The Lennon Sisters --- The Wah Watusi

[@karlajensen3708]

Can't believe Mr. Welk allowed them to do this. According to the girls, he didn't really want to do popular music but they were so young.. You can see they loved being able to do it, even if they had to be way more restrained than they probably wanted to. Love it

[@jimjimsandburg2754]

This was actually a parody of the young peoples music by Me. Welk. But be careful. Sometimes parodies become popular. It happened with the group called "Sha Na Na.

[@robertchesnosky3508]

THE BEST PARODY OF ALL TIME IS THE COVER OF " LITTLE DARLIN' BY THE DIAMONDS. ORIGINALLY BY THE GLADIOLAS. WITH THAT FAMOUS OPENING

[@davidwesley2525]

@@jimjimsandburg2754 Weird AL Yankovic had a success of making parodies. 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

[@leelarson107]

Welk was a tyrant and a blue-nose as well.......................according to a long string of people who worked for him.

[@MikeBlitzMag]

Before taking whatever bromide the mainstream media feeds you as fact without question, it wouldn't hurt to do a bit of research. For the bulk of the show's first two seasons on network TV in the mid 1950s, many of the performances were covers of songs by Chuck Berry, Bill Haley And The Comets, etc. And throughout the years, Welk covered songs by Del Shannon, Wilson Pickett, etc., had bands like the Chantays as guests on the show and more. It's all well documented, and much of it is right here on KZbin.

[@lindaslater7782]

Im 74 years old and loved watching this video. The Lennon Sisters were my favorite performers on the LW Show, and Janet was my favorite. I enjoyed watching LW when i was younger. My parents, brother, and i would watch the show on our tv and enjoy the many talents the show offered. It's September 2024, and i still enjoy watching Lawrence Welk.

[@ไกรศรพึ่งคํา]

😊😊😊😊

[@СтивИванов-б2о]

Просто ШИК!!!!И какой простой и запоминАющийся риф у мелодии..

[@enriquepina9829]

Great Oldie!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm 70 still Rock n Roll!!!!!!!!

[@BUSTER.BRATAMUS]

I'm addicted to this video...

[@mrjeff6257]

Just showed this to my 11 year old granddaughter. She loved it.

[@pattyterry6432]

Absolutely adorable. Sweet innocent days 😌♥️

[@rhondabitler2461]

Brought a smile to my face. I don't recall ever having seen this one before. We watched this every week and I remember many of the other videos from the show that I've seen. This one is adorable. And yes they did want to do more songs like this. They all look like they are enjoying themselves too.

[@here_we_go_again2571]

Cute skit! The Lennon sisters were very talented. Thx for sharing!

[@joehill8014]

I think this is my favorite Lennon Sisters skit.

[@andrewdallmann5307]

This was my mom's favorite dance. She even had the go go boots. But her favorite song was Georgie Girl, which she was, And she's been gone more than 30 years.

[@jenniferhudin2810]

your mom was great!

[@ncfeline1959]

Love this! The Lennon Sisters enjoyed the current songs and wanted to sing more like this!

[@marianevans8083]

Being a teenager in the 1960's this is about as hip as the Lennon Sisters ever got. Back in those days there was only one TV in the house and dad was always the king of it. So I always got stuck watching The Lawrence Welk Show and I hated it !!!

[@pianoman551000]

LOL!! The only thing I liked was Joann Castle as I, too, played piano as a kid. My dad saw the LW show on reruns every Sat. nite on PBS until he passed at 95. He LOVED this show and the Lennon Sisters!

[@pamsimth8018]

Lol sounds like great times

[@yana1955]

I, also, hated it as a teenager in the 1960's but now I think it's charming. The parents always watched it and now they've passed. Wish I could go back and watch it with them.

[@SimirJohnson]

EVERYONE under 50 hated the Lawrence Welk show!!

[@jaengen]

Ditto! It was the same in our house. Gawd, I hated that show.

[@mrstacyj9496]

M&D watched Lawrence Welk (Saturday nights in the 60s). Ugh! 2023: I realize the many incredibly talented musicians and artists that made up the LW "family"

[@philharnden243]

Love there dance movements, it helps me learn how to dance this song

[@Playbyplaymedia]

Never knew of this performance. It's charming seeing The Lennon Sisters being teenagers. They did a pretty good job of emulating The Orlons, including on the lead vocal. The male support reminds me of Thurl Ravenscroft on a Georgia Gibbs cover, but what would you expect?

[@maryannrosenthal9935]

I totally loved it when Mr. Welk let the girls do this!!!

[@WytZox1]

* Welk could in his way be "cooler" than Mitch Miller! ☺

[@smokeylake6732]

Brings me back to my childhood.

[@lynnglidewell7367]

The Lennon Sisters were baby boomers but most of the time they got stuck with singing old tunes from decades before their time. This is the only instance I've seen them do one from their own time period. Lawrence Welk Show was aimed at a much older audience then baby boomers.

[@WytZox1]

* True BUT those Luffly Lennon Sisters wanted to move on to more contemporary stuff like other girl groups of that era! 😄

[@adhocrat1]

only Janet, the youngest one, was a Baby Boomer.

[@DaphneHarridge]

Janet was the only Baby Boomer (1946). The others were older, but I get what you mean.

[@PitsTasteGood]

Don't forget that the ones doing the booming were the ones giving birth between 46 and 64... What we know as boomers are actually Boomed.

[@vhsstillok]

Just love this...especially every dignified Norma Zimmer cutting loose. Before the show went to color, they got away with more modern contemporary songs.

[@bonniec.3780]

Norma Zimmer isn't in this. I think you're confusing her with Dianne (middle). Kathy on our left, Peggy on our right. :)

[@rhondabitler5474]

​​@@bonniec.3780 Yes that is Norma Zimmer.

[@Froghorn_]

I wonder if they had Norma involved to give it her seal of approval.

[@heyboo4764]

I saw them at Woodstock!

[@kim-lx8gn]

very fuuny song ! beautiful lennon sisters

[@billyrose47]

Who would have ever thought the Lawrence Welk Show would get funky back in those days? But after all he did introduce the first band of Rock & Roll.... Bill Haley and the Comets so more popular music on his show was inevitable.

[@gandalfnorth]

Larry Hooper is a blast in this - he's usually so reserved and traditional.

[@daveandrade8189]

If he were any more reserved here, he'd be in a box.

[@jusssayin480]

Norma looks like she's having fun with this song. She was off the first few seconds but she just laughed it off and got into it. So different from the songs she usually sings.

[@aspenrobinson8797]

Who is Norma ?

[@jusssayin480]

@@aspenrobinson8797 She's Norma Zimmer, in between Kathy and Peggy Lennon.

[@cbwilson2398]

@@aspenrobinson8797 Norma Zimmer was the "champagne lady" for the show, a fine singer. So this features three Lennon sisters and Norma Zimmer.

[@rondaleroi]

@@jusssayin480 No, that's not Norma. It's Diane (Dee Dee) Lennon.

[@rondaleroi]

@@cbwilson2398 No. FOUR Lennon sisters. The lady in question is Dianne Lennon.

[@HungryH1951]

Wow! Rockers! Who knew? I'll never look at the Lennon sisters in quite the same way as I used to. Wild things!

[@alexcerdan4500]

WOW!!!! Love it. 💘

[@rockindaddy6535]

Fantastic ! 🎸🎙🎷

[@MikeBlitzMag]

Utterly stupendous cover of the Orlons' monster classic Cameo label single. Janet Lennon absolutely nailed Rosetta Hightower's lead here. And having the great Larry Hooper do Stephen Caldwell's trademark bass lines was a stroke of genius. Magnificent.

[@TheTwd1211]

Love Janet's smile😁

[@pennycarroll9006]

I used to watch the Lennon Sisters on Lawrence Welk Show and I never saw them sing this song! But herd I am now at 77 yrs old and I'm loving it! I knew they were cool!!!

[@TheChitown5]

Cute and done in the spirit of the song. Janet has got some sexy moves with a little hippy twist and mashed potatoes right on time and rhythm. Back up singers sounded good and on beat. May look corny today but those times were more innocent. Everybody looked like they were having fun, which is what the early 60's music was about. Welk was a favorite of WWII vets and folks of the big band era. Liked more than Sinatra by my relatives. He had excellent musicians and the sax break was spot on.

[@KD-hi6hh]

Yes!!!

[@gevito]

irradian inocencia, pureza de alma... virtud que ya está en extensión dentro del ambiente artístico, mas sin embargo, tanta es la presión adultera que terminas perdiéndola

[@ROCKSLIDZ]

Oh, those crazy Beatniks!

[@funathome123]

Wow….I watched Welk every Sunday. I actually looked forward to it as a kid. I do not remember the Lennon sisters doing this or any Dance record of that time. Interesting. Anyhow, I recently discovered that the King Family had the same issue. They use to have a Top 20 part in their show and As I understand it, the Cousins had to sing songs they really didn’t want to sing. I guess the Lennon Sisters had the same problem. Interesting. Anyhow, it was great entertainment and thats how I learned to waltz and Foxtrot by watching the Lawrence Welk Show. I didn’t know I was learning it but by watching, I knew what to do.

[@lizadivine3785]

I LOVE THIS!

[@MrPorsche85]

Janet was always my favorite.

[@ClaudioLucidi-k5t]

❤ 🙌🇦🇷 respeto a esta banda tocaron mi ❤ y mí alma

[@altfactor]

I can't believe this song got on the Lawrence Lawrence Welk show! Are you sure this wasn't edited out of the telecast for being too "with it"??

[@jaengen]

Yep, Old man Lawrence hated any music written after the early 50’s.

[@SoldierUSArmy]

This was performed, recorded and filmed at the Rooster’sTail catering and entertainment venue in Detroit as the wool sweaters were too warm for urban California’s year-around weather and the Rooster’s Tail is only a mile from Canada, and dress styles in sout(eastern Michigan were more conservative than California and they were partially recording for Motown.

[@heidifortune2888]

this is the lennon sister's Peggy,Kathy and Janet on lead ,Diane was on leave from 1960-1964,Norma Zimmer had placed her

[@tomgaffney1688]

And it looks like little Norma Zimmer missed the rehearsal on the basic dance step. She is out-of-step and looks confused from her late start, and never does get in step with Kathy and Peggy. Maybe she had too much champagne and thought she was suppose to polka with Welk.

John lennon?

[@dariowiter3078]

@ 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 👍👍👍👍👍 😁😁😁😁😁

[@rah62]

@@tomgaffney1688Wrong - she's back in step at 0:47.

[@JimmyMac6778]

@ - Correct. John Lennon's sisters. The beatnik looking guy in the shoulder pads is Ringo. George Harrison is playing lead guitar. Lennon and McCartney couldn't make it. They were busy writing "I Wanna Hold Your Hand".

[@laylas8696]

Love the style.. With candor and a little bit of sillynes. Although i still don't know what that guy is playing. 😂😁

[@jimjimsandburg2754]

This was actually a parody of the young peoples music by Me. Welk. But be careful. Sometimes parodies become popular. It happened with the group called "Sha Na Na.

[@sidneygwaltney9931]

for real thoe they had swag with this song the dancing

[@williananaya4734]

Una bonita canción , me habría gustado ver a The Ronettes cantándola , Nedra Talley en primera voz en especial

[@vertxxgg]

dance WAH WATUSI in South Africa in summer time with eskimo parka and jersey wool

[@meandmymonkey5137]

Imagine if phil spector produced them .

[@MeenaKumari-rc5lo]

Too good

[@ronthatus]

Wasn’t around in the 60s but this was when music was music

[@Lumotaku]

um music is still music

[@ronthatus]

@@Lumotaku if you say so

[@MERNStack]

awesome

[@louislamonte334]

Good grief!! Rock and Roll on the Lawrence Welk Show?!! What was the world coming to in '62?!!!

[@prepostmodern1032]

Both funny and a good arrangement. I have a guy I worked with who looks like Larry. Still in fashion in 2022....

[@iowa61]

This is a Saturday Night Live skit. What’s with Frankenstein in the Beatnik outfit?

[@AndreLuiz-bb7tq]

Bons tempos que não se esquecem 😅❤❤❤

[@Huskrrrr]

Pretty hip for Mr. Welk, still the skirts were well below the knees.

[@GeorgeSwift-qj1ik]

That was hilarious!

[@IanGreen-xh1qi]

I wasn't born then but it seems like good wholesome fun. Just like your first ciggy! Cough!!!!!!!!!

[@RETROTV1394]

Love Larry Hooper in this. Especially those huge shoulder pads .

[@ZOOTSUITBEATNICK1]

...for those who think those were the good old days...

[@eandsm4620]

fun, Fun & more FUN!

[@frankgonzalezofficial3010]

The 20th Century is the only century where you can hear music and determine what decade it was from for example. 1900’s Ragtime 1910’sRagtime/Jazz 1920’s Charleston 1930’s Big Bands 1940’s Big Bands / Swing 1950’s Doo Wop / Early Rock and Roll 1960’s Dance crazes/ Rock and Roll, Girl Bands 1970’s Disco 1980’s Electronic Modern Rock 1990’s Hip Hop, Rap, Booty, Pop You can hear a song and tell what decade it’s from. From the 2000’s and now they all sound the same. 1960’s

[@matthewfarmer2520]

There shoes and their socks they have on. Cool 😊

[@MikeIdy6000]

"Baby Baby when you do the FLY your arms are wasted wavin' in the sky"

[@irinabelova5668]

Класс!!👍👍👍❤️❤️❤️❤️😁

[@boybblue]

I have one of their LP's

[@joeswobodzien7536]

Cool cover of the orlons !

[@ЮрийБакиев-д7ж]

🎤 🎼🎵🧚‍♀️🎶🧚‍♂️ 🌸💃🌸

[@wallacewinter5907]

If you notice one is not a Lennon but the Champagne Lady. Janet is missing.

[@retrobilly1986]

But isn’t Janet the lead singer

[@wallacewinter5907]

I may have the wrong name, it may be Janet singing but the middle one is not a Lennon. The middle one is the Champagne lady who replaced Alice Lan or Long, something like that.

[@thomastarwater6035]

I’m surprised that Lawrence Welk signed off on the Lennon Sisters singing “Wah-Watusi.” He hated rock and roll with a purple passion. But a few years later he and his orchestra and chorus dressed up like hippies around 1969, and boy oh boy did he hear it from the sponsors and the network executives, not to mention the fans who saw him on TV and thought “what does that accordion-playing fathead think he’s doing?”

[@wendellskiffington]

Always liked the Lennons, but Janet? What a gal.

[@hannahchap9764]

Janet does a great job on this number.

[@tomgaffney1688]

It is obvious now where Elaine Benis, of "Seinfeld", learned how to dance; from watching this video of Janet Lennon "dancing". And that voice! No wonder Welk always had them lip-sync to pre-recorded music, so "little Janet" could be seen but not heard. That is, he always did until this song. Talk about finger nails scratching across a chalkboard.

[@ariannastewart4183]

Tom Gaffney i think she sounded great

[@crowsong111]

As bad as the lip-syncing is in this the miming sax player is even worse.

[@WytZox1]

@@crowsong111 ~> B-b-b-but Larry Hopper's baritone great as usual! ☺

[@rhondabitler2461]

@@tomgaffney1688 Your nuts.

[@scottpriebe8257]

I love the Lennon Sisters but what are they wearing?

[@flynnpelayo5518]

50’s and 60’s fashion

[@gotmit3709]

Мелкая хороша, молдчага!🎉

[@dennisdivine7448]

This as rockin' as the Welk show ever got! (Pseudo-beatnik & all ...)

[@squeakystool]

They really got hip when they had the Chantay's on doing the surf instrumental "Pipeline" May 18th/63.

[@XJarhead360]

Look up Welk's rendition of "One Toke Over The Line." You'll snicker or ROFL.

[@RobertHiggins-b4i]

I can dig it.

[@dougobrien4877]

This was lip synced as most of their specialty numbers were. Russ Kline’s sax solo trails off without him even having the sax in his mouth.

[@Ransomhandsome]

Would love to know if the members of The Orlons saw this.

[@bobrowland7851]

i assume so and with approval.

[@wolphramjonny7751]

They have rhythm in their blood!

[@steveperry1344]

i don't recall this side of the lawrence welk show. the lennon sisters got really pretty when they became late teenagers.

[@jaengen]

My folks and grandparents used to watch this show every week. Me and my siblings hated it as geezer music. I can’t say 50 years later that I’ve changed my mind.

[@danielconforti773]

Love this. But seems the long skirts made some dance moves a bit rigid. Ah, but those were the times. Glad to be able to see it!

[@jackiegerspachhas4237]

Where did those outfits come from??? I don’t remember wearing anything like that!!!!!

[@retrobilly1986]

Way better than the original

[@saturno05s]

por que as pessoas estão dizendo que há um problema nessa música? eu não entendo

[@PutLegForRoad]

Dang tht front girl had some rhythm

[@robinrubendunst869]

This is so much fun. But they're not doing the Watusi... :(

[@KD-hi6hh]

Wow, Janet was only 16 here I think....She sure sang and danced up a storm !!

[@joycemartin7516]

It’s 9/13/24 in Austin, Tx! Song and singers are great! I’m 75 and still rockin to the oldies today🥳🎶

[@smokeylake6732]

Agree.😊

[@jonmeadow2449]

WHAT A SHAME. SATURDAY NIGHTS HAD SEA HUNT, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, PERRY MASON AND GUNSMOKE ALL ON CBS. TO WATCH WELK MUST HAVE BEEN A HEARTACHE!

[@cierakitty]

Not the Watusi I remember doing......but okey dokey

[@Buckleigh]

@JaxH0pkins search Luci Watusi

[@65if2007]

Is that Allan Sherman ("Hello Mudduh Hello Faddah")?

[@robgrear1142]

I did not know Pentecostals could sing!

[@theaccursedj.e.2723]

The book Swan Song brought me here.

[@dorothycogswell5160]

Cool

[@stevenleslie8557]

Is that guy wearing football shoulder pads?

[@hebneh]

The only way a song like this could have been allowed on the show was by overdoing the performance to mock it. "These kids today listen to the most godawful music! Not like when WE were kids!"

[@ЮрийБакиев-д7ж]

🎤🌸🌹🌸 🎼🌿🎶☘️🎵🍀👍😎

[@josephmagil1149]

Neato-keeno!😃

[@dagnabbit6187]

Yes there was the cornball ,anachronistic Lawrence Welk but then there was the hip side of Lawrence Welk . The wholesome hip side i.e.

[@timstiner6266]

It's all good!

[@robertshields2066]

Who's the Lennon in the glasses, big brother or something? If his shoulders were any wider, he wouldn't get through the door.