Lennon Sisters - Til The End Of Time

Here's a nice old gem - The Lennon Sisters singing Til The End Of Time from a 1958 episode of The Lawrence Welk Show.



It's always a kick seeing old black and white episodes. The girls are so young and charming. Plus Pete Fountain was in the band - god what a genius clarinet player he was. I also really like the personality and voice of Alice Lon. Good show.

Kathy Lennon video interview

By request, here's her interview from last week's Lawrence Welk Show.

Enjoy snoopysnake!

Lennon Sisters YouTube clips and screencaps

Long time no blog. Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been going through a very rough patch the past month. Hopefully things are turning around. Anyway, let the blogging commence!

Did y'all see last night's Lawrence Welk Show? It was really good. From early 1968, it was one of the very last appearances by The Lennon Sisters on the show. They performed two choice numbers, which I've added to YouTube.

First up, the very beautiful Where Are The Words. This is an exquisite number.


Their second number was the cute and lively Quanto le Gusta.


Kathy was interviewed at the end of the show. She told a moving story of finding an old, very early amateur recording she and her dad did on a recording machine given to them by a wealthy relative. She got choked up talking about what a treasure it was to have a recording of her dad. She made copies for her brothers and sisters for Christmas. What a priceless gift.

I made some screencaps from the show if you'd like to have a look.
Enjoy.

Georgy Girl

I've been out at Mardi Gras parades these past two weekends, having a raucous time, but I did record The Lawrence Welk Show while I was out catching beads.

Last night's repeat from April 29, 1967 featured a real gem - The Lennon Sisters performing their wonderful version of Georgy Girl. This is one of my very favorite recordings of theirs. It's simply superb. I've uploaded the clip to YouTube, as well as made some caps.
Enjoy!

YouTube No No

Dick Clark didn't take kindly to the American Music Awards clip of The Lennon Sisters on YouTube - it's been yanked off. Sorry guys.

Lennon Sisters on American Music Awards

Here's a rare clip. Back in 1974 The Lennon Sisters presented the award for Country Group on The American Music Awards. Yeah, I know - Lennon Sisters and country music. Whuh??? It sorta kinda made sense actually. Around this time, the early 70s, they had signed with Atlantic for a country music album. They recorded the songs but unfortunately it was never released.

Missing from this appearance is Dee Dee. Not sure why she wasn't there - she wasn't off having a baby, the usual reason when one of the sisters is out of the lineup. Younger sister Mimi fills in to round out the quartet.



I've also made some screencaps from the clip which you can enjoy here.

Lennon Sisters, Hollywood Palace Clips

First off, I really enjoyed the past Saturday's Lawrence Welk Show, especially the interview with Dee Dee at the end. She looked terrific, and was so very charming and down to earth. I didn't get to record it due to a brain malfunction on my part - um, I temporarily forgot how to work the dvd recorder. Given that my dad has Alzheimer's I found this a little disconcerting. But I'm only 41! Probably it was just a fluke, and I am on cold medicine, so....

Anyway, I'm not completely brain dead, as I have added two clips of The Lennon Sisters to YouTube. These are from the Dec. 5, 1967 episode of The Hollywood Palace, ironically enough hosted by Jimmy Durante who later teamed up with The Lennon Sisters for their own variety show. I guess this is where the idea originated.

Here we have This Is My Song, with the girls looking so elegant and sounding gorgeous.


Next up, Up, Up and Away. OMG, who came up with this choreography?!

Lennon Sisters on Family Feud

Back in 1984 The Lennon Sisters did one of their guest spots on game shows, this time, Family Feud. Their opponents: Sister Sledge of We Are Family fame (I loved that song as a kid, even bought the 45).

All four Lennon Sisters compete, with sister Mimi rounding out the team. Nice teamwork, girls, but I cannot believe y'all couldn't come up with the last answer to "what do people say they don't get enough of?". Hello!

So do they win? Watch and see.

Easy To Remember

Back in 1992 The Lennon Sisters hosted a special, Easy To Remember, a delightful and entertaining look back at their early years on The Lawrence Welk Show. They were such sweet little girls, so very endearing with their beautiful harmonies. No wonder everyone fell in love with them.



I made eleven clips from the special and uploaded them to YouTube. Hope you enjoy them!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Happy Labor Day weekend y'all! Finally got my car back from the body shop, nearly four weeks after that uninsured driver slammed into me. Kinda scared to drive much - people are idiots around here. Aside from a few errands yesterday I have been lazy as all get out. And I'm loving it.

Anybody watching AMC's series Mad Men? It is brilliant. I had missed the first few episodes so I spent all morning catching up on the marathon they aired. I LOVE this show, even though I feel really bad for the female characters. I knew women were viewed pretty much as chattel back in the day, but dayum. My poor, maligned gender. I was talking with my mom about the show. I said, "Wow, y'all were really treated like shit, weren't you?" She didn't disagree.

Now, I know the Lennon Sisters seemed at their most happy as homemakers, least that's what they've said in countless articles. Nevertheless, they also clearly enjoyed their careers as well. I imagine they had to have chafed at the condescending attitudes toward women that were so prevalent back then. It makes their perseverance and success all the more enjoyable to this fan.

Here are some clips I added to YouTube:


Sittin On Top Of The World - Love the song; the costumes, not so much.


Tumblin' Tumbleweeds - Cowpokes in pink.

Marianne - I like the dancing at the end - as usual Janet moves the best.

Kathy and Janet 7.27.07 tv Interview

Another day, another scorcher. Temps were well over 100 again. I had to wait til almost sunset to go bike riding on the levee - still came home dripping wet. And why do they make bicycle seats so uncomfortable? Seriously, my behind is sore. Too much information. Sorry. I did take a pretty pic of the mighty Mississippi with my cell phone.



So anyway, last month Kathy and Janet were on CN8TV morning show promoting their Best Pals line. I don't get that channel, but thanks to Peter MacNeil, who shared the video with me, we can all view it as I've added it to YouTube .

It's a good interview about their dolls and cds, and they sing a bit too. Such beautiful voices. Particularly interesting is the tidbit about their meeting with QVC, where they hope to be able to sell their Best Pals products. Janet was cute with her "thumbs up" when the interviewer wished them luck with the meeting.

Christmas with the Lennon Sisters

Christmas clips in August?! Is she crazy?!

I blame the heat. It was a 104 freakin' degrees here today! Even the water in the pool was hot. I needed something to cool me off.



These ten clips are from the 1995 special A Lawrence Welk Family Christmas which marked their second holiday season at the Branson theater.

Enjoy the Lennon Sisters, their daughters, and a whole bunch of other Welk stars, plus some Osmonds thrown in for good measure.

old Lennon Sisters clips

Aw, tonight's repeat of the Jan. 4, 1958 Lawrence Welk Show had some darlin' Lennon Sisters numbers!

First the girls sang the lovely Melodie D'Amour.

The absolute highlight was their Ferdinand The Bull number. Dee Dee, Peggy, and Kathy looked so pretty in their mantillas. And Janet! She was the most precious thing ever as the little matador. I loved it!



Enjoy the clips.

Quick Link

In case you're like me and was disappointed to learn that The Lennon Sisters version of I'm Coming Back To You was not released on any album, but only as a single, there is some good news. This site has it available for download in .wav format. It doesn't include the B side but I guess we can't have everything.

Did You Ever See A Dream Walkin?

"well, I diiid."

So sing Kathy Lennon and Steve Smith, strolling through the park, looking like lovebirds, in this Oct. 15, 1966 clip from The Lawrence Welk Show.

They made a cute singing team. Steve, to me, always looked like a Kennedy.

*shrug*

dem bones, dem bones

Here's a cute number with almost all of the Lennon Sisters performing together. Dee Dee is the only one missing from this Oct 1965 rendetion of "Dry Bones". Peggy, Kathy and Janet are joined by their little sisters Mimi and Annie.

Awww, poor little Annie was way too hard on herself for her little mistake at the end. If it makes her feel any better Janet had a minor goof in the "Chanson d'Amour number. In the first line, bar, whatever they call it, you can see she messed up a word in the lyric - instead of "play encore", she started to sing "I adore".

Yeah, I've watched that clip way too many times to notice such a thing.

Lennon Sisters clips and caps

Did y'all see the new PBS special, Lawrence Welk's TV Treasures last night? I was so excited to see new interview clips of Janet and Dianne who both looked fantastic. I thought their clips were the most fun, relaxed and honest. Not that I'm biased or anything.

As you can tell below they were having some fun, yeah.



And there were no Semonski Sisters on the show. That in itself made the enjoyment level soar.

Before I list what were the highlights for me, let me post some links.

I made a video of just The Lennon Sisters parts of the show. It was too long to upload to YouTube as one clip so I divided it.
Lennon Sisters Reminisce Part 1
and
Lennon Sisters Reminisce Part 2

I also took a bunch of screencaps which you can view as a slideshow if you want.

Back to the show....my favorite was the Watusi (spelling?) number. Norma Zimmer flat knocked me out with how much fun she was having with the girls. It's a pity her humor and great laugh that Dee Dee and Janet spoke of didn't come through on most of her other numbers. And that Janet can move - wicked hip swaying, girl!

My other favorite moment was the gang's all here hootenanny number with all 11 Lennon siblings. Oh my word, that little baby of the family was such a cutiepie!




Janet talking about her dad advising her on the impression she could leave when meeting fans.

Janet and Aladdin - they were sooo sweet together.



Whaddaya know, they mentioned Kathy's first husband by name.

Dee Dee and Janet being diplomatic in describing the oddly interesting Natalie Nevins: "very unique" and "what a character". Yeah.

What else. Oh, I like how Rocky Rockwell spoke movingly of Alice Lon. I think she was pretty great myself. The early stars of the show, and obviously I'm including the Lennons here too, were so much more fun and real to me than the later members.

Good show!

Lennon Family Does Halloween

Let's just set the record straight - The Lennon Sisters and their siblings put everyone to shame when it comes to decorating for Halloween. Need some proof? Check out the video I just uploaded to YouTube.

They went ALL out, tranforming their mom's house into a trick-or-treater's motherlode of thrills and chills. Dang, I wish there had been a house done up like this back when I was a kid out on Halloween night.

Their mama cracks me up when she says, "it's a mess, but they'll clean it up."

Best Pals video on YouTube

Just noticed that gsbahler has posted a video/commercial for Kathy and Janet's Best Pals dolls. If I'm not mistaken this is Janet's step-son, Greg. And damn if he didn't post a very effective marketing tool. I had not intended to buy the cds that come with the dolls. I mean, I don't have kids, and I assumed the product was for kids only.

Wrong!

Seriously, I got chills listening to their harmony on the video. Hauntingly beautiful. So I'll be making an unexpected purchase.

Savvy marketing, Kathy and Janet. Bravo!

too cute to pass up

So, this isn't a Lennon Sisters post. Indulge me. I absolutely could not resist sharing this adorable video of some really cute kids singing Bobbie Gentry's Ode To Billie Joe.

Choreography too! It's the cutest thing ever!