The story of the Trashmen begins in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1955, when close friends Tony Andreason and Mike Jann were learning to play guitar. The two were country music fans, and they'd worked up an act where they impersonated Johnny Cash and his guitarist, Luther Perkins.  Along with  Steve Warner and  Dal Winslow they began playing as The String Kings.  One day  they entered a talent contest being held at a local Knights of Columbus hall, and won studio time at a local recording facility. The duo cut a pair of songs, and Roy Drusky, years before he became a successful country singer, was working at a radio station as a disc jockey. Drusky liked Andreason and Jann's demo disc and spun it on air, giving them their first taste of success. Not long after that, Jann dropped out of the act and Andreason, began playing with Dal Winslow and Steve Wahrer. The three would later becomeas part of Jim Thaxter's backing band the Travelers, with Thaxter on bass, Andreason on lead guitar, Winslow on rhythm guitar, and Wahrer on drums. Before long, the group parted ways with Thaxter, and began playing dances and teen clubs in Minnesota under a variety of names before they settled on the Trashmen, the name inspired by a local hit, "Trashman's Blues" by Kai-Ray.

As the Trashmen honed their approach and went through a handful of bass players, they fell for the sound of surf music, a new style pioneered by guitarist Dick Dale.and adopted it as their In 1962, they also Bob Reed became their bass guitar player. nent bass player, Bob Reed, and began playing  Twin Cities rock & roll circuit. Meanwhile, Steve Wahrer hatched an idea for a song in which he laid a frantic vocal inspired by a pair of hits from the R&B vocal group the Rivingtons, "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" and "The Bird's the Word," over a raw, no-frills garage/surf melody. Popular at their shows the group  borrowed money to record it as their first single. Released on the local Garrett Records label in November 1963, "Surfin' Bird" quickly became a local hit after heavy Minneapolis airplay, and in December, it hit the lower reaches of the national charts and peaked at number four on the national singles charts. Tthe Trashmen began  touring the country and appearing on national television. The band was still working on more original songs when "Surfin' Bird" became a smash, and they didn't have much in the way of a follow-up. Garrett Records rushed the band through an album, Surfin' Bird, which was dominated by covers and songs contributed by Larry LaPole a local Minneapolis artist/songwriter. The Trashmen  had only one more Top 40 hit, "Bird Dance Beat," and their time as a charting act was over by 1965.

Steve Wahrer died of throat cancer in 1989.