The Bugaloos

Did You Know?

• The Bugaloos are the binding childhood memory that the two main protagonists in the 2000 film The Tao of Steve discover as they begin to bond.
• The Chemical Brothers sampled the Bugaloos song 'Senses of Our World' in their track 'The Darkness That You Fear'.
• At Comic Con 2015, Sid and Marty Krofft revealed they were looking to create an updated preschool version of The Bugaloos, with a pilot produced for Nickelodeon that was not picked up.

Characters

The Bugaloos are a musical insect band. Joy, a butterfly played by Caroline Ellis, handles percussion and sings both lead and backup. I.Q., a grasshopper played by John McIndoe, plays guitar and sings lead. Harmony, a bumblebee played by Wayne Laryea, plays keyboard and sings backup. Courage, a ladybug played by John Philpott, plays drums and sings backup. Their main enemy is Benita Bizarre, played by Martha Raye. She is a jealous, untalented, unattractive old crone who lives in a giant jukebox and broadcasts her own loud, unpleasant music. She uses a Stereo Zapper to knock people out and plots to destroy or enslave the Bugaloos, but her schemes never cause lasting harm. In one episode, she steals Joy’s voice; in another, she tries to cut off I.Q.’s wings to fly herself. Raye also played the Boss Witch in the H.R. Pufnstuf movie that same year, which led to her casting here. Benita’s chauffeur and flunky is Funky Rat, performed by Sharon Baird and voiced by Walker Edmiston with a German accent. The same costume was used for Heinrich Rat in Pufnstuf. Her henchmen are Woofer and Tweeter, two talking stereo speakers performed by Joy Campbell and Van Snowden and voiced by Edmiston and Joan Gerber. The Bugaloos take in a firefly named Sparky, performed by Billy Barty and voiced by Edmiston. Nutty Bird, voiced by Edmiston, delivers messages. Peter Platter, also voiced by Edmiston, is a DJ at radio station KOOK. His microphone Mike, voiced by Joan Gerber, is a smart-aleck. Magico the Magician, voiced by Edmiston impersonating Ed Wynn, is a frog hypnotist. Gina Lolawattage, voiced by Gerber impersonating Mae West, is a firefly singer who likes Sparky. Bluebell Flower, voiced by Gerber, is a giant talking flower that warns the Bugaloos of danger.

Production and airing

Touted as the British version of The Monkees, the show attracted over 5,000 young actors to audition in spring 1970 for the four lead roles. Among those auditioning were Elton John's future manager John Reid and Phil Collins, who were two of the three finalists for the role of I.Q. given to John McIndoe. The show was taped in Los Angeles. Seventeen episodes were produced, and it ran for one season (1970–1971) on NBC with reruns the following year. The Kroffts attempted a second season and a movie deal with Columbia Pictures, but miscommunication led the actors to return to the UK against the Kroffts' wishes, scrapping the second season and the movie due to Columbia's bankruptcy. The series was not widely screened in the UK; Yorkshire Television and Tyne-Tees Television transmitted it at lunchtime on Saturdays from late 1971 to early 1972.

Music

Music director Hal Yoergler wrote many of the show's songs and produced the Bugaloos album released in 1970. The title song's lyrics were written by Norman Gimbel and music by Charles Fox, who also wrote themes for Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley. A cover of the theme by Collective Soul appears on the 1995 tribute album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits. The Bugaloos album (Capitol ST-621) includes studio versions of songs from the show, with tracks such as 'If You Become a Bugaloo' and 'Fly Away With Us'. One single, 'For a Friend'/'The Senses of Our World', charted at No. 128 on Billboard in December 1970. The track 'Just the Memory Stays Around' appears only on the LP. The album was re-released on CD in 2000 by Vivid Sound and in 2006 by Cherry Red Records. The Bugaloos recorded 15 songs; four appeared on the show but remain unreleased: 'Sparky', 'I'm As Happy As Can Be', 'I Really Love You', and 'Flicker Town'.