• Right-Wing Bias of PBS

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2005 6:12 am**

bobov (imported) wrote: Sun May 22, 2005 10:14 pm When I was a teen, my friends and I made a cult of scorning Lawrence Welk. He wasn't rock. He wasn't classical. His was the music our dreaded parents liked. All the out-of-it old farts who were scared by the Beatles and bored by Bach liked Lawrence and those bubbles. Despising Lawrence Welk became a touchstone of our generation. He was said to symbolize all the decaying retrograde sentiments of the rotten civilization we golden youth were going to replace at any moment.

Well, now that I'm an out-of-it old fart, I have the courage to ask why Lawrence Welk deserves to be so demonized. He played popular old tunes in a square straightforward style, plus bubbles. Sophisticated? No. Revolutionary? No. Complex? No. It was plain music for plain folk. It was working-class music for average joes after a hard week at the "plant." (Strange, in retrospect, how important it was in the "60s" to overthrow working-class values with upper middle class values.) Well, so what? Music was never as important as we made it out to be - the supremacy of Mick Jagger over Lawrence Welk didn't change the world. Our "revolutionary" tastes in consumption were just the basis of a new business. (Note that Welk performed on free tv; to be "revolutionary," you needed to buy albums, stereos, etc., with money provided by your Lawrence Welk-loving parents.)

After all these years, I've got to ask - so what if our embarassing prole parents enjoyed Lawrence Welk and his simple renditions of familiar tunes? You don't have to like Welk yourself, but a little tolerance for others (a liberal value!) might be in order.

My brother David enjoys watching the reruns of the Lawrence Welk Show. I father stopped supporting public television, when his local PBS stations stopped running the old shows. My mother misses them. I hope that I do not demonize either Mr. Welk or his performers. However, I hate the program. I do not know why. My rejection is immediate and intense. It seems that Mr. Welk never appreciates the music for itself but as something to use as a mere commodity. My parents never watched the show when it first played. They acquired their taste for it in their later years.

Maybe, my brother and mothers hear and my father heard the music in a way that they never had in the first place. Maybe, they grew into it. Apparently, I did not grow mature with age. Obviously, You are blessed to appreciate why people enjoy Mr. Welk. Good for you. I appreciate your insight.

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2005 6:15 am**

Riverwind (imported) wrote: Sun May 22, 2005 7:07 am You have my deepest sympathy,

River

Talking about citcoms, remember All in the Family and Mash, both were as you say Red. Show me one thats to the right thats funny.

River

I think that many of the sitcoms are right-wing in the sense of celebrating the status quo. Almost nothing about them is funny. Many of the sitcoms are mean instead of funny.Some are immoral.

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2005 6:23 am**

A-1 (imported) wrote: Sat May 21, 2005 11:02 am Softee,

There is only one place in America where more Ghosts walk the street than in Baton Rouge, and that is New Orleans... small wonder he's still on the air...

A-1

Our real ghosts are blues in Baton Rouge and jazz in New Orleans. A good number of blues and jazz artists are well and active. My former wife even taught some of the current crop in elementary school.

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2005 7:39 am**

Old Softee, I'm not a Welk fan. I've just become tolerant enough to extend respect to those who are.

Re sitcoms, the status quo is the status quo because it's ubiquitous. It's the way most people live and think who are "normal," without introspection or conscious choice. At any time, most things are status quo. My point was that the conservative 1950s produced many funny sitcoms, so conservatism does not, in itself, preclude humor.

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2005 8:10 am**

It seems that PBS can resurrect the dead..re..Lawrence Welk....if not there is Netherland at Branson, Mo.

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2005 10:29 am**

bobov (imported) wrote: Mon May 23, 2005 7:39 am Old Softee, I'm not a Welk fan. I've just become tolerant enough to extend respect to those who are.

Re sitcoms, the status quo is the status quo because it's ubiquitous. It's the way most people live and think who are "normal," without introspection or conscious choice. At any time, most things are status quo. My point was that the conservative 1950s produced many funny sitcoms, so conservatism does not, in itself, preclude humor.

Those old sitcoms were funny. Jack Parr was funny. Ernie Kovacs was funny. Kula, Fran, and Olie was funny.

About Mr. Welk, I agree with you. I am not a fan, but there is a place for those who do enjoy his work. My mother is one of my favorite people as it my brother David. I do not know why I do not enjoy listeing to the Lawrence Weld Show.

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2005 3:49 pm**

Softee states...

Blaise (imported) wrote: Mon May 23, 2005 6:23 am Our real ghosts are blues in Baton Rouge and jazz in New Orleans. A good number of blues and jazz artists are well and active. My former wife even taught some of the current crop in elementary school.

That is a good thing, Softee.

The best gift that a child can recieve after supportive parents and responsible parenting is a musical heritage...IF you love to watch Lawrence Welk, that is nothing at all to be ashamed about...

Music enriches life beyond the ability of words to describe.

I am not talking about AMERICAN IDOLATORS, either.

A-1

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2005 5:11 pm**

A-1 (imported) wrote: Mon May 23, 2005 3:49 pm Softee states...

That is a good thing, Softee.

The best gift that a child can recieve after supportive parents and responsible parenting is a musical heritage...IF you love to watch Lawrence Welk, that is nothing at all to be ashamed about...

Music enriches life beyond the ability of words to describe.

I am not talking about AMERICAN IDOLATORS, either.

A-1

Having a father who introduced me to classical music, jazz (in spite of himself), opera, and ballet to end up watching Lawrence Welk was a surprise.

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2005 6:46 pm**

bobov (imported) wrote: Sun May 22, 2005 10:14 pm When I was a teen, my friends and I made a cult of scorning Lawrence Welk. He wasn't rock. He wasn't classical. His was the music our dreaded parents liked. All the out-of-it old farts who were scared by the Beatles and bored by Bach liked Lawrence and those bubbles.

"Champagne" Style originated in the big bands. I met the man who invented the bubble machine. A Goomba on my Mother's side of the family played guitar with Welk and many of the big bands that toured. Besides from the age of seven until I was 19, I took lessons on piano, electric organ and pipe organ and some of the styles of music I learned was Welk, Big Band, Sinatra, all that easy listening, Cole Porter, Gershwin, Bossa Nova, and a few Polkas. I also learned lots of rock and folk. SO - don't mess with Welk. There is a lot worse music out there (like atonal , ska , and <shudder> techno)... And then there's all those thousands of Vivaldi Flute concerti that aren't even worthy of lining a bird cage. I wouldn't even let my doggie tinkle on Vivaldi Flute Concerto's - that's how bad it is.

Then I quit music to be a chemical engineer.

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2005 7:52 pm**

Dave, Tony Vivaldi asked me to pass this on to you - "Oh, yeh? Who died and made you boss? If ya wanna step outside and settle this ... I've got a flute, and I know where to shove it." Sorry Dave, but Tony had one too many beers. He's a nice guy. Really. You ought to know he's given up baroque concerti entirely. Now he plays the organ at ball parks. Charge!

Right-Wing Bias of PBS

Re: Right-Wing Bias of PBS

Re: Right-Wing Bias of PBS

Re: Right-Wing Bias of PBS

Re: Right-Wing Bias of PBS

Re: Right-Wing Bias of PBS

Re: Right-Wing Bias of PBS

Re: Right-Wing Bias of PBS

Re: Right-Wing Bias of PBS

Re: Right-Wing Bias of PBS

Re: Right-Wing Bias of PBS