Kaptain Kool and the Kongs
Still hoping for a successful music deal (something that hadn't happened with their earlier series "The Bugaloos" and wouldn't happen with this one either), the Kroffts assembled an original band for the The Krofft Supershow. Kaptain Kool and the Kongs hosted, provided comic relief between shows, and they also performed musical numbers. Originally the band members were slathered in face paint ala KISS, though this trend was short-lived. Each had a distinctive style: Kaptain Kool (Michael Lembeck) donned a cabbie hat and had outfits covered with prisms; Turkey (Mickey McMeel) had suns on his attire; Nashville (Louise DuArt) was clad in butterflies and Superchick (Debra Clinger) in hearts... and then there was Flatbush (Bert Sommer), who wore a giant pimp hat, complete with feather. Strangely, Flatbush was dropped early into the run of the show and his mug doesn't appear in many of the promotional photos and merchandise that's circulating.
The opening title sequence was filmed at The World of Sid and Marty Krofft, an ill-fated indoor theme park the brothers opened in Atlanta that's now home to CNN (and that is a whole other story that I'm not gonna get into). Initially the Supershow ran 90 minutes; after three months on the air, it was cut back to an hour and "Lost Saucer" was dropped for good.
Kaptain Kool and the Kongs wound up becoming a staple of Krofft productions for a few years. They first appeared on "ABC's Saturday Sneak Peek" the day before the Supershow premiered, and they went on to make appearances in the next year's special, "ABC All-Star Saturday," as well as on "ABC Silver Anniversary," "Donny & Marie," "The Bay City Rollers Show," "The Brady Bunch Hour," the unsold pilot "The Krofft Komedy Hour," and even "American Bandstand."
After the Supershow ended, Kaptain Kool and the Kongs went on to have drastically different careers. Michael Lembeck starred as Julie's husband on "One Day at a Time" before setting his sights on directing sitcoms ("Friends," "Major Dad," "Flying Blind" "Over the Top") and movies ("The Santa Clause 3"). Debra Clinger starred in the culty Disney comedy "Midnight Madness," then ultimately left show business to raise a family. Louise DuArt became a comedian and impressionist and continued to collaborate with the Kroffts for many years. Bert Sommer got himself addicted to drugs (since it's never been spoken of, I surmise that's the reason for his dismissal) and died of liver failure in 1990. And nowadays Michael McMeel is affiliated with the Inner City Slickers U.S. organization.
Two albums were released by KK & the K (whew! Good thing there's an "and" there). One is basically a storybook album with some korny sketches by the Kongs and audio-only tales of "Magic Mongo" and "Bigfoot and Wildboy." The other album is a record filled with music by the Kongs, featuring a lot of funky disco beats.
Kaptain Kool and the Kongs
Self-Titled
02. This Time
03. You Put Some Love in My Life
04. When You Feel It
05. True Love Is On Its Way
06. The Whole World Will Be Dancin'
07. Crazy Girl
08. You Saved Me
09. Melanie
10. Free
11. Sing Me a Song