Before the Beach Boys, These Music Titans Defined Surf Rock

There is a certain type of pop music that comes from the very waves of the beach. The 1959 movie Gidget brought surf culture into the teen mainstream. As a result, everyone headed for the beach with a towel and a transistor radio in tow. Young ears were eager to find something new to dance to, and when it shimmied up, they called it surf music.

First came instrumental surf, featuring twangy, reverb-heavy electric guitars and fast tempos you could ride. Bands like the Bel-Airs and the Chantays, with their hit “Pipeline,” were big. One of the most popular instrumental surf songs was “Wipe Out” by the Surfaris with its relentless drumming and ride-of-your-life guitars.

“King of the Surf Guitar” Dick Dale and the Del-Tones released the monster surf hits “Let’s Go Trippin” and “Misirlou,” and they performed in several Frankie Avalon–Annette Funicello movies, including 1963’s Beach Party and 1964’s Muscle Beach Party. The Ventures started out playing surf instrumental music, their most popular being “Walk, Don’t Run” and “Hawaii Five-O,” then expanded to include a wide variety of instrumental music. They are the most popular instrumental band of all time, selling some 100 million records.

Soon to follow was vocal surf, a smoother and sunnier sound featuring high voices and mellow vocal harmonies. (Some say it was a regional variant of doo-wop.) There was Ronny & the Daytonas with the song “Little G.T.O.” and Jan and Dean, whose “Surf City” became the first surf song to top the charts. The duo also performed the title track of 1964’s Ride the Wild Surf, which starred Fabian Forte and Tab Hunter.

One-hit wonders, the Trashmen, came on the scene in 1962, hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, with their hit “Surfin Bird.” The song had a resurgence in popularity when it was featured in a 2009 episode of Family Guy.

When the Beach Boys Washed Ashore

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Then came the Beach Boys, and after that there wasn’t much else on the beach. The Boys had their first national hit with “Surfin’ USA” and never looked back, with hits like “I Get Around,” “California Girls,” “Fun Fun Fun” and “Good Vibrations.” Their sunny groove became known as the California sound, and it would help the band sell more than 100 million records.

Some pop groups had surf anthems in their larger repertoire — “California Dreamin’” by the Mamas and the Papas, “Runaway” by Del Shannon and “Little Miss Go-Go” by Gary Lewis and the Playboys. The Go-Go’s and the B-52s were great surf party bands.

Though it soon lost the pop mainstream to Beatlemania, surf rock would stay popular with the eternal beach culture. It would evolve into a baker’s dozen of styles, including hot rod rock, rockabilly, surf punk, skate punk, beach goth, psycho surf and others.

In Surf City, it was fun, fun, fun!

This article appears in the July 2022 Summer Fun Issue of ReMIND Magazine. You can purchase the full issue at the link below.

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