"Louie Louie Oh no,
We gotta go now...
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah"
This is the phrase from the song "Louie
Louie" that The Kingsmen made famous. Since this legendary
hit was first released, The Kingsmen have sold over 20 million
records. They have released 9 albums which have yielded 23 charted
singles and four top ten-hits. "Louie Louie" has been
the overwhelming theme adopted by fraternities, sororities, and
high-school's throughout the world. The Kingsmen's "Louie
Louie" has been used in movies such as Animal House,
Quadrophinia, Coupe de Ville, Spaced Invaders, Naked Gun, Past
Away, Dave, Jennifer 8,Mr. Holland's Opus, to name a few, as well
as being used in many advertising campaigns to associate their
products with good times. The Kingsmen have become America's
Favorite Party Band of all time.
In 1963, The Kingsmen were playing
local teenage nightclubs, high school proms supermarket openings,
and teen-dances in Portland Oregon, when someone in the band came
up with the idea of working on a cruise liner for the summer. The
cruise company required a demo tape of the band. So the band went
into a recording studio and recorded two songs. The session cost
$36 dollars, and lasted only one hour. After playing the tape for
some friends at KISN, a local radio station, the D.J.'s started
playing the recording on the air. The response was so incredible,
that The Kingsmen were offered a recording contract with a
national label. The $36 dollar wonder was "Louie
Louie". "Louie Louie" hit the national air waves in
October of 1963, and by December, the record was dead. Or so the
group thought. It seems as though, the parents of some students
from the University of Alabama got upset when they were told that
the song "Louie Louie" was circulating through their
school and it contained questionable lyrics. The wave of parental
outrage lead to the banning of the record in the state of Indiana.
This action, with the help of the national press, quickly
reached world wide attention. The F.C.C. and the F.B.I. launched
investigations. and "Louie Louie" took off. A few
million records later, a Federal Judge, deeming the lyrics
"unintelligible" lifted the bans, and The Kingsmen were
on their way. The next five years found the band traveling
nationally and making guest appearances on many national
television shows such as, Shindig, American Bandstand, Hullabaloo,
and Where the Action Is. Appearing in movies like, How to Stuff A
Wild Bikini, with Annette and Frankie, and performing with The
Beach Boys, Rolling Stones, The Zombies, Peter and Gordon, and
many ,many more. The band went on to record hits like, "The
Jolly Green Giant", "Money", and "Little Latin
Lupe Lu".
The past several years you could
find The Kingsmen in a "Louie Louie" parade in
Philadelphia with an estimated crowd of 200,000 plus, or doing
television commercials for "California Cooler",
"Purina Party Mix", "Pizza Hut", etc. or
appearing on television shows such as "Bloopers and Practical
Jokes", "Entertainment Tonight", "Tops of the
Pops", "Nashville Now" and the famed PBS Special
“Red, White Rock” to name a few.
Today, original members, Mike
Mitchell, and Dick Peterson are joined by Todd McPherson, Kim
Nicklaus and Steve Peterson as they tour the country with their
special magic and great rock and roll. The Kingsmen,
still going strong. continue playing conventions, fairs,
festivals, theme parks, colleges and benefits from coast to coast.
The Kingsmen are known for their maturity and professionalism
through out the world. They always portray hard-working,
fun-loving, all-American boys. The Kingsmen with "Louie
Louie" have become one of the most famous bands in the world
and are enjoyed by all generations.
In April of 1998, a United States
Federal court rendered a landmark decision in favor of The
Kingsmen , giving the ownership of all 105 original
recordings, back to The Kingsmen. In 1998 the US Supreme
Court upheld the decision.
In 2005 The Kingsmen were honored by
the Recording Academy (The Grammy’s) with a Lifetime Achievement
Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Music Industry.
