Just a couple of weeks ago in a Throwback Thursday post about
Lawrence Welk, I included a video of Sandi Griffith and a bevy of Welk beauties singing an
old pop hit "Chanson D'Amour," cracking wise that "My sources in the Drug
Culture community warn that it's NOT SAFE to view when you're stoned!"
I'm such a card!
But in all seriousness, this is about a song that's haunted me since I was a
little kid. It seemed so foreign, alluring, with an undercurrent of danger
hiding behind false wholesomeness. And the recurring "ra da da da da" is just
this side of sinister.
I have a very distant and very vague memory of seeing the song performed on my
mom's old black and white tv. I don't know who was singing it. Maybe it was
the unforgettable, but largely forgotten Art & Dotty Todd, the first to
record "Chanson" in 1958. Their video below did seem to jog some memories.
However, for most of my life I assumed the singers were French.
But that's incorrect. Art & Dotty were American lounge singers. And while
the title is French, the song is not from France. Songwriter Wayne Shanklin
was born in Joplin, Missouri. "Chanson D'Amour" is as American as French
toast.
Here's Art & Dotty's version, introduced by Dick Clark on horseback!
Though the Todds were the first to record "Chanson," a group called The
Fontane Sisters, a New Jersey group, recorded it almost immediately
after Art & Dotty. Both were released in March 1958. Here's the Fontanes'
version:
By the mid 1960s, the song had been passed around and recorded by many of that
era's major monsters of schmaltz: The Lettermen, Sadler & Young, Ray
Coniff ... Even The Mills Brothers took a stab at the "Song of Love":
Apparently "Chanson" even made it to ... France. Here's Edith Piaff:
In the mid-'70s, "Chanson" was revived by the retro popsters Manhattan
Transfer. The single was big in Europe, though didn't make much of a splash in
the U.S., where cynics scoffed, "They're no Art & Dotty!"
I was hoping to uncover some obscure R&B or bluegrass or polka or zydeco
or speed metal versions of "Chanson D'Amour" but came up empty-handed. However
I did find this gem by The Muppets!
But hey, R&B, bluegrass, polka, zydeco and speed metal musicians, the song
is still there ... hint hint!
Sunday, March 21, 2021 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Justine by The Blasters
Lil Lobo by Joe "King" Carrasco with Patricia Vonne
Baby Doll by The Del Moroccos
Ain't Your Choir by Churchwood
Before the World Blows Up by The Electric Mess
Frog Went a Courtin' by Flat Duo Jets
The Model by Big Black
It's Trash by The Cavemen
My Way by The Darts
All I'm Saying by Alien Space Kitchen
Bowdlerize by Danger Cutterhead
Travelin' Riverside Blues by Hindu Love Gods
Cape by Jon Spencer
Talent Show by The Replacements
Say Goodbye to a Dream by The Woggles
I Am Gonna Unmask the Batman by Lacy Gibson with Sun Ra
Coming to Take Me Away by Tiny Tim
Sophisticated Boom Boom by The Knoxville Girls
Parts Unknown by Kid Congo Powers with Lydia Lunch & Die Haut
Down the Road by Dead Moon
Snickersnee by Thee Oh Sees
Scumbag by Frank Zappa with John Lennon & Yoko Ono
Crazy Train / Monkey Town by Degurutieni
Hot Pastrami with Mashed Potatoes by Joey Dee & The Starliters
It's a Jungle Out There by Randy Newman
Geeshie by The Mekons
I'm a Suspect by Lonnie Holley
How Great Thou Art by Homer Henderson
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
It's St. Patrick's Day, or as
The Onion
calls it "The Reinforcin' O' The Stereotypes."
Here are a few appropriately wacky Irish tunes for you.
Let's start with "The Night That Pat Murphy Died."
Erin go brawl! (Believe it or not, these guys are German!)
Here's "Brian O'Linn," courtesy of Seamus Ennis. (Folks who used to see me
perform back in the '80s might realize I performed my own weird adaptation of
this song. I changed it to "Barney O'Linn" just so I could add the
chorus "Listen here Barney and spare me your blarney / You bought the first
round but I bought the last 10 ..."
Here's "Captain Kelly's Kitchen" by The Dropkick Murphys
And it wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day in the Terrell household with some
Pogues!
Sunday, March 14, 2021 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Stop the Train by Mother Earth
Third Time’s the Charm by The Fuzztones
I’m Hurting by The Dustaphonics
Casino Reale by The Goldstars
Insect Eyes by Nots
Pine Box Ritual by The Guilty Hearts
Butcher by ET Explore Me
A Little More Time by The Reigning Sound
(Background Music: Marvel Ann on the Prowl by Ben Vaughn)
Howlin’ for My Woman by King Salami & The Cumberland 3
Free Range Man by MFC Chicken
What’s It All About by The Goon Mat & Lord Bernardo
Ego Arcade by Herzegovina
Goddess by Honshu Wolves
Lady Hawke Blues by Kid Congo & The Pink Monkeybirds
Too Long in the Wasteland by James McMurtry
(Background Music: Sand Storm by Impala)
Raised Right Men by Tom Waits
Dreaming Party by Degurutieni
Obeah Man by Meet Your Death
Ain’t That a Bitch by Johnny “Guitar” Watson
I’m Alive, You’re Dead by Kathy Freeman
I Don’t Feel at Home Anymore by Loretta Lynn
I Pray for You by Little Isadore & The Inquisitors
(Background Music: Waltz by The DJ Bonebreak Trio)
Dub the Frequencies of Love by Gogol Bordello
Crazy Kacharsee by Shoukichi Kina
I Thought He Was Dead by Jon Langford & Four Lost Souls
She Ain’t a Child Anymore by Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings
Know You Better by Black Pumas
Another Lonely Heart by Eleni Mandell
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Lawrence Welk, the bandleader, television star, Geritol purveyor and
bubble-machine enthusiast, was born March 11, 1903, 118 years ago this day.
Happy birthday, Lawrence. Hope your day is wunnerful, wunnerful, wunnerful!
Here's a bit of the North Dakota-born Welk's bio from
History.com:
Welk’s parents were immigrants from Alsace-Lorraine who spoke only German
to the nine children they raised on their farm outside Strasburg, North
Dakota. In fact, Lawrence Welk did not learn English until his early 20s,
which explains the accent that became his trademark. A dutiful son, Welk
dropped out of school in the fourth grade to work full time on the family
farm, but he decided early on that he wished to pursue a career in music.
He learned to play the accordion from his father, who carried his own
antique instrument with him when he immigrated to America. Lawrence wore
out the inexpensive, mail-order accordion bought for him as a boy, so he
made a deal with his parents: In exchange for a $400 loan to purchase a
professional accordion, he would stay and work on the family farm through
the age of 21. Playing small professional gigs in the surrounding area,
Welk honed his musical skills and earned enough money to pay his parents
back when he left home for good in 1924.
By the early 1930s, Lawrence Welk had earned a degree in music and made a
name for himself as the leader of a traveling orchestra. He had also
failed in a restaurant venture selling “squeezeburgers” cooked on an
accordion-shaped grill, but he had succeeded in developing a unique brand
as the proponent of a pleasing pop style dubbed “Champagne Music” for its
light and bubbly quality.
Ummm! Squeezeburgers!
Welk moved to Los Angeles in the early 1950s. He got his own local tv show,
which was picked up by ABC in 1955. After being cruelly dropped in 1971, Welk
got a syndication deal, which last until 1982.
I've heard lots of folks from My Generation say their grandparents made them
watch the Welk show. I guess I lucked out. My grandfather, born the same year
as Welk, didn't seem to have any interest in the bubble-laden show. And my
grandmother, born a few years later, thought Welk was an old cornball.
But to celebrate his birthday, here are some special memories courtesy of
YouTube:
Here's one from Welk's brief hippie period. (Rumors that the bandleader had
contacts among the Manson Family are completely false and should not be
repeated.)
In addition to his musical skills, Lawrence was quite the polka dancer:
Here's a clip featuring several of Welk's female singer regulars. Caution: My
sources in the Drug Culture community warn that it's
NOT SAFE to view when you're stoned!
Speaking of stoned, this clip of a "modern spiritual" seems to pop up on
social media every few weeks for the past several years. I actually
blogged about it myself back in 2008. While then Vice President Spiro T. Agnew was blasting this song
as subversive propaganda for illegal and dangerous marijuana, Welk singers
Gail Farrell and Dick Dale (no, not THAT Dick Dale) performed this Brewer
& Shipley the tune on Lawrence's show.
