This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today. THE KINGSMEN: (Singing, inaudible).

Nearly 60 years ago, the FBI spent months trying to decipher its reputedly obscene lyrics. Twenty years later, it almost became Washington’s state song. Back in 1984, a weekly program premiered on ...

"Louie Louie," recorded by the Kingsmen, began climbing the pop charts 60 years ago. It's a song almost everybody can recognize, but almost nobody understands the words to. And even fewer people know ...

In 1963, The Kingsmen made one of the greatest rock n’ roll recordings of all time in Portland, Oregon. The original “Louie Louie” was a calypso-style song, but today it transcends genre – a theory ...

RASCOE: "Louie Louie," recorded by the Kingsmen. Almost everybody knows it, but almost nobody can understand the words. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOUIE LOUIE") THE KINGSMEN: (Singing, inaudible). RASCOE: ...

The Kingsmen's enduring recording of the song turns 60 this year, and remains a classic, in part because of its dramatic history. 'Louie Louie': The story behind the song everyone knows but no one ...

RASCOE: And even fewer people know the history of a West Coast dance hit that became a party anthem, with an FBI investigation and a Supreme Court case along the way. Here's Deena Prichep. DEENA ...