Lawrence Welk
b. 11 March 1903, Strasburg, North Dakota, USA, d. 17 May 1992, Santa Monica, California, USA. After achieving a measure of competence on the piano-accordion, Welk formed a dance band in the mid-20s, and soon became immensely popular, with engagements at leading hotels and endless one-night stands on the country's dancehall circuit. The band was widely criticized in the musical press for its lack of imagination and simplistic arrangements, coupled with occasionally elementary playing. Nevertheless, Welk's star continued to rise and his became one of the most successful broadcasting bands in the history of American popular music. Welk called his style "champagne music" and he made no concessions to changing tastes, firmly believing that he knew exactly what middle-Americans wanted to hear. He must have been right, because he retained his popularity throughout the 30s and 40s, and in 1951 his regular radio shows transferred smoothly to television. For the next four years he had a weekly show from the Aragon Ballroom at Pacific Ocean Park, and in 1955 switched to ABC with even greater success. In 1961, two of his albums spent the entire year in the charts, with Calcutta holding the number 1 spot for 11 weeks. During his unprecedented chart run between 1956 and 1972, no less than 42 albums made the lists.

Listen to Lawrence Welk at Finetune.

Albums
Top Tracks
  • Calcutta
  • Baby Elephant Walk
  • Bubbles In the Wine
  • Winchester Cathedral
  • Moon River
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