In April 1985, columnist Joe Dirck, of the Columbus Citizen-Journal, saw a story about a suggestion to make “Louie, Louie” the state rock song of Washington and wrote a column about it. This motivated the 116th Ohio General Assembly to action and it designated “Hang on Sloopy” the state rock song on November 20, 1985, with unusual clauses including:
“WHEREAS, “Hang On Sloopy” is of particular relevance to members of the Baby Boom Generation, who were once dismissed as a bunch of long-haired, crazy kids, but who now are old enough and vote in sufficient numbers to be taken quite seriously and
WHEREAS, Adoption of this resolution will not take too long, cost the state anything, or affect the quality of life in this state to any appreciable degree, and if we in the legislature just go ahead and pass the darn thing, we can get on with more important stuff.”
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