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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Surf Musician »

Permalink Some "surfy" garage songs to play live

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Ok, I understand and agree that there shouldn't be any lyrics to surf songs, and I don't want to get stoned on my first post here =) oh by the way, I'm dionisis,I'm new here, and HI! excellent site, I love it!
...but....
I'm trying to form a band with some friends and I don't think everyone is ok with having no songs with lyrics yet, so I'm trying to find a few garage rock songs to play in-between surf ones. So far I'm thinking of Sonic's "Have Love, Will Travel", "Shake, Shout & Go" by Brian Diamond & The Cutters, "Mermaid Love" by MoAM, maybe "So Uptight" by The Urges and something by the Hives or the Staggers maybe...oh and The Invisible Man by the Maharajas.
Just posting the songs so you get an idea of what kind of tunes I'm thinking of, if you have more to suggest I'd greatly apreciate it, cause I'm trying to find any "punky"/"garage" songs that have a more surfy feeling to them.
Thanks!

No lyrics, dammit!!! What are you, a communist?

Just kidding. Hi Dionisis, and welcome to the forum. The first source that comes to mind is MC5 -- Looking at You, Human Being Lawnmower, Teenage Lust, Call Me Animal, et al. Also, have you checked out Songs The Cramps Taught Us? It's loaded with old and cool garage-type stuff, roughly contemporary with first generation surf. Should be a good match.

Brand New Cadillac.

Sean

We did Shake Shout and Go at our New Years Eve show. Great surfy lead.

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"Holiday in Cambodia."

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Any tune by the Neanderthals, especially 2000lbs Werewolf

Rev

Canadian Surf

http://www.urbansurfkings.com/

Yeah, any Cramps song or song the Cramps covered, Sonics are indeed awesome, and you could consider -
These Boots Were Made for Walking -Nancy Sinatra
Secret Agent Man- Johnny Rivers (covered by HUNDREDS of surf bands)
any Chris Isaak song...
...Back in our DC days, (good lord, 30 years ago!)we usedta cover-
Nobody But Me-Human Beinz
You're Gonna Miss Me-13th Floor Elevators
Open My Eyes-Nazz
Roadrunner-Modern Lovers
Lucifer Sam-Pink Floyd
all to good garagey effect....!

WhorehayRFB
"Holiday in Cambodia."

I second that motion.

World's Top Rocket Surgeon

insectsurfer
Yeah, any Cramps song or song the Cramps covered, Sonics are indeed awesome, and you could consider -
These Boots Were Made for Walking -Nancy Sinatra
Secret Agent Man- Johnny Rivers (covered by HUNDREDS of surf bands)
any Chris Isaak song...
...Back in our DC days, (good lord, 30 years ago!)we usedta cover-
Nobody But Me-Human Beinz
You're Gonna Miss Me-13th Floor Elevators
Open My Eyes-Nazz
Roadrunner-Modern Lovers
Lucifer Sam-Pink Floyd
all to good garagey effect....!

I seem to recall you guys playing 96 tears once too. Is that true, or am I just imagining things?

Paul
Atomic Mosquitos
Bug music for bug people is here!
Killers from Space

"Hanky Panky"-The epitome of Jazzmaster Tone! Since I sold my JM, I just can't bear to play it.

to mr.mosquito-
yes, we did cover '96 tears'--
we would medley it with the soft boys' 'underwater moonlight' !!

I suppose any surf band should be at least sympathetic with the title concept of California Uber Alles. For some reason that I have never quite fathomed (topical reference) the song has nothing to do with surf music.

I will modestly point out the recent thread on surf band vocal music and what extent of vocalization is required to render a song vocal.

Favorite Vocal by an Instrumental Surf Band

Some people - actually most people - allow quite a lot of vocalization without considering a song to be a vocal. This is known as "purity by definition" or sometimes as "the purity of the surf." It is not quite to the point where any song performed by a band known to be an instrumental band is ipso facto an instrumental, but I believe anything with four measures or more of sequential non-initial, non-final, non-soloing lyrical insignificance counts as instrumental. This is the so-called Four Measure Rule, which is a corrollary of the Four Second Rule of food sanitation (Koontz 2008:43).

The principle that lyrical insignificance is equivalent to a lack of vocals actually buys you quite a lot. On that basis I think we can clearly count My Baby Does the Hanky Panky as an instrumental, even if sung in four part harmony. Or Barbara Anne, though I think this has already been demonstrated (Wilson, Wilson, WIlson and Love 1962:verses 1-3). In fact, in these terms I think that even Farmer John might be an instrumental.

The principle is not without its disadvantages. For example, if Bob Dylan played Everybody Up and called out "Everybody must* get up!" at the start, then that would be a vocal, even though it seems a little counterintuitive.

===
* The italics are essential to the argument.

dionisis
Ok, I understand and agree that there shouldn't be any lyrics to surf songs(...)
Thanks!

That's not exactly true. I believe that instrumental surf music was in an awful amount of cases the b-side of some catchy pop vocals to play on the radio. Plus, for some odd reason, some people, even musicians that should know better, find the lack of vocals boring.

Therefore, I would suggest you to add some great vocals songs to your set list, just keep it uptempo and dancefloor friendly (you know the lot, jivers, stompers, strollers, rockers). As long as you keep a bright reverberated surf guitar Very Happy (keep the Trashmen in mind!)

I'm sure late 50s rock'n'roll/ rockabilly would inspire you, if not more, at least as much as 60s garage.

Hey, if you're already doing a song by The Urges - why not do "The Urges Theme"? That song is a fantastic mixture of surf and garage already!

In our band we do a few Nuggets/Garage/Punk things with vocals live:

California Sun (Rivieras - though we do it more like the Ramones)
Little Honda (Hondells/Beach Boys - but we do it more like The Queers)
Little Sidewalk Surfer Girl (Hondells - but we do it more like The Queers)
I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) (Electric Prunes)
Going All The Way (Squires)
Rockaway Beach (Ramones)

http://www.reverbnation.com/spaceparty4

dionisis
Ok, I understand and agree that there shouldn't be any lyrics to surf songs

I wonder who the first person was that started this myth? Surf can have vocals. Everyone from Dick Dale to The Surfaris did them from the very beginning.

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shivers13
I wonder who the first person was that started this myth? Surf can have vocals. Everyone from Dick Dale to The Surfaris did them from the very beginning.

I think - but I'm just guessing - that this myth comes from the laudible and earnest attempts of the second wave to characterize what it was about surf music that motivated them. They wanted to set themselves apart from the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean, etc. Maybe they were a little too aprioristic. It's not like there isn't a certain truth in this myth as most, e.g., "the quintessential guitar combo music," which may be a myth of the same vintage.

But I think instrumental purity is more a quality of an idealized genre of songs than of bands. And even there (with apologies) "instrumental" does not always mean "vocally silent."

By the way, Dionisis - the Ghastly Ones - a good, practical myth-busting counter example to you name it.

It's technically British invasion, but how about G L O R I A ?

shivers13

dionisis
Ok, I understand and agree that there shouldn't be any lyrics to surf songs

I wonder who the first person was that started this myth? Surf can have vocals. Everyone from Dick Dale to The Surfaris did them from the very beginning.

Jan & Dean anyone? Carl & the Passions?

Radio Free Bakersfield--60 Minutes of TWANG, CRUNCH, OOMPH.
http://radiofreebakersfield.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Radio-Free-Bakersfield/172410279636
http://www.sandiegojoe.com/rfb.htm

chad3006
It's technically British invasion, but how about G L O R I A ?

Then it would be GA'-rage (emphasis on the first Syllable).

Check out "Don't Put Me Down" by The Stomachmouths and "Crying In A Storm" by Emy Jackson for non-surf garage/girl group vocals with surfy sounding lead guitars.

T H E ✠ S U R F I T E S

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