Two things i forgot to mention on these pages…
1) KCRW Radio (KCRW.com) launched a new radio series “LOST NOTES,” sharing stories of LOUIE LOUIE for the first episode on April 12, 2018 (one day after International LOUIE LOUIE Day)!
The life of one of the world’s most ubiquitous rock n’ roll anthems – the song that every teenager bangs out on their first guitar – stretches far beyond the Kingsmen’s definitive version and “Animal House.” As performed by the Kingsmen, and as it began tearing up the charts “Louie Louie’s” ambiguous lyrics became the target of a lengthy FBI investigation. By this point, its writer Richard Berry had already sold the rights to this soon to be national phenomenon in order to buy an engagement ring. But the song comes back into his life later in a most spectacularly 1980s fashion.
LISTEN AT:
2) NPR Radio (NPR.org) used some LOUIE LOUIE questions on their “WAIT, WAIT.. DON’T TELL ME” quiz show which aired on June 16, 2018.
My friend Robert B. Stevenson was the first to tell me about this one:
Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, the weekly NPR radio quiz, today highlighted Louis Louis. Guest Louis Anderson answered three multiple choice questions about the song, According to NPR host Peter Segal, the FBI spent two years listening to the song at different speeds and could not find any obscenities. However, at the 54 second mark, the drummer dropped his drumstick and then dropped an f-bomb.
He also added:
Here are some incorrect answers offered in the quiz;
The bass line contains Morse code for an obscene reference to genitalia
Chicago White Sox baseball player Lou Brock had the song played as walk-up music when he went to bat, and was soon traded to St. Louis.
When asked about Louie Louie, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover said he thought the lyrics were trite but otherwise the song was danceable.
Feen-A-Mint laxative used part of the song in a commercial, “Me gotta go now”
UPDATE:
Here’s yet another one…
3) The Ridiculous History Show / How Stuff Works (ridiculoushistoryshow.com) also shared a LOUIE LOUIE audio program on June 28th!
The Kingsmen’s cover of “Louie, Louie” is one of the world’s most famously unintelligible songs — and this haunted the FBI. In this episode, Ben and Noel recount the evolution of “Louie, Louie”, as well as Uncle Sam’s insanely thorough (and hilariously unsuccessful) attempt to figure out the song’s lyrics. The guys also rack up some extra credit with their special guest Christopher Hassiotis, who introduces them to the wide, wide world of “Louie, Louie” cover songs across multiple musical genres.
https://www.ridiculoushistoryshow.com/podcasts/the-fbis-quest-to-understand-louie-louie.htm