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.
The Surfaris are an American surf music band formed in Glendora, California, in 1962. They are best known for two songs that hit the charts in the Los Angeles area, and nationally by May 1963: "Surfer Joe" and "Wipe Out", which were the A-side and B-side of the same 45 rpm single.
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 Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the 1960s. While their popularity in the United States waned in the 1970s, the group remains especially revered in Japan, where they have toured regularly. The classic lineup of the band consisted of Wilson, Bogle, Nokie Edwards, and Mel Taylor (drums).
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 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.
Surfbeat was the first album recorded by the Los Angeles-based surf rock group The Challengers. They recorded the album in a 3½ hour session at the end of 1962. The album was released in early 1963 and became a huge hit, helping to propel the surf genre. It was sought by collectors for many years and gained great notoriety in the obscure surf market. In 1994, Sundazed records, a company with a lot of vintage surf at its disposal, released the album on CD with two bonus tracks.
"Surfin' Safari" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys, written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love. Released as a single with "409" in June 1962, it peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also appeared on the 1962 album of the same name.
The Phantom Surfers are a surf rock band formed in 1988.
For the UK band, see Astronauts (band)
Goin' To Rockingham is the fifth album released by surf music band The Surfin' Lungs, released in 2002 on the Spanish label No Tomorrow. This was the most productive longplayer released by the band yet as it contained 17 tracks, three of which were covers: "The Godfather", written by Nino Rota for the film of the same name; "Surfin' Hearse" had originally been a Jan & Dean song, which had been included on their 1963 album Drag City; "In The Sun" was a Blondie song. Rockingham also featured the first lead vocal from Clive Gilling, "Go Mr Gasser ". Overall the album was very similar in style to previous longplayer Hang Loose with The Surfin' Lungs, again epitomising the group's focus on sun, surfing, cars and girls to great effect.
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.
Jon & The Nightriders was an American instrumental surf music band known formed in Southern California in 1979. Fundamentally consisting of guitarist/songwriter John Blair, the band is credited for ushering in a renewed interest in the instrumental surf music genre, which had fallen out of popular favor since the popularity of The Beatles. The band name comes from a combination of the name of the Dick Dale song "Night Rider" and an alternate spelling of Blair's first name.
"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.
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.
The Avantis were a surf group from Los Angeles, California, that was active from around 1963 to 1964. They recorded some singles on a couple of labels. They are known for their 1963 surf rock instrumental, "Wax 'Em Down".
The Surfer Joe Summer Festival, also known as SJSF, is an annual music festival dedicated to surf music organized by Surfer Joe Music that is held in Livorno, Italy.
"Exotic" is a song composed by Bruce Morgan and recorded by various bands back in 1963 when it was first released.
"Surfin' U.S.A." is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys, credited to Chuck Berry and Brian Wilson. It is a rewritten version of Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" set to new lyrics written by Wilson and an uncredited Mike Love. The song was released as a single on March 4, 1963, backed with "Shut Down". It was then placed as the opening track on their album of the same name.
