Louie Louie (1993)

In this witty and insightful book, Louie Louie, Marsh convincingly argues that the kitschy frat-rock classic ''Louie Louie'' is actually one of pop culture's greatest phenomena. From its roots in the 1950s Los Angeles Latin-and-R&B music scene to the song's unintelligible 1963 rerecording by the Kingsmen (which prompted an FBI investigation into the supposedly ''obscene'' lyrics) to its myriad reincarnations in the ensuing decades, ''Louie Louie'' emerges as the indestructible anthem of the underdog. The occasional wild hyperbole notwithstanding ('''Louie Louie' was created about as amateurishly as the atomic bomb''), Marsh explores the song's relationship to race, censorship, and the essence of rock & roll in sharp, funny prose. A-