June
1999 (#9.0)
by Eric Predoehl
Last updated June 11, 1999 (all rights reserved)
(spot the typos, win a prize!!)
At long last, the website for LOUIELOUIE.NET
is unveiled. After three years of maintaining a non-domain-name
site, THE LOUIE REPORT
enters a new era with this domain name. Welcome aboard!
DON JULIAN
In November 1998, the rhythm & blues universe lost
another great member with the death of Don Julian.
Like Richard Berry, author of "Louie Louie,"
Don Julian was part of the circle of early rock and
roll artists from the Los Angeles area. He was the leader
of Don Julian & the Meadowlarks, which was
recognized as one of the first racially mixed doo-wop
quartets back in the 1950s'. With this group, they achieved
recognition with such songs as "Heaven and Paradise,"
and "Always and Forever." In 1965, his group,
now known as the Larks, had a top 10 hit with
the song "The Jerk," which gave him a catchy
nickname that he also used as the name for his own label,
Jerk Records. He continued to record over the
years, and recently received some unexpected royalties
when several gangsta rappers sampled his 1973 recording
"Shorty the Pimp," which featured his friend
Richard Berry doing a cameo appearance. Don Julian died
in his sleep on November 6th, as a result of complications
connected to diabetes and influenza.
 GOOD ROCKIN TONIGHT!
I've had many people ask where they could get Richard
Berry records. To date, there is only one legitimate
full length CD that features the music of this under-rated
legend, a collection of his early recordings for MODERN
RECORDS called "GET OUT OF THE CAR,"
released internationally by ACE RECORDS, and
available in the united states on the POINTBLANK/VIRGIN
label. There also collections that feature his music,
including some compilations from Johnny Otis's various
blues packagings, and the "Best of LOUIE LOUIE"
from RHINO, but none of these feature the original
recording of "Louie Louie" on the FLIP
label. Over 10 years ago, Jim Dawson collaborated
with Richard Berry to assemble an excellent album for
the Swedish EARTH ANGEL label that featured the
original FLIP recordings, but unfortunately, that particular
album is out of print, and hard to find. One might ask
"How does one go about finding this original recording
of this classic melody?" If all goes well, these
recordings will be released within the year, authorized
by the Richard Berry estate.
If you can't wait for the new reissues, and I honestly
can't blame you if you can't, then you might want to
look into tracking down some of the original vinyl releases.
When looking for these record dealers, I like to look
at some of the great collector magazines, including
GOLDMINE, DISCOVERIES, and RECORD COLLECTOR,
which are all excellent publications. Another great
source for finding rare vinyl is an auction house by
the name of GOOD ROCKIN' TONIGHT. They've been
able to uncover some real gems, including a very rare
FLIP album compilation that I'd never even seen before.
Thanks to this organization, I was able to update my
Richard Berry discography to acknowledge this rarely
seen nugget, and they also provided some excellent reproductions
of record art I'll be able to use my documentary. In
previous catalogs, I've seen them sell some pieces of
Phil Spector's personal collection, and some
of the rarest Robert Johnson 78's I've ever seen
anywhere. For the record collector that wants to obtain
some wonderful slabs of vinyl, this is one place that
deserves your attention! Log onto their website at www.grtauctions.com
or call (800) 531-1899. Tell them that LOUIE sent 'cha!
Of course, I would love to talk to anyone with Richard
Berry material, be it records, photographs, newspaper
clippings, posters, or just great stories. Those that
knew him, missed him.
 RHINO GOES FOR LOUIE,
BIG TIME!
I keep telling myself that if I ever win a multi-million
dollar lottery, one of the first things I'm going to
do is fly down to Los Angeles, rent a big truck, and
drive to the headquarters of Rhino Records, where I'd be able to buy every
single CD release put out by this company, and load
up with presents for all my friends. I can't think of
another record company that has put out some many different
types of re-issued music, with such superb packaging,
well-researched liner notes, and a true feeling of FUN
stamped all over their products! From the humble little
label that put out the multi-colored vinyl records featuring
the best kazoo orchestra recordings of Led Zeppelin
songs to the innovative empire that has shown all the
big labels the importance of releasing well-thought-out
compilations for practically every genre of music, Rhino
has been a leader within the recording industry on so
many different levels. In addition to creating some
of the most imaginative collections of music ever seen,
they've also been a beacon of clarity within the circles
of corporate America, sponsoring symposiums highlighting
the importance of ethics, encouraging companies to invest
in their own communities. Rhino's one of the few corporations
that will provide extra vacation time for those that
volunteer for community service outside of their regular
work schedule. This world would be a much better place
if more corporations operated like Rhino Records.
But what does this have to do with LOUIE LOUIE, one
might ask? Back in 1983, Rhino was the first record
company to ever put out a collection of music featuring
nothing but "LOUIE LOUIE," working in conjunction
with
KFJC Radio,
the little college radio station that staged the legendary
MAXIMUM LOUIE LOUIE marathon that lasted for
63 hours. This recording, titled "THE BEST OF
LOUIE LOUIE," turned out to be one of the most
successful compilations Rhino ever released, and they've
continued to acknowledge this very significant song,
figuring out new ways to include this song on all sorts
of different compilations.
Around the holiday season, an encyclopedic 4-CD collection
of garage music entitled "NUGGETS"
was released, expanding on a 1972 double album that
originally featured 27 very important rock and roll
songs. Within certain circles of record collectors,
garage rock enthusiasts, and future punk rockers, the
original Lenny Kaye-produced collection was a
revolutionary achievement, putting the pieces together
on a rather scattered musical sub-genre. The new box
has four times as much music, expanded liner notes,
and some incredible graphics that emulate the feel of
the original 45s from which this music originated, including
the most popular recording of Richard Berry's famous
melody. Amazingly, this may very well be the first collection
that features a photograph of the actual Kingsmen
that recorded "Louie Louie," including lead
singer Jack Ely, who left the band shortly after
the recording session. With the exception of an obscure
Northwest music book written by Don Rogers, this
is one of the few places you'll ever see this photograph
by Gino Rossi, outside of LOUIELOUIE.NET,
my upcoming documentary, and Gino's own book-to-be-published.
In early 1999, Rhino released yet another great collection
of influential music with a compilation entitled "20
Centuries of Hits." From the Second Century
(B.C.) to the present, every hundred year is represented
with most popular songs of their time. Within this 2,000
year cycle, every century but the 19th and the 20th
Century is defined by a singular song. It was with great
pride that I learned that Rhino chose "Louie Louie"
as one of the two important songs of this era, sharing
this time slot with "Star Dust," as
performed by Bing Crosby. It was indeed fascinating
to listen to the "popular" songs written prior
to the 15th Century, as the structure was so very different
than the music we hear nowadays. I encourage every library
and serious music scholar to buy a copy of this inspired
collection.
THE LOUIE AWARDS
I have no idea what the first company was to create
special awards using personal names, but I'm guessing
it might have been the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences when they decided to name their
awards "Oscars." Since then, we've
had a variety of different awards that use such friendly
monikers, including the "Tony" awards
for tokens of excellence in live theater, the "Emmy"
for noteworthy work in television; the comic book industry's
"Harvey" & "Eisner"
awards (named after Harvey Kurtzman and Will
Eisner); and on a local level, "Joey Awards"
given out by the San Jose Film Commission, in
honor of film commissioner Joe O'Kane.
The name "Louie" had been adopted
as an award name by a few different organizations. Back
in the 4th edition of the paper-based LOUIE REPORT,
I reported that the Greeting Card Association
hands out annual "Louie Awards" to acknowledge
excellence in the greeting card industry, named after
Louis Prang, the 19th Century German immigrant
credited with inventing the first commercial Christmas
cards. MEANING OF LOUIE co-producer Jesse Block actually
saw one of these special awards when he visited PEANUTS
creator Charles Schultz in Santa Rosa, CA, as
part of a corporate video production during this month
of April 1999.
For years, The Seattle Times handed out their
own "Louie Awards" for "dubious
achievements" within the state of Washington. As
one particular article mentioned in the Seattle Times
defined it, "Louie Awards do not come to those
who seek or covet them. They are bestowed only upon
those who, through speech, deed, or happenstance, succeeded
in making our corner of the world a poorer place during
the past year." This year, all of this changed,
as the Seattle Times decided to eliminate this award,
changing their focus to acknowledge positive developments
in the Washington area, with the introduction of their
new awards, named the "Jimi Awards,"
after Seattle's most recognizable musician, Mr.
Jimi Hendrix. Big thanks go out to Mary Willix,
author of Jimi Hendrix: Voices From Home, who provided
me with this new information.
FUTURAMA
Big congratulations must go out to Matt Groening
and his very talented creative crew for their new television
show, FUTURAMA, which places a 20th Century pizza
delivery man into the world of the future, some 1,000
years later. Before this show, THE SIMPSONS was
one of the few TV shows I made a deliberate attempt
to see every single week, as it was the most consistently
entertaining show on the networks. Now, I have another
reason to set my VCR on a weekly schedule. Of course,
it doesn't hurt that this show has a very catchy theme
song that reminds me of another great melody......
 MOE, LOU, and THE
NERVOUS SYSTEM
In 1997, one of the very memorable interviews I conducted
for my documentary was one I conducted with Moe
Tucker, former drummer with the Velvet Underground.
I'd been a fan of her music, heard that she recorded
a version of the song back in the early 1980s, and figured
as a drummer, she might have some interesting thoughts
on a song so dependent on a certain rhythm beat. Needless
to say, she did have some great comments, and I was
fortunate to be joined by Linda Berry, daughter
of Richard Berry, when I conducted the interview in
1997. Since this time, Moe appeared in a great documentary
on her former band member, Lou Reed, and was
the subject of her own documentary, as produced by Elisabeth
Bentley. I haven't seen the documentary that Ms.
Bentley produced, but hopefully, it will find proper
distribution, and we'll all be able to see it.
Moe's recording of "Louie Louie," originally
part of an album titled "Playing
Possum," has been out of print for years,
and I'm still looking a copy of the original rare vinyl.
Luckily, those want to hear Moe's recording of "Louie
Louie" will finally get their wish with the release
of a new CD entitled "The
Nervous System," put out by AAJ Records.
This is a compilation of new music featuring such other
artists as: Cream Abdul Babar, Singing Spoons,
Frankenfinger, and Newsboy Legion, to
name a few. There are 19 songs total, and I was actually
impressed with most of them. I would encourage you to
visit the website for AAJ Records at http://www.aaj.nu,
and tell them that LOUIE sent cha!
LOUIE LOUIE YACHT CLUB
From Jerry Childs of the "Louie
Louie Yacht Club" of Seattle, I received
this nice little note"
"As the Louie Louie Yacht
Club starts its' fourth year, I still remember the
excitement we all felt when we found your Louie Report
on-line. The idea to name the Club after the song,
was remote from the great work you are doing in tracing
the roots and stories that make up the MEANING OF
LOUIE. Our Club has done well this last year, and
we are very optimistic about its' future."
"Having a Club called
Louie Louie is really about as much fun as one can
have. One local boater while fueling at a local marina
joined on the spot this last summer when informed
about the Club. The name of his boat you ask?? Louie
Louie, of course :) Anyway, we are having great fun,
and wish you and the Louie Report great and continued
success."
"Yes, we finally do have
our own web site though a bit rudimentary at: http://members.aol.com/ladthree/extreme/index.htm. We have a few pictures and some information about the Club;
there is also link to our 1999 Cruise Schedule."
"We had a nice message
from Dave Barry the humor columnist for the Miami
Herald. He wrote a piece about the passing of Richard
Berry and we responded and invited him to Seattle.
His amusing reply was signed Dave "Louie"
Barry. Our next contact? Rosie O'Donnell. She has
a boat and seems like she would make a great Louie....
"
"Eric, please do keep up the good work. Someday
the world will see your finished product and know what
we know: Louie Louie Rocks!"
 SORT-OF-LOUIE-RELATED,
USED-TO-BE-TIMELY RECORDING
For many of you, the idea of hearing more about President
Clinton, Ken Starr, Paula Jones, Monica
Lewinsky, and the rest of these unintentional comedians
would probably force up some involuntary digestive juices
or otherwise unmentionable actions. Nonetheless, Ross
Shafer did an admirable job in creating some worthy
comedy in his new album, "Inside the First Family,"
a sequel of sorts, to the similarly named album of the
1960s by Vaughn Meader. This comedy cd is on
the SoundWorks label, and you could probably
order it from the soundworks.net
website. But again, what does this have to do with "Louie
Louie?" Back when the state of Washington tried
to establish "Louie Louie" as the official
state song, Ross Shafer was the host of a Seattle TV
show titled "Almost Live," which was
the main catalyst for this movement. Jerry Dennon,
owner of the SoundWorks label, is the man responsible
for first pressing the Kingmsen's version of "Louie
Louie" onto vinyl, later selling the recording
of the song to the Wand Sceptor label.
LOUIE LOUIE... WHO IS THIS GUY?
Some of you that sought information on the song "Louie
Louie" have logged onto the site known as LOUIELOUIE.COM,
only to find absolutely nothing about the song written
by Richard Berry. Some of you might be asking, "Who
is this guy, and why is he calling himself LOUIE LOUIE?"
Louie Louie is a real person. Louie Louie is
a recording artist that has put out at least two readily
available albums, including the often-seen "The
State I'm In" release on the WTG-CBS label.
Some folks compared his work to that of the artist that
used to be Prince, but in my opinion, I thought Mr.
Louie Louie sounded more like Stevie Wonder.
In one of my previous LOUIE REPORT NEWS articles, I
mentioned that my friend Doug Rice saw a billboard
for some of his shows in Las Vegas. Apparently, Mr.
Louie Louie has a very successful career, and you can
read all about it on his LOUIELOUIE.COM website. Of
course, whenever you'd like to read about LOUIE LOUIE,
the song, come on back to LOUIELOUIE.NET,
and I'll be happy to fill you in on all sorts of exciting
news.
Incidentally, the term "LOUIE LOUIE"
is a registered trademark of RMB, Inc, a company
owned by The Kingsmen, the band that
turned the song into the monster icon recognized all
over the world. If you'd like to see what the Kingsmen
are up to these days, or would like to discuss some
LOUIE LOUIE merchandising ideas, you really should check
out their
website.
Speaking of the Kingsmen, they do have an official
fan club these days. With membership in the KINGSMEN
FAN CLUB, you get a nice autographed photo, a semi-regular
newsletter, and lots of stuff that you'd probably never
be able to get if you weren't a member. If you'd like
more information, you should contact KINGSMENFC@aol.com
NIGHTCLUB STAYS OPEN AFTER ALL...
In the last edition of the Louie Report Online,
I reported the demise of a great club in the San Francisco
area known as Sweetwater, in Mill Valley. Since
my words were written, circumstances have changed, and
a new owner assumed responsibility for keeping this
musical landmark open. After many negotiations with
the property owner and the local bureaucrats, agreements
were reached, and the club remains intact. With new
ownership, new management, and a new lease on life,
Sweetwater now has a new online presence at
sweetwatersaloon.com. For those of you out
of town that might want to check this iconic nightspot,
you also owe it to yourself to also check out Village
Music, a few blocks away in Mill Valley, as it's
one of the finest sources of vinyl on the planet.
LOUIE LOUIE 2000
In August 1983, a marathon celebrating the song was
held at KFJC Radio
in Los Altos Hills, California. For 63 hours, the event
known as "Maximum Louie Louie" captivated
local and international media alike, playing every known
version of the song, encouraging others to deliver their
own recording of the song up to the station, where it
would find a guaranteed audience on the radio. Richard
Berry, the author of the song, had never seen
anything like this in his life, and the real kicker
came when Jack Ely, the original vocalist for
the
Kingsmen caught wind of the event, and flew
down from Portland, Oregon to be part of this historic
event. When this marathon finally ended, over 800 versions
of the song were aired, with no version of the song
intentionally played twice. A few years later, a follow-up
radio show on KFJC repeated some of the same anarchy,
albeit in a condensed format, bringing the total number
of known recordings of the song to over 1,000. At last
count, the total number of recorded versions of the
songs were in the 1,200 range.
For former KFJC radio disc jockey Jeff
"Stretch" Riedle, the song "Louie
Louie" became an integral part of his very being.
His collection of "Louie Louie" recordings
was used as the primary reference for the discography
in the Dave Marsh book entitled "Louie Louie."
He has made it a lifelong quest to find every single
recorded version of the song, and has actively sought
out recordings of the song from famous and obscure musicians
alike. His work has been a great help to this project,
and he has proposed something that seems extremely timely
in this year of 1999.
As we approach the new millennium with the year 2000,
Stretch has suggested a new goal: "Louie
Louie 2000."
Imagine 2,000 versions of the song, documented for
all mankind to hear when the 20th Century is just a
memory! If you'd like to read more about this project,
check out the LOUIE LOUIE 2000
webpage. On this page, you'll be find information
about how to submit versions to the LOUIE archives.
If it happens to be a particularly exceptional recording,
I'd like to encourage you to also send it to me at the
LOUIELOUIE.NET home office, as I'm actively seeking
great recordings for the upcoming LOUIE LOUIE documentary.
LOUIE LOUIE LETTER OF THE MONTH
Last but not least, I'd like to present one of the
more interesting letters I received recently, a nice
little note from Bengt van Loosdrecht of New
Delhi, India:
"I thought you might want
to know that on 11 march 1999, the Indian music video
channel 'Channel V' had a video commercial
featuring a group of Indian yellow-and-black taxis
that formed an orchestra playing 'Louie Louie' with
their horns. Pretty good ad: it starts with just one
guy squeezing one of these old fashioned, early 19th
century horns (which are still in use in south India),
playing the rhythm of the base line, you know toottoottoot
(pause) toottoot etc... and then the other layers
of the song gradually being added by several other
taxi horns, until you clearly distinguish a magically
harmonious and playful performance of Louie Louie.
The ad ends with the text "Channel V" of
course, but interestingly also with a final shot of
the whole band in front of their taxis, with a name
of the band (The OK Horn Orchestra of something
similar) on a signboard. Apparently it is an existing
band, in Bombay if I am not mistaken. Of course it
all went so fast that by the time I thought I should
tape it, the ad was already gone."
"Channel V is not an indigenous
Indian TV channel, although it caters only for the
Indian public. It is the main competitor to MTV in
India, and the quality of its presentation is about
the same. I think it is part of the Murdoch group,
taping the programs in India and abroad, and broadcasting
them to the Indian cable networks from Dubai or some
other Gulf country. That, at least, is what I have
been told."
If anyone could ever find a copy of this rather obscure
commercial, and mail it to the LOUIELOUIE.NET
headquarters in California, that would be greatly appreciated.
My thanks to all friends, known and unknown, that have
done so much to contribute to the WONDERFUL WORLD OF
LOUIE!
me gotta go now.....
ERIC PREDOEHL
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