must remember to tape it next time when they re-run that episode, and you can guarantee they will show it again!

Now how do I beat that? Maybe by showing some highlights from this week's Welk episode, "Musical Masterpieces."

Gail, Sandi and Mary Lou open up the show.....

Myron Floren plays "Czardas" on the accordion.....

Johnny Zell plays a nice trumpet solo of "It's All In The Game".....

....and finally, Tanya joins Ken Delo for a duet of "Glow Worm".

And here's some food for thought, the original airdate for this Lawrence Welk show was October 18, 1975. Later that evening, the second-ever episode of SNL also aired as well!

Funny how things come together.....yeah, that's the ticket.

Musical Masterpieces

The sounds and sights of Homecoming

There's nothing like it here in America.....here are some pictures I took of UT's homecoming earlier today.

This is the spectacle that is tailgating....

Homecoming is when alumni past and present reunite....

These students have been riding the see-saw for a while....

And there's the football action.....

....lets not forget the crowning of the Homecoming King and Queen!

And the weather conditions was a picture-perfect autumn day.

Too bad the Rockets were on the wrong end of a 31-0 stinker.

The sounds and sights of Homecoming

Fridays are meant for haikus

Like 'em or not....here's another one.

Lets open the show

Complete with singers and clowns

That's entertainment!

Fridays are meant for haikus

Mr. Welk goes hippie

Here's one of the most memorable moments in Lawrence Welk Show history...

It's 1969, the opening show for season fifteen on ABC,

the girls introduce the Maestro....

What's going on here? Something does not look right.....

Sandi and Sally are taking a stand against this.....

Looks like he's back to his senses! And has learned a lesson as well.

Watch the whole thing, blow-by-blow, right here.

Mr. Welk goes hippie

Kirsten Weingartner

One of the highlights from my Branson trip earlier this month was of course I got to see the Live Welk Reunion Show.

The band had plenty of talented musicians that provided the excellent music, one of them is violinist Kirsten Weingartner

Here's Kirsten doing a spendid version of "Wild Dog", Joe Livoti would be very proud of her.

From a Google search of her, she's spent eleven years as violinst for the Live Welk Show at the Welk Theater and has performed with several other orchestras such as the Omaha Symphony, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the Chamber Orchestra of the Ozarks just to name a few.

If you get a chance to see her perform, do so. It's well worth your time.

 

Kirsten Weingartner

Hummingbird

It's been a while we heard from the Lennon Sisters....

Here's Peggy, Kathy and Janet from 1964 singing "Hummingbird" courtesy of our friends from YouTube

Hummingbird

TV themes we would've loved to hear on the Welk show

There are so many to choose from, and that's why I'll be posting regularly on this subject.

Great television shows are known for it's iconic theme songs, and the Champagne Music Makers have performed many of them on the Welk show over the years (Happy Days, The Tonight Show, My Three Sons, etc...)

And there are some that we would have loved to hear the Maestro's band play,

....one of them is the theme for Coronation Street.

A quick refresher course not familiar....Coronation Street is a popular British soap opera that has aired on ITV since 1960. If you live close to the Canadian border here in the good ol' USA....it's also aired on CBC...or in my case, their Windsor affiliate (Canada likes the show too!)

It takes place in the northern working-class English town of Weatherford, and it has famous characters such as Ken Barlow, Ena Sharples, Bet Lynch, etc....more can be read from it's Wikipedia article.

But it has a great theme song done Big Band style composed by Eric Spear, click here to listen to it.

After listening, you can agree it would be tailor-made for Lawrence Welk and his orchestra....I can just picture the trumpet solo either done by Mickey McMahan

...or Johnny Zell

....and it's great clarinet solo by Henry Cuesta

TV themes we would've loved to hear on the Welk show

The ABC curtain call

This week, it's the last show on the ABC network from 1971 and just before Lawrence and his music makers make the switch to syndication, here are some highlights for the Alphabet Newtork viewers!

The reeds section playing "Say It With Music", under the iconic Geritol sign...

Cissy King and Bobby Burgess dancing to "Moon River".....

Two fellows who were on the Welk show from the start in 1955, the Maestro and Buddy Merrill....

Tanya Falan singing "That's Amore"....

That's all this week, and I like to dedicate this post to the memory of Paul Newman....I must have enjoyed his Newman's Own popcorn several times while watching Lawrence Welk.

The ABC curtain call

Another awful Rocket loss

Just got back home from a Saturday's night worth of college football at the Glass Bowl, and UT went down in flames....again, 35-16 to Florida International University.

And what's worse, I got the annual changing-of-the-seasons allergies which means I have been coughing and sneezing with the headache on the side.

That really sucks....

Oh well, even when the football team isn't looking good, my alma mater...the University of Toledo is a pretty campus, so here are some pictures I took Thursday when I went bicycle riding,

The Centennial Mall with the bell tower in the background....

The icon itself.....the famous Bell Tower

The Student Union with the fountain in front.....

Savage Hall, where the Rockets play basketball.....

...and the Glass Bowl, site of many triumphs courtesy of the Midnight Blue and Gold.

Tommorrow, I have a rundown of this week's episode of Lawrence Welk.

And like UT, it's a good one!

Another awful Rocket loss

Lynn Anderson

It's Lynn's birthday today, and here we go with the haikus....

I beg your pardon

Lynn promised a rose garden

Not a bed of thorns

Lynn Anderson

Arthur Duncan

It's Arthur Duncan's birthday today, and here's a haiku for him!

Take one step forward

And take another step back

Arthur's feet can fly

Arthur Duncan

Guy Hovis

Today is Guy Hovis' birthday, here's a haiku written for him...

He's from Tupelo

Just like another singer

You know who he is

Happy Birthday Guy!

Guy Hovis

Meet the Music Makers

Ever wanted to know who was in the Lawrence Welk Orchestra back in 1955? Now you can thanks to YouTube!

Live, from Chicago that year....here's the boys in the band introducing themselves in poetry and song!

Meet the Music Makers

It's up to Guy & Ralna to Beat The Clock!

Representing the Green section, Guy Hovis and Ralna English!

As they try to Beat The Clock!

Thanks to a great heads-up from a loyal fan of Welk Musical Family.com, I found out that GSN aired this episode featuring Guy & Ralna from the Monty Hall hosted revival this early Monday morning.

So I went ahead, programmed the DVR and was able to watch if our favorite singing married couple from the Welk Show can win some money!

I'm guessing that this episode aired back in 1980, they mentioned they been married for eleven years.

Here, they try to win money for the studio audience such as rolling a soccer ball into some narrow goalposts....

....and Ralna rolling some hula hoops while Guy tries to catch them, with a broomstick, blindfolded.

Here's Ralna playing the Bonus Shuffle, with some high stakes at stake.....

And Guy is playing a very unusual bonus game.

Oh sure, it looks easy.....

It's up to Guy & Ralna to Beat The Clock!