| THE
LOUIE REPORT
August
2003
first
posted on August 1, 2003
(all rights reserved)
As some of you may have noticed, the LOUIE REPORT isn't
updated as often as one might expect. It takes time
to add information to this website, and I haven't had
the inclination to turn this into a standard "BLOG".
Production of THE MEANING OF LOUIE documentary continues,
as does the flow of LOUIE LOUIE related information.
He's the latest news from the WONDERFUL WORLD OF LOUIE:
ONE
THOUSAND GUITARS AND THE WAILERS
THE EP MONEY TRAIN- VIDEO CAMERA
FOR SALE
RENE' TOUZET- RIP
BARRY WHITE- RIP
KENNY SINCLAIR- RIP
HAVE LOVE WILL TRAVEL
MOJO JUKEBOX
CIRCLE OF FRIENDS- A KINGSMAN
NOTES FROM A FORMER COURTMAN
HOLIDAY BAND
SONGS STUCK IN THE HEAD
ZAPPA SCULPTURE
THE KFJC MARATHON PROJECT
EP-RANTS
ONE
THOUSAND GUITARS AND THE WAILERS
 Big
things are happening in Tacoma, Washington. On August
24th, 2003, there will be a huge event called "THE 1000
GUITARS LOUIE MUSIC FESTIVAL." Imagine one thousand
guitars in place, all playing LOUIE LOUIE in a massive
attempt to set a new world record! This is going to
be a pretty amazing event, and it will feature some
important players from the LOUIE LOUIE universe - The
Wailers, The Kingsmen, and
some very special guests.
This
event will be sponsored by the Wailers Performing
Arts Foundation in cooperation with the Boys
& Girls Clubs of South Sound. The net proceeds
will benefit the Wailers Performing Arts Foundation
(WPAF), a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization supporting
music education programs and a scholarship fund. The
purpose of the 1000 Guitars Festival is to focus attention
on the development of alternative opportunities and
music programs for young people.
The
show is taking place at Cheney Stadium
(no relation to the current VP)
in Tacoma, Washington on Sunday, August 24th, beginning
at 11 AM. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the
Kingsmen' chart-topping single, the 43rd anniversary
of the Wailers' release, and the 47th anniversary of
Richard Berry's original release. For
more information on this amazing musical event, you
should log onto www.1000guitars.org
or call 1-888-280-5870. I encourage anyone who has an
interest in all things LOUIE LOUIE to make the trek
to this big show. I'll be there, and I look forward
to seeing many of my LOUIE friends at this grand event!
www.1000guitars.org
The
Wailers, who organized this event, have been
the focus of some excellent reissues from Ace
Records of the UK. Going back to the original
Etiquette Records masters, Ace has been able to reissue
four different Wailers albums as two power-packed CDs.
The four albums- "At The Castle," "& Co," "Everywhere,"
and "Out Of Our Tree" are now available for the digital
diehards, sounding better than ever. Pester your friendly
neighborhood record stores for your copies, or find
the usual internet outlets!
http://www.acerecords.co.uk/
THE
EP MONEY TRAIN- VIDEO CAMERA FOR SALE
Financing
for this project continues to be a challenge, and the
current situation is no exception. I would like to publicly
thank John Broven, Dan Gunning,
and Brian Jenkins for their generous
donations to the cause. I will acknowledge them in the
final film credits, and I truly appreciate their support.
It hasn't been easy as this has been a rather complicated
project. I continue to ask for support at my LouieLouie
Merchandising Pages, and PayPal contributions are always
appreciated.
Earlier
this year, L. Wayne Hicks wrote about
my efforts in the Denver Business Journal.
It's a nice article that I didn't solicit, but I appreciate
nonetheless.
Eclectic
documentaries find an audience (February
2003)
by L. Wayne Hicks
Denver Business Journal
Eric
Predoehl says the end is near.
"I'd
like to say soon, but I can't give you an exact figure,"
he says. "I'd like to say sometime in 2003. I think
that's realistic. I really want to try to make that
happen."
Predoehl
is nearing the end of "The Meaning of Louie," a documentary
he's been working on for 20 years about the infamous
rock song "Louie Louie."
Financed
by credit cards and contributions, "The Meaning of
Louie" attempts to capture the groove of the familiar
tune, among the most-recorded songs in rock history.
Neil Diamond recorded a version. So did John Belushi
and Iggy Pop. The most famous one was made 40 years
ago by The Kingsmen. It's impossible to make out what
The Kingsmen are singing, giving rise to the urban
legend that the lyrics are obscene.
read
the rest of this article at:
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2003/02/24/focus1.html
So
as I head down the rocky road of completion for this
film, I've decided the time is right to bid adieu to
a dear friend. My Toshiba TSC-200, a solid workhorse
of a camera, is ready for a new home. I've shot many
interviews with this camera, and if this device could
speak, it would tell you many great stories of interviews
with musical legends in the Pacific Northwest, Los Angeles,
and San Francisco. I've taken my friend on many great
journeys, but I think it's time to move on, and use
the money to go to the next phase of production.
 The
Toshiba TSC-200 has superb optics with a Canon 17:1
lens, three 1/2" CCD chips, and a built-in Hi8 recorder.
I've been able to inter-link this camera with other
video recorders- both Betacam SP and DVCAM units. As
part of the package, I'm including a Toshiba MSS-10
condenser microphone, a hard case, a Century Precision
Optics 7x wide-angle lens adaptor, a Sony AC-500 AC
Adaptor, and a NRG Power-Max Power Belt battery belt.
My asking price for this package is $2,500, so if you
have any interest in this, drop me an email
As
always, donations to the cause are gratefully appreciated.
RENE'
TOUZET, BARRY WHITE, KENNY SINCLAIR- RIP
The
entertainment industry has lost some great talents with
the demise of Rene Touzet, Barry
White, and Kenny Sinclair.
RENE'
TOUZET - RIP
 When
Richard Berry composed LOUIE LOUIE,
one of the major influences was "El Loco Cha Cha," a
song performed by Rene' Touzet. Rene'
Touzet was a major figure in Cuban music. He began his
career leading a 16-piece orchestra at Havana's
Grand Nacional Casino before leaving in 1946
to join Enric Madriguera's band in
California. Touzet later played with Xavier
Cugat and Desi Arnaz before
starting his own Cha Cha Rhythm Boys. Rene' Touzet died
on June 15th at his West Miami-Dade home from complications
of a heart condition. He was 86 years old.
There
is a misconception that Rene' Touzet composed "El Loco
Cha Cha."
The
truth of the matter is that Rosendo Ruiz, Jr.
wrote the song, and Rene' Touzet merely re-arranged
"El Loco Cha Cha" to include the iconic riff that was
later used in LOUIE LOUIE.
Ned
Sublette, who's a bit of an expert on Cuban
music, found out about a rare 45 by Rosendo Ruiz, Jr.
that looks very intriguing....
2439
1958 P 1989 CU Mi rockin' cha / rk-ch
2440
1958 P 1989 CU Rockin'guapachá / rk-ch
"This
is a 45 from 1958 by the author of the El Loco with
a group called 'Rockin' Cha.' In f-ing Cuba, baby.
Nobody I know has a copy of it. It came out on the
most important Cuban indie label, Panart (that's what
the 'P' above signifies). Not even Cristobal, who
has everything, has it (he got this out of a Panart
catalog, I think). The Panart masters have, I believe,
been lost by virtue of having been resold so many
times no one knows where they are. For now this counts
as the missing link, the lost record, the one that
got away . . . God would I love to hear this one .
.
As
I previously mentioned, Rosendo Ruiz, Jr., who is
now 84 ! and apparently doesn't see very well, and
lives in Santos Suarez, and has no phone, also wrote
some of the classics of Cha-Cha-Cha and the genre
known as feeling (romantic '50s Cuban ballads) . .
."
If
anyone can provide information on the whereabouts of
Rosendo Ruiz, Jr., please contact me immediately. I've
been told he's still alive in Cuba somewhere, and I'd
love to get an interview with him. Photos, films, and
videos of this mysterious composer would also be wonderful.
BARRY
WHITE- RIP
 One
of the great underrated influences on Barry
White was Richard Berry. Hearing
the vocal styles side by side, it's easy to hear some
stylistic influences. On Barry White's "Beware" album,
he did a superb version of LOUIE LOUIE that was one
of Richard's favorite versions. When Barry White once
appeared on the Soul Train TV show,
he acknowledged the original source of this great song.
Barry
White, who had suffered kidney failure from years of
high blood pressure, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre,
Los Angeles, July 4, 2003. He was 58 years old.
KENNY
SINCLAIR- RIP
 In
the course of researching the universe of LOUIE LOUIE,
I've come across some great music that I wasn't familiar
with. The FLIP Records catalog was
one of those great personal discoveries. Led by Max
and Lillian Feirtag, FLIP Records was the company
that unleashed LOUIE LOUIE to the world with Richard
Berry and the Pharaohs in 1957.
Kenny
Sinclair was one of the great musical talents
at FLIP Records. As an original member of the Six
Teens, they provided FLIP Records with the
hit song "A Casual Look." He was also an original member
of The Elgins ("Uncle Sam's Man" and
"My Illness"). Kenny wrote the song "My Illness." In
1972, Ken joined The Olympics, which
had such songs as " Western Movies," "Big Boy Pete,"
and " Good Lovin."
Kenny
died on March 16th. I was fortunate to have met and
interviewed Kenny for upcoming THE MEANING OF LOUIE
documentary. He will be missed.
HAVE
LOVE WILL TRAVEL
LOUIE
LOUIE was the biggest hit Richard Berry
ever wrote, but it certainly wasn't the only great thing
he ever wrote. He wrote some amazing tracks that every
self-respecting reputable musicologist should know about-
"I Am Bewildered," "Next Time," "Get Out of the Car,"
and "Yama Yama Pretty Mama" to name but a few. The one
song that consistently comes up as the second most popular
Richard Berry song has got to be "Have Love Will Travel."
It's been covered by Paul Revere and the Raiders,
the Sonics, Pearl Harbour,
Thee Headcoatees , and from what I've
been told, even Bruce Springsteen,
even though I haven't heard his version yet.
Jim
Belushi and Dan Aykroyd have
formed a new musical group, called "Jim Belushi
and Dan Aykroyd." It's not the Blues Brothers,
but it covers some of the same territory. "Have Love
Will Travel" is the title track for their new album,
and it features the great Richard Berry composition.
I recently saw these guys do a great version of the
song on the Carson Daly show.
Out
in Germany (that would be Deutschland to the natives),
HAVE LOVE is being used as part of a new commercial
campaign. As Hans Strecker reports:
"Some
weeks ago a big commercial campaign for the soft drink
SPRITE was launched on German TV, featuring NBA-Star
Dirk Novitzki, who comes from Germany. In the spot
you can see him playing basketball and you hear The
Sonics: 'Have Love Will Travel', that fabulous Richard
Berry song.
"The
spots can be viewed as a flash movie under http://www.sprite.de,
if you go there, there is a pop up flash window, go
to 'Stuff' (on the right) then click Sprite TV-Spot
(on the right)."
MOJO
JUKEBOX
Mojo
Magazine of the UK is one music magazine that
I try to pick up on a regular basis. In issue #113,
dated April 2003, there was a nice little insert booklet
included with the magazine, highlighting the "100 Singles
You Must Own." This little booklet, titled the "MOJO
ULTIMATE JUKEBOX," was selected and written by a group
of musical experts that included some luminaries as
Nick Hornby, Lenny Kaye,
Peter Doggett, Colin Escott,
and Nick Tosches, among others.
And
just what was the top choice among the 100 singles?
None other than LOUIE LOUIE, as performed by the
Kingsmen, with the flip side of "Haunted Castle."
As this is a British publication, the original single
is referenced as a Pye International Records
release, rather than the original American Jerden
Records release.
CIRCLE
OF FRIENDS - A KINGSMAN
 Collectors
of LOUIE LOUIE will want to track down a fairly obscure
CD release titled "Circle of Friends." This was a 1999
project that received no publicity that I know of, but
the concept was kind of cool. Original rock 'n' roll
artists were assembled on a soundstage with other artists
to talk about their hits, and would then perform the
songs. Carl Gardner of the
Coasters talked about "Young Blood," "The Dixie
Cups explained "Iko Iko," Bill Pinkney
of the Drifters did a track, as well
as various other artists. Dick Peterson
of the Kingsmen came to this particular
event, where he chatted about the band's biggest hit-
LOUIE LOUIE. Dick joined the band in 1963, and he acknowledges
on this recording that he was not the original singer.
As Dick is currently handling the vocal tasks for the
Kingsmen, this CD is significant in that it marks the
first commercial release of a recording featuring Dick
singing LOUIE LOUIE. It's a pretty good version that
is worth tracking.
Unfortunately,
this CD is not readily available. I found a used copy
on eBay, but I haven't been able to find any acknowledgement
of this project anywhere on the internet.
NOTES
FROM A FORMER COURTMAN
It's
not too often that I hear from members of Jack
Ely's old band, the Courtmen,
but Neil Heller dropped by LouieLouie.net
to say hello. Here's what he wrote:
"Just
after the Kingsmen's version of Louie went big, Ken
Chase had to find a replacement house band for his
teen night spot, The Chase. After an audition and
a few trials, we (The Squires) were chosen. A few
months later, Ken and Jack Ely put their heads together
and came up with the idea of doing a follow-on to
Louie. There was no hope for the Kingsmen to recreate
the success of Louie with Lynn Easton doing vocals.
Jack needed a band to back him on the record so Ken
suggested us. We recorded 'Love That Louie' at the
Northwest Studios in Portland, in the same room that
the Kingsmen used. In fact, we used the same engineers
and studio equipment, placed all personnel in the
same locations and used the same mike locations as
the Kingsmen. What a kick!"
Of
course, this special recording is featured on the recent
Ace Records release of the same name
that also features the original Kingsmen recording with
Jack in 1963, and Jack's 1966 re-recording. In the last
LOUIE REPORT, you might have read that this release
was labeled the "Best Musical Reissue of the Year" by
the London Times.
HOLIDAY
BAND
 I
appreciate it when bands that record LOUIE LOUIE send
me copies of their recording, especially when it's available
on a commercial recording. The Holiday Band
from Burlington, North Carolina just released a new
CD called "SOUTHERN SOUL REVUE" and LOUIE LOUIE is one
of the featured tracks. To quote business manager Alan
Brantley:
"The
Holiday Band has just finished it's best recording
experience ever in Southern Soul Revue! 'I'm Man Enough',
a slow shag number, is already in many Beach Top 10's.
'The Party Medley' and 'No More Pain' will give the
fast shag aficionados all they want. Holiday's lead
vocalist, Mike Taylor has penned four cuts on Southern
Soul Revue that will continue the bands rapid rise
to the top of the Beach Band heap."
http://www.holidayband.com/
SONGS
STUCK IN THE HEAD
Someone
sent me this interesting article.....
Song
Stuck In Your Head? You're Not Alone
By
Alison McCook
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The vast majority of people
say they have been mentally tortured at one point
in their lives by a song that keeps repeating itself
over and over in their heads.
And new research shows that people most frequently
plagued by this phenomenon are those with slightly
neurotic tendencies, and people who enjoy and listen
to music often.
I
don't know why someone sent me this article. It has
NOTHING to do with the song LOUIE LOUIE, but I thought
it was somewhat interesting, so I'll mention it on LouieLouie.Net.
You can read the rest of the article at:
http://www.rense.com/general35/alone.htm
ZAPPA
SCULPTURE
 I
think I've got most of my Frank Zappa
LOUIE discography up to speed. Frank Zappa was a prolific
musician, and it was hard to keep track of all his multiple
LOUIE references in his commercially available work.
As my website seems to be a place where Zappa fans seem
to converge, it's natural that I get some emails from
dedicated enthusiasts. Here's part of a letter I got
from Michael Keropian, a sculptor that
is creating a new work on Mr. Zappa:
"I
am currently creating a full-figure model/maquette
(3/4 the size of life)of Frank, playing his Gibson
SG and incorporating the many objects or paraphernalia
of his life into the sculpture. The goal is to eventually
get funding to enlarge the above sculpture to life-size
or larger then have it cast in bronze and installed
in a location where people can appreciate it.
For
over a year I have made contact with members of the
Zappa family, friends, fan sites and fellow musicians
like yourself around the Earth. I have received letters
and have spoken to the following musicians: Ike Willis,
Ed Mann, Denny Wally, Jimmy Carl Black, Mike Keneally,
George Duke, Patrice Zappa and Bob Zappa, Robert Martin,
Arthur Barrow, Adrian Belew, Thana Harris, Patrick
O'Hearn, Nigey Lennon (great help with the SG). I
have also contacted Gail Zappa (who is interested
in the Project), and I shall present the memorial
idea once again after the model is completed. Since
I am a sculptor and not a businessman, my goal is
to get as much information from those who played and
knew Frank. Info about paraphernalia or stage objects
or any other ideas that come to your mind will be
very helpful. I wish to add sculptural symbols from
the different periods of his life somewhere into the
memorial composition. By the way which arm was shorter?
To help pay for the creation of the model I have also
made available the portrait of Frank in two materials.
A portion of the sales are going to the creating of
the 3/4 model which I am currently sculpting. The
actual photos and more info about the Bronze/Bonded
bronze can be seen at my website."
http://www.keropiansculpture.com/fzappa.html
So
if you have any interest in this project, I encourage
you to contact Michael Keropian for further information.
THE
KFJC MARATHON PROJECT
It's
been twenty years since the legendary KFJC Marathon
that inspired this massive project. August 19, 1983
was the day MAXIMUM LOUIE LOUIE began, and my life was
forever changed. I can't begin to tell you all the things
that happened as a result of that historic moment. I
didn't intend to work so long on such an ambitious thesis
on the phenomenon of LOUIE LOUIE, but somehow I got
involved with this monster project, and I'm still working
on it.
One
of the projects I've been overseeing is the restoration
of the original aircheck recordings. The original airchecks
were recorded on old cassette tapes, and the radio logs
for this 63 hour event weren't accurately documented.
With a team of LOUIE volunteers literally scattered
around the world, we've been able to document, catalog,
and preserve the core assets of this event that should
been properly acknowledged in the universally-recognized
"world records." The organizations that should typically
acknowledge such world records have chosen to completely
ignore this particular moment in musical history. Despite
numerous attempts to contact what I would hope were
the proper public relations representatives, archivists,
and company historians, our efforts to authenticate
this event have fallen flat. Hopefully, with the restoration
of the archival tapes, we hope to convince such organizations
that this event was worthy of a "world record."
If
that doesn't work, maybe there will be a new LOUIE LOUIE
marathon sometime in 2004, which is when the restoration
is scheduled to be completed. When the original marathon
took place, it lasted for 63 hours with over 800 versions.
I'm sure with the power of the internet, it would be
quite easy to follow this event with a sequel that would
last at least 120 hours with 2,000 -3,000 unique versions
of LOUIE LOUIE. I don't know if this event would take
place at KFJC, or another radio station entirely, but
it's something that's been discussed amongst LOUIE LOUIE
aficionados.
With
this rather public website, I've received some wonderful
emails from people around the world. I recently received
an email that corrected a posted radio log from that
marathon.
One
person from the infamous KFJC marathon actually tracked
me down to make a correction to the publicly posted
radio log sheets at LouieLouie.Net. Steve Monahan
wanted to set the record straight with this correspondence:
"I
found your log sheet for the Maximum Louie Louie of
'83. That was a fun show, and judging from the number
of web pages that mention it, an historic show as
well. Thanks for posting the log and including your
e-mail for corrections. My band had a cryptic name,
which quite understandably is wrong on the log. Number
44 should be AXYD VUMAB. We played once at the Mab,
but didn't make it any farther than that. BTW the
"MAB" in our name had nothing to do with the nightclub.
"Axyd" was a combination of some things that influenced
half of the band: "acid," "the axis" (Hendrix mythology),
"axe" (for "guitar" as well as Careful With that Axe
Eugene), and last but not least the 'y' comes from
"Sid" (Barrett). The other half of the band came up
with "VUMAB" which stands for Vicious Ugly Mad Attack
Band. We had great fun recording Louie Louie for which
we swapped instruments, except for Bill Preder, the
lead singer, who did his best Tony Bennett impersonation.
So, if you ever get around to corrections--most people
never do, so don't feel bad--please spell the band
at number 44: AXYD VUMAB. If anything like this is
ever planned again please let me know. Maybe we could
even arrange an AXYD VUMAB reunion. I could probably
track down Rick Davies of "Krapwurst (113) and "Parade
of Bacon" (205).
I
gotta go..
Cheers, Steve"
EP-RANTS
Last
but not least, I'd like to mention a blog that I've
created that has absolutely nothing to do with the song
LOUIE LOUIE. I'm sure some followers of my LOUIE LOUIE
base will probably disagree with some of the opinions
I've expressed on my blog, but that's perfectly fine.
As a person of conscience, I have to speak out on the
things I truly care about. As Martin Luther King, Jr.
once said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become
silent about things that matter." If you have any interest
in reading my opinions on such things, go to:
http://ep-rants.blogspot.com/
My
thanks again for all of the people
that shared their comments, questions, and stories.
Your input is greatly appreciated.
Me
gotta go now,
ERIC
PREDOEHL
August
1, 2003
All
images & words copyright 1999-2003 Eric Predoehl
/ OCTALOUIE, LLC, except as noted. All rights reserved.
The term "LOUIE LOUIE" is a registered trademark
of RMB, Inc, a company owned by The Kingsmen, the band recognized for turning
the song into the monster icon heard all over the world.
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