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Traditionally, music-related comic books have been never been very successful, probably due to the inherent difficulty of translating an aural experience into a visual one. For that reason, the most prevalent form of music-related funnybooks have been biographical in nature. Famous Funnies published a total of six issues of JUKE BOX COMICS, cover-dated from March, 1948 to January, 1949.

"Spike" Jones, born Lindley Armstrong Jones (12/14/11 - 5/1/65), was known to some as "the man who murdered music". Nick-named "Spike" because he father worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad, he became a drummer for various live bands in the 1930s, as well as an in-demand Hollywood studio musician. Although professionally legitimate, Spike was also fascinated with sounds of all types and had amassed a bizarre collection of noisemakers that included car horns, bird whistles, alarm clocks -- and even "starter" pistols - which he began to incorporate into his music. Eventually, he formed his own band that, by the early 1940s, had evolved into the group known as The City Slickers, one that combined musical satire, vaudeville comedy, superb musicianship and those wild and wacky sound effects. Their first hit was 1942's "Der Fuehrer's Face", which was originally written as the soundtrack of a WWII "Donald Duck" cartoon short produced by Walt Disney's studio. Spike and company followed that one with "Cocktails For Two", "Chloe", "You Always Hurt The One You Love", "The Hawaiian War Chant" and "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth", among many other classic tunes "murdered" by the band. From the 1940s through the 1960s, Spike Jones And The City Slickers worked in records, radio, television and films. Considering that the music of leader Spike Jones is the aural equivalent of cartoons, it's not surprising that he once employed animated cartoon director Fred "Tex" Avery to concoct and storyboard gags for his live-action television show!

This issue's 4-page lead story is "Music Was Never Like This!", drawn by "Sandy" Toth. It begins with this introduction:

INTRODUCTORY CAPTION: Meet SPIKE JONES…the man who turns COWBELLS into musical instruments…and makes SNEEZAPHONES standard orchestra equipment!!…"

After a bizarre splash-panel, the story itself opens in a Hollywood movie studio, where Spike is systematically demolishing an old automobile into scrap metal as two stage-hands observe:

STAGE HAND #1: The man's MAD! Smashing a jalopy for SOUND EFFECTS! !NUT'S!

STAGE HAND #2: This's nothing! We're lucky he's not recording "LONDON BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN"! THIS is just "Little Bo Peep Has Lost Her JEEP!!"

NARRATIVE CAPTION: WHO is this madman…SPIKE JONES!! HOW did he get that way?

Then, in a series of flashbacks, we're shown key scenes from Spike's life. First, in 1922 California, we see eleven-year-old Lindley Armstrong Jones as his older friend, an African-American cook, whittles his first pair of wooden drumsticks:

SPIKE JONES: Train whistles are MUSIC - clicking rails are DRUMS - LISTEN!!
(singing):
Carolina in the morning…

COOK: Out of this world! Son, I'm christening you "SPIKE" after the spikes that hold the track together!

A few years later, Spike moves to Long Beach, California, where he becomes the drum major of a ninety piece marching band., then he forms a music group of his own, "Spike Jones And His Five Tacks". By 1935, Spike becomes a successful drummer, but he feels something is missing from his act:

SPIKE JONES: Trouble with us musicians…we never have enough FUN!!

BAND MEMBER: Got any ideas, Spike?

SPIKE JONES: PLENTY! For year I've been collecting looney instruments! …Why don't we…

After recording a few songs with his new technique of incorporating bizarre and unexpected sound effects into the tunes, Spike signs a juicy recording contract. And within a week of their first record's release, Spike makes an exciting announcement to his band, now known as "The City Slickers":

SPIKE JONES: WE'RE MADE! BOB BURNS wants us for a guest spot - WARNERS wants us for a PICTURE!!

Shifting back to the present, we join Spike on the movie set - perhaps that of 1954's FIREMAN SAVE MY CHILD -- where he alarms the film's director with a horned, four-legged visitor:

SPIKE JONES: MEET PHOEBE THE GOAT! The newest addition to our band!

But when Phoebe starts to gobble up the band's musical instruments, she finds herself in search of a new gig:

SPIKE JONES: You're supposed to be a musician, NOT a walking junkyard! BEAT IT!! NO MORE GOATS IN MY BAND!!

This story's final panel depicts Spike, wearing a blindfold, about to select his next musical selection from a bookshelf that includes "opera", "symphony", "popular" and "musical comedy":

NARRATIVE CAPTION: …Today, Spike is dreaming up new stunts, new musical interpretations for his band…

SPIKE JONES: Eeny…meeny…miney…moe…catch a song, by the toe!

NARRATIVE CAPTION: …PITY THE POOR SONG HE CATCHES!!

Also included in this issue of JUKE BOX COMICS are these stories and features:

• "Famous Stars Praise Juke Box Comics", a black-and-white, inside-front-cover featuring a batch of testimonials from musicians Buddy Rich, Duke Ellington, Charlie Spivak and Jo Stafford.

• "'Tex' Beneke Carries On", drawn by Fred Guardineer. - "Today - with Glenn Miller 'missing in flight" Tex Beneke carries on with the Glenn Miller Orchestra boasting talented ex-service men, the same great band that millions of G.I.s greeted as the greatest gift from home they'd known in all their army days!! It was back in 1938 when Gordon Lee Beneke joined the Glenn Miller Band and earned his nickname - TEX!" In 1938, on drummer Gene Krupa's recommendation, Glenn Miller hires saxophonist Gordon Beneke and immediately bestows the nickname "Tex" upon him. Months later, when Glenn overhears Tex singing, the bandleader is so impressed with his voice that he urges him to start singing with his orchestra. Tex proves to be popular with the public - his recording of "Chattanooga Choo Choo" is a big seller - but despite this success, Tex is content to stay a part of Glenn's band. With the onset of World War II, Glenn Miller forms his famous AAF Band, while Tex joins the navy, which sends him to Oklahoma's Camp Norman to form its own orchestra. Tragically, Glenn Miller's plane disappears en route from London to Paris during the war, never to be seen again. After the war's end, Tex resolves to reform Glenn's old band, with all its original members. When the band opens at New York's Capitol Theater, it sets new attendance records and is hailed as "one of the best all-around popular music units ever assembled". Through it all, Tex and his boys never lose sight of the fact that Glenn Miller deserves all the credit for their success, infusing their performances with "the Glenn Miller spirit" for his millions of fans.

• "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive". - "Writing a hundred hit-tunes, two hundred better than average songs, having four o his numbers on 'Your Hit Parade' simultaneously, and topping platter-sales on such selections as "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive" and "Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe" JOHNNY MERCER insists 'I'm really terribly lazy! I DON'T DO ANYTHING!'" At the age of seventeen, young Johnny Mercer arrives in New York City, determined to break into show biz. Working as a song writer for musicals, his first song is a big hit on Broadway. Absorbing creative inspiration from the most unlikely sources, Johnny notices the rhythm of the wheels of a passing train, then pens the hit song "Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe" - astonishingly, in under thirty minutes! In 1942, Johnny goes into the record business with the attitude, "I'll take care of the talent and tunes! You fellows handle the business details! They confuse me!" His sure-fire instincts bring Johnny such success that he finds himself busy around the clock…but despite his claims of "slowing down", the musical powerhouse manages to squeeze in time to engage in his favorite hobby, oil painting!

• "Serenade Starring Woody Herman", drawn by R. Webster. - "Suppose YOU wanted WOODY HERMAN to play for your school's spring dance? How would you go about getting him? The boys and girls at Middle High thought they had everything figured out…for who was coming to their aid? None other than that 'famous' agent, T. S. Shrood". When con man calling himself "T. S. Shrood" overhears a gang of high school kids yearning to book Woody Herman and his Thundering Herd to play for their spring dance, he immediately takes advantage of them, claiming to be Woody's agent. He even collects a $100 "deposit" from the unsuspecting students. But when one of the dance committee contacts Woody Herman's manager about making arrangements for Woody's appearance, he brings the situation to the band leader's attention. Realizing that Shrood is playing the kids for chumps, he invites the Middle High dance committee to visit him in New York City, where he kindly sets them straight about the phony agent's scheme. He also invites them to tag along on the Thundering Herd's road trip, introducing them to arranger Tiny Ralph Brewster, trombone player Bill Harris, bass player Chubby Jackson, sax man Hip Joe Edward Phillips, lead alto Sam Marowitz and even the band's canine mascot, Freckles. Then, Woody relates the story of how he got his start, first as "the boy wonder of the clarinet" and then the leader of his own band, with hit songs like "Choppin' Wood", "Blues On Parade", "Blue Dawn", "River Bed Blues" and "Woodchoppers' Ball". Surprisingly, the "road tour" ends back in the kids' home town. That night, Mr. Shrood's crummy substitute band threatens to ruin the spring dance for everyone, until Woody and the whole Herman herd show up. Shrood tries to make his getaway, but Woody delays him with an introduction to Judge Banks -- who's also a musician! Then, before his band gives Middle High a free concert, Woody offers the advice, "Deal only through recognized agencies! You've got to be wary of phonies!"

• "Paging Mr. Husing!", a two-page text-feature.

• "King Of The Juke Boxes...Perry Como", drawn by "Gam". - "Every now and then, a NATURAL appears in the musical field…That's the way folks have been speaking of PERRY COMO…Strangely enough - this new star never studied singing…" Born the seventh son of a seventh son on May 18, 1912 in the small mining community of Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, "lucky" Perry Como becomes the young owner of the town's best barber shop. But one summer, while vacationing in Lorraine, Ohio, Perry stands in with a band who's singer just quit. Even without ever having a single singing lesson in his life, he's immediately hired! Later, back in Cannonsburg, Perry proposes to his sweetheart Roselle, who he marries just days before embarking on an eighteen-month tour with the band. As Perry's musical career takes off, he receives a lucrative new offer the day he returns home! In 1940, he and Roselle welcome their baby boy, Ronald. But when his band's leader, Ted Weems, is drafted, Perry plans to return to barbering. But again, his plans are changed when he's offered a gig on the radio. From those appearances, Perry's singing career takes off in a new direction, and soon, he's known as the "king of the juke boxes" with such hits as "Till The End Of Time" and "Hubba Hubba" selling over a million copies each! Moving his family to a twelve-room mansion on Long Island, Perry still practices his skills as a barber - but only on their young son, Ronald.

• "Jivey And Groovy". - Things are pretty dull around town until the word spreads that Jammy Sammy is bringing his act to the Star Theater. Jivey -- a teenage boy with a huge red pompadour who's also an aspiring song writer - has no idea who Jammy Sammy is -- but every female he runs into sure does! Even his blonde girlfriend Groovy is in a happy trance over the famous crooner. Later, in the local soda shoppe, Jivey meets the only girl in town who isn't in a tizzy over Jammy Sammy. They immediately hit it off, agreeing that Jammy Sammy is "strictly food for chicks" - in other words, corny! Later, while Groovy waits in line for hours to buy a ticket for Jammy Sammy's show, Jivey drops by. When Groovy learns that her boyfriend has a date for the show, she can't believe her ears - especially when she learns that Jivey's date - the girl he met at the soda shoppe -- is Jammy Sammy's own daughter!

• "Serenade With Benny Goodman", drawn by Sid Greene. - "What is Benny Goodman's secret? Why is he still the 'KING OF SWING'? Here's the answer in a thrilling scenario especially written or JUKE BOX Comics - starring the master of the clarinet - BENNY GOODMAN!!" Pushing their way through a crowd gathered at his theater's stage door, a trio of student journalists gain access to Benny Goodman's dressing room, where they interview the legendary band leader about how he became "the king of swing". In a series of flashbacks, we see young Benny - one of twelve kids - teach himself how to play the harmonica at age three. At six, his father gives him his first clarinet, and at eleven, Benny performs with a children's orchestra. Attending Lewis Institute during the day to study music, Benny plays his "licorice stick" at jazz clubs every night. At sixteen, Benny studies under members of the Chicago Symphony and plays with Ben Pollack. By 1934, Benny forms his own band; soon, they're performing in sponsored radio broadcasts to an avid audience of listeners. As Benny winds up his story, one of the student interviewers named Walt mentions that he's been taking trumpet lessons at "Swing School" for months. But when he gives the band leader a short sample of his lousy trumpet-playing, Benny smells a rat. Paying a visit to the "school", Benny and his band's singer, Art Lund, immediately determine that Professor Rosin is a running a racket instead of a place of learning. But when he tips off Swing School's students, Benny raises the ire of the phony professor. When a trio of threatening thugs forcibly detain the musicians, they stall for time, pretending to practice, planning their next moves in musical code. Taking the bad guys by surprise, Art and Benny - proving he's the "king" of more than one kind of "swing" - overpower their captors with their fists. Walt joins the fray, clobbering one of the gangsters with his horn. While they wait for the police to show up, Benny imparts a final bit of wisdom to the student trumpet-player: "Don't let anyone kid you, Walt. A man must be a musician first! There's no short cut to the top. Every member of my band is basically a musician and then a swing addict! The mistake those thugs made, was not knowing that Art Lund is one of the toughest sluggers in the singing profession!"

• "So You Want To Lead A Band", drawn by Fred Guardineer. - "It was only a gag at first…but it developed into a national radio program…and a rage! From coast to coast…the man in the street…the woman in the house…the factory laborer…suddenly decided they'd like to LEAD A BAND…JUKE BOX survey shows what happened when average American took over Sammy Kaye's baton…" Playing in New York City in 1941, bandleader Sammy Kaye comes up with a new gimmick to amuse his audiences: guest bandleaders! His first stand-in is actress Betty Grable, and soon, the "lead a band" craze catches on wherever his band plays. His guest-star bandleaders include such everyday people as a housewife, a female riveter, a hillbilly and even a minister. Then, in a short series of flashbacks, we're shown how Sammy rose to his position in life. A high-profile college athlete in track, football and basketball, Sammy and his varsity pals decide to form a band. Sticking together even after graduation, the band goes on tour, soon attracting sufficient positive response to secure a booking in New York City. "And that's Sammy Kaye's story…from scholastic athlete to bandleader hero."

• "Duke Ellington", drawn by Al. C. Hollingsworth. - "ATTENTION all ye commoners of these United States. Gather close and listen to the tale of the DUKE…the Duke of Ellington…The one and only Duke whose originality has swept song after song across the nation, whose impassioned band-leading has made musical history. Gather 'round and listen to these never before told anecdotes of musicdom's nobility…" Duke takes the reader along on a shopping spree. His first stop is at a fine clothing shop, He tells us, "I like to collect clothes! That's how I became known as 'Duke' while in a Washington, D.C. high school. At my last count I had more than 200 suits and 600 ties!" He also brings along his unnamed "blind vocalist", whose "sensitive feelings" are so acute that he can pick out his own wardrobe! Furthermore, he states a surprising opinion: "I really don't want to see! I feel that if I could see I would be very disappointed. I have a beautiful picture of things as I think they should be. Maybe they're not really that way!" Next, Duke shows us his private library. "I think I'm proudest of my 800 volumes on the history and culture of the Negro race! From these I received inspiration to write my tone poem 'Black, Brown And Beige'!" Then, Duke turns to his attractive female assistant, asking her to get him "27221"; he reveals that the number refers to his song "Sophisticated Lady" - he never calls any of his 4,000 songs by name, only by code-number! We also see Duke meeting with three high school students, recipients of his scholarship program for aspiring musicians. Finally, Duke shares his philosophy of life with the reader: "What I like most in life is composing and watching pieces of music grow, friendly strangers, and improvising with my band!"

• "Buddy Rich, Young Man With A Drum", drawn by R. Johnson. - "Hailed as tops for 1946 - the new band of the year, and from coast to coast, Juke Box fans are welcoming back to the fold young man BUDDY RICH! Buddy is no buddy-come-lately - though, he's still in his twenties. His drum sticks have beat wicked rhythm and the nickel-a-song fans are readying hosts of five cent slugs for Buddy's forthcoming records. Here's his story, dramatized for the first time anywhere -" Banging on the tray of his high chair, two-year-old Buddy demonstrates his already-obvious sense of perfect rhythm. This inspires his parents -both vaudeville performers - to incorporate Buddy into their stage act. The boy quickly proves himself a "natural", and soon, he's touring the world with his show biz parents. Finally returning to his home town of Brooklyn, New York, Buddy's immediately signed to a local band led by Joe Marsala. As other work-offers flow in, World War II breaks out and Buddy enlists in the army. Two years later, once again a civilian, Buddy runs into an old pal, crooner Frank Sinatra. Ol' (Young) Blue Eyes makes a generous offer; he'll loan Buddy the money to assemble his own band! Acclaimed as the "band of the year", Buddy's musical group is signed up for a Hollywood musical, "Earl Carroll's Sketch Book". This story's final caption assures us, "Sinatra made a good investment…Today - Buddy Rich - is at the top -"

• "Al Jolson, Beloved Minstrel", drawn by "FBG" (Fred Guardineer). - "AL JOLSON had announced many times that he intended to retire - but public demand refused to let him. Now, past sixty, the brilliant entertainer, whose star has shown brightly for over thirty years, heads, in the opinion of the critics, ONE OF THE HIT RADIO SHOWS OF THE YEAR…" Al Jolson relates the story of how, "years ago" in Hollywood, he's approached by a group of executives from Columbia Pictures to star in "The Jolson Story". Rehearsing in black-face makeup, Jolson's voice is deemed to be better than ever. When his film is finally released, it's an instant hit, and between it and the star's re-released records, Al Jolson is once again back on top. This leads to his own radio show, complete with raconteur and author Oscar Levant as his regular pianist. In the final panel of this short story, Al thanks an enthusiastic audience for their renewed support.

• "Guy Lombardo Says", a black-and-white, inside-back-cover text feature, illustrated by Seymour Pearls.

• "Sweetheart Of The Jukebox", a back-cover illustrated text feature about singer Jo Stafford.

ODDBALL Factoid - Cartoonist "Sandy" Toth went on to distinguished dual careers in the comic book and animation fields, better known as today as Alex Toth! Truly a respected "artist's artist", Alex has worked on everything from DC's Golden Age superheroes to HOT WHEELS comic books , and designed Hanna-Barbera Productions' SPACE GHOST and SUPER FRIENDS and Ruby-Spears Productions' THUNDARR THE BARBARIAN for animation!

Bonus ODDBALL Factoid - Cartoonist Fred Guardineer is better-known for his work on DC's Golden Age "Zatanna The Magician" series!

For more from Scott Shaw!, visit his Web site at http://www.shawcartoons.com/.

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