Peanuts Hucko

[1] After a brief time with Charlie Spivak, he joined the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band which he served in Europe during World War II.

[1] During this time, Peanuts (the nickname comes from a childhood love of the food) began to concentrate on the clarinet "because we did a lot of marching in sand, which was awkward with the tenor.

[1] During the post-war period, Hucko played in the bands of Benny Goodman, Ray McKinley, Eddie Condon[4] and Jack Teagarden.

[1] When he visited Tokyo, Japan, as the lead alto saxophone player of Benny Goodman's Orchestra in January, 1951, he listened to clarinetist Shoji Suzuki and his Rhythm Aces.

In 1964, he opened his own nightclub in Denver, Peanuts Hucko's Navarre, featuring his singer wife Louise Tobin[1] (formerly Mrs. Harry James) and Ralph Sutton.