Watching the closing Olympic ceremony, I was amused to see Jimmy Page playing guitar as Leona Lewis sang Whole Lotta Love for an audience of perhaps a billion. Consider this verse:

You’ve been coolin, baby, I’ve been droolin,
All the good times I’ve been misusin,
Way, way down inside, I’m gonna give you my love,
I’m gonna give you every inch of my love,
Gonna give you my love.
Yeah! All right! Let’s go!

Love in this instance has a rather specific anatomical meaning, no?

With no boobs bared, no one batted an eye. But it recalls the scandal over the song Louie Louie, by the Kingsmen. Boy, did that ever stir up a fuss.

The Smoking Gun has some original documents from the FBI investigation into the song (yes, the FBI) including a letter to Bobby Kennedy, then attorney general.

Fact is, Louie Louie was so badly recorded, the sound so garbled, you could project any words you cared to. Frat boys found it refreshingly raunchy and the blue-noses wrote the AG.

After the Beatles’ Yesterday, Louie Louie is the second most covered song. One collector has 150 versions.