Milton Delugg

His clients ranged from the American Junior Miss Pageant to soul singer and performer Jackie Wilson, and he was a musician on such radio programs as School Days of the Air,[6] and The Abe Burrows Show.

One of his best-known tunes is an arrangement of the song "The Happy Wanderer", and his brassy polka "Hoop Dee Doo" became a game show staple.

In 1950 and 1951, Delugg was musical director, bandleader, and accordionist on Broadway Open House the NBC late-night television program[7] considered to be the forerunner to The Tonight Show.

In 1966, he briefly served as the musical director of The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson after the departure of Skitch Henderson.

Delugg enjoyed a long association with Chuck Barris, beginning as arranger of the original theme to The Newlywed Game in 1966.

Delugg often appeared on the show in comedy skits, including the characters of bad joke teller "Naso Literatus" and philosopher "Old Drool".

Delugg's venerable "Hoop Dee Doo" became a fixture on The Gong Show and was played when the daily winner was chosen.

Delugg and sidemen Mark Stevens, Billy Neale, and Ray Neapolitan appeared in Barris's The Gong Show Movie (1980) as The Hollywood Cowboys.

[9] Delugg composed a number of popular songs that became hits for a variety of artists, including "Orange Colored Sky" (Nat "King" Cole, 1950); "Shanghai" (Doris Day, (1951); "Be My Life's Companion" (The Mills Brothers, 1951); "Shake Hands With Santa Claus" (Louis Prima, 1951); "The Photograph On The Piano" (Georgia Gibbs, 1952); "Just Another Polka" (Eddie Fisher, 1953); and "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)" (Patsy Cline, 1956).