The Trashmen

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The Trashmen are a rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1962. The group's original lineup was Tony Andreason on lead guitar and vocals, Dal Winslow on guitar and vocals, Steve Wahrer on drums and vocals, and Bob Reed on bass guitar. The group played surf rock which included elements from garage rock. They have been described as being, along with Colorado-based band The Astronauts, "the premier landlocked Midwestern surf group of the '60s."

"Surfin' Bird"

The Trashmen's biggest hit was 1963's "Surfin' Bird", which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the latter part of that year. The song was a combination of two R&B hits by the Rivingtons, "The Bird's the Word" and "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow". Early pressings of the single credit the Trashmen as composers, but following a threat from the Rivingtons' legal counsel, that group was subsequently credited as composers. The early single was credited solely to the drummer (and singer) – Steve Wahrer. The song was later re-recorded by artists including the Ramones, the Cramps, Silverchair, the Psychotic Petunias, Pee-Wee Herman, Equipe 84, and the thrash metal band Sodom. It has been used in filmmaking and television productions including, most notably, Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, Vince Vaughn's "Fred Claus", John Waters' Pink Flamingos, Lyndall Hobbs' Back to the Beach (in which Pee-Wee Herman sang it) and the soundtrack to the video game Battlefield Vietnam.

Surfin' Bird

"Surfin' Bird" is a song performed by the American surf rock band The Trashmen, and it is also the name of the album that featured this hit single. It was released in 1963 and reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is a combination of two R&B hits by The Rivingtons: "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" and "The Bird's the Word".

History

The Rivingtons followed up their 1962 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 #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 successfully sued The Trashmen for plagiarism. There is apparently no truth to the urban legend which circulated in the late 1960s that the song had been written by Leonard Bernstein to show his disdain for rock'n'roll by proving that any song could become a hit.