Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

in Iowa cafes sitting down is easier
than standing up drinking lemonade
people look taller in a country café
even small Margaret, Leo’s wife,
who once lent me her Lemon Pledge;
my apartment smelled like Margaret
for weeks

Leo milked cows for forty-three years,
cursing every one of them by name;
he often played polka music while milking,
remembering, reciting each bovine name
in the dark until Leo too went to sleep

Ahh that Lawrence Welk
I used to fantasize about him
imagine
that secretly he tucked a pack of cigarettes in his T-shirt sleeve
listened to 'Satisfaction' by the Rolling Stones
passing his spliff to The Champagne Lady
the two of them just laughing their asses off

This gives me an idea.....for a topic.....thanks 68 !

I'm glad it jarred a topic out of ya'. Write on.

Not sure about the title, b/c Welk was much more than polka. And he was actually from North Dakota, not Iowa. I will probably change that.

68degrees

Oh ya wiki'd him did ya? I did too but didn't notice where it said he was born. Good catch --

I didn't wiki him...I just knew that. My parents were big fans and as a kid, I watched too. My mom was a dancer before she got sick. That's how she met my father. Welk was a bond for them.

my grandparents loved Welk, my parents never really got into him...but I would watch at my grandparents...Julius Larosa, the Lennon Sisters...and of course the champagne music..brings back a few memories

Don't forget Bobby and Cissy. They were brother and sister. A bit of Welk trivia

Everybody now..."wunnerful, wunnerful"

68degrees

Wasn't Bobby from the original Mickey Mouse Club? He was the guy who was such a good dancer, I remember.

As usual, an effective, narrative style that pulled me in. Thanks for posting this.

Thanks, Doreen.

Shadowplay: Yes, Bobby was a Mouseketeer. He was the one w/big ears

68degrees

man i was always glad my parents were beats...i grew up on billie holiday, chet baker, stan kenton, jerry mulligan, i used to see those bubbles on. my friends tv's and run home....

Wireman,

good names, good music. Stan Kenton's orchestra one of the first to play England back in the day. My dad worked for a radio station so we had access to any and all music. Our record player on the console was always blaring something.

68degrees

yeah i remeber this cat named martin denny who put out awesome world sounds....exotica was one of his albums...this was all in tge 50's....i got my rockin roll other places like at the Garlenski's...chuck berry....little richard....elvis of course....my folks were into jazz...they'd go see
monk....diz....chet....miles....in old d.c.....i got lucky and saw louis armstrong when i was 9 at the steel puer in atlantic city n.j....like 10 feet away...what an experience...man he used a whole lotta hankerchiefs

Yes, wunnerful. Gawd, my parents always watched that show. I remember one time when he said "Let's-a-get down and get-a-funky" . . .

Jesus, I just found a weird-ass clip on Y-tube-- Gail and Dale singing "One Toke Over the Line" in 1971 ...
Did I really just see that? Did someone put one over on the old guy? ... Oh my.