Song:Surfin' Bird
Album:Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection: The Greatest Novelty Records Of All Time
Surfin' Bird is probably one of the goofiest songs to make the top ten. It was the only big hit for The Trashmen and categorized them as a novelty surf music band. The group was from Minneapolis and recorded one single in 1962 as Jim Thaxter & The Travelers. The leader of The Trashmen was drummer singer Steve Wahrer. Other members were lead guitarist Tony Andreason, guitarist Dan Winslow and bassist Bob Reed. They were playing local clubs when Wahrer got the idea of basing a song on the doo wop group The Rivingtons hit Papa Oom Mow Mow. The Rivingtons also had a hit called The Bird's The Word. Local DJ Bill Diehl convinced The Trashmen to enter a Battle Of The Bands contest in Chicago. They won and signed with Garrett Records. Surfin' Bird was released and reached #4 in 1964. Wahrer attempted to take credit for writing the song but gave proper credit after a lawsuit was threatened. The Trashmen didn't have much success afterwards and split up in 1967. You might want to get Surfin' Bird on this 2CD comp of novelty songs compiled by Los Angeles DJ Barry Hansen AKA Dr. Demento. Stanley Kubrick used Surfin' Bird in his film Full Metal Jacket and this convinced The Trashmen to reunite. Steve Wahrer died in 1989 so Tony Andreason's brother Mark is the drummer. They still tour today and they got another boost when Surfin' Bird was used in a 2008 episode of Family Guy. Here's Steve Wahrer performing Surfin' Bird on American Bandstand 1964.
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