ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Services will be held Tuesday for Steve Wahrer, who was the drummer for the 1960s rock 'n' roll group The Trashmen.
Wahrer died of throat cancer Saturday. He was 47.
The Trashmen made it big briefly with 'Surfin' Bird'in 1964.
'He was the one who snarled out, 'The bird is the word,'' said Bill Diehl, a Twin Cities radio personality and newspaper movie columnist. 'They were all clean-cut guys and in their way kind if shy. They were more interested in music than anything else.'
Diehl, who hosted a Top 40 pop radio show in the 1960s and who was a mentor of The Trashmen, said 'Surfin' Bird' had climbed to the No. 4 spot on the national Billboard music chart and appeared headed to No. 1.
'But then the Beatles hit that week with 'She Loves you,' and the surfing sound was just swept away,' Diehl said.
The group broke up in 1967.
Wahrer stayed in the music business, playing in various bands in the Twin Cities area. The Trashmen regrouped a few years ago with the increased popularity of rock 'n' roll revivals. Wahrer played with the group until he fell ill about a year ago.
Dal Winslow, a computer systems analyst who still plays rhythm guitar when the Trashmen play in concert, credited Wahrer, his high school buddy, with the innovation behind their sound.
'He was one of the first drummers to use a heavy, heavy, foot-pedal beat,' Winslow said. 'A driving, real danceable style. It was pure rock 'n' roll.'
Winslow said he and Wahrer started out in high school, mimicking their favorites, such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly. Early names for their group included the Travelers, the Citations and the Ravens. They settled into the surfing sound after a 1962 trip to California and picked the name the Trashmen from a local hit at the time, 'Trashmen Blues.'
