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, 1918 - May 26, 2004. Comedy, played novelty instruments, including musical hat rack, tuned

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(gitarlet). Vocalist. Born in Carroll County, Indiana. * Dwight E. (Tiny) Stokes November 11, 1920 - January 12, 1999. Lead tenor vocals, played bass. Born in Springfield, Missouri. * Jerald R. Richards - Clarinet, flute, bass clarinet, ocarina, tin whistle. Vocals. * Sonny Fleming - Played guitar, banjo. Vocalist. * Peter Kunatz - Accordion, piano. * Gerald (Curley) Myers - Guitar, banjo, vocals. * Chuck Kagy - Fiddle, guitar, mandolin. * Buddy Ross - Accordion. * Tony Walberg - Accordion.

History

Tom C. Fouts, nicknamed Stubby for his stature, left

Indiana Central University The University of Indianapolis (UIndy) is a private United Methodist Church-affiliated university in Indianapolis, Indiana. It offers Associate, Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees. It was founded in 1902 as Indiana Central University and ...

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

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they signed with WLS Radio in

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and performed on the popular '' National Barn Dance'', heard throughout the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

. Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers eventually became regulars on the

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-TV program

Polka Go-Round ''Polka Go-Round'' was a polka music and dancing show that aired on ABC from 1958 to 1959. ''Polka Go-Round'' with Lou Prohut and the Polka Go Rounders began in the spring of 1958 on WBKB in Chicago, Illinois. It was the successor to ABC's first ...

. They also recorded with five labels, performing many of Fouts' songs. With singer

Lola Dee Lorraine DeAngelis (July 9, 1928 – December 7, 2023), known professionally as Lola Dee, also known as Lola Ameche, was an American singer who recorded for the Mercury and Columbia labels in the 1950s and 1960s. At the age of 14, she was heard ...

, 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. In the United States, it is ...

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 from 1968 until 1971.

Advertising

Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers first performed the original

Roto-Rooter Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup (formerly called Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Drain Service) is a Cincinnati-based company providing plumbing repair, sewer & drain services, and water damage cleanup services to residential and commercial customer ...

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 or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

, 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) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

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