Sunshine Pop of the Sixties

This bizarre video clip is worth watching, if only to hear Lawrence Welk, a native German speaker, say “Dionn-a Warwick-a” (apologies to the great Dionne Warwick!)  No, this is not the fabulous Dionne singing this time … nor  is it the arguably even-more-fabulous diva, Aretha Franklin.  It’s Lawrence Welk’s daughter-in-law, Tanya Falan.  I would never question Falan’s talent; she certainly can carry a tune.  But it probably didn’t hurt her career to have a world-famous father-in-law, a big band leader with his own musical variety show.

Nevertheless, with about as much soul as an airline commercial, this performance might make you cringe.  Just think of it as a novelty.  One wonders if poor Dionne or Aretha – or the legendary songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, the song’s composers – ever saw this particular rendition.  Maybe they cringed, too.  Or maybe they just said a little prayer.

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