In January 1964, 'Louie, Louie' peaked at No. People were actually looking to buy the record. The song broke out in October 1963 after Arnie 'Woo Woo' Ginsburg of WMEX radio in Boston featured it on his 'Worst Record of the Week' segment and came to work the next day to find 50 calls from record stores. But then if Ely's singing had been easily understood, 'Louie, Louie' wouldn't be a legend. Lead singer Jack Ely's vocal is largely incoherent partly because the microphone was suspended too high above his head and partly because he wore braces. The drummer, Lynn Easton, lost the beat at one point and never quite found it again. 'Louie, Louie' was exactly what it sounds like - a demo record, recorded in one take, in one hour, for which the band paid either $37, $38, $44 or $50, depending on whose memory you believe.

In 1961, Seattle's Rockin' Robin Roberts and The Wailers had another regional hit, and then, in April 1963, The Kingsmen recorded the song that would make them rock and roll immortals and FBI suspects. And a cha-cha.īerry's version was a minor regional hit in Southern California, but by 1959 the struggling songwriter was happy to sell the publishing and songwriting rights for a flat $750. The song was written by a 21-year-old Los Angeles studio musician named Richard Berry in 1956 and in its original incarnation 'Louie, Louie' was a sea chanty. In fact, 'Louie, Louie' was an old song before The Kingsmen ever stepped into Northwest Recorders on a morning in April 1963.

Louie Louie by Dave Marsh