The Rivingtons

Most people in the early 2000s are surprised to find out about The Rivingtons -- that's primarily because people mostly discover their existence when they hear one of the group's three hits, "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow," "Mama-Oom-Mow-Mow (The Bird)," and "The Bird's the Word," which are much, much better known in their composite re-recording by The Trashmen (as "Surfin' Bird"). And when they hear The Rivingtons' version, they're inevitably surprised by the fine singing and superb R&B phrasing, miles away from The Trashmen's punk stylings. Their version of the song was just as nonsensical, but it had amazing class and panache, and it's more than that -- it's part of a story of superb singing, bird dances and surfin' birds, great dances and even better times, before the world of the 1960s got all dark and serious and too dangerous for good clean fun.

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