The Centurians | |
---|---|
Also known as | The Centurions (reunion spelling) |
Origin | Costa Mesa, California, U.S. |
Genres | Surf rock |
Years active | Late 1950s–1960s 1990s–? |
Labels | Del-Fi |
Past members |
|
The Centurians were an instrumental surf rock band started by Dennis Rose from Newport Beach, California. They were active in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Their music has been used in at least two films. They reformed as The Centurions in 1995 and released new material.
The group originated from Costa Mesa, California, they were a septet. [1]
In recent times, they are best known for their recording "Bullwinkle Part II", a dark and saxy surf tune from their album Surfers' Pajama Party. This song is featured in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction [2] where it is used to highlight a scene. [3] It was also used in an episode of the TV show How I Met Your Mother entitled "Girls Versus Suits". Less well known is their cover of the classic song "Intoxica" a twangy and upbeat surf instrumental originally by The Revels, used in the 1972 film Pink Flamingos .
In 1963, their line-up consisted of Pat Gagnebin, Ken Robinson, Dennis Rose, Joe Dominic, Dennis Kiklas, Ernie Furrow, and Jeff Lear. [4] When they released their album on Del-Fi records in 1963, its cover was identical (as well as catalog number) to Bruce Johnston's release, hence the title "Surfers' Pajama Party" [5] – which was not the name The Centurians had in mind. [ citation needed ] Their name was changed from The Centurions to The Centurians sometime after 1967 for legal reasons. [6]
In 1966, some of the music they recorded, along with music by Dave Meyers and the Surf Tones and The Sentinels was involved in legal action by Al Schlesinger against the Del-Fi Records label. Schlesinger was representing Anthony Music and its principal shareholder Anthony Hilder in an action pursuing $122,000 over royalties not being paid as per an alleged agreement for the masters of albums and another album, Battle of the Surf Bands. [7]
In June 1995 Dennis Rose reformed the group as "The Centurions" with Dennis Rose (guitar), David Jobes (drums), Charly Grey-Son (bass), Perris Alexander (keyboards), Norman Knowles (tenor sax) and Dennis Rehders (tenor and baritone sax). They recorded a new album called Bullwinkle Part III produced by Dennis Rose and Perris Alexander. [8] In August 1995 the group performed a concert at Pierfest [9] in Huntington Beach. [10] [11] In 2000, the band performed at the Pipeline Instrumental Rock Convention in London. [12]
Name | Role | Notes # |
---|---|---|
Dennis Rose | guitar and bass | |
Joe Dominic | drums | |
Ernie Furrow | guitar and bass | |
Jerry Dicks | keyboard | |
Pat Gagnebin | sax and harmonica | |
Jeffrey Lear | bass | [13] |
Ken Robison | sax, flute and clarinet | |
The song "Bullwinkle Part II" was used in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction and features on the soundtrack album. The film's success led to the band's reunion. In 1999 "Bullwinkle Part II" was covered by Elliot Easton's Tiki Gods on the Del-Fi tribute compilation "Delfonic Sounds Today!".
Act | Title | Label and catalogue no. | Year | Notes # |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Centurians | Surfers' Pajama Party (Recorded Live on the U.C.L.A. Campus) | Del-Fi DFLP 1228 | 1963 | [14] [15] reissued in 1995 on CD as Bullwinkle Part II by The Centurions (Del-Fi CD 71250-2) [16] |
The Centurians a.o. | Surf War - The Battle of the Surf Groups | Shepherd Records – SLP 1300 | 1963 | six tracks on a compilation |
The Centurions | Bullwinkle Part III | myspace online release | 1995 | |
A centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army.
Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes instrumental performance and features very little or no singing. Examples of instrumental music in rock can be found in practically every subgenre of the style. Instrumental rock was most popular from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s, with artists such as Bill Doggett Combo, The Fireballs, The Shadows, The Ventures, Johnny and the Hurricanes and The Spotnicks. Surf music had many instrumental songs. Many instrumental hits had roots from the R&B genre. The Allman Brothers Band feature several instrumentals. Jeff Beck also recorded two instrumental albums in the 1970s. Progressive rock and art rock performers of the late 1960s and early 1970s did many virtuosic instrumental performances.
Richard Anthony Monsour, known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scales and experimenting with reverb. Dale was known as "The King of the Surf Guitar", which was also the title of his second studio album.
Surf music is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental surf, distinguished by reverb-heavy electric guitars played to evoke the sound of crashing waves, largely pioneered by Dick Dale and the Del-Tones. The second is vocal surf, which took elements of the original surf sound and added vocal harmonies, a movement led by the Beach Boys.
The Tornadoes were an American surf band from Redlands, California. They were the second band to receive national airplay with a surf instrumental, after The Marketts, with their song "Bustin' Surfboards", released on Aertaun Records in 1962. "Bustin' Surfboards" has since become a classic and mainstay of the surf genre. One of its distinctions, and appeals, was that the song opened with the sound of an ocean swell that continued throughout the song, thereby creating a sense of being at a beach. The album with the same name was belatedly released on September 20, 1963. The band, however, did not manage to follow up on their success. Their song "Shootin' Beavers" was banned from airplay because of its suggestive title. The band temporarily changed their name to The Hollywood Tornadoes, because the British band, The Tornados, were charting with the song "Telstar."
The Sentinals were a surf rock band from San Luis Obispo, California (1961–1965). The band is notable for a Latino influence in some works, such as "Latin'ia" (1962). Notable band members included Tommy Nuñes, drummer John Barbata and Lee Michaels on keyboards.
The Lively Ones were an American surf music band from USA, active in Southern California in the 1960s. They played live mostly in California and Arizona. They recorded for Del-Fi records with production from Bob Keane. They recorded mostly cover songs, but there were a few originals.
Music from the Motion Picture Pulp Fiction is the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film Pulp Fiction, released on September 27, 1994, by MCA Records. No traditional film score was commissioned for Pulp Fiction. The film contains a mix of American rock and roll, surf music, pop and soul. The soundtrack is equally untraditional, consisting of nine songs from the film, four tracks of dialogue snippets followed by a song, and three tracks of dialogue alone. Seven songs featured in the film were not included in the original 41-minute soundtrack.
Robert Verrill Kuhn , professionally known as Bob Keane, and also sometimes known as Bob Keene, was an American musician, producer and the founder and owner of the record label Del-Fi Records. He was the producer and manager of Ritchie Valens and Pinoy star Josephine Roberto, aka Banig.
Del-Fi Records was an American record label based in Hollywood, California, was founded 1958 and owned by Bob Keane. The label's first single released was "Caravan" by Henri Rose released in 1958, but the label was most famous for signing Ritchie Valens. Valens' first single for the label was "Come On Let's Go", which was a hit. His next single, "Donna"/"La Bamba", was an even bigger hit, and brought national notoriety to the label. Johnny Crawford, the co-star of the television series The Rifleman, was the Del-Fi artist who recorded the most hit singles.
The Revels were an American rock band from California, associated with the 1960s surf music craze. They had hits with "Six Pak", and "Church Key" which was their most famous single.
Anthony J. Hilder was an American author, film maker, talk show host, broadcaster, news correspondent and former actor. In the late 1950s to the mid-1960s he was also a record producer, producing music mainly in the surf genre. He headed a couple of record labels as well as working for various others. He was also a publisher.
The (Original) Surfaris were a surf music band from California. They were active from the early to mid 1960s and had singles released on various labels which included Del-Fi, Northridge, and Reprise.
Impact Records was a California based record label run by CT Records creator, Tony Hilder in the 1960s. This label released some surf records by The Crestwoods, Dave Myers and The Surftones, The Ramblers and The New Breed and The Revels. The Revels were known for the hits "Comanche" and "Intoxica".
"Church Key" is an instrumental single that was released by California surf group The Revels on Tony Hilder's Impact Records label in 1960. It was a hit for the group and later a hit for Dave Myers and his Surf-Tones.
Robert Hafner was an American record producer and songwriter who, along with Tony Hilder, was responsible for many of the surf records that came out in California in the 1960s including "Vesuvius" and "Intoxica" by The Revels. He also contributed to the music for the film The Exiles. Music historian and author Robert Dalley said that he had a definite place in surf history.
Dave Myers and The Surftones were a Southern California surf group who are most likely remembered for the few singles they recorded in the 1960s which include their cover of The Revels hit "Church Key" and their time at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa, California.
Judd Douglas Hamilton is an American musician, former band leader, writer, film producer, actor, inventor. He recorded for the Dolton, Liberty, American International, United Artists and RCA Victor labels. He contributed to the music of California, and to surf music from his involvement with the T-Bones and 1960s surf groups, the Avantis and the Ventures. During the 1960s, he was part of the groups Judd Hamilton & the Furys, The Marketts and The T-Bones. As a film and television producer, he was the executive producer and co-screenwriter for the films Maniac and The Last Horror Film, and the executive producer for The 7th Annual Sci-Fi Awards, a 90-minute TV special. His brother was Dan Hamilton. He was married to English actress Caroline Munro for some years.
The El Caminos are a Japanese surf music band who were formed in the 1990s. They had an album that charted in the late 1990s.
Norman Knowles is a surf musician, band leader, and record producer from California. He is the composer of several classic surf songs, including as co-writer of the surf classic "Church Key", which was a hit for The Revels. He also has been involved in band management, managing another surf band, The Sentinals. Knowles has made a significant contribution to the surf genre.