Friday, August 7, 2009

The King of the Jungle Jive!


On this date back in 1933, Vincent T. Hamlin introduced his caveman creation to the newspaper reading public, Alley Oop. In the land of Moo, Alley and his pet dinosaur Dinny got into all kinds of different adventures with his girlfriend Ooola and friend Foozy (who talked in ryhme) in the prehistoric past. He would also go on missions for King Guzzle (Guz) and Queen Umpateedle (Umpa) rulers of Moo.
In 1939 Hamlin introduced the modern day scientisit/inventor, Dr. Elbert Wonmug into the strip. Wonmug invented a time machine and when he first tested it, he brought Alley and Ooola to the future. After a series of mis-adventures, Alley became friends with the scientist and shared many adventures through out time.
In 1960 the doo wop group, The Hollywood Argyles had a hit record, "Alley Oop", based on the comic strip caveman. Remembered for it's infectous background singing "Oop, Oop, Oop, Oop-oop" and lyrics about the "bad motor scooter and mean go-getter", the single went to number one on the Billboard Pop Charts.
Alley Oop is still produced and published today by Jack and Carol Bender.

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