I wrote this quite a while ago, and I personally think it's one of my weakest stories, but it was Bugle's turn so here it is!

Artists and songs referenced: Duke Cabbie Callington is based on both Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway, the first song is based off of Duke Ellington's "It Don't Mean a Thing".

The Bea Gees is obviously a reference to the BeeGees, and their song "Stayin' Alive".

Duck, Wind and Fire is based on Earth, Wind, and Fire and their song "Boogie Wonderland". They're painful, I know.

Friday Night Fever

"You may be sweet or hot, it makes no diff,

Give into your rhythm and don't be stiff,

OH! Boy if you can't swing, then you just don't mean a thing!"

Bugle Beagle was snapping his fingers to the beat of his favorite song: "If You Can't Swing, You Don't Mean Anything", by Duke Cabbie Callington. It was an oldie but definitely a goodie, and one that had always struck a chord with him; 'cause c'mon, what was a Beagle really worth if he couldn't groove?

The song burst into its rhythmic scatting section, and he began to hop around the room, shaking his body, singing along. "Doowahdoowah! Doodoodah!"

"Turn that garbage off!" a whining voice screamed from another room. Bugle just ignored it and shook his body for all he was worth.

"BUGLE!"

RRRTZZZZ…

"Dahdah...duh?" Bugle stopped and looked down as the cassette player, his face twisting into a look of dismay. The magnetic tape of the cassette had mangled, wound and splayed all around the insides of the player…basically, totally busted.

"Ugh, finally! Some peace and quiet!"BigTime's snarky voice called out.

Bugle's heart sank. He'd been expecting this... the tape had long been on its last legs. Looks like this last song had been its swan song.

He pulled it out of the player, sighing. "And this record is practically impossible to find these days..." The kind you could only find at specialty stores, and even then, the price blew your mind.

Suddenly his brothers' obnoxious shouting echoed through the halls again.

"Oh, hey, hey, hey, HEY! Look!"

"Ahahaha! Looks like we still got it, guys!"

With nothing left to do, Bugle curiously joined them in the living room.

Gathered around the television, Bouncer, Burger, Baggy, and BigTime were all watching with huge grins plastered across their faces.

"We really did rock the house!" BigTime laughed.

On the screen, a group of singers in hideous outfits and crazy wigs were yowling incoherently onstage in some kind of…"music" video. Although to Bugle, it looked more like a bunch of badly groomed teenagers had fallen into the set of a cheesy 80s movie.

"-AND SING THE BOOGIE BEAGLE BLUES!" they screeched.

With a horrified shock, Bugle realized that the group was none other than his brothers.

The video (finally) ended, and then a short man with a long multicolored wig and shades pranced to the center of a stage.

"Hey, hey, hey! Get rude, dudes! Sky McFly here! That was our previous winner in the million dollar giveaway for the newest musical group!"

"You call that music?!" Bugle shouted, feeling personally offended.

His brothers all turned around and glared at him.

"Oh, that's rich, comin' from you!" BigTime said. "Blastin' that junk all day long!"

"Hehe, yeah, who writes a song about singin'?Talk about dumb!" Burger joined in.

"'Least our stuffs is oregano!" Baggy added.

"Original!" BigTime corrected him sharply.

Bugle tried to ignore these blatant bashes toward his musical taste, but behind his dark glasses he was starting to steam.

"And I don't see you with a band," Bouncer said with a smirk, crossing his arms.

Bugle put his hands on his hips. "I've got somethin' better. I've got soul." He started to snap in a fast tempo, swaying and scatting along. "Well HEY! Boobalageedawa beeba dada-!"

"Those aren't real words!" Baggy complained. "...Uh, I think."

"And ain't disco an' jazz both technically dead?" Bouncer chuckled.

"Technically, no, they've got huge underground fanbases and both are prophesied to make a comeback in-"

"Technically, you're stupid!" mocked BigTime. "Why don'tcha come back when you have a platinum sellin' album?"

Bugle grit his teeth.

Meanwhile, the ad was continuing.

"So hey! Fly by if you're hip and hop 'til you drop! If you think what it takes to be our next musical group, come on down! The prize is one million dollars!"

Bugle put a hand to his chin, thinking. Now...if his idiot brothers, with absolutely NO musical sense whatsoever could have made it so far...why, it ought to be a cakewalk for him. Even as a pup, music had always been his passion.

"How would any of you like a second chance at the spotlight by workin' with me?" Bugle offered. Quite honestly, the idea repulsed him- but he didn't have much choice. Besides, he was a chill guy. He was willing to let bygones be bygones if they shut their mouths and helped out.

But the boys all burst into laughter.

"You? Puh-lease! We're A-LISTERS! Why would we work with a nobody like you?" BigTime snickered.

"I'm your brother!" Bugle said indignantly.

"All the more reason."

Ugh. Fine! Whatever, he knew he could do better than these dimwits, anyway. With a scowl, Bugle turned on his heel and stalked out of the room.

"D'eh, are we really not gonna help him sing?" Baggy asked, feeling a little bad.

"You know as well as I do if we ever show our faces back there again, the only tunes we'd be beltin' out would be for a twenty year gig at Sing Sing!"BigTime snapped, and his cheeks went red in shame.

In the next room Bankjob was doing sets of one-armed push-ups while Babyface sat on a recliner nearby playing his GameDuck. Bugle walked in, unable to stop the smile from spreading across his face. Bankjob and Babyface were the two brothers he'd always been the closest with, no way they'd let him down.

And not to mention! They had experience together, if you counted the time they'd all been abducted and forced to sing barbershop tunes for bloodthirsty pirates!

"Hey, Buge," Bankjob said idly.

Bugle beamed as if he had a great secret he couldn't keep to himself.

"Hey, how would you guys...like to be Duckburg's hot new band?"

The two Beagles both stopped and stared.

"Huh?" They said in unison.

Bugle always spoke gobbledygook but this was really out of left field.

"Y'know, the new music group contest," Bugle filled them in. "Think about it, man: we'll be swimming in cash! Our names'll be in lights! There won't be a soul out there who won't know our names!"

Babyface didn't really know (or care) what he was rambling about, but it sounded good. "We're gonna be rich?"

Bankjob got to his feet, clapped his hands, and chuckled. "We're gonna be famous!"

Bugle grinned. He knew they'd be on board!

"And I've already got the perfect band name for us. The Bea Gees! And my song goes a little bit something like this... "

His brothers smiled expectantly and Bugle began to rock back and forth.

"Well you know for sure by the way I dance

I'm a ladykiller, I'm a fancypants

Women hot and music groovin', they try to keep me down

So I just keep movin'..."

He started snapping and shaking his body wildly to the beat.

"Be ya brother, mother, lover, or somethin' other,

You'll be feelin' alive, feelin' alive!

Ah! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Feelin' aliiiiiiiive...yeah, yeah, bebadawawop! Shiggydiggydoowop beedoopbeedoop!"

He finished on a high note with his finger doing a disco point high at the ceiling and looked at his brothers in anticipation.

The smiles on their faces had fazed into looks of disgust.

There was an awkward silence.

"Wh-what?" Bugle asked.

"NOPE," Babyface said loudly. "I'm out." Without another word he waddled out of the room, hurried up the stairs, and slammed the bedroom door. Seconds later loud screamo metal music started blaring from above.

"Eugh, listen, Bugle..." Bankjob said gently. "It's not a bad idea. It's just, uh..." Oh, forget it. You couldn't be delicate with this. "This is gonna blow up in yer face. People will be makin' fun of you for years if you go on TV with that."

Bugle's mouth hung open a little in surprise. "Dude."

"I'm just bein' honest, okay?!" Bankjob shook his head. "I mean, isn't it s'pose to be rock music? Look, I know this is your…thing, but this style 'o yers... people won't get it. I mean, that's the kinda stuff Ma listened to as a kid." He put his hand on Bugle's shoulder.

Bugle pushed it off indignantly. "It's old school!"

"No, it's just old."

Bugle glared at him. He couldn't understand why his brothers didn't appreciate the classic music the way he did.

Dejected, the beatnik Beagle Boy headed out onto the porch and walked out into the dark backyard. "Chirp, chirp..."

Now that was sad...these little crickets had more heart in them than most modern artists. What was the world coming to?

Bugle sighed. Yeah, maybe he didn't have what it took to make it big. Maybe everyone would laugh at him.

And ain't disco an' jazz both technically dead?

That's the kinda stuff Ma listened to as a kid!

His brother's scornful words echoed in his head.

"Chirp, chirp..."

He'd never noticed before, but these little crickets had a nice beat. Simple, sure, but catchy.

And as he listened to the sounds of nature he began bobbing his head, a melody creeping in from the back of his mind.

Heck! Who were they to bring him down?! BigTime never gave up on the money bin, no matter how hard it got! And Burger hadn't let a little heart attack stop him from finishing that 200 pound meatball sub back at the Duckburg Diner!

He had this!

Bugle smiled and started to sing along.

The next morning the brothers were just lazing around in the living room when Screamin' Sky McFly popped back onscreen.

"Hey hey hey wake up rock 'n rollers! Are you ready to go rad with the latest sound? Then lets get rockin'! It's time for the million dollar giveaway!"

"Hey, guys, getta load of this," Bouncer chuckled.

"For our first audition, let's give a big welcome to Pink Fowl!"

The Beagle Brothers gathered around the television to watch.

"Ah, what a buncha losers!" Baggy laughed. "Eh, I bet their mamas wrote that song for them."

BigTime coughed.

"Here's our next hotshot, Moose Springsteen!"

The boys were glued to the screen watching the auditions for almost an hour, when…

"And out comes our next contestant!"

And onto the stage walked Bugle, with a small acoustic guitar tucked under his arm.

Bugle?!

The brothers all let out a gasp.

"Oh, no."

"He's gonna look like such an idiot!" Bankjob groaned.

"Forget that, he's gonna make us look like idiots." BigTime facepalmed.

Bugle walked to the center with a nervous smile on his face.

"So it looks like you're another solo performer," exclaimed Sky. "And waddaya call yourself?!"

"Uh..." Bugle hesitated. "Call me, er… Bebop." Ugh, smooth. But his childhood nickname was the first thing he could think of.

"You look kinda familiar," mused Sky, looking at him up and down. "Hey, have you auditioned here before?"

"Uh…well, lots of wannabes try to emulate and imitate tha 'Bop," Bugle said, giving the camera a wink, "But they're just kiddin' themselves, man."

"Alright, and what're you gonna sing for us?"

"I'm gonna cover an old favorite from Duck, Wind, and Fire...I call it...'Beagle Wonderland.'"

"Oh geez," Bankjob groaned.

Bugle took a deep breath and walked into the spotlight, looking out at the immense crowd. And then, the music hit him and his stage fright was gone.

"Dance! Beagle Wonderland!

Ah, ha! Dance!

Beagle Wonderlaaaannnnd...!"

He swayed and snapped in time, strumming the guitar and singing at the top of his lungs.

"...And all the records that be and my heart says to me,

Beagle Wonderland!

Dance!

Badawadaabop debop bop bop shakka lakka doodeedoo!"

Bugle broke off from the original song and started scatting and swaggering across the stage. "Shappidoppida wooo SHAAA!"

As he finished the song he slid onto his knees and looked out at the crowd, breathing hard and heart hammering. The entire auditorium was silent.

Bugle's grin wavered as the crowd looked on at him with bewilderment. Oh no, they really were going to laugh, they'd chase him offstage and he'd be a joke for life…

And then the audience burst into applause. They stood up, whooped, and whistled, clapped and stamped their feet! They loved him!

"That was totally out of this world!" Sky yelled. "And from the audience response, I think we've found our winner!"

Bugle's eyes widened.

Back at home, the Beagle Boys were speechless for a few moments. No. Way.

"Unbelievable!" BigTime sulked. "They wouldn't know real music if it bit them in the-!"

"Ahhhhh! We should've joined his group when we had the chance!" Babyface wept.

"Y-yeah, well he's gonna share the prize money, o' course, right?" Bankjob looked at the others with a little glimmer of hope.

"And so what're you gonna do with one million smackeroos?!" Sky McFly asked as he patted Bugle on the back in congratulations. Bugle turned around from taking his bows and grinned.

"I'm gonna buy every vinyl record of Duke Cabbie Callington out there my money can buy! 'Cause if I ain't got that swing, it don't mean a thing!"

Miles away, his brothers' jaws dropped in horror.

"No!" screamed BigTime. "NOOOOOO!"