The Trashmen

They reunited in the 1980s and played until the death of Steve Wahrer in 1989.
^ Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. The group disbanded in 1967.
+ Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. The song, however, has been used in many movies and is generally known to be an earworm. A Spanish court recognized there had been a violation of Waits’s moral rights, in addition to the infringement of copyright [3] (http://www.anti.com/news.php?newsid=86715). The production company, Tandem Campany Guasch, was ordered to pay compensation to Waits through his Spanish publisher. The single's album, Surfin' Bird, wasn't successful. In 2000, an Audi commercial broadcast in Spain featured music very similar to Waits' "Innocent When You Dream", after Waits first had declined when they approached him about using the original.

The Trashmen's only notable hit was 1964's "Surfin' Bird". [2] (http://www.keeslau.com/TomWaitsSupplement/Copyright/copyrightwaitslevis.htm). The group played surf rock with many elements from garage rock. Waits sued, and Levis agreed to cease all use of the song, and offered a full page apology in Billboard Magazine. The group's lineup was Tony Andreason on lead guitar, Dan Winslow on guitar and singing, Steve Wahrer on drums and singing, and Bob Reed on bass. In 1993, Levi's used Screamin' Jay Hawkins' version of Waits' "Heartattack and Vine" in a commercial. The Trashmen were a rock and roll band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1962. Waits declined the offer, and Frito Lay hired a Waits soundalike to sing a jingle similar to "Step Right Up," which is, ironically, a song Waits has called "an indictment of advertising." [1] (http://www.joe.trussell.com/waits/frito_lay.html) ("Step Right Up" concludes with the lyric "What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away").

Frito Lay had approached Waits to use one of his songs in an advertisement. The first lawsuit was filed in 1988 against Frito Lay, and resulted in a US$2.6 million judgement in Waits' favor. Waits has steadfastly refused to allow the use of his songs in commercials and has filed several lawsuits against advertisers who used his material without permission. In essence, however, and despite his songs having been covered by famous stars such as Bruce Springsteen and Rod Stewart, Waits remains a cult performer, steadfastly outside the mainstream.

Waits has been reported as having bipolar disorder. In the popular perception, however, he and his work remain mostly characterised by his rocky voice, his strong personality and theatrical presence on stage and the "late night smoky bars" humour of his texts ("I'd rather have a free bottle in front of me than a pre-frontal lobotomy."). The last of these albums -- an off-Broadway musical co-written with his wife -- and the later collaboration with William S. Burroughs on The Black Rider both demonstrated the increasing interest in theatre, which has resulted in a somewhat successful acting career as well as soundtrack work. He also gradually altered his singing style, sounding less like the late-night crooner of the 70s, instead adopting a gravelly voice reminiscent of Howling Wolf and Captain Beefheart.

His trio of albums from the mid-1980s, Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs and Frank's Wild Years, all featured some degree of eclectic instrumentation -- Waits' self described "Junkyard Orchestra"--often marrying soul music horn sections to avant-garde percussion reminiscent of Harry Partch's, or the distorted guitar of Marc Ribot. After he left Asylum Records for Island Records in 1983, his music became less mainstream. His wife is regularly credited as co-author of many songs on his later released albums, and is often cited by Waits as a major influence on his work. With his wife, he wrote and performed in Big Time, a slightly surreal concert movie.

In August 1980, he married Kathleen Brennan, whom he had met on the set of One From The Heart. Waits would also act in Coppola's Rumblefish, The Outsiders, The Cotton Club and Dracula (as the insane Renfield), and work with such directors as Jim Jarmusch and Robert Altman. 1980 saw the commencement of a long working relationship with Francis Ford Coppola, who asked him to provide music for his film One From The Heart. Foreign Affairs (1977) and Blue Valentine (1978) were in a similar vein, but showed further refinement of his artistic voice.

Small Change (1976) featuring famed drummer Shelly Manne, was jazzier still, and songs such as "The Piano Has Been Drinking" and "Bad Liver and a Broken Heart" cemented his hard living reputation, with a lyrical style pitched somewhere between Raymond Chandler and Charles Bukowski. The 1975 album Nighthawks at the Diner, recorded in a studio but with a small audience to capture the ambience of a live show, captures this phase of his career, including the lengthy spoken interludes between songs that punctuated his live act. The Heart of Saturday Night showed his roots as a nightclub singer, half speaking and half crooning ballads, often with a soft jazz background. After numerous abortive recording sessions, his first record, the melancholic, country-tinged Closing Time (1973) received warm reviews, but he first gained national attention when his "Ol' 55" was recorded by The Eagles in 1974.

Born in Pomona, California, Waits' recording career began in 1971, after he relocated to Los Angeles and signed with Herb Cohen, manager of Frank Zappa, among others. Thomas Alan Waits, (born December 7, 1949) is an American composer, singer, musician and actor. Holly Cole, Canadian artist covering Waits' songs in jazz style. Kazik Staszewski, Polish artist extensively covering Waits.

2004 Real Gone Tour. 1999 Get Behind The Mule Tour. 1987 Big Time touring. 1985 Rain Dogs touring.

1980-1982 Heartattack and Vine touring. 1978-1979 Blue Valentine touring. 1977 Foreign Affairs touring. 1975-1976 Small Change touring.

1974-1975 The Heart Of Saturday Night touring. 1973 Closing Time touring. 2004 Composer (with Kathleen Brennan) on soundtrack of "Shrek 2". 2003 Appeared in conversation with Iggy Pop in Coffee and Cigarettes: Somewhere In America.

1999 Mystery Men -- played an inventor who specialized in non-lethal weapons. Composer on soundtrack of The End of Violence. 1996 Composer on soundtrack of Dead Man Walking.