Surfin' Bird

"Surfin' Bird"
Cover of the 1995 re-issue of the album that featured the single
Single by The Trashmen
from the album Surfin' Bird
B-side	"King of the Surf"
Released	November 13, 1963 (US) February 20, 1964 (Canada)
Format	7"
Recorded	1963
Genre	Surf rock, garage rock
Length	2:24 2:20 (Canada)
Label	Snuff Garrett, Apex (Canada)
Writer(s)	Al Frazier Carl White Sonny Harris Turner Wilson Jr.
Producer	Jack Bates
The Trashmen singles chronology
- "Surfin' Bird" (1963) "Bird Dance Beat" (1964)

"Surfin' Bird" is a song performed by the American surf rock band The Trashmen; it is also the name of the album that featured this hit single. It was released in 1963 and reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is a combination of two R&B hits by The Rivingtons: "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" and "The Bird's the Word".

History

The Rivingtons followed up their 1962 Billboard Hot 100 hit Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow with the similar The Bird's the Word in 1963. The Trashmen had not heard this version but saw a band called The Sorensen Brothers playing it. They decided to play the song that night at their own gig. During this first performance, drummer and vocalist Steve Wahrer stopped playing and ad-libbed the "Surfin' Bird" middle section. Despite not knowing "The Bird's the Word" was a Rivingtons song, the similarity to "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" was obvious and The Trashmen added the chorus to the end of their new track.

A local disc jockey, Bill Diehl, was at the gig and convinced the band to record the track. It was recorded at Kay Bank Studios in Minneapolis. Diehl entered it into a local battle of the bands competition and it won. It was then sent to a battle of the bands competition in Chicago where it also won. This led to the group being signed to Garrett Records with the single being quickly released. It reportedly sold 30,000 copies in its first weekend before going on to national success, reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Christmas number one single campaign (2010)

In 2010, the song became part of a Facebook campaign in the UK to make the single the Christmas number one single and prevent The X Factor winner Matt Cardle's song When We Collide, a cover of the Biffy Clyro track Many of Horror, from reaching the number one spot. Within the first 48 hours, Surfin' Bird hit the Top 10 in downloads. Surfin' Bird charted at number 3, beaten by Cardle's single and "What's My Name?" by Rihanna featuring Drake; nonetheless, it was one of the highest charting of numerous anti-X Factor campaigns and the most successful of 2010 beating John Cage's 4′33″, Biffy Clyro's original version of Many of Horror and Ellie Goulding's version of "Your Song", which was used in the Christmas themed advert for John Lewis.

Album track listing

Side 1

1. "Surfin' Bird"
2. "King of the Surf"
3. "Henrietta"
4. "Misirlou"
5. "Malagueña"
6. "It's So Easy"

Side 2

1. "Tube City"
2. "My Woodie"
3. "Bird Bath"
4. "Kuk"
5. "Money (That's What I Want)"
6. "Sleeper"

Bonus tracks (CD)

1. "Surfin' Bird [Demo Version]"
2. "Bird Dance Beat [Demo Version]"
3. "Walkin' My Baby"
4. "Dancin' with Santa"

Chart performance

Chart (1963)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	4
Chart (2009)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	50
Chart (2010)	Peak position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)	3

Covers

• "Surfin' Bird" was instrumentally covered by The Centurions on their 1963 album Surfers' Pajama Party.
• "Surfin' Bird" was covered by the Ramones on their 1977 album Rocket to Russia.
• "Surfin' Bird" was also covered by The Cramps on their 1978 debut single on Vengeance Records; it also appeared on their 1979 album Gravest Hits and on their 1983 compilation album Off the Bone.
• "Surfin' Bird" was covered by the Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo on the maxi single "The Bird" in 1993.
• Sodom, on their 2001 album M-16.
• Pee Wee Herman covered the song on the soundtrack of the film Back to the Beach.
• Silverchair covered the song on their 1997 single The Door.

Though not technically a cover, Orbital sampled heavily from the original version on "Tension" from their 2001 album The Altogether.

Also, the song "Motherfucker" by the Dwarves is loosely based on "Surfin' Bird".

In popular culture

• Meatwad and Carl from the American cartoon Aqua Teen Hunger Force discuss Thanksgiving, and Carl asks if he has a "bird" over there, and he says, "Oh hell yeah. Bird is the word!"
• The song is featured in the "birthday party" sequence of the 1972 cult film Pink Flamingos, where it accompanies the performance of a nude contortionist.
• This song was also used in Stanley Kubrick's film Full Metal Jacket.
• This song could be heard in the Battlefield Vietnam, as well as the similar Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam
• This song is prominently featured in the Family Guy episode I Dream of Jesus (Season 7 Episode 2) as Peter Griffin's favorite song, and has since become a running gag throughout the series.
• The song is also featured in the movie "Fred Claus" starring Vince Vaughn.
• It is also mentioned during a driving scene in Deadly Premonition.
• "Surfin' Bird" was used for the dance game Just Dance published by Ubisoft.
• The chorus of "Surfin' Bird" is used by Bluebird to promote Bluebird chips. In this version, the chorus becomes "Bluebird's the word" and featured penguins carrying packets of chips under their flippers.
• The invented "bang-bang-bangity-bang" song in the episode "Of Course" from the TV show "How I Met Your Mother" is sung to the tune of Surfin' Bird.
• In the movie The Big Year, the character played by Jack Black has the song as the ringtone for his mobile phone. The ringtone is heard several times throughout the movie when someone calls him.

External links

• A Biography And Discography Of The Trashmen