Watching the Lawrence Welk show may seem dull to today’s generation, but there isn’t a member of this family from ANY generation that isn’t familiar with the closing credits theme from the show, which I have here today. We still watch the show every week when it airs on PBS. Hope this brings back fond memories for you as well!

World War II was hard on this country, and forced many changes. Rosy the Riveter made her appearance, women started conserving stockings, and things no one expected to run short… ran short. A women’s baseball league was formed to give people something to watch while the basball players went off to war. It took decades for those female players to recieve the recognition they deserved. But through it all, the bands played on. One of the hottest groups of the war was the Andrews Sisters, and one of the most popular songs was BOOGIE WOOGIE BUGLE BOY.

The Big Band sound was one that has never found it’s equal, and the great band directors have all earned a spot in history. But when Glenn Miller went to war, the country held it’s breath. When he died, it felt as though the music died with him. I suppose it seems that way every time a musical great leaves us, but this one seemed just a bit… more so. I don’t reocognize the singer or dancers in this clip, but the band is that of Glenn Miller. So here we go, on the Chattanooga Choo Choo.

Happy Independence Day. The sentiment has nothing to do with the movie of the same name. Independence Day is a good time for reflecting upon that independence and the changes that have occurred in this country since that first celebation so very long ago. Even in my own life, the changes have been drastic. When I was born, there was no such thing as Social Security. The governemnt, for the most part, knew that we the people had individual intelligence of our own. They gradually stopped believing that as laws were enacted taking our freedoms from us, one by one. Yet we are still the freest country on the globe. No Independence Day celebration would be complete without this classic clip, performed by James Cagney, and written by the great George M. Cohen, who was the original YANKEE DOODLE DANDY.