The Lawrence Welk Singles Collection 1938-62

Accordionist, bandleader, composer and TV impresario Lawrence Welk was one of the most visible and popular personalities in easy-listening orchestral pop music through several decades spanning the pre- and post-war eras, with his high-profile TV series “The Lawrence Welk Show” running for three decades from 1951 into the early ‘80s. Performing what he christened early in his career as “Champagne Music”, he transcended all the upheavals in the pop music landscape during these times to maintain a consistent appeal to the broad middle ground of popular music tastes so that he was able to take advantage of the introduction of the stereo long-playing albums during the 1950s and beyond. This great-value 56-track 2-CD set comprises selected A and B sides from his singles for Vocalion, Okeh, Decca, Mercury, Coral and Dot labels during the quarter-century from the late 30s right through to the early ‘60s, and features over 30 chart entries, including the No. 1 “Calcutta” and the Top 10 hits “I Won’t Tell A Soul”, “The Moon Is A Silver Dollar”, “Don’t Sweetheart Me” and “Oh Happy Day”. It covers a remarkable range of styles, including vocal hits from the early part of his career in the ‘sweet’ dance band style of the war years, along with examples of his trademark polka tunes featuring his distinctive accordion sound, through to easy listening orchestral pop recordings during the 1950s. It’s an entertaining cross-section of his work, underlining his skill in refining his style to stay in touch with an evolving market to stay firmly in the public eye.