Today, we started the day by celebrating Jeff “Stretch” Riedle‘s 71st birthday!
Stretch, as most of the diehard followers of this webpage know, was the guy whose actions ignited the legendary KFJC Maximum: LOUIE LOUIE marathon of yesteryear.
It all started with a midnight college radio show on KFJC where Stretch played 33 versions of that song. After that, KFJC station supervisor Doc Pelzel decided to tell his friends at KALX (another Bay Area community radio station) about this special program, and KALX responded with a 50 version marathon. After going back and forth with semi-competitive LOUIE marathons, Stretch along with Doc and fellow KFJC DJ collaborator Phil Dirt (aka Frank Luft) orchestrated a massive event that was known as “Maximum: LOUIE LOUIE.” Needless to say, the event clocked out at 63 hours and 10 minutes and over 820 unique versions, achieving worldwide acclaim with AP news reports, acknowledged by MTV News, Entertainment Tonight, Playboy magazine and a front page story in the Wall Street Journal.
Since that special event, Stretch continued to be active in the Bay Area music community. Along with Randy Hyden, Jon Kohlman, and Joe Kelly, he created an influential surf band known as The Shockwaves. He was the first employee at Streetlight Records-San Jose, and would later become a co-owner of CD Land, a record store that hosted a lot of unforgettable performances by iconic rock bands. His latest band is The New Shockwaves, and he recently had some cardiac surgery.
We’re all wishing him many more spins around the sun.
As I checked out the gnus (pronounced news) of Facebook, I discovered something new, courtesy of my friend Jim Dawson:
“Happy 110th birthday, pioneer disc jockey Hunter Hancock (“Ol’ H. H.”), born April 21, 1916. Seen here many years ago with Bill Gardner (left), Big Jay McNeely, and Goofydust Jones.” (Jim is Mr. Goofydust)
… and then it dawned on me that Hunter Hancock was the first disc jockey to play “Louie Louie” on the radio. As Hunter was THE disc jockey in Los Angeles that played all the cool rhythm and blues songs (aka “race records”) on his radio show in the 1950s, it goes without saying that he was the first one to share Richard Berry’s music on the local radio. Hunter was definitely hip to Richard’s music, and you can hear Hunter talk about Richard on the Ace Records CD – “DooWop From Dolphin’s of Hollywood – volume 1” (track 9).
Crazy, huh? Who would have guessed these two DJs would have a shared birthday!
I love Jim’s photo of the foursome – everyone but Bill Gardner provided me with an interview for the documentary. I’m hoping to catch up with Bill for a proper interview- he knew Richard and Dorothy Berry from Jefferson High School. Good stories!
You learn more about Hunter Hancock by checking out Electric Earl’s amazing Hunter Hancock page, my obit and one of my video clips on YouTube.
Elsewhere in the news, I failed to mention LOUIE LOUIE Day this month.
I’m grateful that Mike Hintze and Clay Stabler were able to share good stuff connected to this very special day on the LOUIE LOUIE PARTY on Facebook.
There’s a “Washington State Archives” Facbook group that shared information about the 1985 Washington State effort with State Senate Resolution 1985-37, declaring April 12 as “Louie Louie Day”.
Holiday Today has a great article on International Louie Louie Day
India recognizes International Louie Louie Day!
Where was I for the last week and a half?
Roadtrip. Decompressing from world events and stuff. Not touching computer for days..
Somewhere during the roadtrip, I wound up in Washington, Californa – part of Nevada County… not to be confused with the state of Washington or the state of Nevada.
A town with a population of 101, according to the 2020 United States Census.
I was at a place called The Washingon Hotel, which was both a hotel and a bar.
A wonderful place. Some fine people in this town!
There was a modern jukebox in this bar. Would you believe I actually found 10 versions of that LOUIE LOUIE song on this device?
With Maria Maria (collaborator/troublemaker/running partner), as my witness, I am humbled….
– E.P. of LouieLouie.net
Reference Links
The Hunter Hancock page at Electric Earl
Remembering Hunter Hancock – LouieLouie.net
Hunter Hancock tribute 2000 – featuring Big Jay McNeely
Washington State Archives Facebook group
Holiday Today – International Louie Louie Day
India – International Louie Louie Day