ELY was, of course, Kingsmen lead singer Ron Ely. Their 1963 version of Richard Berry's Louie Louie went to number one and the hard-to-understand vocal led to an FBI investigation. Almost everyone thought the lyrics were dirty. They weren't. I have the original Richard Berry recording. Ron Ely sang the words exactly as written. Berry confirmed this in an interview with Esquire magazine. People who had never heard the original version were positive that the Kingsmen song was obscene. High schoolers passed out mimeographed copies of the supposed "dirty lyrics" and then, when kids heard the song, they were positive that they were hearing those dirty words. With the Internet, it's now a simple matter to see the lyrics and follow along while listening to the Kingsmen's song: "Me see Jamaica moon above...I sail the ship across the sea...I smell the rose in her hair..." And that 1964 FBI investigation? They concluded that the lyrics were "unintelligible."
Merl Reagle's puzzle in today's Los Angeles Times is titled "Ballot Boxes." Twelve squares have thick black outlines. Some of the squares are to be left blank, just as in a real ballot. Eight theme answers form a new phrase with an X added to the box. There are four boxes that remain blank. Each of those four boxes forms a phrase with the words on either side. The word BLANK is to be substituted for the blank box. Thus we have ENTRYBLANK & BLANKVERSE, LEAVEBLANK & BLANKSPACE, POINTBLANK & BLANK CHECK, and DRAWABLANK & BLANKSTARE. Some of the phrases with the extra X are really dumb, such as FLAMINGOX for "Indian chief who invented barbecue?" Nevertheless, Reagle showed a lot of creativity and cleverness in coming up with the X's-and-blanks theme...and he also took the opportunity to remind us to vote on November 4.
