Searches for “Flat-Footed Floogie” lead back to a recording made on February 17, 1938, when the duo Slim & Slam cut the tune for Vocalion in New York. It was issued as Vocalion 4021. The full title is “Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy)”. It was the first and biggest hit for Bulee “Slim” Gaillard and Leroy “Slam” Stewart.
Who wrote it
Credit goes to three people: Slim Gaillard, Slam Stewart and the lyricist Bud Green. Gaillard played guitar and sang, and Stewart played bass. They had met in New York in 1936 and worked radio and the clubs of 52nd Street. Radio figure Martin Block became their manager and arranged the Vocalion contract.
Publishing was settled quickly. Gaillard sold the rights to Green Brothers and Knight for $250, and Green shared the writing credit. Gaillard later described the payment as an advance against royalties, so accounts of the deal differ.
What the song is about
The song is closer to a mood than a story. Its main attraction is sound: a chorus of made-up syllables, sung with the rhythmic play of scat singing. Between those nonsense passages, the verses give plain advice. Shrug off your troubles, tell the world to leave you alone, and find relief in the company of the band and the crowd. The delivery matters more than the words, and that is why it works as novelty jazz.
That approach was the duo’s trademark. Slim & Slam were known for novelty numbers that mixed Gaillard’s vocal style, scat, hipster slang and invented words. The title has its own story. It was reportedly meant to be “Flat Foot Floozy”, but the label thought “floozy” too indecent and changed it to “floogie”. Vocalion also issued it as “Flat Fleet Floogee”, which added to the confusion over the name.
A hit, and a favorite for others to cover
The record was one of the top sellers of 1938 and peaked at number 2 on the US charts. Other acts moved quickly. Benny Goodman’s orchestra, Wingy Manone, the Mills Brothers, Fats Waller and Lew Stone all recorded it in 1938. Later names include Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Django Reinhardt, Charlie Parker, Jon Hendricks and Diana Krall.
Bunny Berigan and His Orchestra recorded it on June 27, 1938, for RCA’s Thesaurus Transcription Service in New York. Their version runs 3:48 and gives the band’s soloists, including tenor saxophonist Georgie Auld and clarinetist Joe Dixon, more room than the short original. The arrangement is probably by Andy Phillips, who seems to have listened closely to the rhythms of the Slim & Slam record.
The later life of the tune
Gaillard kept returning to the song. A Hollywood session probably recorded on December 29, 1945, issued on Bel-Tone, has him leading a band with Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet and Charlie Parker on alto saxophone. That shows how readily bebop players took up a swing-era novelty. Slim & Slam also appeared in the 1941 film Hellzapoppin’.
Gaillard lived from 1911 to 1991 by one account, and Stewart from 1914 to 1987. The song outlived the partnership and remains the first record people think of when Slim & Slam come up.
For a first listen, start with the 1938 Slim & Slam original. Then compare it with the big-band covers. In the original, the voices and the bass drive the tune. The covers show how much a good arranger could build on three minutes of playful syllables.