"For $3,500," he exclaimed, "I vill talk."īy 1946, the band had become popular on the West Coast at the Aragon Ballroom in Ocean Park, Calif. When the manager doubled the offer, however, Mr. Even so, he said, he could not serve as emcee. In his early days, shyness and self-consciousness about his heavily accented English and lack of formal education made him a reluctant master of ceremonies for his band.Īccording to one account, he was stunned to be offered $1,750 a week by a Milwaukee theater manager. Smooth and sweetly melodic, his music was heard increasingly throughout the country in the 1930s and 1940s, as his band expanded in its size and reputation. Welk's musical style continually was cited for a frothy lightness characteristic of champagne, the bandleader himself was said to neither smoke nor drink. Welk also composed his theme song, "Bubbles in the Wine."Īlthough Mr. Welk's fan mail: "They say that dancing to your music is like sipping champagne."Ībout the same time, Mr. His autobiography, the aptly titled "Wunnerful, Wunnerful," traces "champagne music" to a broadcast from a Pittsburgh hotel in which a radio announcer reported the message of Mr. By 1927, his six-piece band, L.W.'s Hotsy Totsy Boys, had become regulars.Īfter he married in 1930, he tried to cut back on travel by turning to business, becoming successively the manager of a hotel, a restaurant and a music store. Welk went off to seek his fortune through music.Īlong with the inevitable one-night stands came appearances on radio station WNAX in Yankton, S.D. Turning his back on farm life, although not on its values of hard work and discipline, Mr. Welk obtained his own instrument as a teenager, playing at farm weddings and other community events until he reached 21. Welk spoke as much German as English as a boy, and he dropped out of school in the fourth grade.Īn accordion that was a family heirloom and occasionally played by his father, Ludwig, helped whet an early interest in music. In the remote, agricultural community, Mr. In 1892 they came to this country to farm in Strasburg, N.D. His parents were born in Alsace, now part of France but once part of Germany. The accented English that he spoke throughout his career came to Mr. The last of the original Lawrence Welk shows went on the air April 18, 1982, giving him 27 years as a first-run performer. Welk became a prosperous businessman who syndicated his show after the network dropped it. When the network canceled the show, it was not because his audience had become any less devoted to his 27-piece band, but because they were older and considered less desirable to advertisers.Ī home-taught musician who worked to overcome shyness in his early career, Mr. The "a-one, a-two, a-three" cue line for which he was known helped to spread his fame even beyond the millions who tuned in to his weekly shows that appeared on ABC from 1955 through 1971. Welk's easy-listening, easy-to-watch style, but for many Americans it was, in the artlessly enthusiastic phrase he made popular, "wunnerful, wunnerful." Sophisticates might have found corniness in Mr. He had been suffering from pneumonia, the spokeswoman said.Ī man who got his start at North Dakota barn dances and spent years on ballroom bandstands across the country, he was known for a friendly demeanor, simple melodies and unswerving dedication to giving large and admiring family audiences the kind of entertainment they wanted and understood. Welk, whose shows have been television fixtures since 1955, died at home May 17 in Santa Monica, Calif., with family members gathered around. Bandleader Lawrence Welk, the North Dakota-born accordion player whose bubbly "champagne music" and indefatigably wholesome style made his long-running television program an American cultural landmark, has died at age 89.Ī spokeswoman told the Associated Press that Mr.
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