| April 20, 2016 | |||||||||
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Lyrics: She was black as the night Nothing bad, it was good Louie Louie Louie, Louie [Instrumental Interlude] There he stood in the night Louie nearly caused a scene
Louie Louie Louie, Louie [Instrumental Interlude] Louie Louie Louie, Louie Louie Louie Louie, Louie
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Tonight on Dances with Bass, we’re getting our retro groove on with one of the greatest one-hit wonders of the 1970s—Brother Louie by the New York band, Stories. Unknown to many, Brother Louie originally was written by Brit soul gods, Hot Chocolate (of You Sexy Thang fame). Hot Chocolate’s version of the song charted in the UK, Ireland, and Australia, but it was the Stories’ version that hit number 1 on the U.S. charts. While most people remember the song for its iconic chorus, “Louie, Louie, Louie, Lou-eeee, Louie, Louie, Louie, Lou-I,” this track is much more than that. In the early 1970s, many in the still very racist United States frowned upon blacks and whites dating (or God forbid, marrying). Brother Louie thumbs its proverbial nose at the ridiculous nature of racism by telling the story of a young white man who takes his black girlfriend home to meet his parents—and the ensuing fight. This track shines a bright light on the cowardly face of racism. While many of us view all humans—black, white, Asian, whatever—as being equals, it’s important to remember that black-white marriage was still illegal in the U.S, less than 50 years ago. In fact, many states were forced by Federal decree to legalize marriage between blacks and white. Anti-miscegenation laws—a term coined shortly after the Civil War— were integrated into American law since our country came into being. While many states legalized black-white marriage on their own, many were forced to do when so in 1967 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled them unconstitutional (Loving v. Virginia).
While this song tweaked America’s deep racist underpinnings, Stories faded from public view about the time this song faded from the charts. The song’s message, however, rings true today. If you have a problem with blacks and whites dating, marrying, or being friends, then you have a problem, and I don’t want you in my life (or on my site). Video: Here is the video, which was made by overlaying a live performance of the song with the studio audio:
And because we’re completists here at DWB radio, here is the original live performance from Burt Sugarman’s The Midnight Special:
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