T h e   B u g a l o o s ! ! !

John "I.Q." McIndoe



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Whatever Happened to John McIndoe???

For fans of the Bugaloo, "I.Q.", we've managed to contact John "I.Q." McIndoe for a quick phone interview. I was actually contacted by Wes McIndoe, John's son, who helped set this up (thanks, Wes!) I must confess that I don't possess world-class phone interviewing skills, so what follows is a rough recollection pieced together from memory and half-notes I scribbled down. I hope you like it anyway. :-)

Q: What happened to The Bugaloos? There was a movie, and multiple albums planned ... why'd they stop?
A: Apparently, the ratings system used to measure the popularity of children's television programs was not highly accurate. The Bugaloos were actually far more popular than most of the reports indicated. As a result, the Bugaloos got cancelled, while sacks and sacks of fan mail continued to pour in. By the time the popularity was realized, it was too late.

Q: What did you do after The Bugaloos was over?
A: The Bugaloos had returned to London for the Christmas holidays, and waited for the call to return to the states. When that didn't happen, I started playing with a band called "The Washington Flyers" on Pye Records. We had a single out called "Another Saturday Morning", and we sounded a bit like Paul McCartney and the Wings.

Wayne started working on a morning TV show called "Mr. Pipin", Caroline did plays on the West End Theatre District; John started playing in a different band, whose name escapes me for the moment.

After returning to the states, I worked for a while in the Krofft factory, making models and puppets. Today I'm still building models, puppets and animatronic costumed characters for various theme parks around the world. I worked as Costume Consultant and Character Designer for "The Magic of MGM", an Ice Capades production that featured a pre-gold medal Tara Lipinsky. This was broadcast on The Family Channel, about two years ago.

Q: Have you done other musical work besides "The Bugaloos"? We were told you once played with Jimi Hendrix.
A: Prior to the Bugaloos, I was in a band called "Little Free Rock" along with my friend Peter Illingworth. I never actually played with Jimi Hendrix, though we did play on the same bill as him, as well as with the band "Yes".

Q: Do you still keep in touch with any of the other Bugaloos?
A: Yes, I still speak with Little John about once a month, and talk to Wayne and Caroline every now and then.

Q: What's your favorite Bugaloos episode?
A: The one where we got to play old Bugaloos ("Lady, You Don't Look Eighty", Episode #7).

Q: What's your favorite Bugaloos song?
A: I rather liked the theme song, actually.

Q: What's your favorite Bugaloos memory?
A: There are actually many. During the Bugaloos auditions, it was down to just three of us for the role of I.Q. Myself, Phil Collins, and John Reed (who ultimately became Elton John's Manager). Phil Collins' mother was our agent at the time. [Note: An expanded version of this story is included in David Martindale's Book.]

I enjoyed touring the states. There was one time when we were out in Chicago and our official photographer, Mario Casilla was also a Playboy photographer, so we got to stay in the Playboy Penthouse.

Also, during the run of the show, Davy Jones from the Monkees would come by to visit the house from time to time, along with his wife and kids.

Q: Did you get to keep anything from the Bugaloos?
A: I have the guitar strap somewhere. I also have various stuff like the lunchbox, board game, etc. I saw a Bugaloos viewmaster at a factory once, but perhaps it was just a prototype. (Anyone seen one of these?)

Q: What are you working on now?
A: I'm working on a motion picture called "Mates", which is about a talking Koala Bear and his two mates, a young girl and boy. It's a 90's version of the Wizards of Ozstralia. This will be distributed by Porchlight Dist., and might feature Elton John's band.

Q: Do you have a fanmail address?
A: For the moment any letters for John can be sent through the website, in Email.


September 9, 1999: Keep checking back for the latest updates. :-)

Seasons Greetings from John "I.Q." McIndoe!!
(December 12, 1999)

I managed to place a quick call to all four Bugaloos, and they all had warm greetings for all us fans on the web.

Here's what Big John had to say to us all for Christmas 1999:


Seasons Greetings from John M. WAV (200k) MP3 (73k)


Be sure to check out the rest of the sound bytes!!

Happy Birthday to John "I.Q." McIndoe
(February 3, 2000)

Bugaloos fans celebrated John McIndoe's birthday by posting their birthday wishes to the Chat Board, by Email (through me), and even via Postal Mail. :-)

I phoned John and left a message for him, listing off the names of the fans who wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday. Although I did not hear back from him personally, he did stop in to thank us all for the birthday greetings: John is presumably still hard at work on his latest project, a new movie called Mates.

In late-March/early-April, Wes McIndoe (John's son) put John's briefcase up for sale on E-Bay. This was an exquisite piece of John's history, encompassing much more than his Bugaloos days.

The original E-Bay text (as written by Wes) is as follows:

    This vintage 1960's Bugaloos Briefcase is being offered for auction by the order of John McIndoe I.Q. Bugaloos who is also my father. The history on this briefcase goes all the way back to london where in 1960's John was working part time for Apple records and also had his own band that John Lennon was helping him with. Then in the late 1960's he was casted by a casting scout to appear in Sid and Marty Krofft Bugaloos TV show. He then moved to California with this same briefcase where the case saw the rest of its life at the studio set of "The Bugaloos". This briefcase was used to hold my fathers scripts and other Funky Bugaloos stuff. This case has several stickers on it from different rock and roll band that gave my father stickers when thet were on there tours and the case even has a couple of Bugaloos studio promo stickers. This case has been with my father for about forty years and now its time to let this magical Bugaloos case fly away. The high bidder will have this briefcase autographed by my father John McIndoe. When was the last time you saw a piece of Bugaloos memorabilia on a Ebay auction. We thought if we put this briefcase on Ebay that everybody would have a chance to bid on this vintage item. The condition of the case is fair and it has seen alot of funky Bugaloos use. The dimensions on the case is 1ft and 1in. height and 1ft and 6in. length. This briefcase has seen everything from Beatles to Bugaloos. If you would like more information about the Bugaloos or John McIndoe, There is a book out called H&R Puff and Suff and other stuff by David Martindale and published by Renaissance Books.


Here is a picture of the briefcase, which includes a sticker from the "Washington Flyers": Updated: 02/28/2001

The auction was won by a Bugaloos fan, who said he would forward more information about the case as time permits. Here's what he said:
    As for the briefcase, there's a lot of cool stuff on it. The Bugaloo-related stickers on the exterior are few, but unique. One sticker appears to be a calendar for November 1970 with a drawing of Courage handing a flower to Benita while the other Bugaloos look on. Another is a sticker is from The Record Plant in Los Angeles with some very Bugalooesque artwork. Other stickers include a Washington Flyers, an MGM pass, a "Finland Loves You" sticker, various radio station-record label-studio stickers. Inside the case is a very interesting sticker for MAC Films-G & J McIndoe ltd. Film & Television Productions. It gives London address & phone and appears to be vintage.
In addition, several nice color shots of the exterior of the briefcase were also sent ... those have been scanned in, and are here:
For those with high-bandwidth connections (or a lotta patience), each page also includes a high-resolution scan, in case you'd like to zoom in on something in particular. :-)

Special thanks to Jayson (auction winner) for the pictures!!


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