From KCRW, this is Lost Notes.

Hey, new friends. I've been obsessed with one particular song lately.

I know what you're thinking. And no, I'm not a baby boomer yelling at the noise you kids call music. I'm Solomon

Georgio, and I'm a music fanatic, but my music knowledge is mostly limited to the astrological

signs of each and every spice girl. Then, I met a reporter who told me all about Louis-Louis.

It was one of the first and only songs that I ever learned how to play on the guitar.

It's very simple chords, isn't it?

Yeah, it's very simple.

This is David Weinberg.

He's a reporter for KCRW, and he has spent the last year as an unofficial expert on this song.

And to this day, if you ask me right now to sing Louis-Louis, I don't know that I could sing it and get the lyrics right.

I mean, the beauty of Louis-Louis is like as long as you just like belt it out with enthusiasm,

like that's all that matters. As long as you get to the point where everyone screams Louis-Louis at the same time and spill beer all over the sounds. Yeah, that's the whole point of the song, you know.

Maybe you've heard it a bunch, but Louis-Louis is a cornerstone of rock and roll. Practically everyone who's ever

touched an electric guitar has banged out their own version. Whether it's a 15-year-old in their

garage or Black Flag, or blondey, or even the fat boys, you'd probably think the Kingsman

version was the first one.

And that's a good guess.

It's what I thought too, but it ain't.

That was Richard Barry.

Richard Barry wrote and recorded the song in South LA in the late 50s.

I look at Louis-Loy and I said, don't ask me why this song has been recorded, has been so controversy.

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