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Post by brutalis on Jun 20, 2021 14:19:39 GMT -5
^ most of us here are as old as dirt. but some of us are pretty well pickled Not naming names, but a few may be a bit more pickled than most😉🍻
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Post by berkley on Jun 20, 2021 16:04:44 GMT -5
My impression of Lawrene Welk isn't so much as the representative of the music of older generations but rather an insufferably watered-down, sugar-coated, decrepit facsimile of it.
Does the fact that the Welk show is a mainstay of Oklahoma's (and Rhode Island's, to be fair) PBS station change your opinion? For me the Welk show is like the proverbial bad car accident.
I think PBS is where I mostly saw the show - after we got cable TV in the 80s. It seemed like half the time I checked the PBS channel to see what they were showing, that was it. Frome memory, before actually seeing it on PBS, I was aware of Lawrence Welk mostly as a punch-line to jokes or cracks on US tv comedy shows.
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Post by brutalis on Jun 20, 2021 16:28:56 GMT -5
Make your jokes or take your shots at the Champagne Bubble Maestro. It only shows a lack of caring, understanding or acceptance that there all sorts of musical variety for our listening pleasure. Grew up watching Welk on Saturday nights on PBS as both sets of Grandparents had grown up listening to those songs and musical stylings. PBS still runs it every Saturday night. When my dad's mother's Alzheimer took full effect any weekend visit up to Payson seeing my grandpa meant taking him to the nursing home where we shared dinner and Welk with a room full of fans.
It was a splendid thing to seeing these old, tired, Ill physically or mentally or emotionally people all gather together for an hour. Wide smiles, joy in their eyes and happiness in their hearts as they escaped the sorrow or pain they carried. To this day if I am home on Saturday not busy or watching a movie I will tune in and watch Welk and his "family" of performers.
Welk is a part of the American musical history and culture. A piece of time that is captured for ALL generations to know and enjoy. If you want to call me an old codger then go ahead, I don't care. I can readily listen to Welk, Crosby, Williams, Como, Martin, Sinatra, Davis right beside Opera, Classical, Country, Blues, Jazz and Rock as my pleasure of ALL forms of music is as varied as my taste in writers, comic books, movies, television and other such joy.
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Post by majestic on Jun 20, 2021 20:20:05 GMT -5
brutalis like you Welk evokes good memories. Sat evenings at my grandparents. I would be sprawled on the floor probably reading comics books while my grandparents watched it. It meant time with my grandparents plus they had a color TV 6-7 years before my parents bought one. So I was willing to watch almost anything since it was in color at their house. I also wanted to be at their house when the Batman TV show was on!
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Post by berkley on Jun 20, 2021 22:31:40 GMT -5
I'd never begrudge anyone their enjoyment of something, no matter what I happen to think of it myself, and I don't look down on people who enjoy Lawrence Welk or what have you. And I also don't begrudge anyone their dislike for, i dunno "classic rock", or other things I like - I can even understand the feeling, though I don't share it myself. So apologies to Brutalis and Majestic and anyone else who felt targeted or insulted by my comments on Welk.
There's tons of music I like that I think many here would find laughable - sappy 70s balladeers like Lobo, Edward Bear, the Carpenters; romantic crooners like Engelbert Humperdinck and Tom Jones (I remember this as a big rivalry in the 60s and very early 70s, as their audiences of swooning women overlapped); light pop like Herman's Hermits; ... I have no pride when it comes to music! Or anything else, now that you mention it.
Getting back to lawrence Welk, I love the genre I think he was working in - basically Tin Pan Alley? - but not what I remember of his show and its performers. But I fully concede that I never gave it much of a look or a listen. Possibly I was prejudiced against it before ever actually seeing it but my impression is that he was mining that music for nostalgia and selling it to audiences who couldn't find it anywhere else on a regular basis.
And I don't necessarily mean he was doing this in a cynical way. But my impression, unfair as it may be, is similar to the one I get from televangelist programs: a slightly creepy feeling that here was a show that knew how to exploit a need. Once again, as with evangelistic Christian programming, this doesn't preclude the utmost sincerity on the part of the host and star performers.
Perhaps that wasn't the best choice for a comparison - I'm not trying to offend our evangelistic Christian members either! Just trying to describe my own feelings and impressions, as unfounded or inaccurate as they may be.
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Post by Cei-U! on Jun 21, 2021 5:32:39 GMT -5
As someone who enjoys ABBA, Barry Manilow, John Denver, The Carpenters, and other "uncool" acts, I'm not one to judge anyone else's music tastes but I can't stand Lawrence Welk. I associate that show with Sunday dinners at my Uncle Lawrence and Aunt Alice's house, which were uncomfortable affairs given Lawrence's penchant for criticizing my dad during the meal. Not Welk's fault, really, but...
Cei-U! I summon the noise pollution!
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Post by Icctrombone on Jun 21, 2021 6:59:13 GMT -5
Make your jokes or take your shots at the Champagne Bubble Maestro. It only shows a lack of caring, understanding or acceptance that there all sorts of musical variety for our listening pleasure. Grew up watching Welk on Saturday nights on PBS as both sets of Grandparents had grown up listening to those songs and musical stylings. PBS still runs it every Saturday night. When my dad's mother's Alzheimer took full effect any weekend visit up to Payson seeing my grandpa meant taking him to the nursing home where we shared dinner and Welk with a room full of fans. It was a splendid thing to seeing these old, tired, Ill physically or mentally or emotionally people all gather together for an hour. Wide smiles, joy in their eyes and happiness in their hearts as they escaped the sorrow or pain they carried. To this day if I am home on Saturday not busy or watching a movie I will tune in and watch Welk and his "family" of performers. Welk is a part of the American musical history and culture. A piece of time that is captured for ALL generations to know and enjoy. If you want to call me an old codger then go ahead, I don't care. I can readily listen to Welk, Crosby, Williams, Como, Martin, Sinatra, Davis right beside Opera, Classical, Country, Blues, Jazz and Rock as my pleasure of ALL forms of music is as varied as my taste in writers, comic books, movies, television and other such joy. Hey Bro, Music is the universal language and which anyone can enjoy and appreciate, no matter what the genre. Learned that as a musician and took appreciation for it when I attended HS and was trained in classical music. There are times that I play Mozart while reading comics. It all ties together to all the music you hear today. Listening to Rap, power ballads, country etc, expands your appreciation for the cleverness in the way music is arranged. As for scoffing at Lawrence Welk, I'm sure people still scoff at grown men and women collecting comics. Rock on Brutalis !
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Post by Icctrombone on Jun 21, 2021 7:11:14 GMT -5
This is not a shot to anyone in particular but I get annoyed when I PM a member of this forum and they don't respond, even when I know they are actively posting during the same time. I get that it's a fast paced world but , manners matter. I don't believe in ghosting anyone when they PM me, so I don't expect anyone to ghost me. I can handle that you don't want to interact with me , but please say so.
End of rant.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jun 21, 2021 7:11:44 GMT -5
Yeah, I left behind my music snobbery quite some time ago and have adopted a live and let live attitude about other people's tastes. And brutalis, what you said about the folks all watching Lawrence Welk together in the nursing home common room really brought a smile to my face. I will say for my part, though, on Lawrence Welk: when I was a kid, my mom watched that show every Sunday evening and that was usually the signal for me to go to another room and pull out a comic book or something; on Saturdays evening it was my dad watching Hee Haw. It was a true double-whammy of what I thought was badness (later, though, I learned to appreciate the amazing musical talent of Roy Clark in particular, but also Buck Owens).
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Post by majestic on Jun 21, 2021 8:10:43 GMT -5
To clarify I didn't like Lawrence Welk... I just liked being with my grandparents. Having it on TV while relaxing with them is my fond memories. Same as sitting on the porch swing with my grandpa drinking lemonade and just being with him. We didn't have to talk. I miss those quiet moments. Modern life is too noisy.
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Post by brutalis on Jun 21, 2021 8:41:21 GMT -5
To clarify I didn't like Lawrence Welk... I just liked being with my grandparents. Having it on TV while relaxing with them is my fond memories. Same as sitting on the porch swing with my grandpa drinking lemonade and just being with him. We didn't have to talk. I miss those quiet moments. Modern life is too noisy. Oh yes those alone together with loving silence were a big part of hanging with all my grandparents. Grandpa on my mom's side long Saturday drives hitting several used bookstores was likely the start for my collector mentality. Sitting on the back porch bench swing facing the mountain with with the old fart on my dad's side with nothing said just listening to the breeze through the trees and the splendor of the forest or hours upon the stream banks trout fishing together. Sitting at the kitchen table reading comics watching grandma on my mom's side cooking with those amazing smells of food. Sitting on the organ bench beside grandma on my dad's side as she endlessly played polka and dance tunes. Such lovingly shared moments cherished and fondly remembered today. So appreciative for having grandparents that WANTED to spend time with their grandchildren. That is a true blessing.
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Post by impulse on Jun 21, 2021 9:14:52 GMT -5
Personal taste is subjective, and I begrudge no one their enjoyment of whatever music they like, even if I'd rather wash dingleberries off my dog's backside than listen to some of it. I enjoy some music that is largely considered trash, too, but we like what we like.
I admit I had to look up Laurence Welk. Certainly not high on things I would go out of my way to listen to, but man, does it seem like a time warp.
Spoon, I hope you recover quickly.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2021 9:38:06 GMT -5
Hey Bro, Music is the universal language and which anyone can enjoy and appreciate, no matter what the genre. Learned that as a musician and took appreciation for it when I attended HS and was trained in classical music. There are times that I play Mozart while reading comics. It all ties together to all the music you hear today. Listening to Rap, power ballads, country etc, expands your appreciation for the cleverness in the way music is arranged. As for scoffing at Lawrence Welk, I'm sure people still scoff at grown men and women collecting comics. Rock on Brutalis ! Here here! Well said indeed. I'm a longtime guitar player, was a serious student of it in my youth and exposed to everything from classical to jazz to bluegrass...and ended up in a lot of hard rock bands over the years. Duke Ellington put it best I think: "There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind ... the only yardstick by which the result should be judged is simply that of how it sounds. If it sounds good it's successful; if it doesn't it has failed." If it sounds good to you, that's all that matters. And a side opinion...Lawrence Welk brought a lot of happiness to people over the years. That speaks volumes to me.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jun 21, 2021 9:38:59 GMT -5
My point, which maybe I didn't make very well, had nothing to do with the quality of Mr. Welk's entertainment. Or even the lack thereof.
Led Zeppelin's last studio album was in 1979. That was 42 years ago. I'm willing to bet the farm that at that time, little Billy didn't finish listening to In Through the Out Door and then immediately put on some Rudy Vallee or jam some Fred Astaire music. They both had big hits in 1937, which was 42 years prior. There may have been a few oddballs who did...but nobody that I knew. Hell I was the only one I knew who was listening to Hank Williams in 1979 (his career started in 1937). The point is that expecting kids today to listen to Zeppelin is like expecting kids in the 70s to listen to Rudy Vallee or Fred Astaire. It probably does happen more often now than it did then because Boomers have made sure their music has so thoroughly saturated every U.S. medium that you have to try to get away from it.
And it's called "classic rock" because marketing executives bet that Boomers would eat that terminology up. And they were right.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2021 9:46:00 GMT -5
Yeah, I left behind my music snobbery quite some time ago and have adopted a live and let live attitude about other people's tastes. And brutalis , what you said about the folks all watching Lawrence Welk together in the nursing home common room really brought a smile to my face. I will say for my part, though, on Lawrence Welk: when I was a kid, my mom watched that show every Sunday evening and that was usually the signal for me to go to another room and pull out a comic book or something; on Saturdays evening it was my dad watching Hee Haw. It was a true double-whammy of what I thought was badness (later, though, I learned to appreciate the amazing musical talent of Roy Clark in particular, but also Buck Owens). I've got to quote this one too...I LOVE Hee Haw! Watched it back in the day, and Roy Clark and Buck Owens were great along with the whole cast (Junior always got me rolling). (edit to my original post...I should have read more closely, I'm realizing now this was NOT your cup of tea. I just saw the words "Hee Haw" and got overexcited, sorry!) Roy is a big musical influence on me...during the pandemic I was watching a lot of old Hee Haw and Country Family Reunion shows. Roy's early album "The Lightning Fingers of Roy Clark" had inspired me as a guitar player (being a stringed instrument player, I just like fine playing regardless of genre), but obviously he was gifted on many instruments. His banjo playing, including when he'd team up with Buck Trent, always inspired me, and my wife encouraged me to go ahead and try banjo during the pandemic. Guitar to banjo isn't an exact transfer of skills, but it does help in some ways, and it's been a blast getting some proficiency there.
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