Demille Technicolor, costumes and sets were pure magic! The guy coughing at the beginning of the video with the accordian just sets up perfectly what is to follow. I wonder if LW forgot his Geritol the day he allowed this number on the air. Here's Henry Mancini making an appearance on the WELK Show: Here's a clip from my other post (if you missed it) of Welk's Orchestra playing "And we were Lovers" from The Sand Pebbles: I watch it now and I'll say Welk did have a great band! I have fond memories of Mom and Dad watching the show every saturday night back in the 70's and even in later years before Dad passed away.
Wonder how many guys in the band walked around with boners when she was performing? She was hot and even hotter when she finally got her "drive a truck through the middle" teeth fixed.īehind the Scenes of the Welk Show would make an excellent Mini-Series or Movie full of drama, comedy and fun dirty laundry. I always had my eyes on the little mexican firecracker Ana Cani. Tom was a tall good looking drink of water and could sing, but kind of had a sort of Richard Chamberlain creepiness about him. I believe Tom marketed himself as a Christian Artist as well back then,īut I'll say, the way Bobby used to hop and bounce around with that big over the top Disney smile, I'm sure a lot of Welk's loyal older viewers had their ideas and jokes about him. I'm pretty sure your gaydar is off on Bobby Burgess. Now, who could imagine that there was once a time when a person could turn on American television and see nothing but music and dancing (of non-youth-oriented music) for a whole hour!? I remember the last show that they broadcast back in the 70's. I had a hard time picking who must have been gay, but I think Bobby (the dancer) and probably Tom Netherton (the blond crooner) are among them. (I also couldn't believe how much hair dye I was seeing, too.) I couldn't believe I could remember so many faces and even a few names. I watched part of a reunion of the cast members from 2001. I miss him.Non-Film Score Discussion: The Lawrence Welk Show He shared his love of writing with me and I also have a copy of the sci-fy book he wrote, “The Frozen Horror”. And he sent me his “Stop Stress Now With Ken Delo” cassette when I was apprehensive about a long flight to Europe. I have a CD of the Delo & Daly show and also of his sweet Christmas Story. In later years when he moved to AZ, he would call me periodically and we would chat about the old days and also what he was working on at the time either writing or maybe producing a show of the old days with Jonathan. I met my prince charming and settled down to raise a family. I didn’t pursue a career in show business. He was like a brother to me and watched out for me. I, too, had come out to CA to be in show business. We kept in touch when he returned to the US with Jonathan Daly. We met and acted in many shows together in both musicals and dramas. We spent (Marilyn too) many hours together at the Academy Playhouse, a little theatre group in Michigan. Susie Gamble, who provided many of the photos for this post, runs a Facebook Group devoted to The Go!! Show, a production of D.Y.T., which was also responsible for Ken and Jonathan’s Channel 7 shows.Īdam, Ken has been on my mind so much recently….so very strongly, that I googled him and found he has passed on. Thank you, Ken, for making sweet music and timeless comedy. When I was in Melbourne late last year, and right in the middle of writing my article, I imagined the Melbourne of another time, with Ken and Jonathan rehearsing at the HSV-7 Teletheatre on Johnson Street in Fitzroy, or writing together at the flat they shared in Toorak down the road from where the famous nightclub The Embers once stood. Perhaps his words when describing The Ugly Little Christmas Tree reflected his philosophy for life where, “The story proves that in the right place, at the right time, and if you go for it, you can succeed”. Ken left an indelible mark on television in this country. Who hasn’t left their heart in San Francisco?įrom all accounts Ken was a very lovely man, loving husband to Marilyn and loving father to their two children, and a friend of Jonathan’s until the end. When Ken started one of his many solo performances and I heard those distinct lines, “The loveliness of Paris seems somehow sadly gay/The glory that was Rome is of another day”, I got chills. Ken was a beautiful singer, and as Jonathan told me “a masterful straight man” in their double act.