Milton Delugg

Composer and arranger Milton Delugg entered the world in Los Angeles on December 2, 1918. After completing studies at UCLA he headed to New York City for instruction from Tibor Serly, then signed on in 1938 as accordionist with the Matty Malneck Orchestra. Once his World War II service with the Army Air Corps concluded, he assembled his own ensemble. A steady stream of radio and television assignments produced signature music for programs ranging from The Fred Allen Show and What's My Line? to the Junior Miss pageant. Among his many songwriting credits are the titles "Hoop Dee Do," "The Happy Wanderer," "Just Another Polka," and "Orange Colored Sky." In 1964 he supplied the soundtrack for the cult film Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. When Skitch Henderson stepped down from NBC's The Tonight Show in 1966, Delugg stepped in as bandleader, though Doc Severinsen reclaimed the post within months. Far more enduring was his role leading the house band—billed as Milton Delugg and the Band with a Thug—on Chuck Barris' long-running 1970s series The Gong Show. Beyond those projects he created music for several children's recordings issued by RCA and Golden Books and, in 1967, released the solo album Accordion My Way -- Ole! Heart failure claimed his life at his Los Angeles residence in April 2015; he was 96.