In the late '50s, Los Angeles based c&w songwriter Dick Barry wrote and released a simple, three-chord toe-tapper called "Party Everyday", released locally on a small, independent record label. It sank without a trace, and Barry continued his career in Obscurity, a northern California coastal village.
Up in Tacoma, Washington, Stadium High School senior Rockin' Baskin Robbins discovered an unknown c&w 45 in the 10 cent bin at Woolworth's, and decided to take a chance with it. He fell in love with the song immediately, and taught it to his friends the Wylers, the hottest band in the Pacific Northwest (they charted nationally with an instrumental, "Short Stubby One"). The Wylers version of "Party Everyday" was released only in the Northwest, where it failed to dent the local surveys. Small Bill & the Denominations also had a go at it, but again, nothing. "Nobody liked the song" claims Buck Owens, bassist with both the Wylers and Small Bill, "everytime we played the d---n thing, it cleared the dance floor".
In 1963, Jeff and the RF's were re-grouping after Jeff Fowler's jail term, and being short on original songs, decided to try their hand at "Party Everyday". Hours later, the Portland based Kinksmen recorded their own "Party Everyday" at the very same studio! The Kinksmen were total unknowns at the time, only intending to use their recording to get them a gig at a local donut shop. Jeff & the RF's, however, had a strong regional following, and released their version of "Party Everyday" on their own Sandy Blvd. record label. It shot to #1 on all the Seattle/Tacoma/Portland radio stations, which led to them being signed by national label Columbia River Records. All bets were on Jeff & the RF's to score a huge national hit. (Pete Rose himself placed a wager of $5000 on the RF's).
Then strange things began to happen. The Kinksmen were picked up by Wanda Records, a Nashville based c&w label with limited resources and distribution. Several Sounthern disc jockeys began playing the Kinksmen's "Party Everyday" on an hourly basis, and slowly but surely, the record began to climb the national charts. Jeff & the RF's version did well in the Aberdeen, Washington area, but as the first rock band signed to Columbia River Records, they suffered from the label's lack of experience in the top 40 market.
The Kinksmen's drunken, sloppy, unintelligible "Party Everyday" went all the way to #2 nationally, kept out of the top spot by the Flying Nun. "Party Everyday" sold over three million copies worldwide, but some of the anti-rock establishment felt threatened by the success of these frat boys from Portland and their raucous rock 'n' roll.
So the rumours began to spread. The dirty lyric controversy. An FBI investigation. Congressional hearings. Cliffhanger sentences.
Kinksmen lead singer Jack E. Lee claimed he'd never actually learned the real lyrics, basing his version on a rendition he heard by another local band, the Electric Vipers, featuring Dave Shrewsburry on vocals. RF's lead singer Ron Fowler denied putting any profanities in their version (in fact, one cuss word was audibly bleeped out). The FBI entered the investigation, and confiscated several sets of rumoured dirty lyrics ("potty all day, potty all night", "potty in the kitchen, potty outside", "woke up with wood", "pass the kootchie").
Jeff & the RF's recorded a sequal of sorts, "Two Party System", which failed to garner enough votes to enter the Hot 100; the Kinksmen fired lead singer Jack E. Lee, promoting drummer Lynn Eastwood to frontman duties; congress came to the conclusion that "Party Everyday" "had no real lyrics; it's almost more intelligible backwards"; and writer Dick Barry collected all of half a cent for his creation.
The Kinksmen found themselves the center of controversy again in 1965 with their hit "A Tiger In Your Tank". Some listeners thought the lyrics, ostensibly about keeping a car running, were just a euphemism for questionable activities. Meanwhile, their rivals, Jeff and the RF's, were selected to star in a national tv series, "High Action", and became teen idols overnight.
In the 80's, "Party Everyday" was adopted as the official town song of Port Roberts, Washington, and was featured in a Killer Shake commercial. Several college radio stations aired "Party Everyday" marathons, playing every known version of the song, by everyone from Perry Como to the Foothills Marching Band of Buckley. The strains of "Party Everyday" can be heard in the works of bands as disparate as Journey and Pearl Jam ("Jeremy" borrows heavily from "Party").
There was even a book, creatively titled "Party Everyday: The Book", by long time rock writer Dave Marshall. Marshall put "Party" in it's true historical light: he calls it "more significant than Mozart; more important than Beethoven's 9th Symphony; intrinsically better than the entire recorded works of the Beatles."
Marshall interviewed many of the people involved in this story, and followed "Party" all the way to the 90's, where it was the subject of a website, and several lawsuits. The book also served as a tribute to Dick Barry, who died broke and depressed.
The 00's brought several new developments in the story of "Party Everyday". The Wylers came out of retirement to do occasional performances in the Northwest at car shows and senior centers. The Wylers also organized Party Fest, aka Three Guitars Fest, featuring ad small handful of local musicians jamming on the tideflats of Tacoma. There was also talk of a documentary film about "Party" called "The Reason We Party", directed by acclaimed filmmaker Eric Preytell.
T he Kinksmen continued to play nationally at third party fundraisers and toga parties, often appearing on the same bill as Jeff and the RF's. Their most recent CD, "Garbage Sale", is sold at shows. Jeff and the RF's are touring behind their cd "Ride to the Mall", with proceeds going to homeless veterinarians.
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