Let's get one thing straight -- some of us may have loved Welk and his show while others found them horribly trite and corny, BUT:

Any musician who got a job in that band could PLAY.

Lawrence Welk was very popular, even before he was on national television (how else did he GET on TV?), and the band always got plenty of top-paying work. There had to have been some really stiff competition for every spot.