Everyone knows The Furry Four, a band so famous their names - Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, and Taz - bring instant recognition. But how did they get that way? Famous, that is. It all began in a rough-and-tumble section of the Warner Bros. back lot known as Littlepool, named for the local pond where filmmakers used to blow up model ships for movies about the Navy. Bugs was raised in comfortable digs on Half-Penny Lane. It was a musical household: His dad played first ocarina in the Looney Tunes orchestra, and Mom was a virtuoso on the player piano. At the age of ten, Bugs was given a ukulele and quickly mastered such standards as "My Bunny Lies Over The Ocean and "All This And Rabbit Stew." Daffy's early years were somewhat less settled, a fact that may account for the wacky, unpredictable moods of his later years. The rebellions duck was raised by his salty old Aunt You- You and later attended Littlepool Art School, where he met his girlfriend, Cynthia Princess. Cynthia alone saw the brilliant wit und fragile ego behind Daffy's endless wise quacks. She alone knew how to style his slicked-back ducktail hairdo. Bugs and Daffy met for the first time at a dance in nearby Furryton. The two immediately felt into the spirited, creative competition that was to become the hallmark of their friendship. One would play an idea for a song; the other would finish it off. Before long, words and music flowed from their pens, oozed from their pores, spewed from their vocal chords, spilled out up their guitars, and dribbled out the door to become a part of the sound that was Littlepool itself. In a brilliant bash of insight, the duo realized their art was in danger of stagnating! They needed a hand. Here, indeed, is early proof, if any is needed, of the unerring instincts that would unerringly lead them to the peak of the pinnacle of success. First to join them was guitar player Elmer Fudd. Though at times Elmer appeared to he a bit slow on the uptake, he actually had gaziliions of brilliant thoughts spinning 'round in his head. Unfortunately, he didn't express them very well. So, he learned to let his guitar talk for him. Occasionally, it even wept. (So did the audience when he forgot to tune up.) Rounding out the lineup and laying down a solid, semisteady rhythm was drummer Pete Worst nicknamed "Brat," for reasons that were never entirely clear. He could hardly play, really, but looked incredibly cool onstage and attracted lots of girls. There was also a bass player, Stu Mfhitecliffs, who could hardly play, really, but looked incredibly cool onstage and attracted lots of girls. The studio's crusty crew of anirnators, toiling from dawn to dusk in the toon factory, were the fledgling group's earliest fans and supporters. They even offered to let the group rehearse in the basement of their communal living space, Termite Terrace. Word of this hot, local hand - now calling themselves The Furry Men - spread quickly, reaching the well-trained ear of renowned orchestra leader Carl Scrawling a cultured, educated, but clumsy man respectfully referred to as "Doc."
'It As been theorized that this is an early example of Daffy's playful use of words. For a more in-depth study, the reader is referred to Daffy's book of verse. A Maltard ln The Works.
Sprawling literally dropped into the basement for a listen one night, falling downstairs and tripping over a guitar, prompting Bugs to utter the phrase, "Get up, Doc." Audience members who were present later misquoted him, claiming they heard him say, "What's up, Doc?" This version gained such widespread popularity that Bugs eventually used it in the act. Sprawling gave the band lots of encouragement... to get out of town. Actually, he urged them to travel to Frankfurter, Germany, to hone their act by playing in the clubs six hours a night, eight days a week. While playing at impresario Bruno Cashmeister's Schtar Club, Stu halted the group and gave up rock 'n' roll. He'd fallen in love with a beautiful German girl, hairstylist Asteroid Kirshner. In fact, trivia fans, it was Asteroid who gave the boys their first "Bugs" bobs! Back home in Littlepool, things looked like they couldn't get any worse. Daffy was prone to particularly fowl mood swings. But Bugs was convinced things were getting better all the time, and, as always, Daffy was unable to resist the rabbit's enthusiasm. "Where we goin', Daffy?" he'd shout. And Daffy would holler back with maniacal glee, "To the top, Bugs - to the toppermost of the poppermost!!! Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo!" The most important gig of their lives - the one at which they were "discovered" - was a lunchtime show in a tiny dive called The Hutch. In the audience was Hyron Schlepstein, a local appliance and music store clerk who aspired to he a show biz entrepreneur and fashion designer. Hyron signed on as the band's manager and wasted no time cleaning up the band's scruffy appearance, buying them groovy matching collarless suits and shiny pointy-toed boots. He then set up auditions with major recording companies.
-'The phrase is sometimes mistakenly attributed to Daffy, who actually said the band was "...bigger than Doc. Relations between Daffy and Carl Sprawling were strained after that.
The group had been turned down by nearly every label including giant Deckya Records, by the time Byron finally landed the foursome an audition at Blabby Road Studios with producer Martin George, of ParlorPhoney Records. Mr. George was interested in the band, but insisted Byron fire poor Brat Wurst and hire a better drummer. Brat was replaced by Taz Manian, then hashing skins with another Littlepool band, Foghorn Leghorn & The Blowhards. Devilishly ill-mannered and mischievous, Taz had hoof-and- mouth disease as a kid, which caused him to be very cheeky. That attribute served him well as a runty teen-devil growing up on the docks of Littlepool. A buzz saw of energy, Taz never ran into an obstacle he couldn't chew right through. So, with Taz laying down the backbeat mean and clean, he and Bugs, Daffy, and Elmer went back into Blabby Road with Martin George, who (along with engineer Tweety Woofer) helped The Furry Four make their first hit records and become deliriously famous throughout the world.
Epilogue
Grueling years of touring followed; albums, TV shows, movies, and cartoons poured from them as calendar pages blew away. But Bugs, Daffy, Elmer, and Taz stayed together through it all. Until... Daffy divorced Cynthia Princess and became deeply enmeshed in a complex relationship with performance artist Ducko OhNo. This created a strain between Bugs and Daffy, till they realized it was bad instant karma. Bugs met and married Belinda Westman, who came in through the kitchen window with her camera and silver spoon. Bugs and Belinda had lots of laughs (not to mention kids and bands). Elmer went on to make ambitious solo albums like Some Things Must Pass and to perform benefit concerts for poor people in Bangthedish. He also coproduced films including The life Of Byron (a tribute to former Furries manager Byron Schlepstein) and the hilarious Furry Four parody TV special Ail You Need Is Flash. Most recently, Elmer confounded the just-for- laughs group The Floundering Willbillies. And Taz, after making a bunch of hit solo records, then being typecast in movies as a hairy caveman or a pint-sized train conductor, is out on the road touring with his all-star band again this year, still cheerfully chewing up everything in his path. Ah, but we'll save all that for the sequel!
Taylor Derek was press agent for The Furry Four, and later for The Bleach Boys, The Mommies & Daddies, Da Boids, and other famous bands of the era. Derek's ultra-limited edition biography is titled 50 Years Aloft. He wishes to thank Lark Mewisohn and Scott Roger for research assistance.
From the WEB:
Bugs & Friends Sing the Beatles
The Furry Four
F
inally after all these years we have an answer to one of the great riddles of the '60s, the resolution to the mystery at the center of the Magical Mystery Tour: the "Walrus" wasn't John or Paul; he was Elmer Fudd. In this droll pop parody, a quartet of cartoon cutups mimics the Beatles. The Looney Tunes Liverpudlians are Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer and Taz (as, loosely, Paul, John, George and Ringo).For the most part, the collection is made up of early-era Lennon-McCartney tunes, with Bugs singing the lead and Daffy providing juicy, tremolo-rich harmonies. But the solo and guest turns are the most fun, for instance Elmer's yearning rendition of "The Fool on the Hill." Yosemite Sam drops by for a blustering version of "Help!" that makes the title refrain sound a lot more like a command than an entreaty.
The concept is funnier than the execution. In large part, that's because of all the weak gags and corny dialogue shoehorned in between the actual lyrics. Even though this album turned out like bad karaoke, it introduces an idea with intriguing possibilities. I can't wait for Porky Does Pearl Jam or Foghorn Leghorn Interprets the Naughty by Nature Songbook. (Kid Rhino)
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