Friday, August 18, 2023

FRIDAY MUSIC: The Lennon Sisters, by JD

The Lennon Sisters are one of the most admired and longest-performing female vocal groups in American music history marking 67 years since their television debut in 1955 as children on The Lawrence Welk Show. Growing up in the public eye with their weekly television performances, the sisters rose to fame as acclaimed recording artists and vibrant live performers throughout the nation.
They've recorded more than 20 albums and over 100 singles. They have a star on the world-famous Hollywood Walk of Fame, are inductees in the National Vocal Group Hall of Fame and memorabilia chronicling their career is on view at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington D.C.

Following the retirement of sisters Peggy in 1999 and Dianne in 2001, the current performing sisters are original group members Kathy and Janet Lennon and their younger sister Mimi.

These videos are from TV shows broadcast in the 1950s and give an idea of how the country saw itself during the post-war boom with increased affluence plus the move to 'Levittowns' in the suburbs. In the 1950s, televisions became something the average family could afford, and by 1950 4.4 million U.S. families had one in their home. The Golden Age of Television was marked by family-friendly shows like I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, The Twilight Zone and Leave It To Beaver as well as the Lawrence Welk show which featured the Lennon Sisters every week.

The booming prosperity of the 1950s helped to create a widespread sense of stability, contentment and consensus in the United States. However, that consensus was a fragile one, and it splintered for good during the tumultuous 1960s.

The Lennon Sisters, Roberta Shore & Rocky Rockwell
Pink Shoelaces (1959)

The Lennon Sisters - Mockingbird Hill

The Lennon Sisters - Dodge Dart Commercial (1960)

Lennon Sisters -- The Lawrence Welk Show Biographies

Lennon Sisters at the Hollywood Palace

The Lennon Sisters with Round and Round.

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