A Brief History of Surf Music and Why Daikaiju is cool (History w/ KLK)
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- Disclaimer time: I own nothing. These clips belong to their respective owners; be cool.
Ahead of the second season of the Papineau Podcast I wanted to give y'all a condensed (non exhaustive) recap of surf music leading up to Daikaiju.
All info/clips were compiled from the dang ol' internet plus D. Brackett's book The Pop Rock and Soul Reader 3rd edition.
Full session: • Video
This is a non exhaustive list leading up to daikaiju btw. Your mileage will vary. Check the comments for a seemingly exhaustive list ;)
Part 2?
Yeh this is def a plug for daikaiju not a history lesson in surf music
yeah... one of the band that i remember was "the trashmen"... they were the forerunner of so much music ... they were definitely the first "surf punks"
Early B52's drew heavily on surf music in the late 70s and early 80s. . Space Cossacks and the Mermen in the 90s took surf music in intetesting directions as well
The Aquabats (Yo Gabba Gabba).
That's what I was going to say.
Rock Lobster
@@citizencain01Cock lobster.
Were the B's the first to marry the surf sound with space age themes?
what about the Dead Kennedys, and the Pixies.... both bands used Surf sounds and were clearly into it or directly covered surf numbers fromm the early 60s
Also The Shins sorta have a surf/spaghetti western vibe
I said that exact same thing✌️💓
Exactly, SURFER ROSA, The Pixies had a Surf Sound going on in a number of their songs. I have been following Pixies since their first album Come on Pilgrim. Black Francis is very talented lyricist.
DKs definitely. East Bay Ray's guitar sound was California all the way!
DK is the new Serf music. Ask Jello he'll tell ya.
Dick Dale rules. Also Link Wray.
I need to mention Messer Chupps out of St. Petersburg. Solid band.
Let's not forget the Dead Kennedys, the Cramps, and the Ramones...
Phantom Surfers, Trashwomen, Mummies, Untamed Youth
I was going to comment these exact bands (except UT, they're sick though), but you beat me to it!
Ditto, plus there quite a bit of crossover between all those four particularly Russell Quan. My friend's Tiki trio open for Deke (with los Straightjackets) once.
@@shepherdmyers awesome
Jackie and the Cedric’s are coming to the Bay Area soon, love em
I don’t understand who you skip from Dick Dale to Agent Orange without mentioning the B52s or The Cramps who were both arguably some kind of surf punk.
And just in general I think there’s something kind of funny about the idea of punk being distinct enough from surf to have a fusion genre. Surf is just part of punk genetics.
Early punk bands like the Ramones we clearly inspired by surf and often covered surf songs.
Musicians like Dick Dale and Link Wray also undoubtedly had a big influence on what the sound of punk guitar would be.
You can really hear how surf lended itself to the punk sound in songs like Bird is The Word and Demolicion.
I also think it’s just worth mentioning that surf is one of the component elements in psychedelic music. Surf was also influential to the beginnings of psychedelic Cumbia.
Idk I just think that surf did like a lot before agent orange.
Okay okay I’ll be done after this but I also after to say that those bands like the cramps and the b-52s did that monster association and so I think it was kind of precedented. Rock Lobster seems especially adjacent to Kaiju imagery.
Space themes in surf definitely go way back not just with bands like the B-52s but with first generation surf acts like The Tornados who wrote a few songs inspired by space travel and discovery.
The Spotnicks another instrumental group were also very space inspired and notably have an album entitled The Spotnicks in Tokyo. They also had get ups to rival Devo. In my opinion surf has always had a strain of camp and sort of playing a character.
Most surf bands, even bands like The Beach Boys, weren’t surfers.
Man or Astroman is still great music to ride
One of the best to ever do it!
Opened for them with my band in Baltimore many years ago.
Funny that they turned into the navel gaze, drone psychedelia of Spiritualized. 300 Bars, Sway, The Slide Song.
The Dr Seuss Experience, in Wisconsin, combined hard core with surf. In the early 80s.
Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet
How do you not mention The Cramps?
Oh my goodness! I recorded Daikaiju's first demo in Huntsville in 2000! They were so good - they came in, set up and unleashed a blistering fury in the studio. It's probably the best recording I ever participated in. Truly an awesome band. It's so neat to see them mentioned in your video about surf music.
Hell ya 🤙
Dissapointed that there's no mention of the fact that early instrumental surf was an FU to the music industry that only cared about singers, and saw bands as disposable.
This is super interesting! Any suggestions on sources (books, YT vids, etc) on where I can learn more about this?
My band opened for Daikaiju in Philly years ago and they put on the most amazing performance I have ever seen before or since.
East Bay Ray from the Dead Kennedys was heavily influenced by surf, in fact if you listen to “Police Truck,” you can hear the similarities to the Ventures “Pipeline.”
East Bay Ray for the Dead Kennedys? His style has Dick Dale written all over it.
You missed a few. The Bomboras who nailed the sound, Satan's Pilgrims, Blue Hawaiians and even Southern Culture on the Skids!
THANK YOU..ESPECIALLY FOR MENTIONING THE BOMBORAS!!!! Xoxoxo thank you!
Agree! - my adds: Surf Coasters, Aqua Velvets, Barbwires, Bambi Molesters, Pollo Del Mar
SCOTS was a big deal on the East Coast.
Bands that should have been mentioned in this video would be The Cramps, B-52s, Ramones ,The Go-go's , and the Dead Kennedys. Although these bands weren't surf rock rock bands ,they were definitely influenced by surf rock and they influenced your modern surf rock bands ,of course everyone knows becoming a surf rocker is one of the few punk rock retirement plans out there. 😁 In any case the surf rock influence is clearly heard in the music of the bands that I mentioned. Oh, the Trash Women, and Hillbilly Frankenstein weren't mentioned, so I will 😁
Let’s not forget “The Surfrajettes” from Toronto, ON!
I just saw The Surfragettes play live. Excellent show. Love the surf sound.
The Mermen!! Took surf rock all the way into dark, profound, epic territory, while staying true to surf themes.
Sorry, how old are you? I remember The Beach Boys on the radio, all through the seventies. It never slowed down in California.
Before Agent Orange the Australian band Radio Birdman were playing fast punk infused surf music
Daryl Dragon DID play keys for The Beach Boys. However you would better know him as "Captain" from "Captain and Tennille"
Yeah, no shit about Daikaiju... their live show is something else. It's a LOT harder than the records, generally a circle pit, drummer gets crowdsurfed, passing instruments off to the audience, lighting cymbals, guitars, and the tour van on fire. If they're in town, you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't go.
Exactly. Seen them every year here in Columbia SC except 2020. So good, it's an experience, and you got to love the communal vibe. What other band tells you to get on stage and even force you to play their instrument? Ha ha
"Surfers listened to Jazz, not The Beach Boys." - Greg Noell.
My band teacher, in the 80’s, Bob Demon was the bassist for the Astronauts, who played Pipeline and Baja. Killer surf tunes.
My band teacher also (class of '78.) He inspired many Coronado, CA musicians.
The Astronauts had a great sound, their live recordings are great
@@HomebrewMusic he was a great teacher. I also had his class for 6th grade History. I believe we knew he was a cool guy, but we really didn’t get how cool he really was until later.
Go Islanders!
Surf and Exotica are probably my 2 favorite underrated genres.
Radio Birdman, man.
How do you think "Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet" fit in to this discussion? For example, "Having an Average Weekend" became the theme song for the Canadian comedy troupe "Kids in the Hall". To my ear, there is a lot of "The Ventures" in their sound.
Surf and Garage are kinda one and the same, and very DIY punk attidute from Dick Dale playing his guitar upside down to the Ventures using lots of tremolo, of course surfers liked it, it was different, even the Ramones and other early punk rockers thought surf music was cool, and incorporated it into their own style still do, bc it still sounds like weird noise.
No mention of Jodie Foster’s Army, As long as you’re mentioning surf punk
JFA are great, iconic logo among aging skaters.
Oh WOW . . . that anyone remembers JFA‼I loved them & played the crap out of em'. I STILL have my Sony Walkman, which has a JFA sticker on it‼I wish I could post a picture of it on here
JFA is skate punk, a chapter completely left out of this vid .
@@empiremanagement1015
Yeah, they were skate but with covers of Walk Don’t Run and Baja they easily fit surf
@@MrScotts321 I call Robin that era No we didn’t we considered. It skate punk were you there?
My Dad is a big Surf fan, from the guitar school. He had a couple of albums by The Ventures, and liked Dick Dale a lot. His true love was Motown though. However, his Mom listened to The Grand Ole Opry every Sunday, so he liked Roy Clark a lot too. I dutifully discovered surf punk and skate punk because the guitars sounded familiar
Definitely needed to include B52's Rock Lobster
I’m looking for more of a modern surfy Nirvana sound. I absolutely love the surf rock sound in a lot of Nirvana songs, and even the Nirvana unplugged album, it’s like a strange mix of surf/rock/folky combo… anyone know of modern bands with that kinda of sound??? PLEASE let me know of ANY suggestions!! Thanks!!
Daikaiju was one of the best bands I’ve ever seen. I was told to go and didn’t even google them, I was blown away, I bought every disc they had and was bummed that their studio recordings were not as nitro charged as the shows, they should do some live albums for sure
DAI = BIG
KAIJU= MONSTER
in Japanese
Thanks for putting that together. I've been a surf music fan for a long time. I love Daikaiju. Great loved band too. The Mermen, Bambi Molesters, and Slacktone are personal
favorites.
You overlooked Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, who performed the music for Kids In The Hall. I think they were low key responsible for making surf music cool again before Pulp Fiction.
Yeah I may whip something up to give them their flowers
I saw Daikaiju just this weekend. Thank-you so much for making this video!!
Thanks for watching!
In the 70's there were FAR more obvious examples. Suburban Lawns, Devo and of course, the B52's. In the late 60's Tommy James' Crimson and Clover. These bands were far from obscure and put their surf influence right up front.
Daikaiju attacks Columbia SC tonight, my 3rd show, go!!
The Who's secret was when they started producing themselves they took production values from Jan and Dean and the Beach Boys!
Listen!
Pixies?
Daikaiju man, I thought I liked surf then I saw them when a friend of mine opened for them, not knowing who they were in a small little bar in my town roughly ten years ago. Literally top 3 shows I've ever seen, they pushed me into diving deep into surf and inspired me to do my own surf projects. Just amazing.
This makes me sad that we never got a Christian Bale / Heath Ledger surfing scene.
MOAM and Daikaiju are two of my favorite bands. Hell yes. Cool video.
I don’t fully understand how to explain it, but when I listen to Man or Astroman and other bands the music grabs me. I must have heard surf music sometime in the early 80s. The Eliminators song “One gun is all you need” is almost like a religious experience.
In my mind this music is connected to old hot rods, drive in movies, b-movie flying saucers, monsters and luchadors.
I think you need to add The Dead Milkmen to this list.
You're not wrong, but consider that the Milkmen loved to ridicule/parody everything, a song like "Surfing Cow" is as much mocking surf rock as being actual surf rock
I do really love 'Man or Astro-Man?'
i love surf music hope it last for years to come surfs up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Who knows what musicians will decide to do with it next!!
One when you forgot to mention that I’m a huge fan of myself is Jon and the night riders They were one of the biggest groups that brought surf back in the 80s
While there's waves there be surfers but I guess it's up to us to introduce them to the surf sounds . Rog . Pacific sunset records .
Should've mentioned modern bands like the frights guantanamo baywatch fidlar
Although your world wonders me
With your majestic and superior cackling hen
Your people I do not understand
So to you I shall put an end
And you'll
Never hear
Surf music again
-Jimi Hendrix
born in So Cal i grew up on surf music loving Jan and Dean , the Beach boys , Dick Dale , the Ventures and many more .
Walk Don't Run was one of the first songs I learned on guitar. I'd like to add Link Wray to the list even though he played other genres than surf music as well.
The Surf Punks have the best cover of "Ballroom Blitz".
Also the Dead Kennedys were heavy on surf riffs.
I'm such a geek. At 3:40 I was thinking that Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon are standing together and she's grabbing his arm. Meanwhile, Dick doesn't know that she's Bat Girl, and Barbara doesn't know that he's Robin. I grew up watching Batman, and I always liked this scene.
The Who were totally influenced by Surf, particularly Keith Moon who was essentially a Surf drummer. They even covered the Beach Boys’ Barbara Ann.
Keith hitting those high notes on Barbara Ann.
@@SuperStrik9 he got the Who gig because he could play with wild abandon and hold an R&B groove. American surf-instro records from the early 60s covered the same Motown and soul tunes as British bands that played dance clubs. It was a parallel scene with pretty much the same music.
It might have been helpful to point out that Darryl Dragon was "The Captain" of The Captain & Tennille. One of the Beach Boys dubbed him The Captain for his keyboard skills. (I believe he was a session player.)
surf is everywhere. look at how it ties into Spanish guitar, spaghetti westerners, even the Munsters. surf guitar 101 ties in a huge base from everywhere. the ventures were bigger than the Beatles in Asia.
Good mini-doc. I like Daikaiju. Some other surf bands, or bands with Surf elements that I personally like are: Bambi Molesters, Stories from Shamehill, Los Twang Marvels!, Space Psycho Tropic Plank Tone, Messer Chups and Red Elvises.
Damn, there's quite a few in your list I don't recognize. Better look them up!
Messer Chups is sick. Considering them psychobilly/surf, is a fair assessment.
ruclips.net/video/bBmRn2DRe6A/видео.html
You left out the Ghastly Ones
I totally high jacked Daikaiju's rehearsal space once and they not only gave up the space to me, they gave me tickets to their show and a free vinyl single. These guys are awesome dudes full of so much positivity and seemingly effortless talent. I can't say enough good things about them.
" [it] died...kind of like dub-step in the Summer of 2010."
Thank God!
No mention of Surf Music is complete without the theme song for Hawaii 5-0!
That wave sold more airline tickets than any add campaign.
That was played by the inimitable Tommy Tedesco. He also recoded the themes for Batman, Bonanza, Green Acres, and M*A*S*H*. and was featured on many of the biggest popular music hits of the 60s and 70s as the go-to session guitarist for “The Wrecking Crew”. The Byrds, The Association, The Monkees, Sonny and Cher, The Beach Boys (he’s all over “Pet Sounds”).
Los Straight Jackets are pretty much the sh*t!!!
Modern Surf is like a black hole. If you get close to it and have the least bit of interest, you'll get sucked in and never return. If you keep your distance, you may know it exists, but you'll be too far away from it to realize why it is so cool and remains a progressive sub-genre of Rock to this day. Alas, Daikaiju is a great example! ❤🏄♂🎸🎶
oh shit i played with them several times from 08-2011ish. they're crazy nice fellas. one of my bassists got to play with them for a while, too.
I have been saying it since I was a little kid in the 60s.
Everybody loves surf music
Me lord loves serf music. It’s the music of the people.
Disappointed no one was quicker to comment this 🤴
Dude I never heard of man or astro-man! But they're my new favorite band this week!
This was absolutely fascinating. 🎸🎶✨
Can't believe you didn't include The Amino Acids out of Detroit! Probably one of the most true to the Surf genre bands since the 1960's. It's not just a bunch of guys playing music, they have a phenomenal stage show to go along with it. When Dick Dale saw them he said "They're the best band I've seen in the last 10 years"
Why did the Ventures find love in Japan? Cause “surf” music had been there for ages. Traditional Japanese folk music, Eleki, and Tsugaru all influenced the first wave of American surf.
5:27. Daryl Dragon is waaay more famous for being the hat-wearing keyboardist “The Captain” in Captain and Tennille, 70s pop superstar married couple.
The Mermen continue to roll the tide back and forth and stay true to surf rock. Very listenable and interesting. Both fun and complex. No costumes or married to any lockdown. Purely free to explore the shore.
Used to be a band out of Chicago called Spies Who Surf back around 2000. Had a bit of a James Bond theme. They dressed in black suits white shirt, narrow black tie and Wayfarer sunglasses.
Great Video, but how could you not mention the late great Ricky Wilson of the B-52s. His work on those early albums before his untimely passing played a huge part in reviving the surf guitar sound. Not to mention bands of the eighties like Guadalcanal Diary and The Dead Milkmen kept the surf guitar sound alive. Hell, listen to the theme song to The Kids In The Hall.
A lot of black metal riffs are heavily distorted surf rock riffs.
Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet.. The intro song for the Kids in the Hall; Having an Average Day.
Echo and the Bunnymen's album Heaven up Here.
Before the Beatles, the big band in the UK was the Shadows. It wasn't known at the time as surf music never reached the UK but totally independently, they were playing surf music. Listen to hits like "Man of Mystery" "The Frightened City" "Kon Tiki" "The Stranger" "Dance On" "Foot Tapper" "The Savage" and the original version of "Apache".
From the Early 80's to the present day, there has been the Surfin Lungs. They have produced countless albums which feature both vocal and instrumental tracks. I recommend the compilation album "Splashback" which features a collection of beach and car themed tracks from the 80's and 90's like "Pray for Sun" "Surf Jet Girl" "Quarter Mile Machine" "The Beach will never die" "Quasimodo a Go Go" and "Let em Eat Surf" but there are classics on all their albums so give them a listen.
Born in 1960. Never stopped listening.
You mentioned Agent Orange, 10/10 video.
Thanks for the video. I’ve always thought that Holiday in Cambodia is pretty much a surf tune. I’ve also heard a VERY similar Middle Eastern tune which gives it a link to MiserLou
You're right. Dick Dale was Lebanese. A traditional tune there is the origin of his Miserlou.
Dead Kennedys definitely deserve a mention here... and yes, Misirlou IS an eastern tune, though very popular in Greece as well.
You're kind of circling a point you only just touch when talking about godzilla - 60s nostalgia. The things that get attached to surf are the genre associations that were around when surf went dormant: hokey sci fi films, the space race, el santo and his luchador movies, and japanese kaiju flicks. The same effect can be seen in bands inspired by 80s thrash metal - they add nostalgic elements of sword and sorcery, mad max, and cold war nuclear warnings.
"Shark Attack" by The Surf Punks.
So good
Vocal Surf music got a big boost in 77 with the TV Movie Dead Man's Curve. Which was responsible for bring Jan & Dean back out performing after being absent since Jan's accident in 66. Born in 63 it got me into the Ca sound. And when I went to their concerts the places would be packed.
Im not into surf music at all. However, Daikaju played in my small town last year, and I was very skeptical going in admittedly. Hours later I was sold. Beyond the zany antics and the crowd participation stuff, which frankly would normally completely alienate me from the band, honestly the best show I have seen in many years, and I see a lot of shows. Their the real deal and live much,much heavier than anytning they have recorded. Go see them. They ROCK
The offspring, reel big fish, goldfinger, ballyhoo!, homegrown, gym class heroes, swayze, all musicians who owe musical dna to surf rock in my estimation
wow glad you did a tip of the hat to the Forgotten Rebels
I don't want to make a habit of it or they won't be forgotten anymore
That’s funny, the Beatles just got together to get revenge for an historical event that they probably never heard of
The Beatles were rivals and admirers of the Beach Boys. Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson particularly had a mutual competitive respect.
I want to know how surf rock became a staple with horror. Not sure if it started with the Munsters or American International Pictures' transition from teenage horror flicks to beach party comedies, but they go arm-in-arm so well.
That is most likely because of Shock Theater. Universal licensed their horror line to local television across the country calling it Shock Theater, in their press kits to stations they told them to have hosts like on some of the western shows. They listened and they mostly hired radio DJs, guys like Ghoulardi or Svenghoolie for example. In the 50s you had the Beat scene and beatniks became sort of the punk rock of the day and their look lead to these horror hosts camping their look up, they started looking like beatnik werewolves, vampires and ghouls and since their audience were predominantly teens they started playing rock and roll and its easier to talk over instrumental music than singing. When Shock Theater premiered, I believe with Frankenstein It was a massive ratings bonanza and kick off the monster craze, with songs, models, cartoons and AIP geared their films to teenage tastes that meant Surfing, drag racing, rock n roll and since most of those hobbies started in SoCal it was only natural that surf music be a part of it.
Instrumental music was huge in the late 50s and 60s because you didn’t need a singer, just drums, a guitar, a bass and other instruments, so lots of teens started playing that kind of music and fused it with campy monster imagery and sounds. Purple People Eater was a huge hit so lots of copycats came out after that. Since a lot of these bands were young kids and not all that musically inclined older executives in the record industry that were flooded with demos started calling these kids “Punk” bands especially when the surf sound evolved into that 60s garage sound with the bowl Beatle hair cuts. Think Herman’s Punk Rods jacket. I think The Standells were on an episode too. So monsters and surf garage will forever go hand in hand.
Probably because the Munsters became associated with hot rods (the munster mobile) and auto shows. And surf rock is popular with Hot rodders.
But where does the style of guitar playing come from?
The instrumental/heavier style of surf guitar playing was made popular by acts like Dale, The Surfaris, The Ventures. As for who was the first to tremolo pick their guitar with a maxed out reverb tank we'll probably never know
@@kinglobsterkrew Apparently one of those guys was influenced by his lebanese uncle (wikipedia)
@@Alianger Dick Dale (born Richard Monsour) was half Lebanese, and is considered the first to popularize tremolo picking, something that he credited to being taught to play the tarabaki (a Middle Eastern hand drum also known as a goblet drum) by his uncle. And of course, Dale's style of play, and how he was able to advance the art and science of guitar amps by demanding bigger and more powerful amps, would have a profound influence on future generations of guitarists, especially as heavy metal began to mutate in the 80's. Give a listen to Anthrax's cover of "Pipeline", and realize that thrash metal was basically surf rock with distortion pedals. They even mentioned in the liner notes on "Attack of the B-Sides" that surf rock guitar was a major influence on the development of metal guitar playing.
Oh, and Daikaiju f***ing rules.
When you Talk bout Europe Surf, dont forget the spotniks from sweden. Like the Ventures, they drifted away in a country and contempory Pop direction.
Nice vid, thank you!!
I remember when KRLA and KHJ radio stations, in SoCal, played surf music all day long.😊
If you mention the Beatles, the British invasion and the death of Surf in '64 more times than any actual Surf music titles from its heyday, it's not really a "brief history of surf" (seriously, you repeat the same thing over and over again, including what a "footnote" Surf is to music history). You could have dedicated a couple sentences to its origins and main acts and given the average human some basic grasp before covering its death and revival. It's more like a very brief history of a handful of obscure pre-Tarantino revival bands (cool, I love Man or Astro-man but still).
You also could have mentioned one of the most interesting things about Surf Music, at least Surf guitar - Dick Dale's classic "Misirlou" was adapted from a folk song that uses an Arabic scale, creating one of the most famous and effective crossover pieces in recorded music. Could it be that the classic Surf guitar sound - the one where the guitarist takes the plectrum and goes back and forth on one note really really fast - originates from Greek players doing the same thing on their bouzoukis? Is successful Surf about combining elements? A number of bands clearly did, as you point out.
I do appreciate your deadpan monotone-ish delivery (so tired of North American creators who talk like they went to a radio advertising school in the 50s) and all the other cool stuff - the Batman imagery and the Daikaiju ending...
Dead Kennedys
As a person who grew up on surf guitar and and later on surf punk I have no clue what a Diakiaju could possible be or mean.
From Jan and Dean to Agent Orange and from The Point to Santa Cruz cliffs I have never heard that term used anywhere.
I bought my SURF PUNKS album in 1985! I love 'em!
I trace the birth of Surf Music to the day, in the late 40's, inventor Les Paul visited the guitar amplifier shop of Leo Fender and told him about how to make a solid body guitar to go with his bigger amps.
I suppose the day it died was this BATMAN episode, hah ha.
That's wild both MOAM and Daikaiju are both from Alabama. Its groovy they make me Alabama proud.
My band played with them a couple times down here in Florida. Great group of musicians. Very nice folks. Intense ass live show, so much fun and crowd participation. They nail it. Good to hear them mentioned on RUclips.
I cannot believe thee is no mention of The B-52's here. 😖 However, I gave it a thumbs up despite this omission.