- Surfin' Bird
Infobox Single
Name =Surfin' Bird
Cover size =
Border =
Caption =album cover
Artist =The Trashmen
Album ="Surfin' Bird"
A-side =
B-side ="King of the Surf"
Released =1963
Format =7"
Recorded =1963
Genre =surf rock
Length =
Label =Garrett Records
Writer =
Producer =
Audio sample? =
Certification =
Last single =
This single ="Surfin' Bird"
(1963)
Next single ="Bird Dance Beat"
(1964)
Misc = "Surfin' Bird" is a song performed by Americansurf rock bandThe Trashmen , which reached #4 on theBillboard Hot 100 . It is a combination of two R&B hits byThe Rivingtons , "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow " and "The Bird's the Word" and was released in 1963, along with an album of the same name, becoming popular in theVietnam war era.Notably, it appears in the films "
Pink Flamingos " (performed by alip synching rectum ) [ [http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DztntoC7st6E DIVINE DRAG SECRETS 1981 on Technorati ] ] and "Full Metal Jacket ". It was also used in the video game "Battlefield Vietnam " (as a reference to theStanley Kubrick film).Lyrical content
The majority of the song's rapid fire lyrics are derived simply from the titles of two songs by
Los Angeles R&B groupThe Rivingtons - "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow", itself a parody ofdoo wop from 1962, and "The Bird's The Word" from 1963.Cover versions
This song has been covered many times, most notably by
punk rock band theRamones (1977), The Deviants,The Cramps (1979),The Queers (1994), PPM (2001) and Germanthrash metal group Sodom (on their Vietnam war concept album "M-16"). It was also covered byPee-Wee Herman in the movie "Back to the Beach " and by Australian groupSilverchair as a B-side.In popular culture
*The song was used in a scene in Kubrick's "
Full Metal Jacket ".
*The song was featured in 2003 on the 1960s period drama "American Dreams ". Meg Pryor and Roxanne Bojarski are shown dancing to the song on "American Bandstand ".
*A cover version of the song was used in the first episode of "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show ", but has been edited out in reruns since.
*"Bird, bird, bird, bird is the word!" is one of the billboard messages in "Animal Crossing Wild World "
*The Rivingtons' original "The Bird's the Word" was featured in the 1963 sci-fi/horror B film "The Crawling Hand ", accompanying a scene in which the title creature strangles a character to death. (When the film was subsequently featured in an early episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000 ", Tom Servo performed the song as "Murder's the word, mur-der's the word" during the scene.)
*The song was sung repeatedly by Peter Griffin in the "Family Guy " episode "I Dream of Jesus "References
External links
* [http://www.sundazed.com/artists/trashmen.html A Biography And Discography Of The Trashmen]
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