Quote from: quiller on January 23, 2015, 01:34:29 AM
The guy running that bubble machine was probably a communist. And those Lenin Sisters! 

I wasn't an Elvis fan after seeing Love Me Tender in the theater and seeing a few of his guest appearances. I missed the "Ed Sullivan Show" performance that was waist-up (mentioned above) but did see his physical decline and the final clownish self-parody that he became.

This generation, it's which Kardashian has the biggest whatever, or how ignorant Justin Beiber can get before someone turns off his air.

Actually, Kim does have a super-fine posterior, if your taste runs to the jumbo economy size. What's the old saw? The bigger the cushion, the better the pushin'. Sounds like something penned by a fat girl. 

What I don't understand is this flood of "personalities" getting rich for being... "personalities." What's up with that? Kim produces nothing except, I suppose, soul-stirring moments for Kanye West, and his half-breed children. 

Quote from: TboneAgain on January 23, 2015, 03:06:10 PM
Actually, Kim does have a super-fine posterior, if your taste runs to the jumbo economy size. What's the old saw? The bigger the cushion, the better the pushin'. Sounds like something penned by a fat girl. 

What I don't understand is this flood of "personalities" getting rich for being... "personalities." What's up with that? Kim produces nothing except, I suppose, soul-stirring moments for Kanye West, and his half-breed children. 

I suggest there is no sense in trying to predict what or who will ring a man's chimes. It baffles me as well trying to understand celebrity-for-being-a-celebrity. And anyone who can explain why Honey Boo Boo is not in state custody for protection against her mother's choice in boyfriends, let me know.

(*shrugs, stumbles away*)

The pre-boring Elvis invented some great lead-singer moves, which I liked.  I was born in'52 and was aware of commercial schlock pretty early.

-Liked Elvis' Flying Saucers Rock & Roll.
-Wasn't fond of Sheb Wooley's Flying Purple People Eater.

I usually had to go to bed before Ed Sullivan came-on, but was aware of the live TV-cam controversy of only showing Elvis from the waist up.

I was basically 'into' Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, and Annette Funicello... plus alotta one-hit-wonders, by the time I learned some old man was ordering Elvis around.  That ruined it, for me.  You can't be a rebel when 'the establishment' controls your career.

For Welk, I wish someone would've forced me to go to bed before he came-on.  It was all pretty awful and schlock-y.  Even Bobby didn't help, moving-over from Disney.

Quote from: kit saginaw on January 23, 2015, 09:25:32 PM
The pre-boring Elvis invented some great lead-singer moves, which I liked.  I was born in'52 and was aware of commercial schlock pretty early.

-Liked Elvis' Flying Saucers Rock & Roll.
-Wasn't fond of Sheb Wooley's Flying Purple People Eater.

I usually had to go to bed before Ed Sullivan came-on, but was aware of the live TV-cam controversy of only showing Elvis from the waist up.

I was basically 'into' Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, and Annette Funicello... plus alotta one-hit-wonders, by the time I learned some old man was ordering Elvis around.  That ruined it, for me.  You can't be a rebel when 'the establishment' controls your career.

For Welk, I wish someone would've forced me to go to bed before he came-on.  It was all pretty awful and schlock-y.  Even Bobby didn't help, moving-over from Disney.

Yet, not one single mention of "Sing along with Mitch"?
Blasphemous I tell ya.

Quote from: Solar on January 24, 2015, 06:19:20 AM
Yet, not one single mention of "Sing along with Mitch"?
Blasphemous I tell ya.

Ha! Yes, yes, just follow the bouncing ball....  That was one of my mom's favorites, along with Jon Gnagy's "Learn to Draw" show.

Quote from: TboneAgain on January 24, 2015, 11:32:47 AM
Ha! Yes, yes, just follow the bouncing ball....  That was one of my mom's favorites, along with Jon Gnagy's "Learn to Draw" show.

Yep, mom and I would sing along. The rest of the family thought we were nuts.
Good memories.

Quote from: Solar on January 24, 2015, 06:19:20 AM
Yet, not one single mention of "Sing along with Mitch"?
Blasphemous I tell ya.

His gimmick didn't work that well compared to Welk's studio-audience dancing gimmick, projecting the aura of a ballroom-show.  Audiences were gonna sing/hum anyway.

Welk did grab one of Elvis' backup singers, though.  -That low-baritone guy.

Quote from: kit saginaw on January 24, 2015, 11:29:36 PM
His gimmick didn't work that well compared to Welk's studio-audience dancing gimmick, projecting the aura of a ballroom-show.  Audiences were gonna sing/hum anyway.

Welk did grab one of Elvis' backup singers, though.  -That low-baritone guy.

No doubt Mitch's show didn't have the lasting appeal Welk's did, and I believe a lot of it was due to generational issues, much of Mitch's audience were already in their final years, where Welk's was cross-generational and attracted a much larger viewership.

Quote from: Solar on January 25, 2015, 04:31:37 AM
No doubt Mitch's show didn't have the lasting appeal Welk's did, and I believe a lot of it was due to generational issues, much of Mitch's audience were already in their final years, where Welk's was cross-generational and attracted a much larger viewership.

I just always enjoyed Welk's distinctive North Dakota twang. 

Quote from: TboneAgain on January 25, 2015, 01:27:17 PM
I just always enjoyed Welk's distinctive North Dakota twang. 

and...uhh-one-nah and uhh two-uh and...
What's not to luv?

Quote from: Solar on January 25, 2015, 03:46:09 PM

and...uhh-one-nah and uhh two-uh and...
What's not to luv?

Welk was born in a German-speaking community, but he learned English at an early age, and I read a while back that he normally spoke perfect colloquial English. He reverted to the accent of his German parents as a gimmick for the show.

Quote from: TboneAgain on January 25, 2015, 04:24:38 PM
Welk was born in a German-speaking community, but he learned English at an early age, and I read a while back that he normally spoke perfect colloquial English. He reverted to the accent of his German parents as a gimmick for the show.

I wonder why...  I think you're right though.  The majority of German-accents are subdued and in-cadence with English. 

Big band/orchestra entertainment was basically fading into fossilized wood by the mid-50's, in the US.  It seemed like the 30-something's were opting for studio-orchestras.   

Quote from: kit saginaw on January 25, 2015, 08:44:42 PM
I wonder why...  I think you're right though.  The majority of German-accents are subdued and in-cadence with English. 

Big band/orchestra entertainment was basically fading into fossilized wood by the mid-50's, in the US.  It seemed like the 30-something's were opting for studio-orchestras.

Maybe, maybe not. For sure, Welk found a niche. That niche would not exist in the absence of demand.

I think what Welk tapped into was the pool of boomers and pre-boomers -- the folks who really built the war-time economy -- and owned them. Both of my parents, for example, were children of the Great Depression, and they were both big-time Welk fans.

There is a post-war social miasma -- a nasty, ugly, smelly mess that persists to this day -- that Lawrence Welk protected us all from. I wish he was still talking funny today. 

Quote from: TboneAgain on January 25, 2015, 09:07:53 PM
Maybe, maybe not. For sure, Welk found a niche. That niche would not exist in the absence of demand.

I think what Welk tapped into was the pool of boomers and pre-boomers -- the folks who really built the war-time economy -- and owned them. Both of my parents, for example, were children of the Great Depression, and they were both big-time Welk fans.

There is a post-war social miasma -- a nasty, ugly, smelly mess that persists to this day -- that Lawrence Welk protected us all from. I wish he was still talking funny today. 

I can't muster an argument against ya, other than what the champagne-bubbles were supposed to be signifying, in my mind.  Partying: non Amy Vanderbilt style.  Like Kay Kyser's and Xavier Cugat's crews were famous for.  America had the cold war/work hard, play hard thing going-on.  Welk had a sheltering influence, but 'we' wanted Abby Lane in-feathers, singing  "Hey, Big Spender" or Peggy Lee, singing  "Fever". 

That was another thing working against Welk.  No songwriters on-contract.  He was just doing other people's stuff.

Quote from: kit saginaw on January 26, 2015, 03:41:35 PM
I can't muster an argument against ya, other than what the champagne-bubbles were supposed to be signifying, in my mind.  Partying: non Amy Vanderbilt style.  Like Kay Kyser's and Xavier Cugat's crews were famous for.  America had the cold war/work hard, play hard thing going-on.  Welk had a sheltering influence, but 'we' wanted Abby Lane in-feathers, singing  "Hey, Big Spender" or Peggy Lee, singing  "Fever". 

That was another thing working against Welk.  No songwriters on-contract.  He was just doing other people's stuff.

Let's not forget Edie Adams, peddling Muriel cigars in that glittery dress, and Gunilla Knutson encouraging us to use Noxzema's shave cream to "take it off... take it all off" to the strains of David Rose's "The Stripper." Neither gal would ever serve as Welk's "champagne lady."