It was a popular belief in the 1970s that Welk was a 'phony' - that his entire persona, including his difficulties with English and his apparent social conservatism, was a calculated ruse. (Gregory Hines later pointed out, though, that the Welk show was the only place on television where tap was shown at all.) The only black people to appear on the show were tap dancers, a fact decried by both blacks and whites at the time. His interpretation of 'old-fashioned modesty' could sometimes seem outlandish even to a conservative of the time when the Lennon sisters began having families of their own, he devised bizarre stage sets to hide their lower bodies (behind fences, prams, kitchen counters, etc.) to prevent the audience from seeing that these devout Catholic married women were pregnant. Tastes in popular music changed, but Welk's show and his didn't corny and quaint even by the standards of The '50s, Welk kept his eponymous show on the straight and very narrow through the Sixties and Seventies and well into the Eighties, long past the time of rock and rebellion. (The stalker, believing himself to be Peggy Lennon's rightful husband, would eventually murder the father, which became another source of guilt for Welk and caused him to feel as if he was in loco parentis in some form for the girls.)

The Lennons won, but only because Welk felt immense guilt over one of the sisters acquiring an unstable stalker after her appearances on the show. Lennon insisted they be paid as individuals. He also spent many years in a battle royale with the father/agent of the Lennon Sisters Welk wanted to pay them as a single act, whereas Mr. He famously fired one Champagne Lady for 'showing too much leg', only relenting when fan mail poured in supporting the singer (whose offending outfit had been ridiculously modest even for the time). Years later, though, he used it as the title of his autobiography.) He was later parodied in MAD magazine and on Saturday Night Live and SCTV.ДЄlthough audiences knew him as the fatherly host with a quirky grasp of the language, he could be a stern taskmaster when dealing with performers. (Freberg parodied Welk's poor English using the phrase 'wunnerful, wunnerful', which Welk denied he'd ever said.

Right from the beginning he found himself the target of satirists such as Stan Freberg, whose ferocious sendup of the bandleader hurt him.

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