In the early 60s The Beach Party film genre was born. The films were aimed primarily at teen audiences and often dealt with common interests at the time of teens such as surfing, dancing and drag racing. Serious issues of the day were ignored such as political issues and the Vietnam War, instead they just focused on teenagers partying and having a good time. The films also featured music within the film, with characters often performing songs, miming to the music. The first film like this was Beach Party, which was originally released in 1963 by American International Pictures (AIP). It was a surprise success and many of the same actors appeared in the Beach Party film series such as Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon. Dick Dale and His Del-Tones were featured in the movie and on it’s soundtrack.
Davie Allan & The Arrows are an instrumental rock band that recorded several soundtracks for films in the 60s and have a vast and at times dizzying discography. They recorded several classic instrumental based soundtracks in the 60s. They did the soundtrack to Roger Corman’s 1966 cult-classic, biker movie, The Wild Angels, The Glory Stompers (1966), Skater Dater (1966), Thunderball Alley (1967), Wild In The Streets (1968), and Born Losers (1967) to name a few. Their fuzzed out sound rides alongside surf culture. It mixes instrumental sounds with fuzzed out guitar lines and garage rock dynamics, often combining it with elements of surf music and drifting into other directions.
The Endless Summer was released in 1966 internationally, but initially was put out in 1964. This documentary follows two surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they go on a surfing trip around the world. Created by filmmaker Bruce Brown, who also narrates the film, The Endless Summer is often seen as the Citizen Kane of surfing films, as it portrays surfers, surfing in different elements around the world. The soundtrack to this film was composed by the band The Sandals. John Severson was also another influential figure in surf culture. He created and founded Surfer magazine in 1962, in addition to being a photographer, painter, filmmaker and surfer. His films Surf (1960), Surf Fever (1960), and Pacific Vibrations (1970) all were documentaries that helped to modernize and add to surf culture. Surf music was also featured in these films, sometimes alongside other types of rock music.
There have been many other films that have featured surf music in them. Another big one was 1994’s Pulp Fiction. I have already written about this film for a previous episode of Revolution Surf, but this film helped reintroduce the genre to a new generation of people. In 2006, Ron Mann made a film called Tales of The Rat Fink. The documentary film focused on Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, who was a customer car designer. He created the cartoon character The Rat Fink, as an anti-hero to Mickey Mouse and he has become an icon in American culture. Roth was also in a musical novelty group Mr. Weirdo & The Gassers, who released a few bizarre surf rock albums in the 60s. All of this combined with hot rod and surf culture from the 60s and an interest resurged in the Rat Fink character in the 80s/90s. The music for this film was composed by the Canadian band The Sadies. 26 of the 60 compositions created for the film were put out as a soundtrack album entitled, Tales of the Rat Fink. Surf music was once seen as dated and no longer relevant, but it has proven time and time again that it is still influential and relevant. It can still be heard in music today, whether it is an instrumental surf band, a garage band combining surf music elements or just an indie rock band. It can also be found in TV shows, commercials and still in film. Surf music coasts through our culture, regardless of the decade and is here to stay.
Revolution Surf Play List 2018:
1. The Sandals - Driftin' (The Endless Summer (Original Soundtrack to the Motion Picture) - 1966)
2. The Sandals - Theme From "The Endless Summer" (The Endless Summer (Original Soundtrack to the Motion Picture) - 1966)
3. Vic Mizzy - Daybreak At Malibu (Don't Make Waves - 1966)
4. Dick Dale - Secret Surfin' Spot (Annette's Beach Party - 1963)
5. Sting Rays - Surfers Walk (Surfer's Walk/Mad Surfer - 1964)
6. The Swanks - Ghost Train (My College Cry/Ghost Train - 1968)
7. The Intrepides - Golash (Golash/Donna - 1965/The Birth of Surf Vol 2 - 2010)
8. The Sentinals - Big Surf (Sunset Beach: The Best of The Sentinals - 1999)
9. The Separatwists - Commanche (Bar Walking - 2016)
10. Forbidden Dimension - The Shadow Knows (Think Link Vol 2 - 1996)
11. Atomicos - Hotdog! (Surfodelic - 2017)
12. Los Straitjackets - Outta Gear (Viva! Los Straitjackets - 1996)
THE SURFPHONY OF DERSTRUCTION 2000 SEGMENT WITH DERK BRIGANTE:
13. Retrocaine - Baywatch (Back To The 90's - 2017)
14. Tsunamibots - Automaton (The Crushing - 2016)
15. C&C Surf Factory - Planet Mar (Rumbler - 2017)
16. Carlo - Commanche Drive (Carlo - 2018)
17. Surflamingo - Green Hill Zone (Entrepenas Bay Terror - 2017)
18. The Sufrajettes - Mrs. Motto (Surfrajettes EP - 2017)
19. The Centurions - Bullwinkle Pt II (Surfer's Pajama Party - 1963/Music From The Motion Picture Pulp Fiction Soundtrack - 1994)
20. The Mummies - The Fly (Play Their Own Records - 1992)
21. Dusty Mush - Cold Sands (Cheap Entertainment - 2017)
22. Davie Allan & The Arrows - The Chase (The Wild Angels - 1966)
23. Davie Allan & The Arrows - Blues Theme (The Wild Angels - 1966)
24. Davie Allan & The Arrows - Skate Out (Skater Dater - 1966)
25. Ben Vaughn - Main Title (Psycho Beach Party Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - 2000)
26. The Fathoms - Overboard (Overboard - 1998/Psycho Beach Party Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - 2000)
27. Bloodshot Bill - Release The Beast (Home Recordings Vol 1 - 2018)
28. Jan Davis - The Snow Surfing Matador (The Snow Surfing Matador/Scramble - 1964/Jungle Exotica - 1991)
29. Mark Malibu And The Wasagas - Psychedelic Summer (The Original Surf Punk Recordings - 2014)
30. The Shoobies - Spy Kill Tito (The Shoobies EP - 2018)
31. Huevos Rancheros - Secret Recipe (Dig In! - 1995)
32. The 5.6.7.8's - Harlem Nocturne (The 5.6.7.8's - 1994)
33. The Sadies - The Mowhawk (Tales of the Rat Fink Original Soundtrack - 2006)
34. The Sadies - The Bug Jar (Tales of the Rat Fink Original Soundtrack - 2006)
35. The Sadies - The Double Wide (Tales of the Rat Fink Original Soundtrack - 2006)
To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for March 3.
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