"LOUIE LOUIE." BtVS Intertext/Allusion.

In "Band Candy" (Season Three) when the adults of Sunnydale are transformed into teenagers by Ethan Rayne’s magic candy they take over the hangout of The Bronze. The adolescents of Sunnydale are perturbed by this behavior. Dingoes Ate My Baby are forced off stage by the rowdy adults who want to listen to music from their teenage years. A group (including Willow’s doctor) take to the stage and start singing "Louie Louie" originally released in 1957 by Richard Berry and a hit in 1963 for The Kingsmen and Paul Revere and the Raiders.

 

Curiously, in the 1960s the song was investigated by the FBI to determine whether or not it was obscene. The Kingsmen’s vesion was reputed to have dirty words concealed in the lyrics which could be revealed by playing the 45 rpm single at 33 1/3. The controversy only helped to increase record sales to teenagers rebelling against the mores of their parents’ generation by buying a "dirty song." Details of the investigation and a full history of the song can be found on the website of the Louie Report.

 

The following dialogue is taken from Buffy Scripts:

 

BUFFY: Something's definitely changing them.

WILLOW: A spell?

OZ: They're teenagers. It's a sobering mirror to look into, huh? SNYDER: (to Oz) You've got great hair.

(A group of OLD GUYS (shirtless doctor and his buddies) cling to microphones and belt out LOUIE LOUIE. On the floor several adult couples are dirty dancing. Once couple has given up on the dancing and stands on the dance floor, making out.)

WILLOW: It just gets more upsetting.

BUFFY: No vampire has ever been (points at the stage) that scary.

 

-- Vanessa Knights