Stan and the boys were part of Freddie Fisher's Schnickelfritz Band before they became the Korn Kobblers. Some folks in Winona and Minneapolis are celebrating Freddie's 100th birthday June 11th -13th and there'll be some Korn Kobblers stuff along with Schnickelfritz material. Here's what Jerry Modjeski has to say about it...

In observance of musical madcap Freddie Fisher's 100th Birthday, it's a Schnickelfest! Please help spread the word!!!

Friday June 11, Midnite to 2 a.m. on KFAI FM, Minneapolis-St. Paul (listen via www.kfai.org)

Hear two commercial-free hours of 78s by Freddie "Schnickelfritz" Fisher and the Korn Kobblers, as "The Musical Transportation Spree" host Jerry Modjeski welcomes in-studio guest musical eccentric-archivist Jack Norton and his friends from The Wizard Oil Revue.

Saturday June 12, Arts Center, Winona, Minnesota
Live music by The Fickel Shitts! Films of Schnickelfritz and the Korn Kobblers courtesy of film historian Bob DeFlores! Late afternoon washboard workshop with Captain Whizbang! M.C. Jerry Modjeski and special guests provide local history and color to the musical legacy of Freddie Fisher.

Sunday June 13, Acadia Cafe, Minneapolis Minnesota
Live music by The Fickel Shitts! Films of Schnickelfritz and the Korn Kobblers courtesy of film historian Bob DeFlores! Captain Whizband late afternoon washboard workshop! Emcee'd by the world's only talking ukelele, Luke the Uke.

For further information contact Jerry Modjeski at modjestic12@hotmail.com (507) 454 - 5551

And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Former Schnickelfritzers Stan Fritts, Marty Gold, Nels Laakso, and Charles Koenig along with Harry Turen, and Howard McElroy were formidable competition for the Hoosier Hot Shots in the 1940s. Formed in 1939, they went on to present some of the most polished corn ever presented. The following is from their 1942 song folio and presents a bit exagerated version of their beginnings (leaving out the lawsuit where they lost the right to use the name "Original Schnickelfritz Band"). Don't worry, Charlene Dowd, Charlie's daughter, and Celia Miner, Stan's daughter fill in the blanks and fix the errors.

The Korn Kobblers, America's most nonsensical band, were discovered by the King Of Korn himself, Guy Lombardo, when they were playing at the Old Vienna in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the summer of 1939. When the Ballantine Inn at the World's Fair in 1940 was opened, Guy spoke to the managers of the spot about the Korn Kobblers. On Guy's recommendation, the six merry madmen were booked into the Inn for two weeks-and remained there until the close of the Fair. From there, they went into the Flagship in Union, New Jersey. After a one-nighter and theatre tour, they returned to the Flagship, where they stayed until they opened at Rogers Corner (now Madison Square Garden) in New York City in October, 1942.

World War II saw Nels replaced by Sam Zakin and Harry replaced by Eddie Grosso. At the time of disbanding in 1954 all the originals, except Harry, were back with the group. Hal Marquess filled in for Howard at times (and was the drummer with Charlie's band after the disbanding of the Korn Kobblers).

1945 and 46 saw the Korn Kobbler's calling Jack Dempsey's Nightclub home. The group moved back to the Flagship (the home of their radio show) during the winter season and toured in the summer.

During the 1948-49 television season the boys were on Kobb's Korner on CBS, Wednesday evenings.

These boys are the most amazing outfit in the musical world! Their jugs, washboards, automobile horns, tonettes, whistles, mouth harps, duck quackers, etc., have made more people laugh than any other band in the country – and that's one thing we can use at all times!

Just about three years ago, when each was about to give up his musical career because of the "starvation" days, someone gave them the idea of starting a "corn" band. Well, in their condition they were willing to try anything. From that day on, they became specialists in "corn" and comedy, and today they rank as "the outstanding novelty entertainers in the country", according to Song Hits Magazine and other nationwide publications and critics.

The band is a co-operative one, with each boy owning an equal share of stock in the organization. An idea of the Korn Kobblers' earning power might be derived from the fact that the boys get as much money for their six man outfit as does any 18 piece swing band. Also, they are heard over 175 radio stations coast to coast daily on commercially sponsored transcribed programs. Their Okeh records are always best sellers and they have been in several motion pictures.

If it's good, wholesome, laugh-a-second comedy you want its the Korn Kobblers are one of the biggest morale-boosters in the country!

The complete song folio, including biographies of all the artists can be reached by clicking the appropriate link on the right.

After the fact. Stan left New Jersey and went back to Yankton, SD and started a music store. In addition he played with a number of bands, among them The Willard Fejfar Big Band and The Dixieland Five (where he teamed once again with high school friend and former Korn Kobbler Harry Turen.

Charles stayed in New Jersey and went to work in the medical field. The music kept beckoning and he formed a band with Hal Marquis of the old group as his drummer.

Marty ended up in the record business with Decca, RCA, Kapp and even Peter Pan kiddie records. His Moog Plays The Beattles (Atlantic) is one of Musicoligist John Pear's favorites.