There once was a surfer named Harvey
who once... umm... the only thing I can find to rhyme with Harvey is
larvae - and that just doesn't work.
Legend has it, there once was a surfer named Harvey who was a regular at the local bar and beach (most name Newport Beach in California) in the 1960's or 1970's. Harvey's favorite drink was the screwdriver which he had on a fairly regular basis. One day, after a paticularly poor performance on the surf, Harvey asked for something a bit stronger than his regular drink. The bartender (some claim to be Bill Doner (thats Doner, not Donner) took the regular screwdriver and added some some Galliano to it. Harvey found this combination to be quite good and drank away. Upon getting up and heading out, our surfer discovered that his balance was none too good and smacked into a wall and thus the origin of the Harvey Wallbanger.
All that being said, the Harvey Wallbanger is in essence 'just' a screwdriver with Galliano floated on top of it. Galliano itself is a sweet herbal liqueur that has components which include anise, licorice, and vanilla (think of root beer). In combination with the orange juice dominated flavor of the screwdriver this provides a welcome added complexity to the wallbanger. One should realize that this is floated on top rather than stirred or shaken early on and thus is part of the first flavor that is sipped from the drink.
The vodka and orange juice (first the vodka, then the orange juice) are poured into a glass (some list collins glass at 14 oz, others list a highball glass at 8oz) over ice (realize that the size of the glass and amount of ice will have a drastic change in the strength of the drink). The Galliano is then floated on top of the drink. Garnishes include lemon slice, or orange slice. Other garnishes have been found which include mint, cherry and pineapple, however, given the basic failing of the drink to realize the floating the Galliano part (both listings that claimed a cherry as garnish instructed shaking the Galliano along with the vodka, which is just wrong).
Many other drinks with the word part 'wall' in their names involve floating Galliano on top of it - most notably the Slow comfortable screw against the wall (Slow is often spelt Sloe for reasons which will rapidly become apparent) in which one finds the following:
To the Everything Bartender | 
