Obscure America: Smokey Stover

What does an obscure comic character that was retired in 1972 have to do with the name of a famous rock band that has won 12 Grammy awards? Smokey Stover was a wacky cartoon character who inhabited a bizarre world invented in 1935 by cartoonist Bill Holman. Smokey was a fire fighter and the comic strip followed his screwball adventures while also featuring puns, sight gags and made up phrases. Smokey was a popular strip during World War Two and some American fliers took to painting his image on airplanes and using his catchphrases as slang. While Smokey was a fire fighter he called himself a “foo fighter.” The phrase became slang among the war crews for unidentified flying objects. Fast forward to 1994 when Dave Grohl was looking for a band name. Nirvana had disbanded after the death of Kurt Cobain and Dave had some songs he had written and recorded so he picked the obscure name “Foo Fighters” to release them under. Grohl has said he would have picked a better name if he’d had any idea how long the band would last. That may be true but to be fair maybe Smokey Stover should be listed under the original Foo Fighter lineup.