Louie²

Without a doubt, the biggest mistake NASA ever made (and they've made plenty!) was the omission of Earth's unofficial anthem from the metal record they launched into space in 1977.

That song is, naturally, "Louie Louie".


The Kingsmen version (on that marvelous WAND label) is the benchmark, the template, the gold standard bearer; but other important versions have been set in motion by The Beach Boys, The Sonics, Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Kinks, The Clash, Iggy Pop, Black Flag, and of course, the original version by Richard Berry.

I once heard Jack Endino refer to Billy Childish derogatorily as "that Louie Louie guy", and I understood then that battle lines were drawn, perhaps billions of years ago, between we who are Louie Louie guys and those who don't have the Louie gene. Jack, there's something that you lack.


The kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever, that is "Louie Louie" still resonates and reverberates to the present day. It played a big part in the recent spy flick Knight and Day as Tom Cruise's cellphone ringtone.

We gotta go.

- - JSH