Search - Various Artists :: Surf City's Greatest Hits

Catch A Wave

09/13/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If surfin' music brings back memories, this CD's for you. Twenty great little tunes, some purely instrumentals, and a full 60% of which were legitimate charters, beginning with The Beach Boys' first hit ever, Surfin', which reached # 75 Billboard Pop Hot 100 in February 1962. From the same era comes Mr. Moto by The Bel-Airs, and while this never made the national charts it was certainly a West Coast favorite. Penetration was The Pyramids' only hit, reaching # 18 Hot 100 in early 1964, and although Remember (Walking In The Sand) by The Shangri-Las (# % Hot 100 in late summer 1964) can't be described as a "surfing" tune, it does conjure up beach strolls while awaiting the next batch of waves.



Preston Epps' Bongo Rock (# 14 Hot 100 in 1959) is up next, followed by another one-hit wonder as Underwater was the only hit for the L.A. group The Frogmen, going to # 55 Hot 100 in May 1961, and regarded as a hard-to-find selection. The Jan & Dean selection included here, Baggy Pants, was a failed Dore release in 1961, while King Of The Surf was the uncharted B-side to Surfin' Bird by The Trashmen in late 1963. Next up is New York's A Lonely Town by the Beach Boys sound-a-like group, The Trade Winds, a # 32 Hot 100 in early 1965 (note that the group's name is two words and not to be confused with The Tradewinds who had a 1959 hit with Furry Murray).



No surfing compilation would be complete without Surfer's Stomp by The Mar-Kets (who would later spell their name Marketts), a # 31 Hot 100 in early 1962, and while you can't say the same for Percolator (Twist) by Billy Joe & The Checkmates, it's still a neat instrumental, and the only hit for the group, going to # 10 Hot 100 also in early 1962. Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon's bouncy Palisades Park (written by Chuck Barris of The Gong Show fame) became a # 15 R&B cross-over in summer 1962 while also reaching a lofty # 3 Hot 100, while another VERY hard-to-find instrumental is The Caterpillar Crawl by the san Diego group The Strangers (# 49 Hot 100 in summer 1959 and their only hit).



Another Dore release around 1963 was Rumble At Newport Beach by Mike Gordon & The Agates, a non-charter as was Rock Journalist/DJ Jim Pewter's Little Miss Red Riding Hood Surfer Queen Of Hollywood on MGM in 1973. But The Marketts had a # 48 Hot 100 with Balboa Blue in late spring 1962, and in summer 1974 Beach Baby became a # 4 Hot 100 for First Class. A real obscure entry is Dudes On The Beach by The Rainbow Girls. It wasn't a hit in any way shape or form, and perhaps the group is known only to devoted collectors of the "girl group" sound.



I suppose it was inevitable that, following the popularity of Star Trek there would be a Surf Trek, and for this non-hit we owe the combination of Davie Allen and Dick Dale. Ending the volume is Jan & Dean's classic Surf City, a # 1 Hot 100/# 3 R&B in late summer 1963.



A great compilation if you live by the ocean - or wish you did."