Sunday, January 13, 2019

Sunday morning music


Let's have a slightly zany look at a ridiculous song that grew out of 1960's rhythm & blues, segued into rock 'n roll, and went from there through punk rock, thrash rock and even Brazilian self-described "porno rock".

In 1962, the Rivingtons recorded a nonsensical doo-wop song titled "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow".





They went on to adapt the song into a follow-up tune called "Mama-Oom-Mow-Mow (The Bird)".





They developed this, in turn, into a third song called simply "The Bird".  Here's a live performance, showcasing the dance they "developed" for it.





That should sound familiar, because The Trashmen combined "Mana-Oom-Mow-Wow" and "The Bird" to produce a close copy of the songs.  They called it "Surfin' Bird".  It became a big hit for them in 1963.  They originally claimed it was their work, but the Rivington's lawyer intervened.  Thereafter, the latter group was credited as the originators.





You'd think the songs, individually or in combination, would die a natural death as later musical styles and genres succeeded them;  but you'd be wrong.  They've been recorded by a number of groups in different styles over the years, their nonsensical lyrics lending themselves to adaptation.  Here, for example, is disco star Giorgio Moroder's first hit, "Looky Looky", from 1969.  The backing singers are using "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" as a lyric.





Punk rock group The Ramones produced their rendition in 1977.  This recording is a live performance from late 1978.





German thrash metal band Sodom also performed the song.  I'd have thought it anything but suitable for that genre, but I guess anything can be made to fit if you beat it heavily enough!





Let's have one last example.  Brazilian rock group Os Cascavelletes (who described their genre as "porno rock") had a go at it in the 1980's.  They called their version "Pombo Surfista", and recorded it on their demo album.





I have little doubt future versions will be recorded, by groups and in genres as yet unknown.  The Bird lives!

Peter

10 comments:

Dad29 said...

I've waited YEARS for someone to finally post that compendium.

Thanks!

John Cunningham said...

Peter, you are clearly the Alexander von Humboldt of weird music. (Prostratingly "we are not worthy."

Mad Jack said...

Ghoulardi, the unsurpassed master of screwball live TV, used to play the Trashmen version of this song as a part of the show. This was back in 1963, when live TV really was live. I gather that Ghoulardi was a bit lit by the time he'd do the show, and most of it was ad-libbed. Urban legends about the show abounded, including one that involved a request for hub caps from your parents' car, and another that claimed he blew up a live mouse with a cherry bomb firework right in the studio. None of this was true, but it didn't hurt the ratings any.

Tal Hartsfeld said...

True classics live forever. Think: Mozart; Irving Berlin; Jerome Kern; Burt Bacharach; Cindy Walker; Jimmy Webb ....

Old NFO said...

ROTFLMAO! Probably... sigh

JWM said...

Shades of Doctor Demento!

And thank you, Mr. Grant, (not really) for the most annoying ear-worm of the year.

JWM

hdemand said...

I always liked the Trashmen more than the Ramones' version, later learned that they had shamelessly "borrowed" from the Rivingtons`songs.

Deep inside I suspected that more versions might be in existence. Somebody, somewhere, sometime HAD to write a complete essay. NEVER would have guessed that Peter would be the one...

Does anybody agree with me that Stanley Kubrick had choosen the perfect soundtrack for that Hue battle tank scene - just like Coppola did in that other awesome Nam movie?

Hansjoerg

Topher_Henry said...

It's interesting to see the tempo increasing through the versions. Just because you can play it fast doesn't mean it's a good idea. Another example of this is Devil Went Down to Georgia by Charlie Daniels, a great foot-stomping tune. The band Blues Traveler of 90s fame plays a rendition of that tune at what feels like nearly double the speed of the original. Makes for an interesting tribute to the original with the lead singer playing a harmonica in lieu of the fiddle from the original.

Keith_Indy said...

you forgot a huge revival...

https://binged.it/2FAPcF5

Bob Gibson said...

There's a little 'Oom Papa Mow-mow' action in the Oak Ridge Boys' signature song Elvira as well . . .

https://youtu.be/-qK-9eIF2yI