Shout Hi Ho Silver Lining Oops Upside Your Head(anyone remember the row boat dance)? Quarter To Three Gary US Bonds Come On Eileen Just waiting for someone to mention The Birdie Song 🤬
The best use of "Louie Louie" is near the end of _The Naked Gun_ , when Ricardo Montebahn's character falls off the top of the stadium, hits the pavement, is flattened by a steamroller, and a marching band playing "Louie Louie" marches over him. George Kennedy's character breaks down in tears, and says, "My father. . . went the exact same way." That always cracks me up.
I loved that scene in _The Naked Gun._ One of my other favorite uses of this song in cinema is in the movie _Down Periscope_ where Kelsey Grammer is put in command of a misfit crew tasked to participate in a war games scenario as a bet between two high ranking Navy officials. Grammer had the odds stacked against him by having a crew made up of the Navy's rejects and a WWII era submarine while his rival gets the best crew and a top of the line nuclear sub tasked to hunt them. In a moment of genius to evade detection of the more capable nuclear sub hot on their heels Grammer's crew surfaces the sub and puts up a string of lights and takes other measures to modify their sub's silhouette/profile to disguise it as a fishing boat, then plays the song Louie Louie and sing along to it as loud as possible, slurring all the lyrics, not singing in sync and off key, so when the nuclear sub finally approaches the blip they've been tracking on their screens and raise their periscope to see their target they see what looks like a fishing boat, and by using their hydrophones to listen in all they hear is what sounds like a drunk crew of fisherman so they leave the area to continue their hunt for Grammer's sub. What I loved about that scene was not only the brilliance of hiding in plain sight but also how it reminded me of the scene in _Coup de Ville_ mentioned in this video where one of the brothers claims the song is a sea shanty.
I remember back in the 60s when "Louie, Louie" by the Kingsmen first came out and was played on the radio, I was seven and a half years old, and everyone was talking about it. I didn't know what they were talking about, but when everyone was saying it was a dirty song, of course I had to get it. I had the 45, later got the album, and played it over and over trying to decipher the words. My friends and I would sit around telling each other what he was singing, and of course, we decided on the dirty words. We moved to Stuttgart, Germany and lived at Patch Barracks, my father was in the Military, and by then the Beatles had come out. Long story short, I made new friends, and we would ride the bus to school. Back then there was no back door to the school buses, there was a long seat like a couch in the back. Me, my brother, and a friend named Steve Scramstead, would sit back there and sing songs. All the other kids on the bus would always save that back seat for us because they liked us singing all of the popular songs, especially ones by the Beatles and Herman's Hermits. But there was that one song they always wanted to hear, and it was "Louie, Louie." So, when we sang it, using the bad words, all the girls would scream, and the boys would laugh. The three of us were like little Rock Stars. For me, it kind of went to my head, and also being a class clown, whenever I got off the bus, I never left the bus by the door, I always climbed out the window, and man, the girls loved that. I remember hearing the girls say when they saw us, "Hey, those are the guys who sing on the bus." Those were great times.
Very true. Was under 10 when it was popular, and all my buddies had an older brother (probably all of 15) who told us what the "real" lyrics were, which made absolutely no sense to us who still had far more interest in making gunpowder and burning bugs with a magnifying glass than in girls. Fun times indeed.
I saw the Kingsmen on a comeback tour in the 90s (they opened for Three Dog Night). They were great! They introduced Louie Louie by saying: "Ladies and Gentlemen, please stand for our national anthem!"
I've seen 3 Dog Night twice and they absolutely kick ass!! One of the best bands I've ever seen in concert in my life. I saw them in '88 and they wiped the floor with the Beach boys. It was embarrassing (for the BB)!! I liked 3 Dog Night when I originally heard them, but after seeing them live twice, I freakin' love 'em!
@@beatlesrgear I was driving with my friend and we decided to go to the only radio station in Pasadena, Texas. He knew people there so we just walked through the back door. We were hanging around talking and in came Three Dog Night! They had a concert the following night in Houston so they were there to promote their show. While they were waiting we all sat in the back room and talked. Then they pulled out a few joints so we ended up passing around joints on a roach clip. They had their guitars out so I got to jam with them awhile. Things were so much looser then. No security. Everything was laid back. It was a treat to meet them and especially play guitars with them. But at the time it was just another day. I got to do a lot of things that would probably be hard to do now.
What's so great about this channel is everyday we're treated to a new lesson or story about music history that not only educated us the loyal and new viewers but gives us a whole new appreciation for the artist being spotlighted every day
@@ProfessorofRock I would like to see some spotlights on obscure 80s acts such as David sylvian and japan, classic producers such as Ron nevison and Rupert Hine these artists created so much amazing music that they should be spotlighted
I knew Lynn in his later years. He was one of those guys who livened up the place when he walked in - never at a loss for a witty, often stinging, comment. One day we're sitting around, and his cell phone rang. I commented that "Louie Louie" was an interesting ring tone for him. He lamented that he had to pay $2.99 for that ring tone. Whenever we would have a jam, Lynn would play percussion on whatever was available. At least once it was a salad bowl. Sadly, he passed during COVID while living in Canada and his family was forbidden from travelling there to make arrangements. He's one of those people who leave a big hole when they're gone. RIP my friend.
I loved the rawness of the song, the very unpolished "noise" sound to it: just a straight up fun song! My FAVORITE use of it was in the movie Down Periscope with Kelsey Grammer: a Navy submarine commander is given a WWII era diesel submarine and has to evade modern nuclear boats searching for him; at one point, the old diesel sub gets found by the modern nuclear boat and has to distract the hunter sub, so they surface, put a light on the periscope and get the crew to start loudly singing Louie Louie!! The modern sub listens to the sounds coming from the target boat and the captain declares "congratulations, we tracked down a boat load of beer-ed up fishermen! Move out!" It was PERFECT!!!
I was the lead singer in a local band in high school and Louie, Louie was on our playlist. Frankly the way I sang it would have been illegal if you could understand it but part of the charm was to slur the lyrics as much as possible so no one could actually be sure what they were hearing. It entertained the crowds and kept us out of trouble! Incidentally the 2 most popular tunes we did were probably Louie, Louie & Gloria by Van Morrison's band Them. Had a lot of fun and made a little money back then. We were fairly successful because in those days most people just bought 45s and most of the songs we did were Covers of Rolling Stones tunes off their first 2 US Albums. Most people thought it was original material because they weren't familiar with the songs off the Stones albums that weren't released as singles so they thought we were pretty talented. Loved it!
@@harrisvideo When anyone performed that song they sang what they thought they were hearing or just plain made it up. Anyone that says different is lying or very deluded. There was no way to look up the lyrics to most any song back then.
I went to high school with the sister of The Kingsmen's lead guitar player, Mike Mitchell. During the hey day of the song, Mike lived at home with his parents. I can still remember the first time I was over at the house and his sister took me into his bedroom. He had a bed on what looked like a marble pedestal, with the gold record of Louie Louie hanging on the wall above the headboard. Those were the days!
First heard Louie Louie on the film Quadrophenia over 40 years ago,,,,,,in my opinion the first true punk rock record......stunningly and simply brilliant..never get tired of hearing it ..
I grew up in the 60’s so I’ve known this song forever. Outrage wasn’t about attention or money, and the FBI…well it’s still messed up. Remember a few years ago was the dress Gold or Blue? The lyrics are like that. Be offended or not, Louie Louie is a Classic. Don’t change a thing. Thanks Adam!
My Band played “Louie Louie” back in 1968-69. I remember that I made up my own verses because nobody really knew what they actually were! I’m 72 and a half and still enjoy the song immensely!
I read it in a Beatles book that John Lennon had his own lyrics to it before the Beatles got popular and my guess for one of the verses was " I ain't gonna break -a my heart no more 😊
Me 71, and have been gigging with bands since age 14. Similar fun experiences. What better way to make it with the girls, ...than to be lead singer in a band! I once had a groupie who told me I was exactly like lead singer Keith Relf of Yardbirds, ...who she had been nasty with - 15 years earlier.
I remember hearing this when I was quite young, but my best recollection of the song comes from "Animal House". Who can forget the drunken wailing of the denizens from the Delta House of this song? I can sort of remember singing this of key at parties in grad school. Those days were kind of foggy, and certain events could have made it into the movie. It's a good thing I have no aspirations to run for political office, though I would never deny what was done back then. It was stupid fun, and that song always seems to bring back those foggy memories.
I love how our highschool marching band in the 80's, and almost every highschool marching band, plays this. It always pumps up the crowd and the team with enthusiasm
Another reference: From 1985 to 1989, radio station WMMR in Philadelphia held a Louie Louie Parade on April 1st, where anyone who wished to do so could join the parade and play Louie Louie on a kazoo.
Louie Louie was my high school's unofficial high school song. We had a high school song which we sang at every football basketball whatever game. When the band played the opening notes of Louie Louie the place went went wild. Everyone was dancing on the bleachers and singing the words which nobody knew just having a load of fun. When I hear Louie Louie I remember some of the best years of my life. 😅😅😅
Love the story about the radio station changing formats at the end. A local station in the 90s used to play country. One day they started playing The Banana Boat Song by Harry Belefonte, for 3 or 4 days straight. They came back on the air as Banana 101 and went to playing rock. Even cooler, while I was in high school, someone literally chopped down their main broadcast tower with an axe. They were off the air for a few days and ended up temporarily setting up their studio in a camper in the field next to their repeater tower behind our high school.
In 1990 the Seattle Mariners started playing Louie Louie at the 7th inning stretch after the obligatory Take Me Out to the Ballgame. It was a tradition for that team for over three decades. They ended that tradition in 2022, to the dismay of many fans (including myself). It was most appropriate during the years that Lou Piniella was their manager from 1993 to 2002. I read that in June of 1990 the Mariners actually had the Kingsmen play Louie Louie live during a game. Wish I had been at that game!
The part about the fumbled drum fill immediately puts me in mind of another record that I hope will be covered on this channel, assuming it hasn't already, "Along Comes Mary" by the Association. During the tracking for that record, session bass guitarist Jerry Scheff (whose son Jason was in Chicago for 1985 to 2017) played a flub near the song's finish. He wanted to rewind and get it right, and even Producer Curt Boettcher couldn't pick up on it. Several years later, Jerry heard a muzak instrumental interpretation of it that included a duplication of his flub.
The very fact this song is still well known even by the current generation proves it’s all about the sound and dance ability that no one really ever cared what it was about! It’s just a funky feel good song that everyone loved listening to and singing!
Crazy story! I always thought the song was a bar song and the reason the singing was mostly unintelligible was because the singer was either drunk or pretending to be drunk. When you mentioned the customer talking to the bartender it made even more sense. It's a fun song in which its imperfections actually enhance the song, giving it more of a party feel.
@@ProfessorofRock - Two songs that instantly came into my head were: "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks and "Love Rollercoaster" by The Ohio Players. The rumor for "Seasons in the Sun" was that Terry Jacks wrote and recorded the song while he was dying from a terminal illness. I didn't find out until much later that he didn't even write the song. "Love Rollercoaster" was rumored to have accidentally recorded a murder that occurred in one of the other rooms in the recording studio while the band was recording the song. All fictional, yet memorable.
I have some fond memories of "The Kingsmen" playing at the Meadow Acres Ballroom in Topeka, Kansas in the mid-60's (aging myself here.) At the time I was in an up-and-coming band and we knew The Kingsmen from several appearances in the area. At one time, we were speaking to their bassist, Norm Sundholm, and he mentioned he and his brother were soon to manufacture Sunn Amplifiers. He offered us a 40% discount we probably should've taken. Ultimately, our entire Fender Amp setup was purchased from Quigley's in Kansas City.
I've been an artist & musician for 60yr. I remember being in primary school outside of Boston in the 60s and hearing about this track. Which setoff a class rm hunt for the record! Amazingly enough, it wasn't a Beatle track, it was Louie Louie that was the first song I ever learned how to play. Great Show!
We had a local radio station here in south Alabama change formats when I was a kid and they played Brown eyed girl over and over for like 3-4 days. I want to say this was back in the mid to late 80s
The State of Washington has unofficial "Louie Day". All the musicians around the area get together to set a world record for the largest number of people playing Louie Louie at a time.
When Washington began considering Louie Louie for the official state rock song, it inspired a Columbus newspaper columnist, Joe Dirck, to suggest Hang On Sloopy be Ohio's official rock song. The Ohio General Assembly formally recognized the song on November 20, 1985.
It was also used in one of my favourite ever films "Quadrophenia" (1979) in the classic scene at the Mod disco where Jimmy climbs up on the balcony and dances to it, jumping onto the crowd below to avoid the bouncers getting him!
One of the first songs i played in my band when I was 14. I also remember and loved the version in Animal House where the drunken dorm room mates sung it just as slurred (and even better) as the original
Jack was a good friend of mine since 89. I've worked on over an album of songs in that time, he passed away a few years back. He was a professional all the way, and lots of fun to play music with. I miss my friend Jack. One of a kind!!!
1982 and my high school had a tradition of a senior talent show on the last day of school. Some friends and I were going to do Louie, Louie and The Who's My Generation. We were forbidden to do Louie, Louie because the rumors of vulgarity were still around. We did My Generation and then smashed a drum kit and a guitar. Great stuff! Oh, and the marching band seniors (myself included) were allowed to do the popular at the time, Centerfold by the J. Geils Band. We did with our marching band instruments and Playboy centerfolds attached on our backs. Also, all the teachers' hubcaps were stolen. Yep---last time the seniors were allowed to have a talent show ever.
My friends and I would refer to this as the drunk song because you had to be drunk to sing & or understand it.🤔 After seeing your video I love the song even more! It's an American classic.🇺🇸
The line “Okay, let's give it to 'em, right now!” is the lead singer introing the guitar solo. It’s not part of the story, it’s an exhortation from one guy to the rest of the band. It’s that simple.
This was our go-to marching band song when I was in Jr. High. I can still hear that riff coming from my trombone. Ha! I've also seen that it was one of the songs that inspired Kurt Cobain to write Smells Like Teen Spirit. Which you can't un-hear once you recognize it.
Not all of the versions of "Louie, Louie" were done by "wannabes." I was a member of KFJC's staff when the "Louie, Louie" marathon was announced. Because of some quirks in the way California funds schools, KFJC is actually a class you can sign up for an endless number of times, and your tuition goes to help fund the station. Anyhow, in that staff meeting, everyone was handed a copy of the sheet music to "Louie, Louie" and ordered to create at least one version of it. I did two, and for the life of me, I can't remember what I credited them to. Towards the end of either the first or the second marathon (I forget which), the station had to put a stopping point on the marathon because they had more versions of it than time to play them! My all-time favorite version, done by the Palo Alto Early Music Consort, never made it onto the compilation albums.
My beginning band played "Louie, Louie" after we learned about 6 notes on our instruments. We didn't even have a proper notation! Our band director wrote out the note names and some dashes to indicate length on a sheet of paper! I wish I still had the sheet! It was really fun!🤘🥰😆
@ProfessorofRock. In Peoria, Il they used to do an annual Louie, Louie kazzoo parade. Back in the 90's. All to raise money for charity. Anyway, The Kingsman were the featured band one of those years and it was a great show. For their encore, they invited people from the crowd on stage with them. 1st come 1st serve. My friends and I were the last they let on stage. There must have been 50 of us or so up there. They encored with the song Gloria. They changed it to Peoria for the chorus. Somehow, through all the people, my friends and I ended up center stage next to the singer. We all got to sing with them. It was soo cool. After the song was done, everyone was escorted off stage, except for my friends and me. I was talkimg to the guitarist and he handed me his guitar. He said it was a 59/60 Les Paul, and asked me to play it. The band started jamming with me, over the PASpeakers, and the crowd started piling back in. It was AMAZING!! Must have been 300 people i was playing infront of/too. Singer let everyone know show was over and I gave the guitar back. High 5's from all the band members and off the stage we went. That was one of the best nights of my life!!! Had to share this.
For those who are wondering, it was kept out of number 1 by 2 songs: The Singing Nun’s “Dominique” and Bobby Vinton’s “There! I’ve Said It Again”. Please do more pre-Beatles songs in the future. Great job professor!
I picked "Dominique" as the most unique one-hit wonder (for those that reached #1) in the comments on a previous video of the Professor's. It was sung in French by a Belgian nun, and it topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in December 1963; as far as I can tell, it was the only chart single she ever had anywhere.
@@ProfessorofRock I’ve been busy working so I haven’t had time lately to leave a comment on a video in a while. I just happened to be off for the holiday when this video was released.
My grandfather owned a restaurant in ponce inlet Florida. It was open from the late 50s until around 2010 when he leased the property out to another business. When i was young and came to Florida to see my dad in the summers (parents divorced), I'd work as a bus boy to earn money. There used to be a real jukebox with records in it. One was Louie Louie, and I'd always get the red painted house quarters to play that song. I'd play it 20 times a day. I know it drove the waitresses crazy but it was my jam! It would always throw me off when some tourists would play Margaritaville.
I had a band who lived behind me when I was a kid and they played it all the time. They were the cool older teenagers and I would walk around singing it all the time, my dad hated it lol
This song was play at every Frat Party I ever attended during my college years in the late 1980s. Throw in Shout! and every other Animal House type record and you get the idea of the vibe. Good Times!
I recall a time back in the 80s when a station started playing Prince's 1999 over and over again for days and, just like in your story, it turned out that they were changing format. I was certainly confused about it and had no idea why it was going on, but I wasn't as imaginative as those kids you describe with theories about kidnappings and aliens.
One Friday night after running wild with a bunch of friends (actually the time of my life at 13) I came home went to bed and turned on my transistor radio and heard “Louie Louie” for the first time. I don’t remember the exact day but I’ll never forget it.
So, back in the early nineties, here in Toledo, they were debuting a new classic rock station and to kick it off they played "louie louie" for 24 hours straight. Set the dial to 93.5 and it was great PR and a great way to introduce the station. Way to Go Professor, you always take us to archives and the trivia is deep. LOVE IT. The song for me always brings back Tom Hulce and Steven Furst going into the Delta house with that song playing and John Belushi showing up in a Toga saying "Wanna brew? Don't cost nothin"............Animal House. Good stuff.
My older sister had the 45 and listened to it all the time! As I recall, we didn't care that we couldn't understand some of the lyrics because the music and beat were awesome!! 😎👍
I never heard a Louis Louis marathon but in PA, I remember that they played "Funky Town" over and over when I was 8 years old due to a change in format and then in High School they were changing the name of the station from Q100 to Hot 99.9 so they played "Some Like It Hot" by Robert Palmer over and over from Friday to Wednesday,. It then became Oldies 99.9 a few years later.
What a brilliant story. I've loved this song since I was a kid in the 1960s, and have never worked out what the hell they were singing 🤣 Brilliant channel, I'm a long time subscriber and have never been bored with one single episode. Loved them all, thanks for this.
Battin' 400 this week as this is a second song filling the pile of 45's we kids played over and over when we came of age...Along with Cherokee Nation by The Raiders and several others. Was awe-struck when sitting in the movie theater watching 'Animal House' when it came on and brought the song back for another round of popularity when it again entered the charts. WOW...WHAT A WEEK THIS HAS BEEN IN A 'BLAST FROM THE PAST'. By the way...Are you aware that Indiana's Fort Wayne WOWO Radio Station is an Emergency Broadcast Station, now called 'The National Warning System' Station providing information during all kinds of crises when other stations shut down. In the 60's, it was among only 10 stations capable of broadcasting during National Emergencies. It's received far into the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Mexico when Emergencies occur and it removed this song from it's Playlist as a result of the order you spoke of by the Governor. As the movie, 'The Summer Place'; banned due to 'INDECENCY', my Mom had to have it just as she had to watch the movie...And, we and all of our friends were the only one's having the song played for our 'Slumber Parties' and we all danced into the wee hours as kids.
❤ This was by far the most enjoyable show I've seen yet. It is funny crazy learning about all of the attention to the lyrics. 😂😂 thank you for this blast from the past present and future...
I knew this one was "Louie Louie" right away, I'm getting a lot better at figuring out the featured songs before you name them. Very enjoyable show!! Thanks for making and sharing your work. This is the best channel in the genre, too. I love it. Three chords and the truth.
That’s my favorite game. Trying to figure out the song just from the click bait. I probably get it right 75-80% of the time. I have deduced the professor is 3-5 years older than me
Back in the 80s WMMR in Philly used to have a huge annual Louie Louie event to commemorate the song. I went twice; took my daughter and her friend once - it was a blast!
A friend borrowed my tape recorder to record his version of Louie Louie for the KFJC 24 Hours of Louie Louie event & it made it on the air. It was amazing to hear all of different versions of the song. I listened to several hours before I was Louied out.
Thanks for diving into this one! It’s a great song- one I think everyone across genres appreciate. I might have my own marathon today! Thanks professor!
When I was a teenager in the mid-90s a local radio station switched from pop to oldies without warning. Just one weekend they played this song on repeat all weekend and Monday morning they had new DJs and we all had to find a new pop station. It is one of life's great ironies that that oldies station is now one of my favorites lol Edit: I made this comment before I reached the end of your segment and when I got there I laughed so hard I'm glad I work from home on Wednesdays!
This song, the album cover, all the photos of them, the psychedilic light show slides and animation--are all so iconic, they sound and look like Hollywood productions! PERFECT for the Austin Powers scene--and it was all real!!! I remember telling a friend's mother about this song, and the name of the group, and how it seemed like groups were combining the most unlikely things they could find. I mean, "Strawberry Alarm Clock?" But this song is definitely one that distills the 60's. I'm pretty sure we danced to it at Teen Club at the local Rec Center on Friday nights, with the gel light show on the overhead projector! I lived in Menlo Park, CA, and I know we were listening to it in 1968-69 if not earlier. (7th and 8th grade kind of blend together--and I wasn't doing any mindbenders, unless pool chlorine from daily and twice daily swim practice counts!). Thanks for the memories!
I remember first hearing the song on one of the last season episodes of The A Team, in a scene where they were having a party. I fell in love with it immediately - so much that I wanted to find out about it. I originally thought it was a Rolling Stones record, but soon realised it was by an obscure band called the Kingsmen.
A station i used to listen to was changing its' format and for 2 days played 2 different songs all day long, the 1st day they played "don't let the sun catch you ctying" by gerry marsden and the pacemakers and on the 2nd day they played "i'll follow the sun" by the beatles. Each song was played for 24 hours straight in back to back days.
The song had a scene in the movie "Down Periscope"! When I lived in San Diego there was a radio station changing to a Spanish music format and they played "Macarena" for at least 3 days straight. 😂
I can remember going to dances that were a bit slow to get started -- until the band started this song and EVERYBODY hit the dance floor immediately! It was irresistible. Nobody CARED what the lyrics were -- and the hysterical parents pitching a fit about it were just ridiculous.
It was a holiday, and we were having a pot luck on the nursing unit where I worked. One of the Doctors brought in a radio and tuned it to a radio station that was only playing Louie Louie that day. This was in 1989, or '90. Good times 😃
I was in junior high/ high school in the late 60s. It was pretty much mandatory that every garage band that played school dances had it in their repitoire. The local bar bands played it a lot through the 70s too. I also remember reading that at some point, Rhino Records put out an album where every track was a different cover of "Louie Louie".
❤ Louie Louie! Love this song! Every fraternity party in the 80s played this incessantly. Great memories! Happy Thanksgiving Professor! You're no Turkey! 😅
I played in a cover band / bar band in the 80's We played classic rock from the 60's and 70's . This was our closing song at 2 a.m. ! I knew about the controversy around the song. Made up my own perverted lyrics and the people loved it ! 😂
I'm an audio tech and got to work with a version of The Kingsmen at a big festival in Grand Prairie Tx. many years ago. I ran monitors for them which is mixing the little speakers that sit in front of each person on stage. As such, I worked directly with the band and got to talk to them quite a bit during that day. What is now one of the highlights of my career was getting to ask Dick Peterson (I think it was Peterson if I remember correctly ) what the hell the words to Louie Louie actually were. This version of the band contained a couple of the original members and members of other bands of the era, and they played not only Kingsmen songs but greatest hits from the 60s. It was a great concert, a great day, and I met some great musicians. I wish I would have wrote down who the other band members were that day and some of the things we talked about as I can't remember much of it anymore. I'm not a talkative person so I don't normally talk with the bands I work with much more than on a professional level, but these guys hung out at the stage a good part of the day and were very friendly. For those who want to know what Peterson told me, He said if I look it up on the internet (Googling hadn't become a thing yet) I would find a ton of versions with dirty lyrics and basically just one with clean lyrics. I might find some variations but the clean lyric version is the correct one. Then he told me a little about publishing music in the 60s and how a band wouldn't dare release anything with dirty lyrics for fear of getting arrested, and that almost happened because people couldn't understand the words.
I was 8 yrs old when that song came out. My older sister had a slumber party, her and her friends spent hours trying to figure out the words. Yes that was the appeal. To think it had dirty lyrics in the 60’s was unheard of.
My Mom claims that one of my great Uncles had a recording studio in the 60s in Portland Oregon ( the whole family is from Oregon even today) and was involved with the recording by the Kingsmen of Louie Louie.
When I was nine or ten, there were a bunch of compilation albums put out by K-Tel, and "Louie Louie" was on one of them. I had a little record player in my room and I played it over and over and over and over.... I'm surprised my mom didn't confiscate the record.
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 K-TEL put out vinyl records of Top Hits of all genres. For examples Google; K-TEL albums of 1977 and you will get a good list! ☮️
I’m so glad you did this, because this song has bugged me since I first heard it. The fact that one couldn’t understand the thing was my main reason. I’m in SoCal and it was played on all of our big stations. But at the time it was good to dance to. But what a storm in a tea cup it caused! Amazing story. Many thanks.
My parents vacation in Miami Beach and in the hotel at night the kids 18 and under went to see this band and they were playing Louis Louis and I love that song and I’ve been playing music ever since I’m 70 almost 71 years old and I’ve been playing guitar since 1971 Luis is so incredibly simple to play and so catchy tune that’s one of the big reasons every band can play Luis Luis it’s just A-D-E the chords
I love your backstory sir .I was at a wedding in the 80s and I asked the band to play L.L the leader asked "do you know the words ", I said no one does (they were playing with me) so they started. I sang an R rated dedication to the bride and groom. It went over I think
Professor, throughout your video I was remembering that time of the radio station format change and how shocking it was. Couldn't believe it when you started talking about it. I listened to that radio station every day -they had such a great play list. Bands like Damn Yankees, Yes, Metallica. Slade, etc. Can't remember if they changed to country or talk radio, but it really messed up my world. Great video and thanks for a shared memory!
It’s amazing how many people recorded this fantastic song. Though I love the precise musicianship of Motown, the Kingsmen’s shambolic tour de force is the best. It’s a floor filler and you can dance as messily as they play. I wonder if any FBI agents were embarrassed trying to find obscene lyrics in Louie Louie.
Of the 600 or so covers at the time (1983), Australian Crawl did my favourite version of this, on their live album "Phalanx." The Crawl were huge in Australia back in the 80's, but I'm not sure if they achieved as much success overseas.
My personal definitive edition of this song is the cover by The Sonics. The Sonics really represent the wild and crazy rock and roll music that is best. It's wild and crazy. They aren't singing, they're screaming. (I'm honestly a little concerned for the singers voice because I know they didn't know how to properly scream in the 60's. We didn't figure that out until like 86 lmao). But its so good. The Sonics are great.
I live in North Carolina and around 30 years ago a local radio station changed its format from I think country to classic rock. They had a Louie Louie non stop marathon for around a week while changing over. It was great.
Wow that's wild about the f.b.i. investigation 😮... sounds so silly now, as moral panics usually do lol! I look forward to your videos because I always learn something new 🙂! So close to 1mill Professor 🎉 woohoo 🙌 keep rockin!
Thanks, Prof. Fabulous history of a song dear to my heart as a youth. We played it all the time in my early bands. I remember in the mid-60s being so excited at seeing a big bus parked in our small Nebraska town with the name Kingsmen plastered on the side . To now know the history of the band breaking up and who got the band name makes sense.
I don't ever remember any radio stations having a marathon of the song, but when I was in college the Sigma Chi fraternity had a Louie Louie party and sent out a college wide flier looking for obscure performances of the song. I went to a small private college and it turned out I was the only one who had the Beach Boys version. I think I got my name on a poster by the DJ booth or something as a musical contributor. Who really remembers what happens at a fraternity party?
I remember a pop/contemporary radio station I used to listen to as a kid, "Magic 104" (103.9 WMGV) in Appleton, Wisconsin. One day when I was about 15 years old, they did a "Louie Louie" marathon that lasted 4 days. After the marathon, they were known as "Louie 103.9" (103.9 WVBO) with an oldies format. They no longer use the "Louie 103.9" moniker but still uses the WVBO callsign and are basically an 80's station now.
Though the song certainly is part of Pop/Rock culture, it's never been a favorite of mine. Most memorable in IMO as a scene from "Animal House" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" Another good, in depth show, Professor! Thank you for your hard work.
@@ProfessorofRock Thank you for asking. I wouldn't mind hearing some of the back stories behind "Bubble Gum Rockers" like Klaatau, Billy Thorpe, and Aldo Nova. Or histories of early industrial bands like Skinny Puppy, Front 242, and KMFMD. I know some of these are quite obscure and never had a huge following, so it won't hurt my feelings should you decide to skip these bands. Happy Thanksgiving!
I was part owner of a recording studio in Bend, Or. the year was 1997 and through our door one day came Jack Ely. We did some demo recordings for him and Jack and I became great friends. Even after our studio closed and I moved away Jack would call me every once and a while and we'd catch up. During the time we were in Bend, Jack told me story after story about his about him and many other artists that he had encountered (including one about Hendrix who was a good friend of his). This was the period of time right before lawsuit was settled for the royalties owed him. He mentioned this on many an occasion and one day in 1989 we were standing outside of the studio and up drives Jack in a new 4x4, hops out with a fancy new suit, hat, and python cowboy boots and with a big smile on his face exclaimed "I would like to announce the fact that finally Louie's ship had come in". Indeed!
@@ProfessorofRock How about "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" by Jimmy Boyd. If I'm not mistaken, it was banned from the radio, and we're coming up on the Christmas season.
Poll: What is your pick for the greatest "Party" song of all time?
Get Down Tonight- KC & The Sunshine Band.
runnerups: Love Shack - B52s; Celebration - Kool & The Gang; 1999 - Prince.
Shout
Hi Ho Silver Lining
Oops Upside Your Head(anyone remember the row boat dance)?
Quarter To Three Gary US Bonds
Come On Eileen
Just waiting for someone to mention The Birdie Song 🤬
"Brass Monkey" Beastie Boys
Mas Tequila - Sammy Hagar
@@stephenbrown4211 Haha! I forgot about Oops Upside Your Head!
The best use of "Louie Louie" is near the end of _The Naked Gun_ , when Ricardo Montebahn's character falls off the top of the stadium, hits the pavement, is flattened by a steamroller, and a marching band playing "Louie Louie" marches over him. George Kennedy's character breaks down in tears, and says, "My father. . . went the exact same way." That always cracks me up.
Good call!
I am gonna rewatch that.
I loved that scene in _The Naked Gun._ One of my other favorite uses of this song in cinema is in the movie _Down Periscope_ where Kelsey Grammer is put in command of a misfit crew tasked to participate in a war games scenario as a bet between two high ranking Navy officials. Grammer had the odds stacked against him by having a crew made up of the Navy's rejects and a WWII era submarine while his rival gets the best crew and a top of the line nuclear sub tasked to hunt them. In a moment of genius to evade detection of the more capable nuclear sub hot on their heels Grammer's crew surfaces the sub and puts up a string of lights and takes other measures to modify their sub's silhouette/profile to disguise it as a fishing boat, then plays the song Louie Louie and sing along to it as loud as possible, slurring all the lyrics, not singing in sync and off key, so when the nuclear sub finally approaches the blip they've been tracking on their screens and raise their periscope to see their target they see what looks like a fishing boat, and by using their hydrophones to listen in all they hear is what sounds like a drunk crew of fisherman so they leave the area to continue their hunt for Grammer's sub. What I loved about that scene was not only the brilliance of hiding in plain sight but also how it reminded me of the scene in _Coup de Ville_ mentioned in this video where one of the brothers claims the song is a sea shanty.
Y and a half
It's a classic.
I remember back in the 60s when "Louie, Louie" by the Kingsmen first came out and was played on the radio, I was seven and a half years old, and everyone was talking about it. I didn't know what they were talking about, but when everyone was saying it was a dirty song, of course I had to get it. I had the 45, later got the album, and played it over and over trying to decipher the words. My friends and I would sit around telling each other what he was singing, and of course, we decided on the dirty words. We moved to Stuttgart, Germany and lived at Patch Barracks, my father was in the Military, and by then the Beatles had come out. Long story short, I made new friends, and we would ride the bus to school. Back then there was no back door to the school buses, there was a long seat like a couch in the back. Me, my brother, and a friend named Steve Scramstead, would sit back there and sing songs. All the other kids on the bus would always save that back seat for us because they liked us singing all of the popular songs, especially ones by the Beatles and Herman's Hermits. But there was that one song they always wanted to hear, and it was "Louie, Louie." So, when we sang it, using the bad words, all the girls would scream, and the boys would laugh. The three of us were like little Rock Stars. For me, it kind of went to my head, and also being a class clown, whenever I got off the bus, I never left the bus by the door, I always climbed out the window, and man, the girls loved that. I remember hearing the girls say when they saw us, "Hey, those are the guys who sing on the bus." Those were great times.
All I could make out was “yi yi yi yi”.
Wow! What a time to be alive!
She would have made this story shorter but didn’t have time. 😂
Very true. Was under 10 when it was popular, and all my buddies had an older brother (probably all of 15) who told us what the "real" lyrics were, which made absolutely no sense to us who still had far more interest in making gunpowder and burning bugs with a magnifying glass than in girls. Fun times indeed.
I saw the Kingsmen on a comeback tour in the 90s (they opened for Three Dog Night). They were great! They introduced Louie Louie by saying: "Ladies and Gentlemen, please stand for our national anthem!"
I've seen 3 Dog Night twice and they absolutely kick ass!!
One of the best bands I've ever seen in concert in my life.
I saw them in '88 and they wiped the floor with the Beach boys. It was embarrassing (for the BB)!!
I liked 3 Dog Night when I originally heard them, but after seeing them live twice, I freakin' love 'em!
@@beatlesrgear I was driving with my friend and we decided to go to the only radio station in Pasadena, Texas. He knew people there so we just walked through the back door. We were hanging around talking and in came Three Dog Night! They had a concert the following night in Houston so they were there to promote their show. While they were waiting we all sat in the back room and talked. Then they pulled out a few joints so we ended up passing around joints on a roach clip. They had their guitars out so I got to jam with them awhile.
Things were so much looser then. No security. Everything was laid back. It was a treat to meet them and especially play guitars with them. But at the time it was just another day. I got to do a lot of things that would probably be hard to do now.
@@MovieMakingMan Know what you mean. I grew up in the sixties in the same area. Those were great days, bro!
I fell in love with Louie Louie he first time I heard it. Animal House sealed it. Whatever they’re singing, it’s a classic!
Of course it is! Timeless.
I remember when it came out. It was pretty big. Everybody was looking for bad lyrics, I thought " who cares, it's bad- ass "
Second to this song is Kingsmen version of " Little Latin Lupe Lu "
What's so great about this channel is everyday we're treated to a new lesson or story about music history that not only educated us the loyal and new viewers but gives us a whole new appreciation for the artist being spotlighted every day
Thanks George! What would you like to see next?
@@ProfessorofRock I would like to see some spotlights on obscure 80s acts such as David sylvian and japan, classic producers such as Ron nevison and Rupert Hine these artists created so much amazing music that they should be spotlighted
Will do. I will work on it!@@georgemathie8123
@@ProfessorofRock ...GINO VANNELLI, Prof.! ...he's on Tour, STILL vital, and has a History that can EDUCATE, man....class, is awaiting..... ; )
I've interviewed him!@@RBS_
I knew Lynn in his later years. He was one of those guys who livened up the place when he walked in - never at a loss for a witty, often stinging, comment. One day we're sitting around, and his cell phone rang. I commented that "Louie Louie" was an interesting ring tone for him. He lamented that he had to pay $2.99 for that ring tone. Whenever we would have a jam, Lynn would play percussion on whatever was available. At least once it was a salad bowl. Sadly, he passed during COVID while living in Canada and his family was forbidden from travelling there to make arrangements. He's one of those people who leave a big hole when they're gone. RIP my friend.
I loved the rawness of the song, the very unpolished "noise" sound to it: just a straight up fun song! My FAVORITE use of it was in the movie Down Periscope with Kelsey Grammer: a Navy submarine commander is given a WWII era diesel submarine and has to evade modern nuclear boats searching for him; at one point, the old diesel sub gets found by the modern nuclear boat and has to distract the hunter sub, so they surface, put a light on the periscope and get the crew to start loudly singing Louie Louie!! The modern sub listens to the sounds coming from the target boat and the captain declares "congratulations, we tracked down a boat load of beer-ed up fishermen! Move out!" It was PERFECT!!!
Yes!!! Such a fun movie!!! One of my all time favorites!!! And such a fun version by the crew of the USS Stingray!!!
I was the lead singer in a local band in high school and Louie, Louie was on our playlist. Frankly the way I sang it would have been illegal if you could understand it but part of the charm was to slur the lyrics as much as possible so no one could actually be sure what they were hearing. It entertained the crowds and kept us out of trouble! Incidentally the 2 most popular tunes we did were probably Louie, Louie & Gloria by Van Morrison's band Them. Had a lot of fun and made a little money back then. We were fairly successful because in those days most people just bought 45s and most of the songs we did were Covers of Rolling Stones tunes off their first 2 US Albums. Most people thought it was original material because they weren't familiar with the songs off the Stones albums that weren't released as singles so they thought we were pretty talented. Loved it!
Definitely a song for the drunken!
There were no lyrics in the album that the people including the FBI could read?
Great story, thanks for sharing.
@@harrisvideo When anyone performed that song they sang what they thought they were hearing or just plain made it up. Anyone that says different is lying or very deluded. There was no way to look up the lyrics to most any song back then.
@@harrisvideo LPs with lyrics were a later thing.
I went to high school with the sister of The Kingsmen's lead guitar player, Mike Mitchell. During the hey day of the song, Mike lived at home with his parents. I can still remember the first time I was over at the house and his sister took me into his bedroom. He had a bed on what looked like a marble pedestal, with the gold record of Louie Louie hanging on the wall above the headboard. Those were the days!
First heard Louie Louie on the film Quadrophenia over 40 years ago,,,,,,in my opinion the first true punk rock record......stunningly and simply brilliant..never get tired of hearing it ..
There is an argument. As a fan of old punk I wouldn’t argue with ya.
I grew up in the 60’s so I’ve known this song forever. Outrage wasn’t about attention or money, and the FBI…well it’s still messed up. Remember a few years ago was the dress Gold or Blue? The lyrics are like that. Be offended or not, Louie Louie is a Classic. Don’t change a thing. Thanks Adam!
"Let's Give It to 'em Right Now!" to me means, as a performer, "Let's show this audience what we've got and play the hell out of this tune!"
I always interpreted that as an intro to the guitar solo, so didn't feel it was unusual in the slightest.
I figured that out too!
My Band played “Louie Louie” back in 1968-69. I remember that I made up my own verses because nobody really knew what they actually were!
I’m 72 and a half and still enjoy the song immensely!
I was just thinking yeah I can write verses to this! Now just time to find my old band mates. It’s cool to read that you improvised on this.
Same here.. It was the first song I ever learned on bass. We too just made up our own lyrics! Except for the "Every night at ten I lay her again"!
Haha that’s brilliant 😂
I read it in a Beatles book that John Lennon had his own lyrics to it before the Beatles got popular and my guess for one of the verses was " I ain't gonna break -a my heart no more 😊
Me 71, and have been gigging with bands since age 14. Similar fun experiences. What better way to make it with the girls, ...than to be lead singer in a band! I once had a groupie who told me I was exactly like lead singer Keith Relf of Yardbirds, ...who she had been nasty with - 15 years earlier.
I remember hearing this when I was quite young, but my best recollection of the song comes from "Animal House". Who can forget the drunken wailing of the denizens from the Delta House of this song? I can sort of remember singing this of key at parties in grad school. Those days were kind of foggy, and certain events could have made it into the movie. It's a good thing I have no aspirations to run for political office, though I would never deny what was done back then. It was stupid fun, and that song always seems to bring back those foggy memories.
That Animal House scene is iconic.
I love how our highschool marching band in the 80's, and almost every highschool marching band, plays this. It always pumps up the crowd and the team with enthusiasm
I heard the Pat Metjjjhene Band
I heard the Pat Metheney Band play this as an encore! Garage rock rules!
I was in a one-time marching band playing Louie Louie - but the 6 of us had chainsaws (with no chains on 'em).
Another reference: From 1985 to 1989, radio station WMMR in Philadelphia held a Louie Louie Parade on April 1st, where anyone who wished to do so could join the parade and play Louie Louie on a kazoo.
Did you try and get on the trend?
Except for 1989, I always had to work that day and in 1989 I was in the process of moving to Florida. So, the answer is no - I never did participate.
Louie Louie was my high school's unofficial high school song. We had a high school song which we sang at every football basketball whatever game. When the band played the opening notes of Louie Louie the place went went wild. Everyone was dancing on the bleachers and singing the words which nobody knew just having a load of fun. When I hear Louie Louie I remember some of the best years of my life. 😅😅😅
Love the story about the radio station changing formats at the end. A local station in the 90s used to play country. One day they started playing The Banana Boat Song by Harry Belefonte, for 3 or 4 days straight. They came back on the air as Banana 101 and went to playing rock. Even cooler, while I was in high school, someone literally chopped down their main broadcast tower with an axe. They were off the air for a few days and ended up temporarily setting up their studio in a camper in the field next to their repeater tower behind our high school.
In 1990 the Seattle Mariners started playing Louie Louie at the 7th inning stretch after the obligatory Take Me Out to the Ballgame. It was a tradition for that team for over three decades. They ended that tradition in 2022, to the dismay of many fans (including myself). It was most appropriate during the years that Lou Piniella was their manager from 1993 to 2002. I read that in June of 1990 the Mariners actually had the Kingsmen play Louie Louie live during a game. Wish I had been at that game!
Paul Revere was an awesome guy who made records for charity for years and toured endlessly. RIP
And that was
His REAL NAME minus the last name he dropped..
@@johnnyplunkett8532 Thanks. I never knew til now.
The part about the fumbled drum fill immediately puts me in mind of another record that I hope will be covered on this channel, assuming it hasn't already, "Along Comes Mary" by the Association. During the tracking for that record, session bass guitarist Jerry Scheff (whose son Jason was in Chicago for 1985 to 2017) played a flub near the song's finish. He wanted to rewind and get it right, and even Producer Curt Boettcher couldn't pick up on it. Several years later, Jerry heard a muzak instrumental interpretation of it that included a duplication of his flub.
I loved Along comes Mary ! Didnt they also do "' Cherish " ?
Yes, @@darcyjane8031.
The very fact this song is still well known even by the current generation proves it’s all about the sound and dance ability that no one really ever cared what it was about! It’s just a funky feel good song that everyone loved listening to and singing!
Crazy story! I always thought the song was a bar song and the reason the singing was mostly unintelligible was because the singer was either drunk or pretending to be drunk. When you mentioned the customer talking to the bartender it made even more sense. It's a fun song in which its imperfections actually enhance the song, giving it more of a party feel.
Thanks for sharing TED!
Ted... What were some of the song you were talking about yesterday!
@@ProfessorofRock - Two songs that instantly came into my head were: "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks and "Love Rollercoaster" by The Ohio Players. The rumor for "Seasons in the Sun" was that Terry Jacks wrote and recorded the song while he was dying from a terminal illness. I didn't find out until much later that he didn't even write the song. "Love Rollercoaster" was rumored to have accidentally recorded a murder that occurred in one of the other rooms in the recording studio while the band was recording the song. All fictional, yet memorable.
The diction was very garbled!
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 There's a myth that's because the singer just came from the dentist!
I have some fond memories of "The Kingsmen" playing at the Meadow Acres Ballroom in Topeka, Kansas in the mid-60's (aging myself here.) At the time I was in an up-and-coming band and we knew The Kingsmen from several appearances in the area. At one time, we were speaking to their bassist, Norm Sundholm, and he mentioned he and his brother were soon to manufacture Sunn Amplifiers. He offered us a 40% discount we probably should've taken. Ultimately, our entire Fender Amp setup was purchased from Quigley's in Kansas City.
I've been an artist & musician for 60yr. I remember being in primary school outside of Boston in the 60s and hearing about this track. Which setoff a class rm hunt for the record! Amazingly enough, it wasn't a Beatle track, it was Louie Louie that was the first song I ever learned how to play. Great Show!
We had a local radio station here in south Alabama change formats when I was a kid and they played Brown eyed girl over and over for like 3-4 days. I want to say this was back in the mid to late 80s
The State of Washington has unofficial "Louie Day". All the musicians around the area get together to set a world record for the largest number of people playing Louie Louie at a time.
When Washington began considering Louie Louie for the official state rock song, it inspired a Columbus newspaper columnist, Joe Dirck, to suggest Hang On Sloopy be Ohio's official rock song. The Ohio General Assembly formally recognized the song on November 20, 1985.
Oh, that sounds familiar! Thanks.
The DIY aspect of the Kingsmen and their rough, unskilled musicianship make them very punk rock in my book.
First Punk Rock band in my opinion!
Makes sense, absolutely.
MY vote is 1st garage rock band as opposed to punk
I agree.
I don't agree that it's punk. Punk music was TRYING to sound rough and unpolished.
It was also used in one of my favourite ever films "Quadrophenia" (1979) in the classic scene at the Mod disco where Jimmy climbs up on the balcony and dances to it, jumping onto the crowd below to avoid the bouncers getting him!
One of the first songs i played in my band when I was 14. I also remember and loved the version in Animal House where the drunken dorm room mates sung it just as slurred (and even better) as the original
I love that scene too.
Every time I hear a reference to that song I immediately think of that scene.
Jack was a good friend of mine since 89. I've worked on over an album of songs in that time, he passed away a few years back. He was a professional all the way, and lots of fun to play music with. I miss my friend Jack. One of a kind!!!
1982 and my high school had a tradition of a senior talent show on the last day of school. Some friends and I were going to do Louie, Louie and The Who's My Generation. We were forbidden to do Louie, Louie because the rumors of vulgarity were still around. We did My Generation and then smashed a drum kit and a guitar. Great stuff! Oh, and the marching band seniors (myself included) were allowed to do the popular at the time, Centerfold by the J. Geils Band. We did with our marching band instruments and Playboy centerfolds attached on our backs. Also, all the teachers' hubcaps were stolen. Yep---last time the seniors were allowed to have a talent show ever.
My friends and I would refer to this as the drunk song because you had to be drunk to sing & or understand it.🤔 After seeing your video I love the song even more! It's an American classic.🇺🇸
The line “Okay, let's give it to 'em, right now!” is the lead singer introing the guitar solo. It’s not part of the story, it’s an exhortation from one guy to the rest of the band. It’s that simple.
It’s so obvious! I don’t know how ‘the professor’ could miss THAT!
Kind of like Billy Joel queueing the saxophone player with "Alright, big guy"
This was our go-to marching band song when I was in Jr. High. I can still hear that riff coming from my trombone. Ha!
I've also seen that it was one of the songs that inspired Kurt Cobain to write Smells Like Teen Spirit. Which you can't un-hear once you recognize it.
That's right! You know your history!
Cool band director!
My mom played the drums in marching band.
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 I always wanted to play drums but played flute instead
Not all of the versions of "Louie, Louie" were done by "wannabes."
I was a member of KFJC's staff when the "Louie, Louie" marathon was announced. Because of some quirks in the way California funds schools, KFJC is actually a class you can sign up for an endless number of times, and your tuition goes to help fund the station. Anyhow, in that staff meeting, everyone was handed a copy of the sheet music to "Louie, Louie" and ordered to create at least one version of it. I did two, and for the life of me, I can't remember what I credited them to.
Towards the end of either the first or the second marathon (I forget which), the station had to put a stopping point on the marathon because they had more versions of it than time to play them!
My all-time favorite version, done by the Palo Alto Early Music Consort, never made it onto the compilation albums.
My beginning band played "Louie, Louie" after we learned about 6 notes on our instruments. We didn't even have a proper notation! Our band director wrote out the note names and some dashes to indicate length on a sheet of paper! I wish I still had the sheet! It was really fun!🤘🥰😆
@ProfessorofRock. In Peoria, Il they used to do an annual Louie, Louie kazzoo parade. Back in the 90's. All to raise money for charity. Anyway, The Kingsman were the featured band one of those years and it was a great show. For their encore, they invited people from the crowd on stage with them. 1st come 1st serve. My friends and I were the last they let on stage. There must have been 50 of us or so up there. They encored with the song Gloria. They changed it to Peoria for the chorus. Somehow, through all the people, my friends and I ended up center stage next to the singer. We all got to sing with them. It was soo cool. After the song was done, everyone was escorted off stage, except for my friends and me. I was talkimg to the guitarist and he handed me his guitar. He said it was a 59/60 Les Paul, and asked me to play it. The band started jamming with me, over the PASpeakers, and the crowd started piling back in. It was AMAZING!! Must have been 300 people i was playing infront of/too. Singer let everyone know show was over and I gave the guitar back. High 5's from all the band members and off the stage we went. That was one of the best nights of my life!!! Had to share this.
Well can we all at least agree Jack Ely was the most underrated gibberator ever?
😝
For those who are wondering, it was kept out of number 1 by 2 songs: The Singing Nun’s “Dominique” and Bobby Vinton’s “There! I’ve Said It Again”. Please do more pre-Beatles songs in the future. Great job professor!
The singing nuns! Ha ha. My grandma had their record....Thanks Evan... Your a viewer from way back! Where've you been?
....p.s. ....the 'singing Nuns', turned out to be....ummm... "sapphic lovlies" , living privately together, for DECADES! ...go-FIGGA! ...ha-HAAA!!
Ha!@@RBS_
I picked "Dominique" as the most unique one-hit wonder (for those that reached #1) in the comments on a previous video of the Professor's. It was sung in French by a Belgian nun, and it topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in December 1963; as far as I can tell, it was the only chart single she ever had anywhere.
@@ProfessorofRock I’ve been busy working so I haven’t had time lately to leave a comment on a video in a while. I just happened to be off for the holiday when this video was released.
My grandfather owned a restaurant in ponce inlet Florida. It was open from the late 50s until around 2010 when he leased the property out to another business. When i was young and came to Florida to see my dad in the summers (parents divorced), I'd work as a bus boy to earn money. There used to be a real jukebox with records in it. One was Louie Louie, and I'd always get the red painted house quarters to play that song. I'd play it 20 times a day. I know it drove the waitresses crazy but it was my jam! It would always throw me off when some tourists would play Margaritaville.
I had a band who lived behind me when I was a kid and they played it all the time. They were the cool older teenagers and I would walk around singing it all the time, my dad hated it lol
The craziest story of a song ever! Thank you, prof!
"Louie Louie" is the quintessential party song,hands down!-60 years later,it still sounds great!
This song was play at every Frat Party I ever attended during my college years in the late 1980s. Throw in Shout! and every other Animal House type record and you get the idea of the vibe. Good Times!
I recall a time back in the 80s when a station started playing Prince's 1999 over and over again for days and, just like in your story, it turned out that they were changing format. I was certainly confused about it and had no idea why it was going on, but I wasn't as imaginative as those kids you describe with theories about kidnappings and aliens.
Now I know what to expect the next time I hear the same song over and over on the radio.
I remember hearing that some dj. Locked himself in a d played Yellow submarine for hours!😅
One Friday night after running wild with a bunch of friends (actually the time of my life at 13) I came home went to bed and turned on my transistor radio and heard “Louie Louie” for the first time. I don’t remember the exact day but I’ll never forget it.
The strange thing about Louie Louie is that I love the but never worried about the lyrics. I ALWAYS learned the lyrics of my favorite songs.
So, back in the early nineties, here in Toledo, they were debuting a new classic rock station and to kick it off they played "louie louie" for 24 hours straight. Set the dial to 93.5 and it was great PR and a great way to introduce the station. Way to Go Professor, you always take us to archives and the trivia is deep. LOVE IT.
The song for me always brings back Tom Hulce and Steven Furst going into the Delta house with that song playing and John Belushi showing up in a Toga saying "Wanna brew? Don't cost nothin"............Animal House. Good stuff.
Poll: What is the greatest singalong of the rock era...A song you can't help but belt out?
Joy To The World- Three Dog Night; Loves Me Like A Rock- Paul Simon; Saturday In The Park- Chicago.
I'll nominate "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond.
Styx - Come Sail Away
....we will, we WILL...........you know the REST!! ....ha-HAAA!! >p.s.itsROCKYOU
China Grove- Doobie Brothers
Call Me Al- Paul Simon
Rock This Town - Stray Cats
This song’s story is the stuff of legend. I’m amazed it wasn’t the inspiration of an X-Files episode or better yet, a docudrama.
My older sister had the 45 and listened to it all the time! As I recall, we didn't care that we couldn't understand some of the lyrics because the music and beat were awesome!!
😎👍
Very Cool!
I had no idea what they were *then* and I still don't! Does anyone? LOL
@@linda.christie No!!!
All that matters is the groove.
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980
Amen, sister!!
😎👍
I never heard a Louis Louis marathon but in PA, I remember that they played "Funky Town" over and over when I was 8 years old due to a change in format and then in High School they were changing the name of the station from Q100 to Hot 99.9 so they played "Some Like It Hot" by Robert Palmer over and over from Friday to Wednesday,. It then became Oldies 99.9 a few years later.
What a brilliant story.
I've loved this song since I was a kid in the 1960s, and have never worked out what the hell they were singing 🤣
Brilliant channel, I'm a long time subscriber and have never been bored with one single episode.
Loved them all, thanks for this.
It's crazy right?
@@ProfessorofRock Yes, beautifully so.
Battin' 400 this week as this is a second song filling the pile of 45's we kids played over and over when we came of age...Along with Cherokee Nation by The Raiders and several others. Was awe-struck when sitting in the movie theater watching 'Animal House' when it came on and brought the song back for another round of popularity when it again entered the charts. WOW...WHAT A WEEK THIS HAS BEEN IN A 'BLAST FROM THE PAST'.
By the way...Are you aware that Indiana's Fort Wayne WOWO Radio Station is an Emergency Broadcast Station, now called 'The National Warning System' Station providing information during all kinds of crises when other stations shut down. In the 60's, it was among only 10 stations capable of broadcasting during National Emergencies. It's received far into the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Mexico when Emergencies occur and it removed this song from it's Playlist as a result of the order you spoke of by the Governor.
As the movie, 'The Summer Place'; banned due to 'INDECENCY', my Mom had to have it just as she had to watch the movie...And, we and all of our friends were the only one's having the song played for our 'Slumber Parties' and we all danced into the wee hours as kids.
❤ This was by far the most enjoyable show I've seen yet. It is funny crazy learning about all of the attention to the lyrics. 😂😂 thank you for this blast from the past present and future...
Was that radio station in Spokane? I remember in the early 90s that a station did that because they were changing their format to "oldies".
I knew this one was "Louie Louie" right away, I'm getting a lot better at figuring out the featured songs before you name them. Very enjoyable show!! Thanks for making and sharing your work. This is the best channel in the genre, too. I love it. Three chords and the truth.
That’s my favorite game. Trying to figure out the song just from the click bait. I probably get it right 75-80% of the time. I have deduced the professor is 3-5 years older than me
As a Washingtonian I knew exactly what song this was, In a second.
I first heard this legendary, epic song on the Simpsons. It's an American classic!
The craziest thing was this wasn't the "best" take! Probably why it was so popular and powerful...something that punk would emulate later.
The Ramones can thank this song for their success.
Iggy covered it.
Definitely a vibe that punk would find later. Love that vibe.
Back in the 80s WMMR in Philly used to have a huge annual Louie Louie event to commemorate the song. I went twice; took my daughter and her friend once - it was a blast!
A friend borrowed my tape recorder to record his version of Louie Louie for the KFJC 24 Hours of Louie Louie event & it made it on the air. It was amazing to hear all of different versions of the song. I listened to several hours before I was Louied out.
Do you have an archive of it somewhere?
I do not have a copy. It was long ago. My friend who borrowed the tape recorder may have something. Don't know.
Thanks for diving into this one! It’s a great song- one I think everyone across genres appreciate. I might have my own marathon today! Thanks professor!
When I was a teenager in the mid-90s a local radio station switched from pop to oldies without warning. Just one weekend they played this song on repeat all weekend and Monday morning they had new DJs and we all had to find a new pop station.
It is one of life's great ironies that that oldies station is now one of my favorites lol
Edit: I made this comment before I reached the end of your segment and when I got there I laughed so hard I'm glad I work from home on Wednesdays!
I've heard of this! It happened in my town too!
Hey, was this in Toledo, OH by any chance???
This happened in Salt Lake almost 30 years ago. Not sure where else it occurred.
I'm in northern Illinois and the same thing happened with a local station, at about the same time.
@@Sparty1986 No, NE Wisconsin. Nice to know it wasn't just us, though! lol
This song, the album cover, all the photos of them, the psychedilic light show slides and animation--are all so iconic, they sound and look like Hollywood productions! PERFECT for the Austin Powers scene--and it was all real!!! I remember telling a friend's mother about this song, and the name of the group, and how it seemed like groups were combining the most unlikely things they could find. I mean, "Strawberry Alarm Clock?" But this song is definitely one that distills the 60's. I'm pretty sure we danced to it at Teen Club at the local Rec Center on Friday nights, with the gel light show on the overhead projector! I lived in Menlo Park, CA, and I know we were listening to it in 1968-69 if not earlier. (7th and 8th grade kind of blend together--and I wasn't doing any mindbenders, unless pool chlorine from daily and twice daily swim practice counts!). Thanks for the memories!
I remember first hearing the song on one of the last season episodes of The A Team, in a scene where they were having a party. I fell in love with it immediately - so much that I wanted to find out about it. I originally thought it was a Rolling Stones record, but soon realised it was by an obscure band called the Kingsmen.
A station i used to listen to was changing its' format and for 2 days played 2 different songs all day long, the 1st day they played "don't let the sun catch you ctying" by gerry marsden and the pacemakers and on the 2nd day they played "i'll follow the sun" by the beatles. Each song was played for 24 hours straight in back to back days.
The song had a scene in the movie "Down Periscope"!
When I lived in San Diego there was a radio station changing to a Spanish music format and they played "Macarena" for at least 3 days straight. 😂
Nonstop?
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 yup. No DJs at all, no commercials.
I can remember going to dances that were a bit slow to get started -- until the band started this song and EVERYBODY hit the dance floor immediately! It was irresistible. Nobody CARED what the lyrics were -- and the hysterical parents pitching a fit about it were just ridiculous.
It was a holiday, and we were having a pot luck on the nursing unit where I worked. One of the Doctors brought in a radio and tuned it to a radio station that was only playing Louie Louie that day. This was in 1989, or '90. Good times 😃
Those were the days.
Why is this story NOT made into a movie? I would pay to see it. It is so wild and far fetched and TRUE not to be made into a movie
I was in junior high/ high school in the late 60s. It was pretty much mandatory that every garage band that played school dances had it in their repitoire. The local bar bands played it a lot through the 70s too. I also remember reading that at some point, Rhino Records put out an album where every track was a different cover of "Louie Louie".
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Louie Louie!
Love this song!
Every fraternity party in the 80s played this incessantly. Great memories!
Happy Thanksgiving Professor! You're no Turkey! 😅
Happy Thanksgiving Roger! Any big plans?
@@ProfessorofRock
Eat 100 pounds of turkey!
Same here!@@rogerdeahl9629
I bet!
The Kingsmen version absolutely nails the tempo and beat. It isn't just thump-thump-thump, it swings.
I played in a cover band / bar band in the 80's We played classic rock from the 60's and 70's . This was our closing song at 2 a.m. ! I knew about the controversy around the song. Made up my own perverted lyrics and the people loved it ! 😂
I'm an audio tech and got to work with a version of The Kingsmen at a big festival in Grand Prairie Tx. many years ago. I ran monitors for them which is mixing the little speakers that sit in front of each person on stage. As such, I worked directly with the band and got to talk to them quite a bit during that day. What is now one of the highlights of my career was getting to ask Dick Peterson (I think it was Peterson if I remember correctly ) what the hell the words to Louie Louie actually were.
This version of the band contained a couple of the original members and members of other bands of the era, and they played not only Kingsmen songs but greatest hits from the 60s. It was a great concert, a great day, and I met some great musicians. I wish I would have wrote down who the other band members were that day and some of the things we talked about as I can't remember much of it anymore. I'm not a talkative person so I don't normally talk with the bands I work with much more than on a professional level, but these guys hung out at the stage a good part of the day and were very friendly.
For those who want to know what Peterson told me, He said if I look it up on the internet (Googling hadn't become a thing yet) I would find a ton of versions with dirty lyrics and basically just one with clean lyrics. I might find some variations but the clean lyric version is the correct one. Then he told me a little about publishing music in the 60s and how a band wouldn't dare release anything with dirty lyrics for fear of getting arrested, and that almost happened because people couldn't understand the words.
Great video as always ! I love all the crazy history of this song I never knew and it is fascinating ! Thanks for the great content 👍
Thanks for listening
I was 8 yrs old when that song came out. My older sister had a slumber party, her and her friends spent hours trying to figure out the words. Yes that was the appeal. To think it had dirty lyrics in the 60’s was unheard of.
My Mom claims that one of my great Uncles had a recording studio in the 60s in Portland Oregon ( the whole family is from Oregon even today) and was involved with the recording by the Kingsmen of Louie Louie.
Do you have his name?
When you hear "Louie Louie" off a well mastered source, it's actually a nice sounding recording, even with the garbled singing in parts.
When I was nine or ten, there were a bunch of compilation albums put out by K-Tel, and
"Louie Louie" was on one of them. I had a little record player in my room and I played it over and over and over and over.... I'm surprised my mom didn't confiscate the record.
K-TEL! Nice! I had the one called MIND BENDER! ☮️
“What are you listening to?”
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 K-TEL put out vinyl records of Top Hits of all genres. For examples Google; K-TEL albums of 1977 and you will get a good list! ☮️
yep good ol ktel
last week.i got county line country crossover pretty sure is on my power hits vol.2 also have 20 explosive hits and love songs
I’m so glad you did this, because this song has bugged me since I first heard it. The fact that one couldn’t understand the thing was my main reason. I’m in SoCal and it was played on all of our big stations. But at the time it was good to dance to. But what a storm in a tea cup it caused! Amazing story. Many thanks.
My parents vacation in Miami Beach and in the hotel at night the kids 18 and under went to see this band and they were playing Louis Louis and I love that song and I’ve been playing music ever since I’m 70 almost 71 years old and I’ve been playing guitar since 1971 Luis is so incredibly simple to play and so catchy tune that’s one of the big reasons every band can play Luis Luis it’s just A-D-E the chords
I love your backstory sir .I was at a wedding in the 80s and I asked the band to play L.L the leader asked "do you know the words ", I said no one does (they were playing with me) so they started. I sang an R rated dedication to the bride and groom. It went over I think
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Professor, throughout your video I was remembering that time of the radio station format change and how shocking it was. Couldn't believe it when you started talking about it. I listened to that radio station every day -they had such a great play list. Bands like Damn Yankees, Yes, Metallica. Slade, etc. Can't remember if they changed to country or talk radio, but it really messed up my world. Great video and thanks for a shared memory!
It’s amazing how many people recorded this fantastic song. Though I love the precise musicianship of Motown, the Kingsmen’s shambolic tour de force is the best. It’s a floor filler and you can dance as messily as they play. I wonder if any FBI agents were embarrassed trying to find obscene lyrics in Louie Louie.
Of the 600 or so covers at the time (1983), Australian Crawl did my favourite version of this, on their live album "Phalanx." The Crawl were huge in Australia back in the 80's, but I'm not sure if they achieved as much success overseas.
My personal definitive edition of this song is the cover by The Sonics. The Sonics really represent the wild and crazy rock and roll music that is best. It's wild and crazy. They aren't singing, they're screaming. (I'm honestly a little concerned for the singers voice because I know they didn't know how to properly scream in the 60's. We didn't figure that out until like 86 lmao). But its so good. The Sonics are great.
I live in North Carolina and around 30 years ago a local radio station changed its format from I think country to classic rock. They had a Louie Louie non stop marathon for around a week while changing over. It was great.
Wow that's wild about the f.b.i. investigation 😮... sounds so silly now, as moral panics usually do lol! I look forward to your videos because I always learn something new 🙂! So close to 1mill Professor 🎉 woohoo 🙌 keep rockin!
Isn't that insane?
There are people out there with chainsaws, and the FBI is worrying over music?
Thanks, Prof. Fabulous history of a song dear to my heart as a youth. We played it all the time in my early bands. I remember in the mid-60s being so excited at seeing a big bus parked in our small Nebraska town with the name Kingsmen plastered on the side . To now know the history of the band breaking up and who got the band name makes sense.
I don't ever remember any radio stations having a marathon of the song, but when I was in college the Sigma Chi fraternity had a Louie Louie party and sent out a college wide flier looking for obscure performances of the song. I went to a small private college and it turned out I was the only one who had the Beach Boys version. I think I got my name on a poster by the DJ booth or something as a musical contributor. Who really remembers what happens at a fraternity party?
Frat patties are all about getting wasted! 😜
I remember a pop/contemporary radio station I used to listen to as a kid, "Magic 104" (103.9 WMGV) in Appleton, Wisconsin. One day when I was about 15 years old, they did a "Louie Louie" marathon that lasted 4 days. After the marathon, they were known as "Louie 103.9" (103.9 WVBO) with an oldies format. They no longer use the "Louie 103.9" moniker but still uses the WVBO callsign and are basically an 80's station now.
Though the song certainly is part of Pop/Rock culture, it's never been a favorite of mine. Most memorable in IMO as a scene from "Animal House" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" Another good, in depth show, Professor! Thank you for your hard work.
Thanks for watching! Any requests?
@@ProfessorofRock Thank you for asking. I wouldn't mind hearing some of the back stories behind "Bubble Gum Rockers" like Klaatau, Billy Thorpe, and Aldo Nova. Or histories of early industrial bands like Skinny Puppy, Front 242, and KMFMD. I know some of these are quite obscure and never had a huge following, so it won't hurt my feelings should you decide to skip these bands. Happy Thanksgiving!
I was part owner of a recording studio in Bend, Or. the year was 1997 and through our door one day came Jack Ely. We did some demo recordings for him and Jack and I became great friends. Even after our studio closed and I moved away Jack would call me every once and a while and we'd catch up. During the time we were in Bend, Jack told me story after story about his about him and many other artists that he had encountered (including one about Hendrix who was a good friend of his). This was the period of time right before lawsuit was settled for the royalties owed him. He mentioned this on many an occasion and one day in 1989 we were standing outside of the studio and up drives Jack in a new 4x4, hops out with a fancy new suit, hat, and python cowboy boots and with a big smile on his face exclaimed "I would like to announce the fact that finally Louie's ship had come in". Indeed!
Love the classic song stories Prof, more please!
Will do! What would you like to see next?
@@ProfessorofRock How about "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" by Jimmy Boyd. If I'm not mistaken, it was banned from the radio, and we're coming up on the Christmas season.
I'll look int o it!@@christineml1476
@@ProfessorofRock Thanks Prof!
I FOR ONE THINK THE KINGSMENS VERSION OF "LOUIE, LOUIE" IS A ROCK AND ROLL CLASSIC ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITES !!!!
Louie Louie and Dirty Water were staples of every teen dance and Juke of my young life in the 60s
Dirty Water is such a classic!
I saw The Standells open for the Stones along with The McCoys and Patti LaBelle and the Bluebells!