The Lennon Sisters - Singing Group or Perverted Cult

No wonder people turned to the Beatles.

OP, what are you talking about? What desperation? What mafia? What convenience?

There was a dark undercurrent propelling those bubbles on the LW Show.

there was no father there

This just...just belongs here...

Don't try to be glib, OP.

You just drool onto your blouse when you try to be glib.

It's hard to believe, but at one time the gossip magazines just lived for stories on the Lennon Sisters. They were always something like "Welk furious as Kathy Lennon storms off set!" or something like that,

Indeed, r6!

Heartbreaking drama...

Larry Welk tried to strike lightening again in the 1970s with The Semonski Sisters but it wasn't the same.

Speaking of Dark Undercurrents on the LWS

So...much...𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙖.

Joe Feeny touched my Lady Possible!

R9 some pretty tight harmonies there, gotta say.

R10 omg, I thought that was an SNL skit. I'm still laughing. 🤣

But R8, I must know more about Jackie's sensational diet, as revealed by her cook!

I hated The Lawrence Welk show back when my grandmother had it blasting full volume like an octogenarian metal head, but now I can’t get enough! Thanks, OP. I’ll be up all night looking up Lennon and lesser sisters on UTube, high on gummy weed.

Diane, the oldest Semonski Sister, had a DUI in 2010.

She also works in The Villages and teaches music. I can just imagine.

Myron Floren was an insatiable bottom.

Lawrence ran a tight ship. Didn't he fire the blonde dancer for being late?

^ He fired Alice Lon, the original Champagne Lady, for "showing too much knee."

Alice Lon was a much better vocalist than her replacement Norma Zimmer, who's "singing" always grated my nerves. Her career never should have been in the hands of a prude!

Weren't they some sort of WW2 era singing group? Just how old ARE you, OP?

I once had a Lennon Sisters comic book. I envied their lives, like I did those of the Cleavers and Nelsons, in sunny Southern California.

They were like our quadruple version of Hayley Mills.

No, r23. Have you heard of Google?

Moreover, r23, if you read the OP, perhaps you should Google the duration of WW II while you're at it.

The Lennon Sisters meeting their idols The McGuire Sisters in 1993

And, r27? Are you confusing the WW II Andrews Sisters with the McGuires or Lennons?

R28, did you mean to mention me at R27? I posted a video of The Lennon Sisters meeting their idiots The McGuire Sisters.

My mother was watching TLWS one night back in the day and I came in the room one of that guy they presented as the heartthrob was singing with one of the gals. At one point he puts his hand on her knee and mid song Lawrence Welk walks out, grabs his hand, and moves it off her knee. They kept on singing but you could see the terror on their faces, especially on the guy's face. I remember my mother gasping and saying "well, that's probably it for him on that show".

My grandmother adored that show. She would go on and on about the beautiful costumes after each show.

What about the story that Miles Davis would sometimes sit in with TLWO?

OP, the story of their father being shot is really unsettling.

There have been other threads about Lawrence Welk, his program and the personal lives of his ensemble... I think there's a tawdry television movie here... Ryan Murphy is probably the only producer who would find it interesting, but then it would be really awful when broadcast.

And it really doesn't work as a story with a strong final act because ultimately, the performers and singers simply begin to fade away, performing to smaller crowds in stranger and stranger places like The Villages in Florida.

They were ALL whores, each one trashier and sluttier than the next!

And don't get us started on those three little McGuire tramps!!!

My grandmother sometimes had Lawrence Welk on when we visited, and even then it seemed kind of corny to me. The highlights I remember were JoAnn Castle POUNDING her ragtime piano (she must have torn them up!) and the Lennon Sisters. They were so pretty, and their harmonies were so tight. Blonde and tan, Janet was my favorite then, but as an adult I see that almond-eyed Peggy was really lovely.

As noted above, I also remember them being perennials in the movie magazines I’d see on the stands (along with Liz Taylor, Mia Farrow, and Jackie O.). The murder of their father was a big deal at the time.

This thread also reminded me (and I promise, DL, I’m not 150 years old!) of the time the Lennon Sisters appeared on “Love American Style”. It was actually a funny segment.

Was the show live, R30?

There were multiple heartthrobs on the show but the only one I remember the name of was Ken Delo.

Those trampy McGuire sisters' big hit was SIN-cerely.

They certainly were no DeCastros!

Peggy is married to my doc in his late 80s. They married after both their spouses died. I can tell you they lost their dog (never again--too sad), take daily walks, and Peggy is afraid to fly. I was thrilled, of course, because as a small kid my dad insisted we watch Mitch Miller, Lawrence Welk and The Red Skelton Hour EVERY blasted week. Even then I knew these shows were horribly down-market. I preferred The Twilight Zone, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and Watch Mr. Wizard. Thanks for the time capsule, OP.

Does Peggy have children, r38?

They were paid scale for the Welk show (he was a total cheapskate), but had a recording contract with Dot (a middling big label in the day), as well as personal appearances, so they did ok. I'm sure the 2 bedroom house was replaced with something bigger pretty quickly. Their harmonies were beautiful but the material was so dated. I guess grandmas liked it.

JoAnne Castle had a pretty tawdry life, as time went on. The Lennons married into the orchestra but it didn't always go well.

Various versions of the Welk orchestra toured for years. A geeky college friend was part of one of these ensembles in the 80s. They had a reputation for being very competent musicians, but I thought the arrangements were horrible, even as a kid. I watched a rerun with a salute to Ellington as an adult (avoiding my dissertation) and I was astounded at how badly they butchered even familiar crowd pleasers like "Take the A Train" .

I used to watch this show with my Great Grandma back in the mid to late 1970s. I googled to find that it aired on Saturday nights - makes sense. Those mornings it was Pennelope Pittstop, Capn Caveman, Snagglepus and the crew.

Tanya, the hot Italian spitfire, married into the Welk family and became the Diana Ross of that shit show! I believe she married Lawrence Welk, Jr and secured her position by promptly popping out Lawrence Welk II.

[quote]I watched a rerun with a salute to Ellington as an adult (avoiding my dissertation) and I was astounded at how badly they butchered even familiar crowd pleasers like "Take the A Train" .

Or, as Mr. Welk is said to have called it (probably apocryphally), "Take a Train."

Welk actually said this once after Arthur Duncan finished a solo number: "That boy sure can dance-ahhhh"

We salute you, Arthur. You did what you had to do....

My favorite tabloid headline was from Thelma Harper on a "Family" sketch:

"Liz Gives Jackie Black Eye In Feud Over Latin Lover!"

I always thought it was Lemon Sisters?

My dad used to call them the Lemon Sisters, r45. He hated the show, but was forced to watch it with his mother.

[quote] Was the show live, [R30]

I think it was shown live at least for part of it's run. The guy who got his hand removed from the girl's knee was Dick Dale (see R10). He was with the show from 1955 till the end of it's run in 82, so I guess that little faux pax was smoothed over with Lawrence.

After the show was completely off the air Welk moved the show to a theater at the Lawrence Welk Resort Village in Escondido, Ca. which is still a going concern. Several of the old timers from the TV show stayed on with the show out there until its ultimate demise.

Kip Lennon and other kids of the Lennon Sisters are well known in California music circles.

The whoreishness lives on!

Youse guys don't forgets us!

I knew this grifting con, r48, who said his mother was one of the Lennon Sisters. I didn't really believe him, but who knows?

Lawrence Welk was a crafty showman who knew his audience and never deviated from his show’s tried & true formula. Once you were signed on as, say, the country singer, you were in that box for the rest of your time with the Welk Musical Family.

Welk turned a crisis into an opportunity. In 1971, ABC announced it was canceling 11 of their shows, including “The Johnny Cash Show,” “Let's Make a Deal,” “The Newlywed Game,” “The Reel Game,” “The Young Lawyers,” Danny Thomas's “Make Room for Grandaddy,” “Dan August,” “That Girl,” “The Lawrence Welk Show,” “The Pearl Bailey Show” and “Monday Night at the Movies.”

Replacements included the (long-forgotten) “The Shirley MacLaine Show,” comedy‐drama in which Miss MacLaine plays a photo‐jour nalist on international assign ment; “The City,” a tentative title, with Anthony Quinn as the mayor of a middle‐sized Southwestern city; “Longstreet, with James Franciscus as blind insurance investigator; “Owen Marshall; Counselor‐at Law,” with Arthur Hill as dedicated lawyer; “The Bobby Sherman Show,” a comedy and music series with the actor, who last appeared in “Here Come the Brides,” starring as a com poser who can't write lyrics; “Movie of the Weekend,” a tentative title, a 90‐minute anthology series, of suspense, mystery and drama, and “The Persuaders,” a British adven ture and comedy series with Tony Curtis and Roger Moore.

Welk met with his managers on the day of the cancellation to talk strategy. By the next morning they were able to sell a syndicated version of the show, on their own, to 250 TV stations across the country, which was many more than ABC had carrying its signal at that time.

His farmer upbringing taught him the value of land. The Welk Organization made several strategic land buys over the years and profited handsomely.

He never should have fired Alice Lon (the first champagne lady), Natalie Nevins (who said her heart only had room for her career) or Cissy King (tardiness was her issue). Bobby always gave me the creeps. He was doing the same choreography on TLWS in the 1980s that he’d been doing on the Mickey Mouse Club in the 1950s.

The Lennon Sisters have said that Welk was very upset with them when they announced they were leaving. He couldn’t understand why anyone would want to leave when some of his people had been with him for decades.

The show is a bit formulaic, but most of the numbers hold up well.

Did they ever go by or do a skit as the Lenin Sisters?

R6, the only reason I've even heard of the Lennon Sisters is that I looked through a collection of 60s Photoplay editions years ago. They were all over the covers, yet genuinely famous girl groups such as the Supremes and the Shangri-Las were rarely mentioned.

Dear God, how have we sinned???

Their father was shot on a golf course the Sunday after the Tate-LaBianca murders the killer committed suicide a couple of months later, but the whole story was sidelined by the more sensational Tate-LaBianca murders.

What is your native language, OP?

Their “Love American Style” segment is at 16:15. It’s silly but cute, with a clever title. Peggy makes a lovely bride, paired with George (“Company”) Furth.

Sandi and Sallie replaced them

...but three is a jackpot!

Decades ago the Lennon Sisters were guests on the Tonight Show, on a night Johnny Carson wasn't hosting. They told a story about returning home late from a local engagement - many of their kids were staying at one sister's home for the night. All of the kids were still awake, and frightened. The kids said the house had been visited by gray "children" with masklike faces, who silently wandered all over the house touching things. My mom used to read entertainment magazines which regularly featured The Lennon Sisters. I remember being surprised that nothing was ever published about their mysterious UFO incident :)

12 kids one of them shaken to death and only two bedrooms? Some perverted stuff MUST HAVE happened

Nothing wrong with a dozen kids living in a cramped two bedroom house!

"DEAR GOD, HOW HAVE WE SINNED?" would make a great, great, great two-hour movie on Lifetime.

Or maybe it could be the working title of a new Tyler Perry TV show. I see a fabulous all-black cast, with four singing sisters who support a dysfunctional family; Mom, Dad and a number of their eight siblings. The four singing sisters have other problems with cheating spouses, degenerate children (at least two cock-cobblers and maybe one Trans).

Of course, Hallmark won't touch the title, but who on DataLounge wouldn't love to see fave Candace Cameron-Bure starring in an Aurora Teagarden Saturday night movie titled, "DEAR GOD, HOW HAVE WE SINNED?" Aurora learns her long dead, but still beloved father had a child out of wedlock!!! Enter Kirk Cameron as her half-brother! He's a freaky Christian who believes God has commanded him to kill Aurora's mother. Oh the torment...

This is why their brother John was so fucked up.

Their marriages had their share of heartbreak and tears.

I was always bewildered as to why the Lennon sisters were on so many magazine covers. Otherwise, it was Jackie O and Liz and Dick, and Dean Martin. Why?

There were 4 of them, so always something to be distorted or amplified and they were popular with the older part of the demographic who bought those things.

Don't forget us! We kept pumping out kids for our crap ABC tv shows!

Those gals knew the blues, r68...

We had the hits!!

Kathy, Peggy, Janet and I forgot the 4th one.

Diane, r71!

*WE* had the hits!!!

Those vivacious Meadows Sisters...

I like Phyllis McGuire, she had a gambling problem and had a long-term affair with a mobster. She was wealthy and just died recently-December 27th 2020.

The night Janet became a woman...

What about us! Don’t forget us!

Don't forget the Donnatello triplets!

Oh Dear, r78. And at least post something from their distant youth before their vavoom began to fade.

We is heaven sent!

R43, I can top that. I remember after one of Arthur's tap-dancing routines, Welk was clapping and said, "Arthur Duncan, a wonderful dancer and a credit to his race."

I thought Jo Ann Castle was great. Really brought the show some much needed life.

Wasn't the other pianist, Bob something, arrested on some morals charge?

Bob Ralston (it's a damn shame I know the names of these people), R81. Well, at some point they Welk did allow Duncan to perform with the ensemble cast during their segments, so theres that.

Bob Ralston was caught diddling young boys after the show's run. He still had a career after that and, of course, he was a Christian.

JoAnne Castle also managed to get away with keeping an association with the Welk name despite a drug problem and a husband or fiance (I forget which) who molested of her children, after which she covered it up.

Tom Netherton---another Christian---apparently broke-up someone's loveless marriage---he was "the other man". Never married.

𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙎𝙀 𝙋𝙍𝙀𝙂𝙉𝘼𝙉𝙏 𝙇𝙀𝙉𝙉𝙊𝙉𝙎!

Fun fact: Geritol was 12% alcohol.

The company was fined millions of dollars (in todays money) by the FTC for false advertising.

This thread is fascinating. I just went down a Wikipedia rabbit hole of profiles to Cameron Clarke - son of Alyce King and actor Robert Clarke.

Rejoice DL, Cam Clarke is gay! He makes a living doing voice work for animated series. And he sings (naturally!). He released an album, " Inside Out, which changed pronouns in lyrics of classic songs."

He is the cousin of Tina (My Three Sons) Cole. She was also a member of The Cole Singers. I love this closing paragraph from her Wiki page:: "In late 2013, she performed with her King Cousins (sister Cathy and cousins Candy and Carolyn) and made a one-off appearance at the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood in November. They made subsequent appearances at the same club in April 2014 and August 2016. She is a Mormon."

Surreal...

Lawrence Welk fans thought mayonnaise was spicy.

What r43 and r81 said.

It's always made my hair stand on end wondering what "teasing" and "jokes" about being black that Ralston most likely had to endure from fellow cast and crew.

Shout-out in sincere admiration to whoever was the wardrobe designer of the TLWS.

Welk, the old skinflint, certainly didn't seem to hold the purse strings tight when it came suits, gowns and costuming.

I loved seeing the orchestra wearing suits of mustard, sky blue, tangerine, etc. I don't think Bob Mackie could have done any better. And some of the gowns on the women were the height of 60s and 70s lovely garishness.

Duncan was black. Ralston was the perv.

Totally forgotten today.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗟𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗗 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗘!

David Cassidy is dead and Bobby Sherman is alive! Who wants to be who now?!

I thought it was Tommy Netherton who broke up Kathie Lee Gifford's first marriage......by taking her husband from her.....

Loved The McGuire Sisters. I loved The Lennon Sisters, too, because those girls could sing! Guy & Ralna were my favorites!

It was all crap, but I can't imagine the work that had to be done to do an hour of music a week....costumes, staging, rehearsals, pre-recording - the logistics must have been a nightmare.

Back in the 80s when I was a kid I had a great aunt and great uncle who watched the Lawrence Welk show. I remember watching it with them when I was at their house and it looked absolutely prehistoric to me.

[quote]Nothing wrong with a dozen kids living in a cramped two bedroom house!

—Joe Jackson

R62 Don't forget, Jim Gaffigan, his wife and FIVE kids live in a two bedroom apartment.

how much you like

JoAnn Castle had to wear the bunny costume because she was pregnant at the time. Welk thought it unseemly for women to be obviously in the family way. When the Lennon girls got pregnant they had to wear tent dresses, stand behind potted plants, etc.

R96 That sounds irresponsible, can we call CPS on him? I hate that motherfucker the the heat of a thousand suns. Him being carted off in handcuffs would make me be very happy. He is not in the tiniest buit funny and is one of the more physically repulsive people allowed on the media. And I’m usually attracted to bearish guys.

Yes, r45, and their brother John was in the Beatles.

The magazine covers are delicious... I had no idea that were so popular with the tabloid press.

I think that was just the next step from them being popular on/in the teen magazines. They were still popular even if they didn't have Liz/Jackie level scandals. But, yes, I'd forgotten that they'd been featured on *that* many covers.

Weird how they were such tabloid stars yet most people today have never heard of them.

HOW THEY HURT EACH OTHER

Speaking of sisters...

My friend's father owned a Dodge dealership for decades. Dodge sponsored TLWS.

My friend said his Dad never missed TLWS and since Dad controlled the TV, he had to watch TLWS, too.

My friend told me that because of Welk's heavy accent, when he was kid and Welk would say "Put a Dodge in your garage", he heard "Put a Dotch in your crotch".

No one ever rocked the Beatles quite like the Four KIng Cousins.

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present Violet and Dailey- the Hilton Sisters, via Broadway as we would otherwise not recognize them or their music first hand. No singing sister act was ever closer! BTW, I didn’t realize they both married gay men.

Ugh ^^^ Daisy!

R107, I was reluctant & a little ashamed to admit this, but The Four King Cousins recorded my favorite version of 'Here, There And Everywhere'. Never gave a damn about the song until I heard this rendition years ago.

I loved Lawrence Welk - as did my grossma. She kept a personal television in her room just for the show’s run in syndication.

I was banned from her room because of my singing and dancing - and theft of her sugar-free candy.

She was a cunt. The show holds up as far as harmony and correct breathing go.

Those magazine covers are a hoot and a half! Keep them coming!

What the hell, R27??

Where’s the auto tune?!!!

The Egyptian number is much more fun, r108.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have one word to say. Well, three. The Otwell Twins. I would have sucked David dry.

Christmas tears...

R101 I loved that cover, too. I wonder what it was that Mia's doctors couldn't tell her about the baby?

Oh yea, he has his father's eyes!

It must've been fun to write the cover blurbs for these old-timey tabloids posted here.

Who knew?

The McGuire sisters had one of the best album covers ever.

Is there a planned tour after quarantine breaks!

I assume they do Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray, r120...

Parliaments! Those were good ciggies.

Without cigarettes life has become so less sophisticated. Even making country and western music low rent.

Music was certainly better when everybody smoked and drank. Now we get Billie Eilish and Bieber.

[quote]But R8, I must know more about Jackie's sensational diet, as revealed by her cook!

For which the cook got fired!

[quote]I like Phyllis McGuire, she had a gambling problem and had a long-term affair with a mobster.

That mobster was Chicago crime boss Sam Giancana,

Songs should *always* be about coffee, cigarettes and memories...

Jeri sounds a bit pitchy.

I can't imagine the Lennon Sisters doing cigarettes unless they were candy cigarettes.

Of course they're Sarah Coventry girls!

They were sweet AND sexy.

I believe you mean "sexed-up", r132...

Who knows how many men they screwed to claw their way to the top!

Exactly, r134. Brazen whores dripping in Sarah Coventry!

They were real dolls!

That priest-defying Kathy!

One of these stories has to be about all 4 sisters servicing Lawrence at the same time.

Lawrence Welk had The Lennon Sisters, but over on Mitch Miller there was DL fave Leslie Uggams.

Perry featured the Fontane Sisters...

And...

As much as Iove Cardi B's version, I still prefer the Lennon Sisters' original version of Wet Ass Pussy.

I like Castle's pounding accompaniment on their version, r142.

Hucka bejeepers!

[quote]That priest-defying Kathy!

I must admit I'm much more interested in: "White Actress Tells: I'm Ruined Because I Made Love to Sammy Davis!"

Ilene Woods at R141 was the voice of Cinderella in Disney's movie.

Here's some info about Papa Lennon's murder.

He should have snagged these beauties.

Look at what Vegas did to them!

Oh, the meat is falling off the bones there in Vegas R149. Who are these whores? What did the ladies do before a stairmaster and treadmill were invented? White women get that fallen leg flesh and it's over. Did the Lemon sisters ever have a hit recording or did they just work for PBS?

If god didn't give you good legs, for fuck sakes keep them covered.

Their legs look okay to me. What are you talking about?

I'm talking about your poor eyesight and bad taste R151.

Sorry, they don't look that bad R152. What exactly are you looking at?

The Lawrence Welk Show must've been real comfort television for older people who were outraged and frightened by the social upheavals of the 60s and 70s. Once a week they could sit in front of the tv and watch good old-fashioned (lame and white bread) entertainment that was an escape from all the things they hated (hippies, anti-war protesters, blacks and Women's Libbers) and just pretend things were they way they used to be.

These were the same people who voted for Nixon.

Bette Midler did a nice cover of their song on one of my mom's albums. Bette sings all the harmonies with herself. Not a new concept but her energy and voice was more distinctive than the Lemon Sisters. Bette loved all those old girl groups. RIP.

r155/r150 = the mentally disturbed "ancient white fags" troll.

You, R156, are the INSANE ANCIENT WHITE RACIST FAG!!

r157 you need to be banned. Fucking useless loser.

There is GOOD news about you being banned. You'll find out proper, soon - R158.

Stop the internet harassment and your racist hate speech R158. You post on this site hundreds of times a day. Your posts are no longer anonymous.

^^You're a disturbed freak.

That's for sure R160. Has this clown been around for long?

R158 is not a troll. He is an internet criminal. A stalker, harasser and purveyor of hate speech. A racist poster who is being monitored. He posts from multiple devices and constantly W&Ws his own posts. Sometimes there will be 5 WW for a hateful post of his within minutes. Not bright enough to do anything but agree with himself, he is well known to everyone on this site.

Since Mediapolis can't keep up with him, other authorities have been notified. Racial hate speech is illegal, even on internet forums. Harassing individuals and slandering them is punishable by law too.

R158 attacks and follows certain posters all around this site. Harassment. His racist posts are traceable everywhere and they ARE being traced. It's too bad that the old fat ancient white racist didn't heed all fair warning.

Because the next actions will take place at his home, not on this line.

^^This is probably the most batshit poster on DL, and that's saying something. Muriel needs to take out this trash.

r162 needs to go to the nuthouse.

Helen Lawson gives you an idea just how old this sad and soon to be arrested ancient white racist fag must be. 80? 88? It's also the scat troll and has some obsession with Drag Queens and decay? A lot like that Ms. Warwicke poster, who is permanently banned. There's more than one evil spirit on Datalounge. Take a little time to enjoy The View.

We pray that Jesus visits deliverance to the troubled mind of R158/R164/R163/R160/R161 TONIGHT! Free him of his suffering or punish it for its evil deeds. The Feds are coming regardless. It's all the same poster. Time and again.

[quote] A racist poster who is being monitored.

By whom, sweetie? The little men inside your head?

Oh honey. No one is monitoring anyone but you need help. You sound batshit crazy.

This place gets crazy at night. Meth heads?

Booze and dope

Hey ancient white fags troll you claim to be born in 1983. If that's true, then I'm actually younger than you.

^stalking behavior

Why is someone who calls people fags hanging around here?

R171 you have no idea what "stalking" is obviously.

Yes, actually I do. You're being watched OLD man. Keep it up. Goodbye.

You also don't know who you are talking to at any given time R174. You are also calling people fags. That's hate speech. No one is being monitored and you sound quite mental.

Who knew the Lennon Sister were this complicated and sparked such controversy?

Fag is a well known colloquialism. You used it as Helen Lawson. I am not perfect. But I am also not the one under investigation. I know who I'm talking to fool. That was revealed to me quite a while ago.

Good luck to you ANCIENT WHITE RACIST FAG!!

Their harmonies drove people crazy.

R176 there are some truly angry, crazy fuckers here lately.

[quote]Fag is a well known colloquialism. You used it as Helen Lawson. I am not perfect. But I am also not the one under investigation. I know who I'm talking to fool. That was revealed to me quite a while ago.

WOW you're fucking insane. I think if anybody should be carted off to the nuthouse it's you.

No you don't. I'm not ""helen lawson" sweetie. You are talking to two distinct different people. You be crazy, bitch. Drugs?

[quote] I think if anybody should be carted off to the nuthouse it's you.

It was not a nuthouse!

What was wrong with their legs? Did they have some old man disease where the muscle sags from the bone. Not enough pair of Pantyhose can cover up those saggy ass legs. Bad enough that they were such homely girls who were made to reproduce by the PTB. The one who transitioned to a man was probably the happiest of them all. Certainly the bravest. I don't know their names - they were dead before I was born I think. The girl groups that people remember were not white chicks who looked 50 when they were 24! Ha, I like the one who became a man. That took guts back in the 1950s. RIP Lemon Sisters.

^^fucking insane. He was shitting up the Olivia Newton John thread awhile ago until he got run off.

For your listening pleasure: Patience and Prudence with Perry Como.

He/she is a racist, homophobic lunatic for real R184 but I guess he skulked back and is on his weird obsession about legs again.

Who is Olivia Newton Jon? Was she an old timey singer on PBS too? Who runs people off? Are you a cross burner R184? And why do you respond to your OWN posts, like @ R186? You think people don't recognize your disease? Your racial hatred is well known here too.

^^NUTZZZ

R187 you're an idiot too if you can't figure out that R184 and R186 are two different posters? You're a homophobic racist dollface. Why are you here? You aren't gay? Lost from LSA?

Return to the Grave

You first, psycho.

Well I, for one, think there's no better place to have your psychotic episode than on a thread about the Lawrence Welk show!

Girls! Girls! None of you are pretty!

Peggy Lemon was the prettiest. RIP.

R193 faggot troll is especially ugly. Homophobic, racist and batshit crazy paranoid.

^***^

Is the same poster that promised that the authorities were looking into racist postings on the Meghan Markle threads. They will be shutting down websites and charges will be brought!

He's a batshit freak.

It's always funny when trolls threaten anonymous posters on anonymous websites.

There's no such thing as anonymous. That ancient racist white f@g is soon to find out.

[quote]R51 The Lennon Sisters have said that Welk was very upset with them when they announced they were leaving. He couldn’t understand why anyone would want to leave when some of his people had been with him for decades.

Alfred Hitchcock was like that, too. He expected writer to work for him cheaply film after film. Forever. Meanwhile he was amassing a fortune.

[quote]R83 Bob Ralston was caught diddling young boys after the show's run. He still had a career after that and, of course, he was a Christian.

He has Molester Eyes

Is this the part of the thread where I bring up the need for space laser control?

How about making Librium OTC? Do we need the penile restraints?

This is supposed to be a fucking pleasant trip down your fevered memory lanes and you’re ruining it! I’m not having it!

Then there were The Lenin Sisters.

In my nearly 20 years of DL, I have NEVER!

[QUOTE]Is this the part of the thread where I bring up the need for space laser control?

[QUOTE]How about making Librium OTC? Do we need the penile restraints?

Has anyone asked US how we're doing lately? Before upchucking or after?

If only there were a way to delete whatever insanity ensued here on Saturday evening and return this thread to its earlier form... Lennon Sisters, Lawrence Welk and some delicious magazine covers.

R202: I always thought there was something slightly sinister about playing the organ--it didn't seem quite like a legit instrument. No one seems to play tehm anymore. I think it's all those electronic instruments that didit.

R154: Of course his fans voted for Nixon. But I don't think there was the outrage that some people have to day. It was probably closer to sorrow and resignation that their world was ending. Also Welk was basically an oldies act playing at your parents or grandparent's anniversary party--nothing really "in your face". Basically, very skilled musicians playing oldies with horrid arrangements and slowed down melodies.

He had old people stuff as sponsors like Geritol. I'm surprised he didn't have somebody who made blue rinse for old ladies.

R207 I’ve met more gay church organists then any other instrument player and it seems endemic of the profession. And they all remain semi closeted because of the church aspect and totally come off as Uncle Chesters.

Do MCCs have organists and choirs---are they any better or less perveie than other denoms?

R206, bizarre wasn't it? I can only hope the poster is sleeping off whatever drug fueled mania set her off last night.

My mother and grandmother adored Welk. God I hate him and his rotten show. Lord knows the musicians had chops but what a waste. And the singers were awful.

Oh my gosh 😲! Of all the threads to melt down on,why the Lennon sisters and Lawrence Welk?

It's hard to believe the show lasted through 82. My parents watched religiuosly. I loathed it and tuned out. I'm stunned by posters' memories. The only name I recognized besides the Lennons is Myron Florin.

I didn't know the Lennon sisters were tabloid fodder at one point. They seemed so boring and bland.

Imagine how dicey things would get on a Hodge Podge Lodge thread!

The thing about most sister groups is that, individually, they don't have a strong or distinctive sound. Solo, Patty was just never of interest to me...

Well this thread certainly took an ugly turn. We just can't have nice things.

Sisters will always turn on each other, whether biological or gay.

[quote]I didn't know the Lennon sisters were tabloid fodder at one point. They seemed so boring and bland.

The fact that they seemed so boring and bland -- and wholesome! -- is what makes those gossip magazine covers so hilarious. They're like an early 1960s version of Onion stories.

Refresh my memory, was the "Lawrence Welk Show" originally on network TV? I knew re-runs were shown on PBS for decades, but wasn't it originally a network show with commercials and stuff?

I have vague memories of visiting Grandma in the late sixties and early seventies, and having to stop everything when the damn show came on. Even as a little kid, I thought it was the squarest, most tasteless thing ever to exist.

R219: Read the damn thread. All your questions are answered.

[quote] Is the same poster that promised that the authorities were looking into racist postings on the Meghan Markle threads.

Of course it is. Why they meandered over to a Lawrence Welk/Lennon sisters thread is beyond me.

You were right, R219. It was 30 years behind the times even in the 60s. The women were oppressed, everybody acted like they had no genitals, and Welk himself with that creepy, hard to place accent was revolting. Even as a 7 year old I was repulsed.

R219, the Welk show began as a local Los Angeles program before airing nationally on ABC from 1955 to 1971. When ABC canceled it, new episodes continued in first-run syndication from 1971 to 1982. Reruns of old show, with new introductions featuring surviving members of the Welk "musical family," began airing on PBS stations in the late 1980s.

Aha, there was a *plot* to destroy them!

That Tom Nethertons were so emasculate. He the only white mens ever made me moist.

The SNL parody with Kristin Wiig was always funny.

Finally, I'm seeing some comments that mirror my own feelings about this type of "entertainment".

My grandparents weren't big TV watchers, but occasionally they would have this on, although I don't think they really paid that much attention to it. Weekends at their house were interminable, because there was nothing to do, no toys to play with, and the books they had were all old and boring. So when the TV came on, I would try to get into whatever was on. But when it came to this shit...Lawrence Welk, the Lennon Sisters, the King Family, and all the rest of that bleak, bland, ultra-square, corny, white-bread-with-mayonnaise garbage, I couldn't watch more than 2 minutes of it without getting completely bored out of my skull. I used to fantasize about that goddamn bubble machine malfunctioning and drowning old Lawrence and the entire cast in a sea of bubbles. Now THAT would have been entertaining: "Pleeze a-turn off-a da bubble machine-a....glub glub glub!"

I do have one fond memory of Lawrence Welk from my childhood: the billboard on Sunset Blvd. It was there for years and years. It was animatronic, so Lawrence's hand with the conductor's baton would go up and down. I believe at one point there might have even been bubbles blowing out of the billboard, though that might just be my imagination. Anyway, watching that stupid billboard was the most entertainment I ever got from Lawrence Welk.

Fuck him. And fuck the Lennon Sisters and the King Family and all the rest of them.

[quote]Fuck him. And fuck the Lennon Sisters and the King Family and all the rest of them.

You sound like a lot of fun. Do you stockpile firearms?

r148 I have been unable to stop masturbating to The Faith Tones!

[quote] And fuck the Lennon Sisters and the King Family and all the rest of them.

And who exactly who would "the rest of them include"?

I always pictured Lawrence Welk to be a secret freak, like he had a sex dungeon and a diaper fetish.

I have this 78. The flip side is Hot Potato Mambo.

Japanese rhumba? Wow.

I liked the King Family because some of the guys were very cute. There was never a cutie on Welk.

[...]

[...]

Welk had something the Beatles did not. Performing longevity. The Beatles collapsed in 1970 while Welk went on for many more joyous years of champagne, song and mirth. And Cissy and Bobby.

Jayne was born in China, r233.

I remember when Barbara left the Welk show as Bobby's dance partner in the 60s. My Grandmother was devastated and there was quite a bit of press coverage. But then Bobby found Cissy and my Grandmother ended up loving her even more!

Did you know that Bobby had been one of the original Mouseketeers? That guy was a real pro I tell you, a real pro.

Calcutta!

[quote]I remember when Barbara left the Welk show as Bobby's dance partner in the 60s. My Grandmother was devastated and there was quite a bit of press coverage. But then Bobby found Cissy and my Grandmother ended up loving her even more!

And then Welk fired Cissy and Barbara returned temporarily as a fill-in partner for Bobby until a permanent Cissy replacement was found. Her name was Elaine, and Bobby and Elaine turned out to be even more boring than Bobby and Barbara and Bobby and CIssy.

Bobby and Cissy are perfect names for that era.

Why the hell did Welk fire Cissy??? I had no idea.

R243 acting like it happened just last week....😂😂😂

Hot Potato Mambo...

Twelve siblings? Were they Norwegian Catholics?

And who could forget...the Dinning Sisters?

[quote]Why the hell did Welk fire Cissy??? I had no idea.

"Perpetual tardiness." Plus, Welk found out she was asking friends and relatives to write letters to the show praising her performances. She was very popular with the show's audience (including your grandmother), and there were a lot of angry letters from fans after Welk canned her.

I had a finch fly in my window some time ago. He seemed a bit critical of my decor.

I got that tray at the swap meet for a buck. After this thread, I must be on the lookout for this one...

Cissy was fired for perpetual tardiness. Alice Lon, being glared at by the finch at R249, was fired for whorishly exposing her knees on the show.

I remember ny Mom getting a VHS tape of a Welk reunion show, where almost all the originals came back. All of Welk's Champagne Ladies were there, and Bobby Burgess danced with all three of his partners, Barbara, Cissy and Elaine.

The only act that had success outside of the show was Lynn Anderson, who had a big hit with "Rose Garden".

I always had the hots for a guy in Welk's band, a guitarist named Neil Le Vang (or something like that), who kind of looked like Edd "Kookie" Byrnes.

[quote]I remember ny Mom getting a VHS tape of a Welk reunion show, where almost all the originals came back. All of Welk's Champagne Ladies were there, and Bobby Burgess danced with all three of his partners, Barbara, Cissy and Elaine.

That show originally aired in 2001. There were four former Champagne Ladies there, including Norma Zimmer, but the other three pre-dated the television show. There were only two Champagne Ladies during the show's television run, Alice Lon and Norma Zimmer. Alice Lon died in 1982.

"Champagne Lady". Well, la di dah - pardon me while I play the grand piano!

A thread about The Lennon Sisters hits 250 posts.

Only on Datalounge, kids, only on Datalounge.

R120 Excuse me?

Are they like the Duggars?

[quote]Are they like the Duggars?

Are the Duggars pert 'n' perky and able to sing in harmony?

I'd like to know more about the child who stopped Julie Andrews' wedding.

Heartbreak was inevitable when Marlo Thomas crossed paths with the married Lennon Sisters.

Pete Fountain (jazz clarinet) was another player who went on to have a mainstream career--he was fired for jiving up a Christmas carol.

By clicking on this thread repeatedly, ads for Welk Resorts have started popping up while I'm online. I know Lawrence is a joke for many, much of the derision is warranted, but he was a very smart and savvy man. He bought property in 1964, began to develop resort properties, growing to include theaters, golf courses, and vacation homes. Welk's son Larry became the group's first CEO and guided the company into the timeshare business in the 1980s.

Welk Resort's operates six properties. The family will soon sell the company to Marriott for $430 million. A tidy sum to distribute among Lawrence's descendants I'm sure.

Big Band made a bit of a come back in the 80's where there were more options - new covers by current artists etc to be able to listen to it, but weren't there a number of years where the Lawrence Welk show was one of the few places to listen to it besides pulling out an old album?

Big band music never went away. It remained on am radio through the 50s/60s/70s in some form and it was kept alive during the heydey of variety shows, plus you always had the Glenn Miller Orchestra on some New Years Eve show. There also were people like Helen O'Connell who sang in that style and endlessly whined about its waning on talk shows. During Welk's heyday, there were touring groups like the Duke Ellington Orchestra (whom I remember seeing in the late 70s, led by Duke's son Mercer Ellington) who were much better than the watered down crap that Welk performed. Most cities of a decent size still had at least one ballroom well into the 80s that had big band dance music for the blue rinse crowd.

The problem with most of Welk's music was the arrangements. They were awful. George Cates was the worst. He would come out and conduct on every other show.

His stupid arrangements always began with a big orchestral flourish and went straight down the toilet....and then ended with the SAME orchestral flourish.

Yeah, the flourish was annoying. Not every tune benefited. And thingsoften were slowed down to a sclerotic pace.

Cates played a bigger and bigger role over time. He was responsible for recording "Calcutta", the show's one big hit and a tune that Welk apparently didn't initially like. Myron Floren also played a larger role behind teh scenes over time, but later on.

Thanks R266 - Bob Ballard did better arrangements, but Cates was a camera hog.

The most popular show on most PBS stations outside of major urban areas is still the Lawrence Welk show. When station managers try to change its time, or, god forbid, stop running it, the stations get more mail and phone calls (yes, snail mail, and telephone) than they do for anything else.

Marlo was tinsel on a dream, r260, the Lennons...

I can't believe there's still an audience for Lawrence Welk. Who are these people? I thought that kind of audience would've all died off by now.

We're zombies now, r270. We still make up a high percentage of the viewership.

[quote]Pete Fountain (jazz clarinet) was another player who went on to have a mainstream career--he was fired for jiving up a Christmas carol.

And yet Pete appeared on that 2001 reunion special mentioned at R253, along with fellow fired "musical family" members Cissy King and Jo Ann Castle.

[quote]Big band music never went away. It remained on am radio through the 50s/60s/70s in some form

What Big Band music got AM airplay in the 60s? I don't remember that.

R273: Plenty of it. You must have been living in a cave or you didn't explore your dial.

R274 Please name the Big Bands that were getting airplay in the 60s and their charting singles.

"I can't believe there's still an audience for Lawrence Welk. Who are these people?"

I assume that the people who watch Welk on PBS are either ironic hipster types, or elders with dementia.

[quote]I assume that the people who watch Welk on PBS are either ironic hipster types, or elders with dementia.

Or members of the Lennon Sisters' extended family.

People are living longer.

But with LW off the air, r278, are we living 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳?

[quote]I assume that the people who watch Welk on PBS are either ironic hipster types, or elders with dementia.

But even people who are now 80 years old would've been in their 20s in the 60s, they wouldn't have been the audience for Lawrence Welk. My great-aunt and great-uncle, both born in the 1910s and now dead for many years, were big Lawrence Welk fans. He was more of a WWII Generation thing.

The people watching Welk now are in their very late 80s and up. They would have been kids in the 40s.

Did Lawrence ever take back the sexed-up Lennons?

R273, I was raised in the tri-state area of NYC and my parents controlled the radio when in the kitchen and the car. We listened to two stations... WOR and WNEW on the AM dial.

I'm going to be 60 yrs old soon and can remember listening to William B Williams' "Make Believe Ballroom" on WNEW AM in the 70s.

While FM was becoming the dominate frequency, AM was still big. Willie B reached a large audience every single day. He was on the air for hours... music and talk, so yes, big band music and great American songbook were heard in a major market.

WOR, r283!

There has always been nostalgia and oldies and niche programs but Big Band music was dead by the time the 60s rolled around.

"Make Believe Ballroom" BTW played mostly contemporary recordings. The singers of standards: Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Andy Williams etc. "Adult radio".

Wow 285 replies to a Lennon Sisters thread?