Southtown usa lawrence welk biography

ABOUT

Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 - May 17, 1992) was a veteran bandleader and accordionist with a trademark style known as "champagne music," a light and danceable combination of big band and traditional pop. The affable German-accented entertainer and impresario was the longtime host of "The Lawrence Welk Show," an immensely popular TV variety show that aired from 1951-1982, with reruns that continue to be shown weekly on many PBS stations throughout the country. Beginning in the late 1930s, he amassed a very long string of hits that included such favorites as the chirpy "Bubbles In The Wine" (1939) later used for many years as both the opening and closing themes to his show. Despite the explosion of rock & roll during the late 1950s-early 1960s that had all but eclipsed most older performing artists, Welk had his all-time greatest hit in 1960 with the easy listening harpsichord instrumental classic, "Calcutta," which topped the charts the following year.

Born in Strasburg, North Dakota to German immigrant parents, Welk, who did not learn to speak English until he was 21, grew up on a farm as the third youngest of eight children and began playing the accordion at an early age. His family often struggled to make ends meet, and he dropped out of

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