DVD Review: Classic Episodes of the Lawrence Welk Show - Vol. 1-4

The types of commercials aired during The Lawrence Welk Show present a pretty clear idea of the series' intended demographic. Anybody watching Film Chest's four disc set Classic Episodes of the Lawrence Welk Show: Vol. 1-4 may or may not have the sudden urge to build up or renew their supply of Polident and Geritol. But does Welk have anything to offer today's viewers?

The life of the bandleader-accordionist spanned nearly a century. Born in North Dakota in 1903, Welk's early career was in 1920s radio. He was already a seasoned veteran when he landed his first television show in 1951. The Lawrence Welk Show ran until 1982 and featured Welk's band along with featured singers like the Lennon Sisters and Guy and Raina; instrumentalists like accordionist Myron Floren; and featured dancers like Bobby Burgess.

These hour-long programs seem the antithesis of so much contemporary entertainment. But time can play funny tricks on cultural markers. YouTube is loaded with candy-colored clips of bandleader Lawrence Welk’s show, which featured dance and musical numbers so square they’re surreal. The Welk image was used in Darren Hacker’s underground film Velvet Welk, which marries footage of Welk and his illustrious regulars to the pulsating drive of the Velvet Underground’s “Sister Ray.”

Welk’s music and his visual image are certainly a throwback to a time Before Irony. It’s easy for 21st Century consumers to approach him with a camp aesthetic, but it's entirely possible to appreciate the musicianship and spectacle without irony.

JoAnn Castle’s ragtime piano walks the edge of cloying, but can also verge on avant-garde as she fingers the keys ever more furiously. Lyrics to forgotten songs like “Frankfurter Sandwiches” shock modern viewers, who may assume their parents and grandparents listened to such words in complete innocence.

Article Author: Pat Padua

Pat Padua bridges high-brow and low-brow to form a distinctive American pan-browism. He hears the voices cry out from the Western Canon to Justin Timberlake, and, with an arsenal of optical tools ranging from disposable message cameras to the sharpest …

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