Graham Reid | | 2 min read
Mama-Ooh-Mow-Mow
Weirdly, we work our way back to the madcap Rivingtons' song Mama-Oom-Mow-Mow from the Ramones.
In their heyday the bruvvers from New York recorded their version of Surfin' Bird, adapted from two songs by the Rivingtons doo-wop group of the early Sixties.
Surfing' Bird, by the Ramones
In 1963 the song had had already been reconstructed and revived by the garageband the Trashmen a year after the Rivingtons' originals.
So the Ramones were covering the Trashmen.
The Trashmen pulled a neat trick, they called their song Surfin' Bird – it was the height of surf music – by adapting the Rivingtons' Bird's the Word and their nonsense song Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow.
It was a collage of Rivingtons vocal songs delivered by a rock'n'roll guitar band.
Surfin' Bird, by the Trashmen
Papa (we'll simplify here) was the Rivingtons' first hit and to follow it up they recorded Bird's The Word and then the kind of logical spin-off from Papa which was the very weird Mama-Ooh-Mow-Mow.
By putting the Bird and Papa together to create Surfin' Bird, the Trashmen made a minor classic but forgot to credit the Rivingtons so litigation loomed.
All was settled when the Trashmen gave the Rivingtons their dues, but by then the doo-wop group was on the slide as their style disappeared from the charts when white pop and rock began to dominate teenagers' radios and attention.
Oh, and the Cramps – produced by Alex Chilton – covered Surfin' Bird shortly after the Ramones.
Oh, and also the Trashmen's follow-up to Surfin' Bird was Bird Dance Beat which referred to Surfin' Bird and Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow.
It's confusing but essentially we are talking about two or three songs providing the raw material for everyone from the Trashmen, Ramones and Cramps to songs by the Beach Boys, Neil Sedaka, Gary Glitter, Delltones and others.
You can't keep a good Papa/Mama down.
Papa-Ooh-Mow-Mow, by the Rivingtons
Despite their short career – we discount revivals with other members – the Rivingtons recorded quite a lot of songs, from Little Richard's Long Tall Sally and Slippin' and Slidin', Ray Charles' Unchain My Heart and a rather bizarre version of You Are My Sunshine which sounds more like raucous Ray Charles than their version of his Unchain My Heart.
They could belt out a bit of aching and melodramatic soul (Cherry, Deep Water), street corner doo-wop and romantic OTT soulful doo-wop with strings (My Reward).
And more novelty songs like Kickapoo Joy Juice.
(I suspect Love Pill could be wildly misinterpreted these days, check it out.)
And it's their novelty songs like – deep breath – Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow, especially Mama-Oom-Mow-Mow, Bird's the Word and The Weejee Walk (capitalising on the dance craze phase and The Twist) which are the enjoyable entry point to this short-lived but not forgotten Rivingtons out of Los Angeles.
The Bird's the Word, by the Rivingtons
Actually I suspect they are largely forgotten, but a few of their songs have resonated in the ears and recordings of others.
And Mama-Oom-Mow-Mow is just downright weird.
As Ivy Rorschach of the Cramps -- whose Surfing' Bird is demented psychobilly -- once said, "There would be a single that I'd want to be on a desert island, Mama-Oom-Mow-Mow".
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Mama-Ooh-Mow-Mow, by the Rivingtons
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The Rivingtons are well represented at Spotify, the best collection is The Liberty Years
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