Jack Ely of the 1963 boy band ‘Kingsmen‘ that recorded a hit song ‘Louie Louie’ has passed away at the age of 71 recently, as reported by TMZ. The song actually caused the FBI to launch an investigation into the ‘obscene’ lyrics that was a taboo back then. In our present age, we would instantaneously laugh off at the FBI for doing just that.
The early sixties was one of the most turbulent period in history, where the prevailing norm of society was still straitlaced and inhibited when it comes to overt expression of sexually suggestive contents in music and the arts.
In Britain, the Beatles were setting their trend against such strong social molds and managed to break many barriers of that time – a ragtag band of youth in the US was doing the similar feat and had elicited an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for having ‘sexually offensive’ lyrics in their songs.
According to TMZ, Jack Ely left the band after the song was released and became a horse trainer in Oregon.