A Minneapolis rock & roll band, they evolved from Jim Thaxter &
the Travelers, recording one single under that name ("Sally
Jo"/"Cyclone"). The group comprises Tony Andreason (lead guitar), Dan
Winslow (guitar/ vocals), Bob Reed (bass), and Steve Wahrer (drums/vocals). Unfairly
depicted as a novelty act, the Trashmen were in actuality a 
top-notch rock &
roll combo, enormously popular on the teen-club circuit, playing primarily surf music to a
landlocked Minnesota audience. Drummer Steve Wahrer combined two songs by the Rivingtons
("The Bird's the Word" and "Pa Pa Ooh Mow Mow"), added freakish vocal
effects and a pounding
rhythm to the mix, and, by early 1964, the group was
in the Top Ten nationwide with "Surfin' Bird." Though the group continued to
release great follow-up singles and an excellent album, their moment in the sun had come
and gone; they disbanded by late 1967/early 1968. They re-formed in the mid-'80s and
continued to play locally until Wahrer's death. The Trashmen are revered by '60s
collectors as one of the great American teen-band combos of all time, their lone hit
exemplifying wild, unabashed rock & roll at its most demented, bare-bones-basic,
lone-E-chord finest. -- Cub Koda, All-Music Guide