This is classified as a novelty song. Such songs were meant to be fun. Usually, they are making light of something. In this case, it was a style of music from the late 1950s and early 1960s. A number of novelty songs focused on horror movies popular at the time. "Purple People Eater" is an example. "They're Coming to Take Me Away" sung by a madman was popular in 1966. In the 1970s, people on dares would take off all their clothes and run through public areas. That resulted in the novelty song "The Streak." Again, all in fun.
I also recall, Monster Mash, Wolly Bully, Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Dot Bikini, The Name Game, I Don't Like Spiders and Snakes, Disco Duck, Louie Louie
OMG! LOL! I’d forgotten about the song, “They’re coming to take me away Ha Ha!” although How I could forget is surprising, given as kids in the sixties.. my brother (4 years older) used to love singing it ‘at me’.. while has ing me around and acting weird and creepy! Lol! 🤦♀🙄Here’s a link to it for when you want another one in what I’d call the category of very ‘odd entertainment songs’ 🤪🤣🤷♀😉 ua-cam.com/video/hnzHtm1jhL4/v-deo.html
This was actually a mash up of two songs by The Rivingtons, Doin' the Bird (which was a new dance being introduced) and Papa Oo Mau Mau. The Surfin' part of it was to take advantage surf music's popularity at that time. The trashman were actually a pretty talented local band out of Minneapolis. Most of their stuff included covers with a lot of harmony.
I loved the originals, especially Papa Oo Mau Mau. The Cramps did a version of Surfin’ Bird that sounds like they played with the vocal tape speed for the key changes. Kind of odd… ✌️
Yes sir but during the occupation in Vietnam this dude mashed them up (since we were all mashed up) and made song about it, like to hear it, herer it go!
I'm 60 years old and we would often play this when my grandpa was visiting...he would start laughing and say it was the craziest thing he'd ever heard.
Yep. If your life expectancy is minutes or hours, you admire the funny and happy things. Some of these other people don't get it and I hope they never will.
Let me break it down further for those who are mentally inept. The B-52's sing a song called "Rock Lobster" and while the lyrics are gibberish, the delivery of those lyrics are awesome and in parts of the song rally the troops to fight again. Some of you havent even ran 3 miles straight. Let me tell you. Music is a luxury... without music you get stuck with the voices in your head.
This very early punk rock. Proto-punk, lol. They were also surf rock, garage rock. '60s band. This song has been all over TV shows and movies. "Bird Dance Beat" was another good one from them and sounds almost like this one with Beach Boys vibes. "Bird 65", Malaguena", "Peppermint Man", "Bad News" also. Shoeshiners you could still find them at airports, military bases. or streets of poorer countries. Haven't yall heard? That the bird is the word!
*I found 2 reasons why birds poop on cars: 1) the shinier the paint the more it looks like water; and 2) there's a nest nearby and the mating birds see the car as an threat to their offspring.*
The sixties was a transition era, go from the Big Bands that dressed up to play in nightclubs to rock groups first dressing up in mod suits to be different, and the branching out in all directions.
you ate the 50s early rock and roll, because why not? 🤦♂ and from that to the Brill Building song factory, rythm and blues labels like Stax and Motown... that's the foundation for all the 60s rock and pop bands, starting by The Beatles
that movie is where anyone who was born after 1970 knows this song from after seeing the movie or trailer ;) It was a popular/awesome scene in the movie.
I grew up listening to this song. (My parents played it all the time.) It's impossible to resist the charm of this song. It's also impossible to forget the lyrics!
The Rivingtons followed up their 1963 Billboard Hot 100 hit "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" with the similar "The Bird's the Word" in 1963. The Trashmen had not heard this version but saw a band called the Sorensen Brothers playing it. They decided to play the song that night at their own gig. During this first performance, drummer and vocalist Steve Wahrer stopped playing and ad-libbed the "Surfin' Bird" middle section. Despite not knowing "The Bird's the Word" was a Rivingtons song, the similarity to "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" was obvious and the Trashmen added the chorus to the end of their new track. A local disc jockey, Bill Diehl, was at the gig and convinced the band to record the track. It was recorded at Kay Bank Studios in Minneapolis. Diehl entered it into a local battle of the bands competition and it won. It was then sent to a battle of the bands competition in Chicago where it also won. This led to the group being signed to Garrett Records with the single being quickly released. It reportedly sold 30,000 copies in its first weekend before going on to national success, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Wahrer was originally credited as the song's writer, but that was changed to The Rivingtons (Al Frazier, Carl White, Sonny Harris, and Turner Wilson Jr.) after the group threatened to sue The Trashmen for plagiarism.
This guy has the most unique voice I've ever heard, and I never even thought about it until now. On another note, I can't even think about this song any more without thinking of Family Guy.
This guy who dance is . Andre van duin . This was his first show . Hi is not singen but just dancing . On dutch tv . Andre van duin . Is very famous in the netherland
Pee Wee Herman [Paul Reubens] did this in Back to the Beach movie ca. 1987/1988. Everybody lost it laughing. sounded like this record speeded up on the voice, they had him flying in the air and such.
There was a transition period in music at the end of the 1950s. Elvis in the army, Berry in jail...there seemed to be a conspiracy to kill rock n roll by the establishment. There came a glut of Bobby singers. Bobby Rydell, Bobby Curtola, Bobby Darrin, Bobby Vinton, Bobby Vee. They all sang sanitized rock songs. Pat Boone took standards like " Tutti Frutti " and homogenized them for the white milk market. Then, there came the " novelty songs " of the sixties. Alley Oop, Polka Dot Bikini, Mr. Custer, Chewing Gum lose it's Flavor, ad nauseum. Into this mixture of puerile nonsense, a group from Liverpool arrived and restored a focus on good music. That's the facts.
Reminds me of listening to my favorite radio show growing up in the 70's. The great Dr. Demento and all the crazy novelty songs he would share from his collection.
remember it well. one of the whimsical "novelty" songs of the late 50's-60's. Besides the ones listed below (very good ones) here are a few: Jim Stafford - spiders and snakes, wildwood weed; Ray Stevens had several, including: The Streak, Shriners convention, Ahab the Arab-'62. Ray Stevens also released a sincere sweet song in 1970 - Everything is Beautiful. Bobby Pickett released a novelty song in October 1964 - "The Monster Mash". Others: Snoopy vs the Red Baron, Little Nash Rambler, Hot Rod Lincoln
I haven't heard very many reactions to some of the big novelty songs of the 1960s, and there are some quite entertaining ones. A few favorites: "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah," "Gitarzan," "Tennessee Bird Walk," "Speedy Gonzalez" and "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport."
This is the word. I was just going to make the same comment before seeing yours. Cover the mirror and save on paper towels. We also have wild turkeys in our area that will gather around a clean black vehicle to gobble at their reflections, and then attack the owner when they try to get near! Only solution is to not wash the car... until after Thanksgiving.
Everytime I hear this song, I either think of 'Full Metal Jacket' or the 'Family Guy' episode when Peter buys this song on record form and plays it over and over again annoying everyone else in the house. This is a classic novelty song.
Nobody has commented on the fact that that the song switched to a performance by Andre van Duin at about 1.15 minutes in. He was in a television program 'nieuwe oogst' (new harvest) which tried to discover new talent in the netherlands. His act was miming to a tape, that's why he was known as a tapeparodist in his early career. He was in fact parodying the previous song!
Although the song looks silly, its lasting appeal is not from the silliness. It's from the rhythm and the rawness of the sound. It helped mark the end of doo-wop and to keep rock rooted. Y'all also need to check out The Sonics, and their garage rock, proto-punk sound. My favorite of theirs is Have Love Will Travel, but I may be in a minority. BTW: These are covers, with serious additions for a different genre. Y'all also need to check out The Rivington's original version, along with Richard Berry's original versions of Louie, Louie and Have Love Will Travel.
Proto-punk indeed! I heard this song growing up, but it wasn't until this video that I caught a riff and thought "the Violent Femmes must have loved this."
How great were The Sonics? The Beatles invited them to open their show in Seattle, just up the road from The Sonics hometown of Tacoma. An essential Sonics song is The Witch
There were sub subcultures within subcultures . Like the punk movement had all kind of bands. There were punk bands like the cramps that went their own way. Most were very fun live. Some I would only like live. Like fishbone. Live was a wild experience. The records just never captured them at all. I was only giving an example from other subcultures.
You would not believe how popular this song was when it was out. God knows, it sure did jump right out of the speaker whenever it came on the radio. Which was often for a couple of months.
This song also had some resurgence in the late 70's and early 80's from being in the Apocolypse Now movie. And then had more popularity in culture by being featured in the Battlefield: Vietnam video game in the early 2000s by switching radio stations in the Jeep.
Back in the day, suits were worn by most people, it was unusual to see a woman out and about without a hat and gloves. My grandmother wore a corset under a neat suit, a hat, gloves and a fox fur. Do some research on vintage Vogue sewing patterns... or old catalogues. In the 50's it was the rebels who started wearing less formal clothing in public, the older generation were not at all approving of that. See the video for The Shangri-las, "Leader of the Pack." There is an early Debbie Renyolds and Jane Powell, movie called "Two weeks with Love" about fashion among other things.
You're right. There's an episode in the I Love Lucy Show where Lucy is bored an tries to convince Ethel that they should go out to town and do something. Ethel tells Lucy she doesn't have anything to wear because she hasn't done the laundry. Lucy tells Ethel to just go dressed as she is... to which Ethel replies that she would never be caught wearing jeans in public and what would people think of her looking dressed like that in public! In most of the 50's and early 60's, the older generation - like you said - wore formal wear and so did the young adults too; but it was the teenagers that wore informal clothes like jeans an so, that reflected the era of music like Rock and Roll and it's influence.
Yes, people got dressed up to go to the doctor or get on an airplane. Guys wore fedoras, not ball caps. Actually, I think a lot of people dress like crap these days.
I've always heard that this was for military bases when the colonel was coming. The colonel rank symbol is a bird and this was played over the loud speakers on base to let people know the colonel was around but also to not give away anything about a person of higher position in case the enemy was spying
From Pop Culture Dictionary..."In their 1963 single “Surfin’ Bird,” surf-rock garage band The Trashmen sing repeatedly: “A well a don’t you know about the bird? Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word! A well a bird, bird, b-bird’s the word.” The song was inspired by two contemporary songs by the doo-wop group The Rivingtons: “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” and “Bird is the Word.” The bird refers to a dance craze in the 1960s. The Trashmen noticed the two songs sounded alike, so they mashed them together in a live performance. A DJ at the show brought them into the studio to record the mashup under the title “Surfin’ Bird.” While The Trashmen’s inspiration for “Surfin’ Bird” is well-documented, the exact origin and meaning of the saying bird is the word is less clear. Bird has carried many slang connotations throughout its history, from “prostitute” to “the middle finger.” In the context of the song, and in subsequent contexts, bird is the word characterizes something as good, cool, or new and revolutionary."
Brad still wishes he could find a lyric video for this song, lol. The Vietnam War movie “Full Metal Jacket” used this song. You two should watch any Beatles movie, Monty Python sketch, or “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in” for proof that the 1960’s had its share of silliness.
When I was kid this song appeared on a compilation album of oddball songs called Goofy Greats. As kids we found this song hilarious but we never saw this performance which I will admit is uh... special. Brad your face had me in stitches. The song also appeared in a scene from Kubric's Full Metal Jacket. - talk about contrast
"Whats the word? THUNDERBIRD! How's its sold? GOOD AND COLD!"
The bird was a dance also..I know I was a gogo girl in the 60's..71 now..Can't go no more !!!LOL
This is classified as a novelty song. Such songs were meant to be fun. Usually, they are making light of something. In this case, it was a style of music from the late 1950s and early 1960s. A number of novelty songs focused on horror movies popular at the time. "Purple People Eater" is an example. "They're Coming to Take Me Away" sung by a madman was popular in 1966. In the 1970s, people on dares would take off all their clothes and run through public areas. That resulted in the novelty song "The Streak." Again, all in fun.
My granddaughter loved "Alley Oop" when she was small and we would listen to the cassette in the car every time she rode with me
I also recall, Monster Mash, Wolly Bully, Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Dot Bikini, The Name Game, I Don't Like Spiders and Snakes, Disco Duck, Louie Louie
Hello Mother, Hello Father was another one, I remember having the album Goofy Gold.
OMG! LOL! I’d forgotten about the song, “They’re coming to take me away Ha Ha!” although How I could forget is surprising, given as kids in the sixties.. my brother (4 years older) used to love singing it ‘at me’.. while has ing me around and acting weird and creepy! Lol! 🤦♀🙄Here’s a link to it for when you want another one in what I’d call the category of very ‘odd entertainment songs’ 🤪🤣🤷♀😉 ua-cam.com/video/hnzHtm1jhL4/v-deo.html
"Don't look, Ethyl!"
Ray Stephens is a rabbit hole on his own.
Him walking around in circles flapping his arms around like a bird is the funniest part.
Guy was ahead of his time.
Doctor, he still is. 🐤
This was actually a mash up of two songs by The Rivingtons, Doin' the Bird (which was a new dance being introduced) and Papa Oo Mau Mau. The Surfin' part of it was to take advantage surf music's popularity at that time. The trashman were actually a pretty talented local band out of Minneapolis. Most of their stuff included covers with a lot of harmony.
I loved the originals, especially Papa Oo Mau Mau.
The Cramps did a version of Surfin’ Bird that sounds like they played with the vocal tape speed for the key changes. Kind of odd… ✌️
Love the info, thank u!
Yes sir but during the occupation in Vietnam this dude mashed them up (since we were all mashed up) and made song about it, like to hear it, herer it go!
my father drank beer with these guys in high school when they were a garage band. i had to grow up hearing him attempt to sing this tune
There was an entire Family Guy episode about this song and the single 45 record. Thank God.
The best episode!
Speaking of God,Jesus was in that episode wasn't he?
When they came to take him away in a straight jacket he simply flew away, laughing.
Inspiration for one of my favorite Family Guy episodes ever. "Oh, Brian. Have you not heard?"😂
Peter Griffin likes this
That episode is awesome. The 420 episode slays me, though!
🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤣🤣🤣💀⚰️🪦
I thought everyone knew.
I haven't heard.
This guy sounds like Peter Griffin 🤭🎶
Great surfing song, eh? Heh-heh! The band is from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
To me this song is just "Full Metal Jacket". That was the first time I heard it and that is what it conjures up, the frantic madness of war.
Reminds me of Peter Griffin
I'm 60 years old and we would often play this when my grandpa was visiting...he would start laughing and say it was the craziest thing he'd ever heard.
lmao classic . was waiting for Brad to dissect the words... but bird is the word. Lex is like, this is going on all my playlists.
This is why the Aliens don’t actually reveal themselves.
The guy who did that song and dance was an alien 👽
Peter on Family Guy, and I, love this tune.
this video is actually a Dutch comedian Andre van Duin who did multiple song parodies in his act, this was his break through in 1964
"...and that's why we eat a lot of chicken."
🤣🤣🤣
Arguably the greatest song lyric ever written.
Your assertion -- much like the greatness of song lyrics -- is infinitely arguable. 😉
This “song” was obnoxious in 1963 and will remain so forever.
Imagine all the time and brainpower that was used to come up with such lyrics
Yep. If your life expectancy is minutes or hours, you admire the funny and happy things. Some of these other people don't get it and I hope they never will.
Let me break it down further for those who are mentally inept. The B-52's sing a song called "Rock Lobster" and while the lyrics are gibberish, the delivery of those lyrics are awesome and in parts of the song rally the troops to fight again. Some of you havent even ran 3 miles straight. Let me tell you. Music is a luxury... without music you get stuck with the voices in your head.
Can't stop thinking about Peter on Family Guy! 😎
Brad: I thought the 60's were mature.
Batman: hold my milk old chum I have to beat the Joker in a surf contest.
This very early punk rock. Proto-punk, lol. They were also surf rock, garage rock. '60s band. This song has been all over TV shows and movies.
"Bird Dance Beat" was another good one from them and sounds almost like this one with Beach Boys vibes. "Bird 65", Malaguena", "Peppermint Man", "Bad News" also.
Shoeshiners you could still find them at airports, military bases. or streets of poorer countries.
Haven't yall heard? That the bird is the word!
Surfin Bird= Pure, unadulterated joy......with a dash of madness....
The Bird was actually a dance in the 60's
*I found 2 reasons why birds poop on cars: 1) the shinier the paint the more it looks like water; and 2) there's a nest nearby and the mating birds see the car as an threat to their offspring.*
The performer in this video is Hollands greatest living comic Andre Van Duin, this is NOT the original video of the artist/band 😂
They played this at the skating rink so much it eventually got on my nerves. LOL
The sixties was a transition era, go from the Big Bands that dressed up to play in nightclubs to rock groups first dressing up in mod suits to be different, and the branching out in all directions.
you ate the 50s early rock and roll, because why not? 🤦♂
and from that to the Brill Building song factory, rythm and blues labels like Stax and Motown... that's the foundation for all the 60s rock and pop bands, starting by The Beatles
The Big Band era was from the 1930s through the 40s, and began fading in the early 50s
First heard this in Full Metal Jacket, then Peter Griffin gave it a whole new lease on life
This always reminds me of the 1987 film " full metal jacket" think it was used in the trailer
that movie is where anyone who was born after 1970 knows this song from after seeing the movie or trailer ;) It was a popular/awesome scene in the movie.
Is that you John Wayne? Is this me?
Hey! This is Vietnam the Movie!
this song always makes me laugh. released all the way back in 1963. glad you did the video version to see the famous bird dance at the end.
I grew up listening to this song. (My parents played it all the time.) It's impossible to resist the charm of this song. It's also impossible to forget the lyrics!
The Rivingtons followed up their 1963 Billboard Hot 100 hit "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" with the similar "The Bird's the Word" in 1963. The Trashmen had not heard this version but saw a band called the Sorensen Brothers playing it. They decided to play the song that night at their own gig. During this first performance, drummer and vocalist Steve Wahrer stopped playing and ad-libbed the "Surfin' Bird" middle section. Despite not knowing "The Bird's the Word" was a Rivingtons song, the similarity to "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" was obvious and the Trashmen added the chorus to the end of their new track.
A local disc jockey, Bill Diehl, was at the gig and convinced the band to record the track. It was recorded at Kay Bank Studios in Minneapolis. Diehl entered it into a local battle of the bands competition and it won. It was then sent to a battle of the bands competition in Chicago where it also won. This led to the group being signed to Garrett Records with the single being quickly released. It reportedly sold 30,000 copies in its first weekend before going on to national success, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Wahrer was originally credited as the song's writer, but that was changed to The Rivingtons (Al Frazier, Carl White, Sonny Harris, and Turner Wilson Jr.) after the group threatened to sue The Trashmen for plagiarism.
This guy has the most unique voice I've ever heard, and I never even thought about it until now.
On another note, I can't even think about this song any more without thinking of Family Guy.
That's what popped into my head first too! Peter playing this incessantly and annoying the crap out of his family 🤣
yup peter sounds just like the singer.
You're of course referring to the news headline concerning a certain species of an ornithological variety...
This guy who dance is . Andre van duin . This was his first show . Hi is not singen but just dancing . On dutch tv . Andre van duin . Is very famous in the netherland
Sam the Sham & the Pharos often had catchy ditties like Wooly Bully, etc
Around that time it was a lot of novelty songs out
I didn't realize that they hadn't heard...
Nothing but a novelty songs one of many songs of the 50's and 60's.
I couldn't have made this song but I'm so glad they did. lol
My friend in the Corps was Denny Burdine. After this song he was “The Bird” forever.
Pee Wee Herman [Paul Reubens] did this in Back to the Beach movie ca. 1987/1988. Everybody lost it laughing. sounded like this record speeded up on the voice, they had him flying in the air and such.
There was a transition period in music at the end of the 1950s. Elvis in the army, Berry in jail...there seemed to be a conspiracy to kill rock n roll by the establishment. There came a glut of Bobby singers. Bobby Rydell, Bobby Curtola, Bobby Darrin, Bobby Vinton, Bobby Vee. They all sang sanitized rock songs. Pat Boone took standards like " Tutti Frutti " and homogenized them for the white milk market. Then, there came the " novelty songs " of the sixties. Alley Oop, Polka Dot Bikini, Mr. Custer, Chewing Gum lose it's Flavor, ad nauseum. Into this mixture of puerile nonsense, a group from Liverpool arrived and restored a focus on good music. That's the facts.
Not to mention Little Richard went religious too for a bit.
Pure raucous outrageous ‘60s garage rock. You can never go wrong.
Reminds me of listening to my favorite radio show growing up in the 70's. The great Dr. Demento and all the crazy novelty songs he would share from his collection.
Family guy really made this famous again lol
Huge difference between the early and mid-late 1960's.
LMAO _ the expression on your face Brad...hahaha. This was a GREAT song lol...and let me tell you...that song gets in your head.....for-ev-er.....
I was 10 years old when this came out and I loved it!
remember it well. one of the whimsical "novelty" songs of the late 50's-60's. Besides the ones listed below (very good ones) here are a few: Jim Stafford - spiders and snakes, wildwood weed; Ray Stevens had several, including: The Streak, Shriners convention, Ahab the Arab-'62. Ray Stevens also released a sincere sweet song in 1970 - Everything is Beautiful. Bobby Pickett released a novelty song in October 1964 - "The Monster Mash". Others: Snoopy vs the Red Baron, Little Nash Rambler, Hot Rod Lincoln
I haven't heard very many reactions to some of the big novelty songs of the 1960s, and there are some quite entertaining ones. A few favorites: "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah," "Gitarzan," "Tennessee Bird Walk," "Speedy Gonzalez" and "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport."
My granddaughter loved dancing to this. She had the whole dance down. lol
Maybe one of the silliest songs in history. 😂
That's what you come up with during the long cold winters in Minneapolis
This is acknowledged as the first proto-punk song. The Ramones remade it.
Lex, the bird that sits & shits on the truck door handle likely perches there just to look at itself in the mirror. Some birds are very vain. 🐦
maybe cover the mirror til they need it.
Yup. Happened to me too. Cover the mirror for a couple of days and the bird will move on… to someone else’s rear view mirror toilet.
This is the word. I was just going to make the same comment before seeing yours. Cover the mirror and save on paper towels. We also have wild turkeys in our area that will gather around a clean black vehicle to gobble at their reflections, and then attack the owner when they try to get near! Only solution is to not wash the car... until after Thanksgiving.
This reminds me of Family Guy. . .don't know if I've ever heard the actual song.
birds like to poop on shiny things, like door handles. you have to give them credit, they are pretty accurate dive bombers! 🐦
Just a true novelty song of the day like The Purple People eater and The Monster Mash!
My 4 year old grandson loves this song. He knows the whole thing
Such a novelty classic!!!
Can't hear this song now without seeing Peter Griffin dancing in my mind!!
🤣🤣🤣
Peter: "I say, have you heard the news of an ornithological nature?"
Stewie" "Nooo!"
I can't hear this song without thinking of the Ramones or the Cramps versions.
“And that’s why we eat a lot of chicken”.
BWAHAHAHAHA!
Best novelty song ever. What if the bird really is the word?
I sing this to my grandson. He loves it.
This is perhaps one of the most perfect rock songs ever.
Everytime I hear this song, I either think of 'Full Metal Jacket' or the 'Family Guy' episode when Peter buys this song on record form and plays it over and over again annoying everyone else in the house.
This is a classic novelty song.
Lol...Watching your faces throughout that whole song was priceless "Like, how are we suppose to react to this?"
Lol. I'm glad you guys finally saw this video. Bummer I missed this on livestream
Played this song in pep band in the 90's for basketball games. Wow!
Ongoing joke. "Have you heard???" Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba uh mow mow poppa umma mow mow!!🤣
Nobody has commented on the fact that that the song switched to a performance by Andre van Duin at about 1.15 minutes in. He was in a television program 'nieuwe oogst' (new harvest) which tried to discover new talent in the netherlands. His act was miming to a tape, that's why he was known as a tapeparodist in his early career. He was in fact parodying the previous song!
Poetic lyrical genius
I crack up every time I see this. My Grandson said Poppa what is wrong with him. Classic
The rhythm section was solid.
🏄♂️ Everybody knows that the bird is the word!
Although the song looks silly, its lasting appeal is not from the silliness. It's from the rhythm and the rawness of the sound. It helped mark the end of doo-wop and to keep rock rooted. Y'all also need to check out The Sonics, and their garage rock, proto-punk sound. My favorite of theirs is Have Love Will Travel, but I may be in a minority. BTW: These are covers, with serious additions for a different genre. Y'all also need to check out The Rivington's original version, along with Richard Berry's original versions of Louie, Louie and Have Love Will Travel.
"Cinderella" by The Sonics definitely has a permanent spot on my playlist!
Proto-punk indeed! I heard this song growing up, but it wasn't until this video that I caught a riff and thought "the Violent Femmes must have loved this."
Using humor to push musical boundaries.
How great were The Sonics?
The Beatles invited them to open their show in Seattle, just up the road from The Sonics hometown of Tacoma.
An essential Sonics song is The Witch
Have Love Will Travel by the Sonics was 15 years ahead of its time. Perfect song.
You need to hire him to scare off the birds.
Haven't heard that in quite awhile! LOL
The 80s Psycho Billy band “The Cramps” do a great version of this song which is definitely worth a listen.
I saw The Cramps in concert back in the days . I still have the the album on vinyl with the yellow cover and that creepy face on it💀
@@guitarman8462 I saw them live in 86 a wild show
@@iainweller452 if I remember , I think that's the yr I saw them . I also saw The Clash in the late 70's & early 80's.
There were sub subcultures within subcultures . Like the punk movement had all kind of bands. There were punk bands like the cramps that went their own way. Most were very fun live. Some I would only like live. Like fishbone. Live was a wild experience. The records just never captured them at all. I was only giving an example from other subcultures.
You would not believe how popular this song was when it was out. God knows, it sure did jump right out of the speaker whenever it came on the radio. Which was often for a couple of months.
Featured in almost every Vietnam war movie....it grows on ya
brad's reaction was the same as mine-just busted out laughing!
This song also had some resurgence in the late 70's and early 80's from being in the Apocolypse Now movie. And then had more popularity in culture by being featured in the Battlefield: Vietnam video game in the early 2000s by switching radio stations in the Jeep.
Back in the day, suits were worn by most people, it was unusual to see a woman out and about without a hat and gloves. My grandmother wore a corset under a neat suit, a hat, gloves and a fox fur. Do some research on vintage Vogue sewing patterns... or old catalogues. In the 50's it was the rebels who started wearing less formal clothing in public, the older generation were not at all approving of that. See the video for The Shangri-las, "Leader of the Pack." There is an early Debbie Renyolds and Jane Powell, movie called "Two weeks with Love" about fashion among other things.
You're right. There's an episode in the I Love Lucy Show where Lucy is bored an tries to convince Ethel that they should go out to town and do something. Ethel tells Lucy she doesn't have anything to wear because she hasn't done the laundry. Lucy tells Ethel to just go dressed as she is... to which Ethel replies that she would never be caught wearing jeans in public and what would people think of her looking dressed like that in public!
In most of the 50's and early 60's, the older generation - like you said - wore formal wear and so did the young adults too; but it was the teenagers that wore informal clothes like jeans an so, that reflected the era of music like Rock and Roll and it's influence.
Yes, people got dressed up to go to the doctor or get on an airplane. Guys wore fedoras, not ball caps. Actually, I think a lot of people dress like crap these days.
Crows/Ravens...very intelligent birds that have long memories and are able to use 'logic'. Fascinating.
Too often dismissed as a novelty song. This is punk. In 1963! Years ahead of their time.
It can be both.
Ramones and Cramps agree.
Yes, bad punk.
Proto punk
I thought Stewie, and Brian destroyed every copy out there 👍
Can still hear Peter singing this
I had to scroll way too far down to find a family guy comment
Finally... there it is... 😊
I've always heard that this was for military bases when the colonel was coming. The colonel rank symbol is a bird and this was played over the loud speakers on base to let people know the colonel was around but also to not give away anything about a person of higher position in case the enemy was spying
"Surfin' Bird" and Wolly Bully" are the best songs ever!!!
This type of music is along the lines of surf rock, but it’s also an early proto-punk.
From Pop Culture Dictionary..."In their 1963 single “Surfin’ Bird,” surf-rock garage band The Trashmen sing repeatedly:
“A well a don’t you know about the bird?
Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word!
A well a bird, bird, b-bird’s the word.”
The song was inspired by two contemporary songs by the doo-wop group The Rivingtons: “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” and “Bird is the Word.” The bird refers to a dance craze in the 1960s. The Trashmen noticed the two songs sounded alike, so they mashed them together in a live performance. A DJ at the show brought them into the studio to record the mashup under the title “Surfin’ Bird.”
While The Trashmen’s inspiration for “Surfin’ Bird” is well-documented, the exact origin and meaning of the saying bird is the word is less clear. Bird has carried many slang connotations throughout its history, from “prostitute” to “the middle finger.” In the context of the song, and in subsequent contexts, bird is the word characterizes something as good, cool, or new and revolutionary."
The bird is definitely the word! :-)
Brad still wishes he could find a lyric video for this song, lol. The Vietnam War movie “Full Metal Jacket” used this song. You two should watch any Beatles movie, Monty Python sketch, or “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in” for proof that the 1960’s had its share of silliness.
It was playing in Full Metal Jacket as they were shelling a city with tanks.
I was really disappointed Brad didn’t try to figure out the meaning of this song. It’s such a gimme and he could finally get one right.
the 1980s punk band The Cramps did a cover of this song
I remember my big brothers spit shine their shoes to a high gloss finish just to go to high school class… shoes with metal taps
When I was kid this song appeared on a compilation album of oddball songs called Goofy Greats. As kids we found this song hilarious but we never saw this performance which I will admit is uh... special. Brad your face had me in stitches. The song also appeared in a scene from Kubric's Full Metal Jacket. - talk about contrast
Jeez lighten up, this fills the dance floor even today
Lex's smile during this was everything! Beautiful lady.
And that’s where hip hop came from. 😂