What: Louie Louie 24 Hour Marathon – Portland’s Only 24 Hour
Live Music Performance of the Hit Song Louie Louie

When: 2023, Saturday, October 7, 6 pm through Sunday October 8, 6
pm

Where: AFRU Gallery 534 SE Oak St, Portland, OR 97214

Admission: Free with suggested donation to AFRU Gallery

Contact: [email protected]

Web: https://louielouiemarathon.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LouieLouieMarathon/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louielouiemarathon/

For Immediate
Release

The 24-Hour Louie Louie Marathon celebrates Portland band
The Kingsmen, and the 60th anniversary of their recording and release of Richard
Berry’s, Louie Louie. The 24 Hour Louie Louie Marathon (24LL) is a continuous
24-hour rendition of the historic party anthem as interpreted by
Portland’s community of music & performance artists.

The event will feature opening and closing performances of
Louie Louie by The Kingsmen. “We are extremely excited about this 24-hour
Marathon benefit. We are deeply honored and look forward to hearing the
countless, creative, unique, and fun versions of Louie Louie. Come one, come
all to perform or simply enjoy the party! Seems like it will be a crazy 24
hours but everything about our success with Louie Louie has taken us on a crazy
ride. So why stop now? See you there” Dick Peterson – The Kingsmen

The Louie Louie 24-Hour Marathon invites all music genres
and performers (from A cappella to Zydeco!) to participate. Performances will
alternate between two stages so the song will never stop! 24 hours of
continuous, outrageous renditions of Louie Louie – as diverse and unique as
Portland’s vast music community. Please sign up to perform: www.louielouiemarathon.com/perform

Conceived and curated by The Louie Louie Committee Committee (Portland’s pivotal party pioneers behind Nuggets Night, Gotham A-Go-Go, Barfly, and more) the event will be held at AFRU Gallery and will serve as a fundraiser for Art Freaks Are Us, the non-profit community organization dedicated to the unapologetic expression of raw creativity by all.

“Louie Louie is the perfect gateway song. Three easy
chords. Anyone can do it and any everyone has done it. The Kingsmen are
Portland and their version feels like Portland – a little rough, kinda sloppy,
a lot of fun, but also drives some people nuts. That’s the vibe I want to bring
to our event. The goal is to bring together as many different styles to play
their version of Louie Louie, one after the other, to revel in the simplicity
and happiness of Louie Louie.”  Luke
Strahota – Louie Louie Committee Committee.

Louie Louie was written by Richard Berry, & like many
songs of the 60s it was immediately covered by other groups. The song became a
major hit and was covered by The Sonics, Paul Revere and the Raiders, but most
infamous of all was The Kingsmen’s version which became the subject of
nationwide scandal, being banned by radio stations for obscenity. After
repeated FBI investigations, and action from US Attorney General’s office, the
Justice Department, the US Postal Service, and FCC, the song was determined fit
for public consumption and to this day can still light up a party.

“Why a 24-hour Louie Louie
marathon? In short, I have a compulsive need to set ludicrous obstacles and
lofty goals in front of myself, and hosting novelty events helps fill that
need. I’ve been involved in Custom Car shows for twenty years in some capacity
or another, and I started Gotham a Go Go, Portland’s best and only Batman
themed dance party. Over a decade ago while scheming an Animal House style Toga
party, Gotham coconspirator, Luke Strahota, mentioned an idea for a 24-hour
Louie Louie marathon. As a kid, I had witnessed a radio station rebranding in
which they played different versions of Louie Louie for a week before
announcing they were now an oldies station. It would be Brilliant! And
Obnoxious! And destined to sit on the back burner for the next 12 years.
Until…I was taking a bath on a February Tuesday, as I was unemployed at the
time, when I realized that 2023 was the 60th anniversary the Kingsmen’s
infamous recording of the quintessential party anthem. I rang up Luke and said,
“it’s now or never baby!” He replied with a hearty “you know it daddy-o!” And
we were back on track! The Louie Louie Committee Committee was formed, a venue
was secured (Art Freaks R Us), and we are diving into the deep end!

What makes the Kingsmen’s Louie
Louie so special? FBI investigation aside, it’s something of rock n roll
boulder from which many other nuggets and pebbles have been chipped. The riff
is so simple, it’s most musicians’ first song, and the chord structure
similarly, can be heard everywhere if you know how to listen. It’s so Good. It
sounds like one take. It’s sounds like they’re drunk. Most of all it sounds
like they’re having a blast! And that kind of joy is as infectious to the fun
loving as it is poisonous to the Straights. Similar to its cousins, “Wooly
Bully”, “Surfin Bird”, and “Tequila”, Louie Louie is not a novelty song, but
rather the kind of song that really appeals to certain listeners (ie: nuts) and
directly appalls others (ie: squares). Squares don’t get it and the Nuts can’t
explain it. Even if we could, they wouldn’t understand. In the Kingsmen’s case
the squares were really, really, upset that they couldn’t understand it.

So again, why a 24-hour Louie Louie marathon? The long
answer: I’m proudly a nut and don’t want squares at my parties.” Matt Stanger –
Louie Louie Committee Committee

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