Welk didn’t learn English until he went to school. He was raised in a pocket of German immigrants in a remote area of North Dakota, a place so rural and isolated there was no need for anyone to learn English. The answer proves to be quite interesting. He was supposedly American, but somehow he had that accent. For example, what was that accent (we wondered)? “Wunnerful, wunnerful!”, “senk you, senk you,” “An’ now the luffly Lennon Sisterss!” and (as he counted off a number) “…a-one, an’ a two!”. (I’ve since come to better appreciate Sinatra and Dean Martin).īut like I say, Welk, was the pinnacle, a well-spring of mystery.
When I was a kid, Welk was the gold standard for “Old People Music We Just Didn’t Understand.” It was a long list that also included the likes of Liberace, Doc Severinsen, Dinah Shore, Robert Goulet, Kate Smith , and all of those embarrassing, nauseating guys from the Rat Pack.
Today is the natal day of that unfathomable 20th century phenomenon known as Lawrence Welk (1903-1992).
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