Hang Ten Gremmie!

Hi everyone! We're having snowy, icy, wintery weather and being house bound for a while got me thinking of the sun. Of course, since I had plenty of time to blog surf I came across some great stuff you should know about. For surfheads and interested listeners alike, the find of the Out Of Print Cowabunga Surf Box is a treaure chest of goodies. It got me thinking of classic surf and related instros -- what would you need to do to get a collection of the best of the best and start the journey into this marvelous genre of music. Well, here you go. This is my attempt to introduce those who have a casual interest in instrumental rock that we call surf music and to add more to those who already love it. This post is all classic surf, all essential listening. Not discounting the modern revivalists, there are polenty of them already posted in the Lounge (see archives). History is history -- the old saw is true - you have to know the past in order to appreciate the future. There is some duplication of cuts in the post - I don't apologize for that -- I'd rather have you edit your own playlist than go by my instincts.

For newbies - "gremmies" - in the surfin' world -- this is a good start and will definately put you on the path of twang nirvana.

For seasoned surf heads -- you should already have most of this --but I hope there are some lesser known gems in the bottom two posts that are worth your time.

Everything here is OOP so I hope you can add to your libraty of great music.

Thanks for hangin' in there.

DaBoss

This is by no way definititve list -- just a decent curl to get your feet wet.

My buddy and contributor Brandonio posted the outrageous 4 disc COWABUNGA Surf Box from Rhino over at RockIsDeadRIP and I highly recommend visiting them and snagging it while you can. The older surf music is adorable, bubbly, and bouncy; newer surf music tends to sound darker and a little more ironic. This box set provides a stellar sampling of both worlds. The first two discs are full of early gems; the second disc covers the decline of surf music in the late sixties, and the final disc gives a tantalizing peek into modern surf-revival music.

Massive, if not quite definitive, four-CD, 82-track box set of surf music. The first three discs are devoted to material from the genre's '60s prime, and the fourth devoted to revivalists from 1977 to 1995. If your interest runs very deep, this should satisfy, placing most of the emphasis on instrumentals rather than vocals (though significant efforts in the latter vein by the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, and others are included). It has most of the big hits, and quite a few of the ones which were principally popular in Southern California, as well as some neat rarities that are hard to find anywhere, like the Illusions' storming "Jezebel," and the Surfmen's "Paradise Cove," the Latin-surf hybrid of Dave Myers's "Moment of Truth," the Sandals' "Theme From Endless Summer," and the Sunrays' Beach Boys Xerox, "I Live for the Sun." Get it!