![]() ![]() But so does the banter on the Youtube channel " A Bad Lip Reading." The actual lyrics of "Louie Louie," Richard Berry's, also matched up convincingly. The fake dirty lyrics were well-crafted in that they matched up convincingly to the record. (The flap was not by any stretch Indiana-centric the FBI would later field complaints about dirty "Louie Louie" lyrics from such far flung cities as Tampa, San Diego, Detroit and Shreveport.) ABOVE THE RIM STICK EM UP SONG CODEIn that divided time, when "generation gap" was a household term, these scraps of paper (some typed, some handwritten) were effectively an underground code for kids, a pre-internet inside joke. These were purported to be the Kingsmen's actual lyrics. At some point after that, scraps of paper circulated through American high schools and colleges on which were written naughty lyrics of a sexual nature. The Kingsmen released their garbled version in May 1963. Those recordings created no stir and not a lot of sales. In those recordings the lyrics were discernible. "Louie Louie" was written by a minor songwriter and performer from Los Angeles named Richard Berry (no relation to Chuck Berry) and was recorded several times in the 1950s, including by Berry, in 1957. One of the kids in my class was dating someone at Purdue, and he somehow got a hold of what he said were the words. "But you couldn't understand the words, they were all garbled. "The beat and everything was beautiful," she said recently. The female Frankfort teen-now-septuagenarian, who still lives in the area, said when she first heard "Louie Louie," she liked it. One person's righteous whistle-blower is another person's rat-fink snitch. ABOVE THE RIM STICK EM UP SONG TVStill, when a TV news crew from Indianapolis came to Frankfort High, she and her male co-conspirator hid in the principal's office. His fear was unfounded because sales of "Louie Louie" only soared with the controversy. The girl's father feared a lawsuit from the Kingsmen, she recalled the other day. as our son, a young minister there, is trying hard to make the city a cleaner place for youth."īut the Frankfort teens who'd started it all were not basking in victory. However, most people don't realize that if the morals are declining, and I doubt if they are, it is because of 'smut' such as this record, put out by adults whose only concern is in making a fast buck."īut he got just as many letters of support, like this one: "Dear Governor: I realize that your action will be questioned by some but it will be appreciated by a host of people who still believe in moral principles and Christian dignity."Īnd this: "Honorable Sir: We are glad the protest about the record came from Frankfort, Ind. The lad then defended youth: "Much is written about the declining morals of the American teen-ager. "You should be given a round of applause for your strong stand against this record," wrote the male, a senior. (The governor saved them they're in the archives.) Welsh swung into action, both Frankfort teens sent follow-up letters to the governor, thanking him for getting on the "Louie Louie" case with such decisiveness. Why rat out two people who 55 years ago had, in good faith, tried to save the nation from moral degradation?ĭays after Gov. They seemed embarrassed, and who wouldn't be? What an uncool thing they did. They've never spoken publicly about "Louie Louie." They've never been asked about it. The Frankfort teens are now in their 70s. Academics sometimes find governors' old letters handy in unwinding weighty matters of historical importance.īut what is unwound here is not something weighty but rather an absurd misunderstanding that led to parental panic and nanny-state overreach at a time when many adults were alarmed at the growing rebelliousness of youth culture. Governors hang on to their mail when they leave office and turn it over to the Indiana State Archives. We found the Frankfort teens - we located Ground Zero of a nationwide controversy - via Gov. They've never been identified, let alone interviewed - until now. Welsh, D - Ind.Īnd the two Frankfort teenagers who started it all? The recording was their cover of " Louie Louie," about a mariner who pines for a girl. The musicians were the Kingsmen, out of Portland, Ore. ![]()
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