Bandleader Welk (of whom the above mentioned credits are a pseudonym) is not known at all for his jazz performances; however this is one of his earliest recordings, which does include quite some great solo work in a hotter style. Long before "Bubbles in the Wine", "America's Biggest Little Band" (each musician could play several instruments) toured the Midwest, specializing in polkas, waltzes, schottisches and novelty instrumentation. The band also broadcast over WNAX in Yankton, South Dakota starting in late 1927. Later they were known as Lawrence Welk and his Hotsy Totsy Boys and, from 1934 to 1937, as Lawrence Welk and his Honolulu Fruit Gum Orchestra after Welk "sponsored" himself with "Welk's Honolulu Fruit Chewing Gum". Welk (1903-1992) was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known to his large number of radio, television, and live-performance fans (and critics) as "champagne music". In 1996, Welk was ranked #43 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time. On his 21st birthday, Welk left the family farm to pursue a career in music, which he loved. During the 1920s, he performed with the Luke Witkowski, Lincoln Boulds, and George T. Kelly bands before starting his own orchestra. He led big bands in North Dakota and eastern South Dakota. These included the Hotsy Totsy Boys and later the Honolulu Fruit Gum Orchestra. During the 1930s, Welk led a traveling big band that specialized in dance tunes and "sweet" music. Welk's big band performed across the country but particularly in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas. In the early 40s, the band began a 10-year stint at the Trianon Ballroom in Chicago, regularly drawing crowds of nearly 7,000. His orchestra also performed frequently at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City during the late 1940s. In 1944 and 1945, Welk led his orchestra in many films. From 1949 through 1951, the band had its own national radio program on ABC. In 1951, Welk settled in Los Angeles. The same year, he began producing The Lawrence Welk Show on KTLA in Los Angeles, where it was broadcast from the Aragon Ballroom in Venice Beach. The show became a local hit and was picked up by ABC in June 1955. Despite its staid reputation, The Lawrence Welk Show nonetheless did keep up with the times and never limited itself strictly to big-band era music. After retiring from his show and from the road in 1982, Welk continued to air reruns of his shows. He also starred in and produced a pair of Christmas specials in 1984 and 1985. In addition, he owned a restaurant and club in Escondido where he filmed lead-ins for reruns of The Lawrence Welk Show.Welk completely retired from all public appearances in 1992 at the age of 89. As stated before though, this is one of his very early records, made in 1928.