The Trashmen were a surf rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1962. The original lineup of the group featured guitarists Tony Andreason and Dal Winslow, bassist Bob Reed, and drummer Steve Wahrer. Along with Colorado-based contemporaries The Astronauts, The Trashmen have been described as "the premier landlocked Midwestern surf group of the '60s." The band took their name from "Trashman's Blues", a song written and recorded in 1961 by Minneapolis musician Kai Ray, who later wrote songs for the band.
"Surfin' Bird"
The Trashmen's biggest hit was 1963's "Surfin' Bird", which reached No. 4 on the BillboardHot 100 in the latter part of that year. The song was a combination of two R&B hits by The Rivingtons, "The Bird's the Word" and "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow". Early pressings of the single credit the Trashmen's drummer and vocalist Steve Wahrer as the composers, but following a threat from The Rivingtons' legal counsel, the writing credit was removed from Wahrer and transferred to the members of The Rivingtons. The song was later covered by The Ramones, The Cramps, Silverchair, The Psychotic Petunias, Pee-Wee Herman, Equipe 84, and the thrash metal bandSodom. It has also been featured in several films, including Full Metal Jacket, Fred Claus, Pink Flamingos, Back to the Beach, and The Big Year. "Surfin' Bird" was the subject of the episode "I Dream of Jesus" of the television series Family Guy, sending the song to No. 8 on the iTunes Top 10 Rock songs chart and No. 50 on the UK Singles Chart in 2009. The episode "Rich Old Stewie" included the song played in slow motion. In 2010, a Facebook campaign was launched to send the song to No. 1 in the UK over the Christmas season; this was largely intended as a protest against the takeover of the Christmas No. 1 spot by The X Factor winner's song. The track debuted in the UK Top Tenfor the first time on December 19, at No. 3. It was also featured in the video game Battlefield Vietnam.
Later history
Beyond "Surfin' Bird", The Trashmen experienced limited success. In 1964, "Bird Dance Beat" reached No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and was a top 10 hit in Canada. A four-CD box set of their work was released by Sundazed Records. The group disbanded in 1967 but reunited in the 1980s, performing together until Steve Wahrer died of throat cancer in 1989. Later, Tony Andreason's brother Mark replaced Wahrer as drummer. Reed's son Robin joined as a touring member in 2009 on drums, filling in for Mark Andreason. In 1999, the Trashmen played at the Las Vegas Grind. They also performed in Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Spain in 2007 and 2008. The Trashmen toured Europe in 2008 and in 2010, performing in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The band recorded four tracks at Custom Recording Studios in Golden Valley, Minnesota, with longtime fan and guitarist Deke Dickerson, for the record labelMajor Label, releasing the 7" EP I'm a Trashman in March 2013. A full-length follow up LP Bringing Back the Trash, was released in April 2014. After several 2015 shows in the band's hometown of Minneapolis, the band re-entered retirement.
