Ravenwood - 05/06/05 07:30 AM
Marching band students in Benton Harbor Michigan have been told not to play the song "Louie Louie", because of it's questionable lyrics. (Even though the lyrics aren't sung.)
"Louie Louie," written by Richard Berry in 1956, is one of the most recorded songs in history. The best-known, most notorious version was a hit in 1963 for the Kingsmen; the FBI spent two years investigating the lyrics before declaring they not only were not obscene but also were "unintelligible at any speed."The Smoking Gun has the scoop on the old federal case.
UPDATE: "'Louie Louie' ban reversed for school band" - Chicago Sun Times.
Category: Pleasure Police
Comments (3) top link me
The only problem seems to be that the Superintendent and a parent or two seem to have a stick up there ass, not to mention where their heads seem to be...
Posted by: Robert Garrard at May 6, 2005 11:07 AMThe Sandpipers' version is the nicest. Limbaugh did a Louie [Farakahn] Louie Oct 5, 2000 http://rhhardin.home.mindspring.com/rushcut.louie.ram
Before everybody jumps all over Benton Harbor Public Schools you should know that it's a very poor urban district with an overwhelmingly minority population. The administration may just be trying to raise standards and expectations. It seems to me to be a pretty good idea. Anytime the lyrics of a song come into question in a school setting, especially in the kind of setting Benton Harbor is in,(much poverty) it might not be a bad idea to move on to another song. Good for them for trying to improve their image.
Posted by: kjo at May 6, 2005 3:48 PM(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
