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Surfdog Records | |
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Parent company | Warner Music Group |
Founded | 1993 |
Founder | Dave Kaplan |
Distributor(s) | Alternative Distribution Alliance (U.S.) |
Genre | |
Country of origin | U.S. |
Location | Encinitas, California |
Official website | www |
Surfdog Records is a record label, music publishing company, merchandising company, and marketing company based in Encinitas, California. Its roster includes artists of the rock, punk, swing, rockabilly, reggae, lounge, and alternative genres. It has released over 150 albums, including recordings by Stray Cats, Brian Setzer & The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Eric Clapton, Slightly Stoopid, Dan Hicks, Butthole Surfers, Glen Campbell, Joss Stone, Dave Stewart (co-founder of Eurythmics), Richard Cheese, Gary Hoey, and Sprung Monkey.
The foundation of the company was established in 1985, when Surfdog Records' owner Dave Kaplan began Dave Kaplan Management Inc. Dave Kaplan and his staff have managed the careers of artists including UB40, Brian Setzer, Dave Stewart (co-founder of Eurythmics), Glen Campbell, Stray Cats, Sublime, Ryan Adams, Gary Hoey, Butthole Surfers and BulletBoys.
Iconic American musician Brian Setzer (formerly of Stray Cats), also managed by Dave Kaplan Management Inc., has released over 16 albums through Surfdog Records. Since 2000, Setzer has won three Grammy Awards, as well as receiving his seventh Grammy nomination (out of twelve nominations in total) in 2007 for his album Wolfgang's Big Night Out released on Surfdog Records. [1] In 2003, Slightly Stoopid released the album Everything You Need on Surfdog Records, which included some of the band’s biggest hits such as “Collie Man”, “Officer”, and “Sweet Honey”. [2]
Dave Stewart, best known for his work as co-founder of the British pop-rock duo Eurythmics, joined Surfdog's roster in 2007, and shortly thereafter released his album The Dave Stewart Songbook Vol. 1 . Followed by his 2011 release through Surfdog Records The Blackbird Diaries . [3]
British soul singer Joss Stone released her fifth studio album LP1 through Surfdog Records in partnership with her own Stone'd Records in 2011. Stone co-wrote and co-produced the album with Dave Stewart. [4]
In 2011, Surfdog Records signed Glen Campbell releasing his album Ghost On The Canvas , an album intended to be Campbell's farewell to studio recording following being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Campbell in 2012 received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to music throughout his 50 years plus career. [5]
In 2013, Surfdog announced the signing of a collaboration with rock and roll legend Eric Clapton for Clapton's new record Old Sock, released on March 12, 2013, followed by 3 more studio Clapton records: The Breeze, I Still Do, and Happy Xmas. [6]
On April 22, 2014, Drake Bell released his first studio album since 2006's It's Only Time with Universal Motown Records, Ready Steady Go! , after signing on with Surfdog in 2012. The record debuted at #182 on the Billboard 200, #50 on the Billboard Top Rock Albums, and #32 on the Billboard Top Independent Albums charts. [7] It sold 2,000 copies in its first week of release. The record contains songs originally by Billy Joel, Queen, The Kinks, Stray Cats, and more. Brian Setzer, frontman of Stray Cats and also on the Surfdog roster, produced the album. "Bull", a song on Ready Steady Go!, was on the top 10 charts in Mexico for several weeks.
On May 19, 2014, The Burning of Rome's Year of The Ox was released by Surfdog Records. [8]
On July 29, 2014, Eric Clapton & Friends released The Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale . The Breeze is full of covers of songs originally by J.J. Cale and contains vocals by Mark Knopfler, Willie Nelson, John Mayer, Tom Petty, and Don White. The album received much attention, achieving a #2 debut on the Billboard Top 200 album charts. [9]
On August 12, 2014, Brian Setzer released Rockabilly Riot! All Original , through Surfdog. The record contains new music from Setzer and was widely accepted by music critics. “Let's Shake” was the first single of the record. [10]
On October 21, 2014, Brian Setzer's 1959 Gretsch 6120 was inducted into the world-renowned Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. Setzer's guitar joined a large and diverse collection of musical instruments at the museum that include John Coltrane's saxophone, Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet, and Eddie Van Halen's guitar. [11]
On August 11, 2015, Sublime announced a deal with Dave Kaplan Management/Surfdog Records, managing the branding, merchandising, licensing, music catalog and new ventures. On October 16, 2015, Brian Setzer was joined with an 18-piece orchestra for the release of his newest Christmas record, Rockin’ Rudolph . [12]
On May 20, 2016, Eric Clapton released his twenty-third studio solo album, I Still Do on Surfdog Records/Bushbranch Records. Clapton reunited with record producer Glyn Johns and had the album's artwork painted by Sir Peter Blake who also previously worked with Clapton. [13]
On February 24, 2017, Surfdog Records released Greatest Licks – I Feel Like Singin’, an album that honored Dan Hicks on the first anniversary of his passing. [14]
On October 12, 2018, Eric Clapton released his first-ever Christmas album, Happy Xmas on Surfdog Records/Bushbranch Records. Happy Xmas is Clapton's 24th studio album and features cover art illustration by Clapton himself. [15]
November 2018, The Brian Setzer Orchestra celebrated their 15th Anniversary Christmas Rocks! Tour presented by SiriusXM. [16]
In 2019, Stray Cats celebrated their 40th anniversary with a new album and tour. The album, titled 40 was released via Surfdog Records on May 24, 2019. This marked the band's first new music in 26 years. [17]
Surfdog music has been featured in many motion pictures including Puss In Boots , Elf , Mission: Impossible , Monsters vs. Aliens , Dude, Where's My Car? Buffy the Vampire Slayer , Stuart Little , and The Real World . Plus major national commercials, including Ford Lincoln-Mercury, Ashton Kutcher's Nikon and Hallmark.
Surfdog Records has released three MOM (Music For Mother Ocean) albums, and those three albums contributed to the largest donation in Surfrider Foundation's history up till then. The three MOM albums feature some of the biggest artists in music today, including; Paul McCartney, Pearl Jam, The Ramones, Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blink-182, Snoop Dogg and members of Rage Against the Machine, The Beach Boys and No Doubt. [18] [19] [20]
Brian Robert Setzer is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and returned to the music scene in the early 1990s with his swing revival band, the Brian Setzer Orchestra. In 1987, he made a cameo appearance as Eddie Cochran in the film La Bamba.
Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK, Australia, Canada, and the U.S. including "Stray Cat Strut", "(She's) Sexy + 17", "Look at That Cadillac", "I Won't Stand in Your Way", "Bring It Back Again", and "Rock This Town", which the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has listed as one of the songs that shaped rock and roll.
The Brian Setzer Orchestra is a swing and jump blues band formed in 1992 by Stray Cats frontman Brian Setzer. In 1998, for their breakout album The Dirty Boogie, the group covered Louis Prima's "Jump, Jive an' Wail", which originally appeared on Prima's 1957 album The Wildest!. The BSO's follow up single, appearing on the album Vavoom!, was "Gettin' in the Mood."
Daniel Ivan Hicks was an American singer-songwriter and musician, and the leader of Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks. His idiosyncratic style combined elements of cowboy folk, jazz, country, swing, bluegrass, pop, and gypsy music. He is perhaps best known for the songs "I Scare Myself" and "Canned Music". His songs are frequently infused with humor, as evidenced by the title of his tune "How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away?" His album Live at Davies (2013) capped over forty years of music.
James McDonnell, known by the stage name Slim Jim Phantom, is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the band Stray Cats. Alongside bandmates Brian Setzer and Lee Rocker, he is considered a pioneer of the neo-rockabilly movement of the early 1980s.
Lee Rocker is an American musician. He is a member of the rockabilly revival band Stray Cats.
13 is the thirteenth solo album from American musician Brian Setzer. It was released in 2006 on Surfdog Records, and contained the Japanese hit single "Back Streets Of Tokyo". Setzer had originally intended for the album to have one direction, or sound, but after thinking about how The Beatles' albums were so diverse, he decided to include many different styles on the album.
"Stray Cat Strut" is the third single by American rockabilly band Stray Cats, released April 17, 1981 by Arista Records in the UK, where it peaked at No. 11 on the Singles Chart. It was taken from the band's 1981 debut album, Stray Cats. That same year, as an import, it peaked at No. 78 on the US Disco Top 80 chart.
Peter Julian Alexander Collins was an English record producer, arranger, and audio engineer. He produced records by Gary Moore, Bon Jovi, Billy Squier, Rush, Air Supply, Alice Cooper, Nik Kershaw, Blancmange, Suicidal Tendencies, Queensrÿche, Indigo Girls, Nanci Griffith, Jermaine Stewart, Jane Wiedlin, October Project, The Cardigans, Rosetta Stone, Josh Joplin, Tracey Ullman, Drake Bell, Ultraspank and The Brian Setzer Orchestra.
The Knife Feels Like Justice is the debut album by American musician Brian Setzer, released in 1986 on the EMI America record label.
Slightly Stoopid is an American rock band based in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego, California, who describe their music as "a fusion of folk, rock, reggae and blues with hip-hop, funk, metal and punk." As a band, they have released thirteen albums, with their ninth studio album entitled Everyday Life, Everyday People on July 13, 2018. The band was originally signed by Bradley Nowell from the band Sublime to his label Skunk Records while still in high school.
Dave Darling is an American record producer, songwriter, mixer, and multi-instrumentalist. He relocated to Los Angeles, California, in 1980 while recording an album project and decided to stay in Los Angeles to pursue a career in music. Darling has worked with many successful recording artists such as The Temptations, Glen Campbell, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Stray Cats, Ricky Lee Jones, Rusty Young, John Waite, Def Leppard, Tom Waits, Janiva Magness, Jack Johnson, Cherie Currie, Brie Howard and more. He has produced six Grammy nominated records. In addition to being a record producer, Darling, has been a member of several bands, most notably Boxing Gandhis and 58.
LP1 is the fifth studio album by English singer and songwriter Joss Stone. It was released on 21 July 2011 on Stone's own label, Stone'd Records, in partnership with Surfdog Records, following her departure from EMI in 2010. The album was recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, in six days. Stone co-wrote and co-produced the album with record producer and Eurythmics co-founder, Dave Stewart.
Ghost on the Canvas is the sixty-first album by Glen Campbell. It was intended as Campbell's farewell studio recording following his diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease. The production of the album was announced in March 2010.
Ready Steady Go! is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Drake Bell. It marks his third release on an independent record label, and his first for Surfdog Records. The album is Bell's first album in almost eight years, following It's Only Time, which was released in 2006. Originally slated for an early 2013 release, Ready, Steady, Go! was released on April 22, 2014. The lead single, "Bitchcraft", was released on January 28, 2014. The album's promotional single, "I Won't Stand In Your Way", was released on April 17, 2014. "Bull" was a hit in Mexico, peaking at number 8.
"Gotta Get Over" is a pop rock song written by Doyle Bramhall II, Nikka Costa and Justin Stanley. It was recorded by the British rock musician Eric Clapton for his 2013 studio album Old Sock. On February 14, 2013, the song was released as a digital download and CD single for Bushbranch and Surfdog Records. It features backing vocals by Chaka Khan.
I Still Do is the twentieth solo studio album by English musician Eric Clapton. It was released in 2016 through the independent Bushbranch Records/Surfdog Records label. The album is a combination of new material written by Clapton and classic songs, contemporary tunes, and influences interpreted in his own style.
Rock Therapy is the fourth studio album by American rockabilly band Stray Cats, released in August 1986 by EMI America. It was produced by Stray Cats. The album reached the No. 122 position on the Billboard 200 chart but failed to chart outside the U.S. Singles released from the album include "I'm a Rocker" and "Reckless". Rock Therapy was released as a reunion album after Setzer's solo effort, The Knife Feels Like Justice, and the trio of Phantom, Rocker and Slick self-titled LP.
40 is the ninth studio album by American rockabilly band Stray Cats, released in May 2019 by Surfdog Records. It is their first studio album in 26 years since Original Cool in 1993. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered in Nashville, TN.
Dave Kaplan is an American music industry executive. He has managed numerous musical artists, including UB40, Glen Campbell, Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, Brian Setzer, Sublime, and Butthole Surfers. He founded and is the CEO of the independent music label Surfdog Records. Kaplan's producing credits include albums for Dave Stewart, Glen Campbell, Brian Setzer, Stray Cats, Dan Hicks, SuperHeavy, and Gary Hoey.