Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers was a country-comedy band that performed largely in the Midwest United States from the late 1930s into the 1960s.

Members

* Tom C. Fouts (Captain Stubby) November 24, 1918May 26, 2004. Comedy, played novelty instruments, including musical hat rack, tuned

toilet seat A toilet seat is a hinged unit consisting of a round or oval open seat, and usually a lid, which is bolted onto the bowl of a toilet used in a sitting position (as opposed to a squat toilet). The seat can be either for a flush toilet or a dry ...

(gitarlet). Vocalist. Born in Carroll County, Indiana. * Dwight E. (Tiny) Stokes November 11, 1920January 12, 1999. Lead tenor vocals, played bass. Born in Springfield, Missouri. * Jerald R. RichardsClarinet, flute, bass clarinet, ocarina, tin whistle. Vocals. * Sonny FlemingPlayed guitar, banjo. Vocalist. * Peter KunatzAccordion, piano. * Gerald (Curley) MyersGuitar, banjo, vocals. * Chuck KagyFiddle, guitar, mandolin. * Buddy RossAccordion. * Tony WalbergAccordion.

History

Tom C. Fouts, nicknamed Stubby for his stature, left Indiana Central University after a year, and in 1938 formed a band with five friends. The Six Hoosiers specialized in comedy, Fouts playing novelty instruments like a "tuned toilet seat" he called the "gitarlet."

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radio in

Danville, Illinois Danville is a city in Vermilion County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The populations was 29,204 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Danville micropolitan area. History The area that is now Danville was on ...

signed them to a contract, and in 1940 held a contest to rename the Six Hoosiers. The $100 prizewinner suggested ''Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers''. (During performances, Fouts would sometimes refer to them as "Captain Stubby and the bucket of tears.") Appropriately, the band joined the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

in 1944, Entertainment Division, going overseas to entertain sailors. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

they signed with WLS Radio in

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and performed on the popular ''

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'', heard throughout the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers eventually became regulars on the

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-TV program Polka Go-Round. They also recorded with five labels, performing many of Fouts' songs. With singer Lola Dee, they recorded the

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

single "Padre" and "Takin' The Trains Out". Fouts was host of a syndicated talk show called ''Captain Stubby's Special Delivery''. He also wrote for and performed on the national

Don McNeill's Breakfast Club ''Don McNeill's Breakfast Club'' was a long-running morning variety show on NBC Blue Network/ABC radio (and briefly on television) originating in Chicago, Illinois. Hosted by Don McNeill, the radio program ran from June 23, 1933, through Decembe ...

from 1968 until 1971.

Advertising

Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers first performed the original

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jingle on WLS in the early 1950s, and the recorded version became one of the longest-running tunes in the history of

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

, featuring Tom Fouts' bass voice in "Away go Troubles Down the Drain." Shortly before his death at 85 in 2004, he contributed to nostalgic radio spots for

. Captain Stubby also sang the 1959

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

fight song, " Let's Go, Go-Go White Sox", and was the voice of

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's Little Sprout.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Captain Stubby And The Buccaneers American country music groups American comedy folk musical groups Musical groups established in 1940