Throughout the '70s, '80s, and now in the '90s, there have been numerous attempts to recreate the sound, style, or attitude of the music that was identified so strongly with surfing in the early 1960s. Surf music "revivalists" are an interesting lot. Some are successful, others aren't; some are wildly creative, others remain strictly adherent to the classic sound and style; some take an indulgent avant-garde approach to the genre, others practice restrained minimalism. As a result, surf revival recordings in the last two and a half decades have varied widely in style and originality. 
There have been two major revivals of interest in surf music since 1965. The first occurred roughly from 1980 to about 1984. The other began slowly during the early '90s and, as this collection is issued, is becoming even more widespread. 
In 1980, a surprisingly large number of surf bands appeared in major cities across the country, and overseas. However, most of the action was smack dab in Southern California. The music was like the early 1960s, but the bands were older, musically more mature, and weren't out to make a career for themselves as musicians; this time it was strictly for fun. The bands still recorded and released their own singles or used small, independent labels. Audiences included fans of all ages. 
Out of this revival of interest, Dick Dale returned from self-imposed retirement. The Ventures started performing in the U.S. again, and some original bands like The Chantays and The Surfaris regrouped for revival concerts. 
Jon & The Nightriders had more than a passing effect on the 1980 surf music revival. For several years, they were active on the Southern California club scene. They recorded four albums and several singles, and worked with legendary producers Shel Talmy (The Who, The Kinks, et. al) and Kim Fowley. They toured Europe in 1981 and stayed fairly active in Southern California through 1982 until the local interest in surf music seemed to fade again. Undaunted, the band came together in 1986 and recorded their fourth album. "Storm Dancer" is a track from this album, released first in Europe, then in the U.S. four years later. 
The Malibooz began in New York around 1964 as The Moon Dawgs. They started with instrumentals, then switched to songs by The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Animals, The Kinks, and others. They changed their name to The Malibus, but changed it again because New Yorkers mispronounced it "Mali-bus," as in public transportation. The band splintered, with Egan and Zambetti making their way to the West Coast. In 1980, guitarist and vocalist Walter Egan regrouped The Malibooz. Rhino Records released "Goin' To Malibu" in 1981 as one of the tracks on the band's Malibooz Rule! album. 
The Surf Raiders came together in guitarist Robert Dalley's Covina garage in 1980 and began appearing at dances and clubs. They helped to set a trend in which non-professional musicians (i.e., those with day jobs) who had an interest in surf music, and tons of records at home to prove it, started to form their own bands. Dalley and rhythm guitarist Neal Kuzee were both record collectors who loved surf music. As students of the sound and style, it didn't take long for The Surf Raiders to become technically proficient. In 1983, the band cut "Wave Walk'n." Several more singles and two albums later, The Surf Raiders stopped performing, but not before making a sizeable contribution to the 1980s surf music revival and helping to expose the music to a much wider, and frequently younger, audience. 
Harold Bronson, one of the owners of Rhino Records, loved surf music, even backing the A-side of a 1975 Mogan David & His Winos single with a newly composed instrumental, "Savage Surf." In a more concerted effort, he collected a group of local musicians with the goal of refining the surf instrumental sound by taking advantage of modern recording techniques and contemporizing the sound with a taste of heavy metal. Dick Dale's influence was acknowledged with a choice of the band name: The Wedge was the name of a dangerous surfing spot at the tip of Balboa Peninsula, immortalized by Dick Dale & The Del-Tones in their powerhouse instrumental of the same name. The band's "Night Of The Living Wedge," an excellent example of combining a contemporary sound with a vintage style, is the most exciting track from The Big, Bad, Boss Beat Of...The Wedge EP, released in the fall of 1980. Missing are the traditional reverbed guitars. Instead, the guitars have a slightly distorted edge to them that wasn't far removed from the rock guitar tone du jour at the time. The style of the tune, though, owes everything to The Ventures and Dick Dale. 
Harold Bronson asked his friend, drummer Tom Brown, to recruit musicians to make a good surf instrumental record. Brown had a lengthy background as a drummer. He played with The Illusions (represented earlier in the collection with "Jezabel") and he began a long-standing association with Eddie Bertrand after the breakup of Eddie & The Showmen. In the mid-'80s, Brown joined the staff of Rhino Records, where he continues to work as a manager of RhinoDirect's Customer Service department ("Goddamn!"). 
Like surf music in the '60s, punk rock music of the '70s had both an attitude and a style. While surf music was almost always positive and happy, punk rock expressed dissatisfaction and anger. However, like some punk rock groups, the Surf Punks had a self-parodying side, and a sense of humor. The band was organized by drummer and producer Dennis Dragon, who was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying, "What we're doing isn't really music. It's more of an attitude. If people want to bag it, they'll have to put it somewhere between Spike Jones and the Sierra Club...with maybe a little [Frank] Zappa and The Monkees thrown in." 
The band debuted at the Santa Monica Civic auditorium in October 1979. Their shows tended to be very theatrical with a lot of stage props. Some shows included real sand, a full-sized lifeguard tower, and a troupe of young girls in bikinis. "I don't claim to have any original ideas," Dragon said, "It's just that we live down here [in Malibu] and we're simply reflecting what's happening. So, when I see a guy out in the water and he's on this wave, and he actually thinks he owns that wave - well, I gotta talk about it, 'cause that's totally crazy!" The Surf Punks' themes reflected the politics of the beach culture, which by the '80s had grown substantially. So had its problems. "My Beach" noted with sardonic humor that the beaches had become more territorial than ever. 
Corky Carroll is a five-time U.S. champion and a three-time international champion. In 1968, he was voted #1 surfer in the world by Surfer magazine. He was on the Miller Lite All-Stars team for 11 years, and in recent months, he has appeared frequently in radio and TV commercials extolling the delights of Ocean Spray fruit juices. Corky's appeared in several feature films, including North Shore, and who knows how many more surfing movies over the years. He's also dabbled in rock and folk music since the early '70s, and is cohost of a weekly chat show on AOL's Surflink. In 1971, Carroll collaborated with Dennis Dragon on an album project. Dragon later formed the Surf Punks. The idea for the Surf Punks was actually suggested by Carroll. For several years in the late '70s, Carroll worked for Surfer magazine. A friend introduced him to singer-songwriter-musician Chris Darrow, a founding member of the '60s psychedelic rock band Kaleidoscope who later worked with James Taylor and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Together, Carroll and Darrow formed The Cool Water Casuals and wrote "Tan Punks On Boards," apparently in ten minutes during a beach barbeque in 1978. Featuring Corky's autobiographical lyrics, the song was intended to poke fun at The Tubes' 1975 alternative radio hit, "White Punks On Dope," itself a parody of heavy-metal music. 
During the 1960s, there were only a few bands in foreign countries playing surf music (Australia had a particularly active scene led by bands such as The Atlantics, The Denvermen, and The Joy Boys). In the last few years, many vocal and instrumental bands from all major industrialized countries have aligned themselves with the vintage sound and style of surf music. One of the earliest of these bands was The Cruncher, formed in Germany in 1987. 
Lead guitarist and producer Herbert Hooke was intrigued by the sound of reverbed surf instrumentals, such as "Baja" by The Astronauts. "The Rebel" (written by former California Lt. Governor Mike Curb when he was involved in the music business during the late '60s) is taken from The Cruncher's second self-produced album, released in 1988. The track was recorded in Hooke's home studio without using the typical Fender Reverb Unit. Yet the artificially produced surf sound is quite effective. This nicely recorded track benefits from the use of an electric 12-string guitar on each of the tune's bridges. 
Guitarist David Arnson formed the Insect Surfers in Washington, D.C., in 1979. He regrouped the band after moving to Los Angeles in 1985. Clearly, they view their music with a certain passion for the classic surf instrumentals and a solid respect for the slightly distorted guitar sound of Link Wray's contribution to instrumental rock. The Insect Surfers have been described as "postmodern surf music," "traditional, yet progressive," "Psychedelic Rangers," and "The Clash meet The Ventures." They've remained part of the local club scene for 10 years with essentially the same personnel, and have maintained a devoted fan following. One of the band's signature tunes is the Arnson-penned "Polaris," taken from their 1991 album Reverb Sun. 
The Halibuts are the longest-existing surf revival band in Southern California. They formed in Manhattan Beach in 1982 and are still performing and recording in 1996. Although they use standard instrumentation (i.e., vintage Fender guitars and amps), their original compositions and arrangements of cover tunes tend to involve more complex patterns and melodies. "Chumming," the title track from their third album, was released in 1993 on their own label and nationally distributed by Upstart Records in 1995. A new album is on the way in 1996. 
The Surfdusters formed in Vancouver, Canada in 1989. Their presence in what has now become an "international" surf music community was established by releasing cassette tapes and singles. The fact that the band's rhythm guitarist, Rich Hagensen, also publishes a rock instrumental newsletter on a regular basis has helped The Surfdusters' visibility. The resurgence of interest in surf music created a demand for live appearances around Vancouver. 
Hagensen and guitarist Ralph Johnston met in 1982, and their first recordings were issued in 1990. Personal appearances increased and there were several articles about them in various local and international magazines. Battles of the bands, radio interviews, and more independently-released recordings followed. "Save The Waves" originally appeared on The Surfdusters' 1992 self-released cassette Live...Party On '92. In July 1995. The tune was rerecorded especially for this collection. 
Formed in Hamburg, Germany, in 1993, The Looney Tunes have nicely duplicated the sound and style of Southern California surf music. Guitarist Sebastian Hartmann had formed The Wizards in 1985 and his second band, The Swyng Jacks, in 1987. The Swyng Jacks released 5 cassettes of surf instrumentals between 1989 and 1992, all recorded in Hartmann's home studio. After Thomas Ritter of String Records in Germany saw one of The Looney Tunes' performances, the album Cool Surfin' was recorded in July 1993. It featured the Hartmann original "Desert Bound." 
Teisco Del Rey's 1994 CD The Many Moods Of Teisco Del Rey was a varied collection of guitar instrumentals played by Del Rey on different guitars with a different backing group for every track. It wasn't exactly surf music, but it helped reestablish guitar-based instrumental rock as a legitimate form of pop music. Del Rey is a writer/musician/weird-guitar collector and a resident of Austin, Texas, and a regular contributor to Guitar Player magazine. Del Rey assembled an eclectic group of sidemen to help with the album: Clifford Scott and Steve Douglas (sax), Jimmie Vaughan and Paul Johnson (guitar), Mel Taylor (drums), and Charlie Musselwhite (harmonica). "Pier Pressure" features drummer Janne Haavisto of the space-surf band Laika & The Cosmonauts. 
Once you get past the idea that Laika & The Cosmonauts, from Helsinki, Finland, couldn't possibly be a surf band, you're ready to be impressed by their music. They've been described as "absurd to the point of bordering on the surreal" and "absolutely brilliant." They don't take themselves too seriously and never lapse into self-parody. Laika & The Cosmonauts (Laika was the Russian space dog) spring from the European instrumental rock tradition established by such bands as The Tornadoes, The Shadows, and The Spotnicks. They combine elements of surf rock, spy movie themes, and spaghetti western sounds. Drummer Janne Haavisto, who had his own surf music radio show, formed the band in 1988. Their first two records were released only in Finland. "A Night In Tunisia," a rocked-up version of a Dizzy Gillespie composition, is from their second album, Surfs You Right, released in 1990. With two newer albums on a U.S. label and a successful U.S. tour in 1994, Laika & The Cosmonauts are "shakers and movers" in the current international surf music revival. 
The group Man Or Astro-Man? has been described as "Ventures Meets Devo." Their performances are multimedia events in which various film and video images are shown on TV sets placed about the stage. This is due, in part, to the band's early fascination with film scores and soundtracks. Man Or Astro-Man? formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1993. They have produced at least 12 records on 7 different labels. Their name comes from a line in the 1962 Japanese science-fiction film The Human Vapor: "Is he...man...or is he...Astro-man?" Most of their recordings are original instrumentals with creative titles, such as "Space Potatoes," "Bermuda Triangle Shorts," and "Sadie Hawkins Atom Bomb." "Reverb 1000" has been released 3 times: 2 studio versions (one of them retitled "Reverb 10,000") and a live version, which is presented in this collection. As the tune begins, the band's bassist, Coco The Electronic Monkey Wizard, explains that it's about "wetness," which pretty much sums up the philosophical meaning of surf music. 
The Phantom Surfers began performing their style of surf music in San Francisco in 1988. They wore Lone Ranger-style masks on stage and played with synchronized choreography. They recorded a number of albums and singles (on 13 different labels!), and toured Japan in 1993 and Europe in 1994. "Banzai Run" is from their first album, an all-original collection, mostly of instrumentals, from 1991. Their recorded output and frequent performances have given them notoriety among West Coast vintage surf bands. The Phantom Surfers are part of a 1990s local band scene in the San Fransisco area. Other high profile surf-inspired instrumental rock bands include the Mermen, The Trashmen, The Woodies, The Torpedoes, Pollo Del Mar, and The Aqua Velvets. 
The Aqua Velvets were formed in 1989 by guitarist Miles Corbin and bass player Michael Lindner. Corbin wrote a song called "Surf Boogie" and the pair started recording songs in Lindner's basement home studio. They overdubbed instruments and mixed and remixed the tracks until they had a collection of instrumentals that was finally pressed on a limited-edition, self-titled CD in 1993. "Spanish Blue" is taken from that collection. College radio airplay followed until the record was picked up for national distribution. Their music was featured on the ESPN-TV network and on an MTV swimsuit special. In 1995 they signed with the Mesa/Blue Moon label, distributed by the Warner/Elektra/Atlantic Corporation. A new album followed called Surfmania, also recorded in Lindner's home studio. The Aqua Velvets, like The Mermen and Laika & The Cosmonauts, are taking surf music away from its stereotyped sound and pushing it into uncharted territory. Bassist Lindner says, "It's an attitude. There's a freedom of expression because you're not tied to words, none of that quarter-note pounding of punk. It's almost psychedelic." 
The Seattle-based Boss Martians are one of the newest young surf bands to distinguish themselves in the mid-'90s. The band was established in 1991 by guitarist Evan Foster and bass player Scott Betts. They cite influences of original '60s surf bands such as The Trashmen, The Astronauts, The Pyramids, The Chantays, and of course Dick Dale & The Del-Tones. The Martians' second recording, 1993's "XKE!" shows a real appreciation of the surf guitar style played at a breakneck speed. Their recent recordings are a mix of mostly original instrumentals and vocals. 
The Chantays, together with Jan & Dean, The Beach Boys, Dick Dale, and The Surfaris, have continued to perform over the years with only short periods of non-activity. For years, these "oldies" acts found work mainly at fairs or surf music revival concerts. The Chantays and Dick Dale have broken free of this restriction in recent years. Realizing that they had a strong following of "oldsters" and gathering mass of younger fans, guitarist Ricky Lewis convinced The Chantays to make their first record in 30 years. Next Set, was recorded live to 16 track, after hours in a Dana Point restaurant using mobile recording equipment. Considering the sound that was achieved, this was a truly amazing self-produced effort. "Killer Dana" is considered by some to be the best 1963 surf instrumental of 1994! The title pays homage to the legendary surf spot in Dana Point. 
The ultimate irony. At the end of Jimi Hendrix's "Third Stone From The Sun" on his first album, Are You Experienced?, he's heard in the background saying, "You'll never hear surf music again." Not only was he wrong, the Mermen's guitarist and primary composer, Jim Thomas, took the band's name from another Hendrix song, "1983...(A Merman I Shall Turn To Be)," from Jimi's Electric Ladyland. Headquartered in San Francisco, Thomas (who credits such diverse influences as Chopin, Debussey, Aaron Copeland, Neil Young, and the Sex Pistols), bassist Allen Whitman, and drummer Martyn Jones have been together for about 7 years. The band's first release, Food For Other Fish, became one of 1994's top-selling records in the Bay Area. College radio airplay followed and the band became hot property at every major Bay Area venue. In 1995, along with another highly acclaimed Bay Area band, The AQUA VELVETS, the MERMEN inked a major distribution deal with Mesa/Blue Moon Records. Thomas describes the band's sound as "ocean-oriented" instead of "surf-inspired." A 2nd album released in 1995 was described as "a captivating suite of underwater raptures and wet dreams." The Mermen's press release description becomes surprisingly unpretentious after you've been exposed to their music: "With just guitar, bass, and drums, the Mermen are a mesmerizing assault on the senses. Performing a music that is amazingly sensitive and deeply emotional, the Mermen's music is sometimes whispery, dreamlike and mystical, sometimes light-hearted and exuberant and sometimes downright in your face, brutal and merciless." "Honeybomb" was on their 1993 self-released album, but the version here is a previously unreleased live performance, recorded in 1995 at KFJC radio, at Foothill College, in Los Altos Hills. 
One of the pleasant surprises of 1995 was the release of The Eliminators' debut CD, Unleashed. It sets a high water mark for future surf instrumental bands playing in a vintage style. "Punta Baja" is a fair sampling of the band's sound. It's evocative music, played and recorded with a great deal of professional acumen. Production credit for their album goes to John Blakeley and Walter Georis of The Sandals. The Eliminators was formed in 1994 in San Clemente by friends who surfed together. Several of their recordings have been used as background music for Budweiser beer commercials. 
The Sandals' primary contribution to surf music was their effective theme for Bruce Brown's 1966 epic surfing documentary, The Endless Summer (see Set 3 of this collection). During production of Brown's much-delayed sequel, The Endless Summer II: The Journey Continues, The Sandals regrouped in 1994 to work on music for the film's soundtrack. They have rerecorded all the tracks from their first album and the earlier film. They released a very nice collection of original surf-inspired tunes called The Spirit Of Surf. "Wingnut's Theme" is taken from this 1994 effort. The title was inspired by the nickname of Robert Weaver, one of the two surfers whose worldwide search for the perfect wave is the subject of The Endless Summer II. 
It's fitting to end the 4th CD in this collection with the man given credit for defining the sound and style of surf music. In 1993, at the urging of San Francisco Chronicle music critic Joel Selvin, Dale headlined a series of shows in the Bay Area (the first time he had ever played there). Incidentally, at the first of these shows, the opening act was The Mermen (represented in this collection with "Honeybomb"). These appearances led to an album deal with HighTone Records. Dale's Tribal Thunder album was his first since a 1983 live album called The Tiger's Loose. Tribal Thunder became a hit album on college radio stations (which have become a major influence on the promotion and marketing of alternative rock in the '90s) and his popularity grew. Then, the use of "Miserlou" in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction sent his comeback over the top. "Esperanza" is from Dale's Tribal Thunder CD. More new albums followed in 1994 and 1996. In the last few years, he's toured extensively, including trips to England, Europe, and Australia. With Dick Dale, the music's come full circle.