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93-453: Elmer Fudd, portraying the mischievous god Cupid, delights in shooting arrows at male animals to make them fall in love with the nearest female, regardless of species. This leads to chaotic and sometimes tragic consequences, such as a dog falling for a cat, prompting the cat's dramatic reaction. Amidst this chaos, Daffy Duck sings "Don't Sweetheart Me" by Lawrence Welk . Elmer's antics continue as he tries to shoot Daffy, but he complains that he

186-406: A homestead that is now a tourist attraction. They spent the cold North Dakota winter of their first year inside an upturned wagon covered in sod. Welk left school during fourth grade to work full-time on the family farm. Welk decided on a career in music and persuaded his father to buy a mail-order accordion for $ 400 (equivalent to $ 6,084 in 2023). He promised his father that he would work on

279-428: A broadcasting staple. Welk signed with Decca Records in 1941, then recorded for Mercury Records and Coral Records for short periods of time before moving to Dot Records in 1959. In 1967, Welk left Dot Records and joined its former executive Randy Wood in creating Ranwood Records . Welk bought back all his masters from Dot and Coral, and Ranwood became the outlet for all of Welk's many artists. They started with

372-636: A century as a result of their broadcasts on the NBC and CBS networks of the annual New Year's Eve celebrations from the Roosevelt Grill at New York's Roosevelt Hotel (1929-1959) and the Ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel (1959-1976) . Gloria Parker had a radio program on which she conducted the largest all-girl orchestra led by a female. She led her Swingphony while playing marimba. Phil Spitalny ,

465-479: A cinematic tableau in which wildly distorted characters experience exaggerated emotions... Outstanding timing, gags, and dialogue dominate the entire short." Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist , bandleader, and television impresario , who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, television, and live-performance audiences. Welk

558-423: A dispute with Welk over adding a jazz solo to a Christmas song. Reflecting the controversies about the quality of Welk's music among the cognoscenti, in 1956, musical satirist Stan Freberg , known for his love of jazz, wrote and recorded a biting Welk satire, "Wunnerful! Wunnerful!" Freberg impersonated Welk. Recorded with some of Hollywood's best jazz musicians, arranged by Billy May to sound like authentic Welk,

651-400: A greater role to bandleaders, arrangers, and sections of instruments rather than soloists. Big bands generally have four sections: trumpets, trombones, saxophones, and a rhythm section of guitar, piano, double bass, drums and sometimes vibraphone. The division in early big bands, from the 1920s to 1930s, was typically two or three trumpets, one or two trombones, three or four saxophones, and

744-690: A handful of sessions for the Gennett and Paramount companies. In November 1928 he recorded four sides for Gennett spread over two days (one side was rejected), and in 1931 he recorded eight sides for Paramount (in two sessions) that were issued on the Broadway and Lyric labels. These records are rare and highly valued. From 1938 to 1940, he recorded frequently in New York and Chicago for Vocalion Records . During this period Welk recorded numerous instrumentals especially for radio stations; these transcription records became

837-644: A huge reissue of old Dot albums in 1968 to get them started on the right foot. Wood's interest was sold to Welk in 1979. In 2015, Welk Music Group sold the Vanguard and Sugar Hill labels to Concord Bicycle Music while retaining ownership of the Ranwood catalog. Welk's estate licensed the Ranwood catalogue to Concord Music Group for 10 years. In 1951, Welk settled in Los Angeles. The same year, he began producing The Lawrence Welk Show on KTLA in Los Angeles, where it

930-431: A menace. After 1935, big bands rose to prominence playing swing music and held a major role in defining swing as a distinctive style. Western swing musicians also formed popular big bands during the same period. A considerable range of styles evolved among the hundreds of popular bands. Many of the better known bands reflected the individuality of the bandleader, the lead arranger, and the personnel. Count Basie played

1023-420: A native of Ukraine, led a 22-piece female orchestra known as Phil Spitalny and His Hour of Charm Orchestra , named for his radio show, The Hour of Charm , during the 1930s and 1940s. Other female bands were led by trumpeter B. A. Rolfe , Anna Mae Winburn , and Ina Ray Hutton . Big Bands began to appear in movies in the 1930s through the 1960s, though cameos by bandleaders were often stiff and incidental to

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1116-413: A relaxed, propulsive swing, Bob Crosby (brother of Bing ), more of a dixieland style, Benny Goodman a hard driving swing, and Duke Ellington's compositions were varied and sophisticated. Many bands featured strong instrumentalists whose sounds dominated, such as the clarinets of Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw , the trombone of Jack Teagarden , the trumpet of Harry James , the drums of Gene Krupa , and

1209-419: A rhythm section of four instruments. In the 1940s, Stan Kenton 's band used up to five trumpets, five trombones (three tenor and two bass trombones ), five saxophones (two alto saxophones , two tenor saxophones , one baritone saxophone ), and a rhythm section. Duke Ellington at one time used six trumpets. While most big bands dropped the previously common jazz clarinet from their arrangements (other than

1302-408: A series of short-term "Champagne Ladies" before Norma Zimmer became Lon's permanent replacement. He was highly involved with his stars' personal lives, often to the point of arbitrating their marital disputes. His musical conservatism caused occasional controversies as well. Despite the authentic New Orleans Dixieland clarinet that made him a popular cast member, Pete Fountain left the orchestra in

1395-631: A style quite separate from jazz , he recorded several jazzy sides; in November 1928 for Gennett Records , based in Richmond, Indiana : "Spiked Beer" and "Doin' The New Low Down" and in 1931 in Grafton, Wisconsin for Paramount Records "Smile Darn Ya, Smile". During the 1930s, Welk led a traveling big band specializing in dance tunes and "sweet" music (during this period, bands performing light-melodic music were referred to as "sweet bands" to distinguish them from

1488-418: A version of Spade Cooley 's "Shame on You" in 1945. The record (Decca 18698) was number 4 to Cooley's number 5 on Billboard' s September 15 "Most Played Juke Box Folk Records" listing. From 1949 through 1951, the band had radio programming on ABC , sponsored by Miller High Life , "The Champagne of Bottled Beer." In addition to his activities as a performing artist, Welk edited a course of modern music for

1581-548: A young Bob Hope as the announcer. Big band remotes on the major radio networks spread the music from ballrooms and clubs across the country during the 1930s and 1940s, with remote broadcasts from jazz clubs continuing into the 1950s on NBC's Monitor . Radio increased the fame of Benny Goodman , the "Pied Piper of Swing". Others challenged him, and battle of the bands became a regular feature of theater performances. Similarly, Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians Orchestra also achieved widespread notoriety for nearly half

1674-415: Is generally configured so lead parts are seated in the middle of their sections and solo parts are seated closest to the rhythm section. The fourth trombone part is generally played by a bass trombone. In some pieces the trumpets may double on flugelhorn or cornet , and saxophone players frequently double on other woodwinds such as flute , piccolo , clarinet , bass clarinet , or soprano saxophone . It

1767-434: Is now henpecked due to being forced into marriage and becoming the father of many ducklings, including a two-headed one, the last time he was shot. He then traps Elmer in his own hat. Undeterred, Elmer seeks revenge by shooting a giant arrow at Daffy, causing further chaos and misunderstandings involving a hen and her rooster husband. The cycle of chaos and retaliation repeats as Elmer persists in his mischievous schemes. Elmer

1860-583: Is ordinarily voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan , but since the character has no dialogue in this cartoon, Frank Graham provides Elmer's laugh. Elmer reprises his role as Cupid in the Tiny Toon Adventures episode "Spring in Acme Acres" (1990). In the segment "Love Among the Toons", he tricks dullard Concord Condor into temporarily taking over his job. When The Stupid Cupid was reissued, a "Blue Ribbon" title card

1953-524: Is useful to distinguish between the roles of composer, arranger and leader. The composer writes original music that will be performed by individuals or groups of various sizes, while the arranger adapts the work of composers in a creative way for a performance or recording. Arrangers frequently notate all or most of the score of a given number, usually referred to as a "chart". Bandleaders are typically performers who assemble musicians to form an ensemble of various sizes, select or create material for them, shape

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2046-663: The Cotton Club in Harlem. Fletcher Henderson 's career started when he was persuaded to audition for a job at Club Alabam in New York City, which eventually turned into a job as bandleader at the Roseland Ballroom . At these venues, which themselves gained notoriety, bandleaders and arrangers played a greater role than they had before. Hickman relied on Ferde Grofé, Whiteman on Bill Challis . Henderson and arranger Don Redman followed

2139-583: The Oklahoma Educational Television Authority . The "Live Lawrence Welk Show" makes annual concert tours across the United States and Canada, featuring stars from the television series, including Ralna English , Mary Lou Metzger , Gail Farrell , and Anacani . All of Welk's books are coauthored by, or written in conjunction with, Bernice McGeehan and published by Prentice Hall , except where indicated: * "Shame On You" also made

2232-571: The Orlons ' No. 2 pop hit " The Wah-Watusi " with the bass singer Larry Hooper wearing a beatnik outfit. These stood in comparison to the contemporary American Bandstand , which catered to a teenager audience and featured the latest acts. In a 1971 episode, Welk infamously billed the Brewer & Shipley single " One Toke Over the Line " (performed as a duet by Gail Farrell and Dick Dale ), which referenced

2325-610: The 1930s, Earl Hines and his band broadcast from the Grand Terrace in Chicago every night across America. In Kansas City and across the Southwest, an earthier, bluesier style was developed by such bandleaders as Bennie Moten and, later, by Jay McShann and Jesse Stone . By 1937, the "sweet jazz band" saxophonist Shep Fields was also featured over the airways on the NBC radio network in his Rippling Rhythm Revue, which also showcased

2418-667: The 1960s and '70s, Sun Ra and his Arketstra took big bands further out. Ra's eclectic music was played by a roster of musicians from ten to thirty and was presented as theater, with costumes, dancers, and special effects. As jazz was expanded during the 1950s through the 1970s, the Basie and Ellington bands were still around, as were bands led by Buddy Rich , Gene Krupa , Lionel Hampton , Earl Hines , Les Brown , Clark Terry , and Doc Severinsen . Progressive bands were led by Dizzy Gillespie , Gil Evans , Carla Bley , Toshiko Akiyoshi and Lew Tabackin , Don Ellis , and Anthony Braxton . In

2511-401: The 1960s and 1970s, big band rock became popular by integrating such musical ingredients as progressive rock experimentation , jazz fusion , and the horn choirs often used in blues and soul music , with some of the most prominent groups including Chicago ; Blood, Sweat and Tears ; Tower of Power ; and, from Canada, Lighthouse . The genre was gradually absorbed into mainstream pop rock and

2604-530: The 1970s, he developed the "Lawrence Welk Plaza", now known as the 100 Wilshire Blvd Building, in Santa Monica, California, the 21-story high rise which was the former GTE building. Next to that building is the "Lawrence Welk Champagne Towers" the 16-story luxury Apartment Complex, along with the 11-story Wilshire Palisades office building. In the 1980s, the company became The Welk Group and subsequently split into Welk Music Group and Welk Resort Group . Welk

2697-596: The Chicago and Milwaukee areas. In the early 1940s, the band began a 10-year stint at the Trianon Ballroom in Chicago, regularly drawing crowds of several thousand. His orchestra also performed frequently at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City during the late 1940s. In 1944 and 1945, Welk led his orchestra in 10 " Soundies ", three-minute movie musicals considered to be the early pioneers of music videos . Welk collaborated with Western artist Red Foley to record

2790-513: The Second Herd emphasized the saxophone section of three tenors and one baritone. In the 1950s, Stan Kenton referred to his band's music as "progressive jazz", "modern", and "new music". He created his band as a vehicle for his compositions. Kenton pushed the boundaries of big bands by combining clashing elements and by hiring arrangers whose ideas about music conflicted. This expansive eclecticism characterized much of jazz after World War II. During

2883-514: The US Country charts (No. 1) as well as its flip side, "At Mail Call Today" (No. 3) ** "Calcutta" also made the US R&;B chart, reaching No. 10 Big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones , trumpets , trombones , and a rhythm section . Big bands originated during

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2976-495: The United States, and the personnel often had to perform having had little sleep and food. Apart from the star soloists, many musicians received low wages and would abandon the tour if bookings disappeared. Sometimes bandstands were too small, public address systems inadequate, pianos out of tune. Bandleaders dealt with these obstacles through rigid discipline (Glenn Miller) and canny psychology ( Duke Ellington ). Big bands raised morale during World War II . Many musicians served in

3069-482: The absence of their original leaders. Although big bands are identified with the swing era, they continued to exist after those decades, though the music they played was often different from swing. Bandleader Charlie Barnet 's recording of " Cherokee " in 1942 and "The Moose" in 1943 have been called the beginning of the bop era. Woody Herman 's first band, nicknamed the First Herd, borrowed from progressive jazz, while

3162-573: The audience, saying "If you haven't tried it, don't knock it." It is unknown if this gag was removed from the release print or the Blue Ribbon reissue. Animation historian Martin Goodman writes, "Though this farcical short contains some shoddy animation, Frank Tashlin's imaginative direction and Warren Foster's hilarious dialogue lift The Stupid Cupid above its shortcomings and into the realm of unforgettable comedy. As usual, Tashlin approaches his cartoon as

3255-606: The bands of Guy Lombardo and Paul Whiteman. A distinction is often made between so-called "hard bands", such as those of Count Basie and Tommy Dorsey, which emphasized quick hard-driving jump tunes, and "sweet bands", such as the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Shep Fields Rippling Rhythm Orchestra who specialized in less improvised tunes with more emphasis on sentimentality, featuring somewhat slower-paced, often heart-felt songs. By this time

3348-403: The big band was such a dominant force in jazz that the older generation found they either had to adapt to it or simply retire. With no market for small-group recordings (made worse by a Depression-era industry reluctant to take risks), musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines led their own bands, while others, like Jelly Roll Morton and King Oliver, lapsed into obscurity. Even so, many of

3441-448: The bubbles wafting across the musicians' faces and instruments for the entire hour. Within a year, the bubble machine was retired except for the opening and closing "Champagne Music" selections. Whenever the orchestra played a polka or waltz, Welk himself would dance with the band's female vocalist, the "Champagne Lady". This was a long-standing tradition in the Welk band; the first Champagne Lady

3534-413: The clarinet-led orchestras of Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman), many Duke Ellington songs had clarinet parts, often replacing or doubling one of the tenor saxophone parts; more rarely, Ellington would substitute baritone sax for bass clarinet, such as in "Ase's Death" from Swinging Suites . Boyd Raeburn drew from symphony orchestras by adding flute , French horn , strings, and timpani to his band. In

3627-586: The day he died, his English had a marked German accent. On his 21st birthday, having fulfilled his promise to his father, Welk left the family farm to pursue a career in music. During the 1920s, he performed with various bands before forming an orchestra. He led big bands in North Dakota and eastern South Dakota , including the Hotsy Totsy Boys and the Honolulu Fruit Gum Orchestra. His band

3720-594: The distinction between these roles can become blurred. Billy Strayhorn , for example, was a prolific composer and arranger, frequently collaborating with Duke Ellington , but rarely took on the role of bandleader, which was assumed by Ellington, who himself was a composer and arranger. Typical big band arrangements from the swing era were written in strophic form with the same phrase and chord structure repeated several times. Each iteration, or chorus, commonly follows twelve bar blues form or thirty-two-bar (AABA) song form . The first chorus of an arrangement introduces

3813-461: The early 1910s and dominated jazz in the early 1940s when swing was most popular. The term "big band" is also used to describe a genre of music, although this was not the only style of music played by big bands. Big bands started as accompaniment for dancing the Lindy Hop . In contrast to the typical jazz emphasis on improvisation, big bands relied on written compositions and arrangements. They gave

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3906-641: The early 60s, were in Billboard ' s top ten; nine more albums produced between 1956 and 1963 were in the top twenty. His albums continued to chart through 1973. Welk was adamant on providing wholesome entertainment. For example, he fired Alice Lon , at the time the show's "Champagne Lady," because he believed she was showing too much leg. Welk told the audience that he would not tolerate such " cheesecake " performances on his show. A torrent of fan mail indicated that viewers opposed Lon's firing. Welk relented and offered Lon her job back, but Lon refused. He then had

3999-503: The entire band then memorizing the way they are going to perform the piece, without writing it on sheet music. During the 1930s, Count Basie 's band often used head arrangements, as Basie said, "we just sort of start it off and the others fall in." Head arrangements were more common during the period of the 1930s because there was less turnover in personnel, giving the band members more time to rehearse. Before 1910, social dance in America

4092-455: The entire run, musical numbers were divided fairly evenly between prerecorded lip- and finger-sync performances and those recorded live on film or tape. Generally, the big production numbers featuring dancing and singing performances were recorded earlier in the day or the day before, often at famous recording studios in and around nearby Hollywood, while the more intimate numbers were recorded live on tape or film. After retiring from his show and

4185-562: The fall of 1958 and was renamed The Plymouth Show , which ended in May 1959. During that time, the Saturday show was also known as The Dodge Dancing Party . During this period, the networks were in the process of eliminating programming that was seen as having either too old an audience, did not appeal to urban residents, or both (the so-called Rural Purge ). As The Lawrence Welk Show fit into this category, ABC ended its run in 1971. Welk thanked ABC and

4278-513: The farm until he was 21, in repayment for the accordion. Any money he made elsewhere during that time, doing farmwork or performing, would go to his family. Welk became an iconic figure in the German-Russian community of the northern Great Plains—his success story personified the American dream. Welk did not learn to speak English until he was 21; he never felt comfortable speaking in public. To

4371-645: The final year of production of the show. Whenever a Dixieland tune was scheduled, Welk harked back to his days with the Hotsy Totsy Boys and enthusiastically led the band. Befitting the target audience, the type of music on The Lawrence Welk Show was conservative, concentrating on popular music standards, show tunes , polkas , and novelty songs , delivered in a smooth, calm, good-humored easy-listening style and "family-oriented" manner. Although described by one critic, Canadian journalist and entertainment editor Frank Rasky, as "the squarest music this side of Euclid ", this strategy proved commercially successful, and

4464-467: The first bands to accompany the new rhythms was led by a drummer, Art Hickman , in San Francisco in 1916. Hickman's arranger, Ferde Grofé , wrote arrangements in which he divided the jazz orchestra into sections that combined in various ways. This intermingling of sections became a defining characteristic of big bands. In 1919, Paul Whiteman hired Grofé to use similar techniques for his band. Whiteman

4557-455: The form include modulations and cadential extensions. Some big ensembles, like King Oliver 's, played music that was half-arranged, half-improvised, often relying on head arrangements. A head arrangement is a piece of music that is formed by band members during rehearsal. They experiment, often with one player coming up with a simple musical figure leading to development within the same section and then further expansion by other sections, with

4650-468: The form of the "rhythm sextet ". These ensembles typically featured three or more accordions accompanied by piano, guitar, bass, cello, percussion, and marimba with vibes and were popularized by recording artists such as Charles Magnante , Joe Biviano and John Serry . Twenty-first century big bands can be considerably larger than their predecessors, exceeding 20 players, with some European bands using 29 instruments and some reaching 50. In

4743-625: The instrumentation of the big bands. Examples include the Vienna Art Orchestra , founded in 1977, and the Italian Instabile Orchestra , active in the 1990s. In the late 1990s, there was a swing revival in the U.S. The Lindy Hop became popular again and young people took an interest in big band styles again. Big bands maintained a presence on American television, particularly through the late-night talk show, which has historically used big bands as house accompaniment . Typically

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4836-497: The jazz rock sector. Other bandleaders used Brazilian and Afro-Cuban music with big band instrumentation, and big bands led by arranger Gil Evans, saxophonist John Coltrane (on the album Ascension from 1965) and bass guitarist Jaco Pastorius introduced cool jazz , free jazz and jazz fusion, respectively, to the big band domain. Modern big bands can be found playing all styles of jazz music. Some large contemporary European jazz ensembles play mostly avant-garde jazz using

4929-419: The late 1930s, Shep Fields incorporated a solo accordion, temple blocks , piccolo , violins and a viola into his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra. Paul Whiteman also featured a solo accordion in his ensemble. Jazz ensembles numbering eight ( octet ), nine ( nonet ) or ten ( tentet ) voices are sometimes called "little big bands". During the 1940s, somewhat smaller configurations of the big band emerged in

5022-466: The melody and is followed by choruses of development. This development may take the form of improvised solos, written solo sections, and " shout choruses ". An arrangement's first chorus is sometimes preceded by an introduction, which may be as short as a few measures or may extend to a chorus of its own. Many arrangements contain an interlude, often similar in content to the introduction, inserted between some or all choruses. Other methods of embellishing

5115-532: The middle of the decade. Bridging the gap to white audiences in the mid-1930s was the Casa Loma Orchestra and Benny Goodman's early band. The contrast in commercial popularity between "black" and "white" bands was striking: between 1935 and 1945 the top four "white" bands had 292 top ten records, of which 65 were number one hits, while the top four "black" bands had only 32 top ten hits, with only three reaching number one. White teenagers and young adults were

5208-402: The military and toured with USO troupes at the front, with Glenn Miller losing his life while traveling between shows. Many bands suffered from loss of personnel during the war years, and, as a result, women replaced men who had been inducted, while all-female bands began to appear. The 1942–44 musicians' strike worsened the situation. Vocalists began to strike out on their own. By the end of

5301-419: The more literal 4 of early jazz. Walter Page is often credited with developing the walking bass , although earlier examples exist, such as Wellman Braud on Ellington's Washington Wabble (1927). This type of music flourished through the early 1930s, although there was little mass audience for it until around 1936. Up until that time, it was viewed with ridicule and sometimes looked upon as

5394-569: The more rhythmic and assertive "hot" bands of artists like Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington ). Initially, the band traveled around the country by car. They were too poor to rent rooms, so they usually slept and changed clothes in their cars. The term champagne music was derived from an engagement at the William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh , after a dancer referred to his band's sound as "light and bubbly as champagne." The hotel also lays claim to

5487-411: The most common seating for a 17-piece big band, each section is carefully set-up in a way to optimize the bands sound. For the wind players, there are 3 different types of parts: lead parts (including first trumpet, first trombone, and first alto sax), solo parts (including second or fourth trumpet, second trombone, and the first tenor sax), and section members (which include the rest of the band). The band

5580-755: The most popular big bands of the swing era cultivated small groups within the larger ensemble: e.g. Benny Goodman developed both a trio and a quartet, Artie Shaw formed the Gramercy Five, Count Basie developed the Kansas City Six and Tommy Dorsey the Clambake Seven. The major "black" bands of the 1930s included, apart from Ellington's, Hines's, and Calloway's, those of Jimmie Lunceford , Chick Webb , and Count Basie. The "white" bands of Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Shep Fields and, later, Glenn Miller were more popular than their "black" counterparts from

5673-402: The most prominent shows with the earliest time slots and largest audiences have bigger bands with horn sections while those in later time slots go with smaller, leaner ensembles. Many college and university music departments offer jazz programs and feature big band courses in improvisation, composition, arranging, and studio recording, featuring performances by 18 to 20 piece big bands. During

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5766-714: The music's dynamics, phrasing, and expression in rehearsals, and lead the group in performance often while playing alongside them. One of the first prominent big band arrangers was Ferde Grofé , who was hired by Paul Whiteman to write for his “symphonic jazz orchestra”. A number of bandleaders established long-term relationships with certain arrangers, such as the collaboration between leader Count Basie and arranger Neil Hefti . Some bandleaders, such as Guy Lombardo , performed works composed by others (in Lombardo's case, often by his brother Carmen ), while others, such as Maria Schneider , take on all three roles. In many cases, however,

5859-520: The number 1 position, and it kept the Miracles' " Shop Around " from becoming the group's first number-1 hit, holding their recording at number 2. It sold more than one million copies and was awarded a gold disc . The album Calcutta! also achieved number-one status. The albums Last Date , Yellow Bird , Moon River , Young World and Baby Elephant Walk and Theme from the Brothers Grimm , produced in

5952-417: The original "bubble machine," a prop left over from a 1920s movie premiere. Welk described his band's sound, saying, "We still play music with the champagne style, which means light and rhythmic. We place the stress on melody; the chords are played pretty much the way the composer wrote them. We play with a steady beat so dancers can follow it." Welk's big band performed across the country, but particularly in

6045-596: The piano accordion which included arrangements by John Serry for the U. S. School of Music in New York City in 1953, The school was founded in 1898 and was described years later as the oldest home study music school chartered by the Board of Regents in New York State with a total worldwide enrollment of over one million students. In addition to the above-mentioned "Spiked Beer", Welk's territory band made occasional trips to Richmond, Indiana, and to Grafton, Wisconsin, to record

6138-509: The plot. Shep Fields appeared with his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra in a playful and integrated animated performance of "This Little Ripple Had Rhythm" in the musical extravaganza The Big Broadcast of 1938 . Fictionalized biographical films of Glenn Miller , Gene Krupa , and Benny Goodman were made in the 1950s. The bands led by Helen Lewis, Ben Bernie , and Roger Wolfe Kahn's band were filmed by Lee de Forest in his Phonofilm sound-on-film process in 1925, in three short films which are in

6231-431: The principal fans of the big bands in the late 1930s and early 1940s. They danced to recordings and the radio and attended live concerts. They were knowledgeable and often biased toward their favorite bands and songs, and sometimes worshipful of famous soloists and vocalists. Many bands toured the country in grueling one-night stands. Traveling conditions and lodging were difficult, in part due to segregation in most parts of

6324-410: The production crew engineered a "bubble machine" that spouted streams of large bubbles across the bandstand. While the bubble machine was originally engineered to produce soap bubbles, complaints from the band members about soapy build-ups on their instruments led to the machine being reworked to produce glycerine bubbles instead. During the show's first year, the bubble machine operated continuously, with

6417-482: The road in 1982, Welk continued to air reruns of his shows, which were repackaged first for syndication and, starting in 1986, for public television. He also starred in and produced a pair of Christmas specials in 1984 and 1985. Welk was a businessman and subsequent to his marriage in 1930, he was the manager of a hotel, restaurant, and music store. In the late 1950s, he founded Teleklew Inc., which had investments in music publishing , recordings, and real estate. In

6510-470: The show began being recorded on videotape , and it switched to color for the fall 1965 season. During its network run, The Lawrence Welk Show aired on ABC on Saturday nights at 9 p.m. ( Eastern Time ), moving up a half-hour to 8:30 p.m. in the fall of 1963. In fact, Welk headlined two weekly prime-time shows on ABC for three years. From 1956 to 1958, he hosted Top Tunes and New Talent , which aired on Monday nights. The series moved to Wednesdays in

6603-462: The show remained on the air for 31 years. Welk's musicians included accordionist Myron Floren , the concert violinist Dick Kesner , the guitarist Buddy Merrill, and the New Orleans Dixieland clarinetist Pete Fountain . Though Welk was occasionally rumored to be tight with a dollar, he paid his regular band members top scale. Long tenure was common among the regulars. For example, Floren

6696-496: The single mocked Welk's accordion work, his sometimes-stumbling patter between songs and the music of such Welk favorites Rocky Rockwell ("Stony Stonedwell"), Champagne Lady Alice Lon ("Alice Lean") and Larry Hooper ("Larry Looper"). Welk was not amused, and when he met Freberg years later, claimed he never used the "Wunnerful! Wunnerful!" term. Ironically, it became the title of Welk's 1971 autobiography. Despite its staid reputation, The Lawrence Welk Show nonetheless kept up with

6789-411: The song, he (Cates) would. Welk replied, "Well, if it's good enough for you, George, I guess it's good enough for me." Although the rock-and-roll explosion in the mid-1950s had driven most older artists off the charts, "Calcutta" reached number 1 on the U.S. pop charts between February 13 and 26, 1961; it was recorded in only one take. The tune knocked The Shirelles' " Will You Love Me Tomorrow " out of

6882-513: The sponsors at the end of the last network show. The Lawrence Welk Show continued on as a first-run syndicated program shown on 250 stations across the country until the final original show was produced in 1982, when Welk decided to retire. While many longtime TV shows suffered a serious ratings drop during the counterculture movement of the late 1960s , The Lawrence Welk Show survived largely intact and even had increased viewership during this time, albeit consisting of mostly older viewers. For

6975-423: The television show has been repackaged for broadcast on PBS stations, with updates from show performers appearing as wraparounds where the original shows had commercial breaks. The repackaged shows are broadcast at roughly the same Saturday night time slot as the original ABC shows, and special longer rebroadcasts are often shown during individual stations' fund-raising periods. These repackaged shows are produced by

7068-469: The template of King Oliver , but as the 1920s progressed they moved away from the New Orleans format and transformed jazz. They were assisted by a band full of talent: Coleman Hawkins on tenor saxophone, Louis Armstrong on cornet, and multi-instrumentalist Benny Carter , whose career lasted into the 1990s. Swing music began appearing in the early 1930s and was distinguished by a more supple feel than

7161-581: The times and never limited itself strictly to music of the big-band era. During the 1960s and 1970s, for instance, the show incorporated material by such contemporary sources as the Beatles , Burt Bacharach and Hal David , Neil Sedaka , the Everly Brothers and Paul Williams (as well as, in the most notorious example, Brewer & Shipley ), all arranged in a format that was easily digestible to older viewers. Originally produced in black and white , in 1957

7254-624: The use of marijuana, as a "modern spiritual"; social conservatives of the era saw the song as subversive and it became the first casualty of an attempt by the Federal Communications Commission to get radio stations to ban all pro-drug songs. Later in the 1970s, however, Welk's programs often included current adult contemporary songs performed by his singers, including " Feelings " and " Love Will Keep Us Together " (made famous by Morris Albert and Captain & Tennille , respectively), and current songs were included up through 1982,

7347-699: The vibes of Lionel Hampton . The popularity of many of the major bands was amplified by star vocalists, such as Frank Sinatra and Connie Haines with Tommy Dorsey , Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly with Jimmy Dorsey , Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb , Billie Holiday and Jimmy Rushing with Count Basie , Kay Starr with Charlie Barnet , Bea Wain with Larry Clinton , Dick Haymes , Kitty Kallen and Helen Forrest with Harry James , Fran Warren with Claude Thornhill , Doris Day with Les Brown , and Peggy Lee and Martha Tilton with Benny Goodman . Some bands were "society bands" which relied on strong ensembles but little on soloists or vocalists, such as

7440-421: The war, swing was giving way to less danceable music, such as bebop . Many of the great swing bands broke up, as the times and tastes changed. Many bands from the swing era continued for decades after the death or departure of their founders and namesakes, and some are still active in the 21st century, often referred to as " ghost bands ", a term attributed to Woody Herman, referring to orchestras that persist in

7533-422: Was Lois Best (1939 to 1941), followed during the war years by Jayne Walton. Beginning with the Welk show's freshman year, Welk was careful to program current songs in addition to the traditional big-band standards. The Boyd Bennett rock-and-roll hit "My Boy Flat Top" was featured on two different programs (November 26, 1955 and December 10, 1955, the latter featuring Buddy Merrill on electric guitar). The policy

7626-436: Was added to the opening sequence, and an ending scene is believed to have been removed. Theories speculate the cartoon originally had the special ending theme before the Blue Ribbon reissue rather than a fade out. This can only be proven with an original print. According to historian Greg Ford, when Daffy is stuck between a hen and a rooster who is inadvertently kissing him at the end of the short, Daffy originally turned to face

7719-601: Was also the station band for the popular radio programming WNAX in Yankton, South Dakota . The Lawrence Welk Orchestra scored an immediate success and began a daily radio show, which lasted from 1927 to 1936. The radio show led to many well-paying engagements for the band throughout the midwestern states. In 1927, he graduated from the MacPhail School of Music in Minneapolis , Minnesota. Although many associate Welk's music with

7812-432: Was awarded four U.S. design patents for a musically themed restaurant menu, an accordion-themed tray for serving food at a restaurant, and an accordion-themed ashtray. Welk was married for 61 years, until his death in 1992, to Fern Renner (August 26, 1903 – February 13, 2002), with whom he had two daughters and a son. His son, Lawrence Welk Jr., married and divorced fellow Lawrence Welk Show performer Tanya Falan . Welk

7905-632: Was born in the German-speaking community of Strasburg, North Dakota . He was sixth of the eight children of Ludwig and Christiana (née Schwahn) Welk, Roman Catholic ethnic Germans who emigrated in 1892 from Odessa , Russian Empire (now Ukraine ). Welk was a first cousin, once removed, of former Montana governor Brian Schweitzer (Welk's mother and Schweitzer's paternal grandmother were siblings). Welk's paternal great-great-grandparents, Moritz and Magdalena Welk, emigrated in 1808 from Germanophone Alsace-Lorraine to Ukraine . The family lived on

7998-570: Was broadcast from the Aragon Ballroom in Venice Beach . The show became a local hit and was picked up by ABC in June 1955. By 1956, Welk also signed with Ben Selvin at RCA Thesaurus for broadcasts of his "New Lawrence Welk Show" on leading national radio networks. During its first year on the air, the Welk hour instituted several regular features. To make Welk's "Champagne Music" tagline visual,

8091-499: Was dominated by steps such as the waltz and polka . As jazz migrated from its New Orleans origin to Chicago and New York City , energetic, suggestive dances traveled with it. During the next decades, ballrooms filled with people doing the jitterbug and Lindy Hop . The dance duo Vernon and Irene Castle popularized the foxtrot while accompanied by the Europe Society Orchestra led by James Reese Europe . One of

8184-510: Was educated in classical music, and he called his new band's music symphonic jazz. The methods of dance bands marked a step away from New Orleans jazz. With the exception of Jelly Roll Morton , who continued playing in the New Orleans style, bandleaders paid attention to the demand for dance music and created their own big bands. They incorporated elements of Broadway , Tin Pan Alley , ragtime , and vaudeville . Duke Ellington led his band at

8277-820: Was inducted as a charter member of the Rough Rider Award from his native North Dakota . In 1967, he received the Horatio Alger Award from the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans . He later served as the Grand Marshal for the Rose Bowl 's Tournament of Roses parade in 1972. Welk received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1980. In 1994, Welk

8370-658: Was inducted into the International Polka Music Hall of Fame. Welk has a star for recording on the Hollywood Walk of Fame , located at 6613½ Hollywood Boulevard. He has a second star at 1601 Vine Street for television. In 2007, Welk became a charter member of the Gennett Records Walk of Fame in Richmond, Indiana . Welk's band continues to appear in a dedicated theater in Branson, Missouri . In addition,

8463-536: Was relaxed over the next year, with new songs still being included but now being treated as novelty arrangements. In the December 8, 1956 broadcast, "Nuttin' for Christmas" became a vehicle for Rocky Rockwell dressed in a child's outfit, and Elvis Presley 's " Don't Be Cruel " was sung by the violinist Bob Lido , wearing fake Presley-style sideburns . In another episode, the Lennon Sisters and Norma Zimmer performed

8556-580: Was survived by 10 grandchildren and a great-grandchild. His grandson Lawrence Welk III is a helicopter pilot who worked with Zoey Tur . A devout Roman Catholic , Welk was a daily communicant . He was a noted member of The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks . He died of pneumonia on May 17, 1992, at age 89, at his Santa Monica home, surrounded by his family. He was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California . In 1961, Welk

8649-444: Was the band's assistant conductor throughout the show's run. He was noted for spotlighting individual members of his band. Welk had a number of instrumental hits, including a cover of the song " Yellow Bird ". His highest-charting record was " Calcutta ", written by Heino Gaze , which achieved hit status in 1961. Welk himself was indifferent to the tune, but his musical director, George Cates , said that if Welk did not wish to record

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