shivers13
Joined: Jul 29, 2009
Posts: 2605
Boss Angeles, CA
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Posted on Oct 20 2014 11:43 AM
SlacktoneDave wrote:
I remember the first time I saw the Ramones in a small club... The first thing that popped into my head after J. Ramones guitar almost knocked it off was that it sounded "surf" to me.
Same here! The Ramones surf-influenced vibe worked its way into the Ghastly Ones. Garrett and I are both huge fans. The Cramps were another band that used surf as a heavy influence back to the 70’s. They inspired me quite a bit and many of the bands I was friends with like Jake and The Bomboras.
I feel Pulp Fiction ultimately did more damage than good. In it's wake, Surf Music got co-opted by TV commercials and suddenly it was the soundtrack to selling Taco Bell. By the end of the 90’s surf had once again more or less washed ashore like a busted surfboard. The ghastlies and many bands hung it up for a while till about 2005 when Myspace came along and our page exploded that was set up by a fan who became a great friend, Tiki Tena.
The over emphasis on the importance of Pulp Fiction trivializes what was actually going on in the scene prior to the film. The revival was actually quite substantial before the movie. Just because someone didn’t know about it doesn’t mean it wasn’t there. As Ivan already mentioned, most of the highly influential 90’s surf bands started prior to Pulp Fiction. The Phantom Surfer’s, Boss Martians, Satan’s Pilgrims, The Astronauts from Germany and more all came before the movie. The Surf Trio’s output from ’85 through ’99 was quite substantial. The Trashwomen started in ’91 and put out their first single in ’92. The list goes on.
Also, there were Garage bands playing lots of surf and instro at the time too. The Witchdoctors who become The Finks, then The Bomboras had Death Ray ’63 released in ’92 on Dionysus. There’s also the Mummies, another widely influential garage band that played surf inspired instros in the 80’s and into the 90’s. And then there’s The Fuzztones side project, Link Protrudi and the Raymen that played all Link Ray covers starting in ‘87 through ’98.
Something else that’s being completely overlooked and was massively influential and inspirational were the release of the great LP Surf comps, Wail on The Beach, Surfer’s Mood, Everybody/Nobody’s Going Surfin’, and the epic Surf Creature all released in the late 80’s and early 90’s prior to Pulp Fiction.
— BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
www.facebook.com/BossFink
www.doublecrownrecords.com
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shivers13
Joined: Jul 29, 2009
Posts: 2605
Boss Angeles, CA
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Posted on Oct 22 2014 12:10 PM
I had a few more thoughts I’d like to share on this since I think the 90's was really a great time for this music and was lucky enough to be there to see it go down.
I think legendary indie labels like Estrus, Dionyus, Norton, and Lookout are what played the biggest part in spreading the word worldwide in the early 90’s, not the PF Soundtrack in Sept '94. Which by the way, only contained 4 surf songs, the rest was a mix of the hipster rock of Urge Overkill, Neil Diamond and Kool & The Gang’s disco funk. It was the ultimate hipster mix tape of that time.
Norton put out The Phantom Surfer’s 13 Deadly Ones in 1992. The band formed in ’88. Estrus put out their follow up, Big Screen Spectaculars also in ’92.
Dionysus released the 7inch, Bikini Drag by the awesome Boardwalkers in ’92. They started in ’89 out of two garage bands, The Unclaimed and the The Forgiven. BTW, I think Dan Valentie is great and underrated guitarist and the band that included Jeff Utterback was a thrill to see live even though I only saw them a couple of times then.
Estrus released Japan’s fantastic Jackie and The Cedrics’ Thunderstruck single in ’93. Japan also gave us The 5.6.7.8.’s at the time, the all-girl 60's trash rock group that did a lot of Surf Instros.
Estrus also released The Mono Men’s killer 7inch, Wrecker in ‘92. They were another garage band that did lot of fantastic surf and Link Wray inspired instros.
Along with these epic label releases and bands, the seminal garage punk series PEBBLES released an all-Surf Pebbles Vol 4 in 1979! It came out on CD in ’92. Plus, Diggin’ Out, Surfin’ in The Mi-West and Strummin’ Mental are three more comps I forgot to mention too. I can’t overstate the importance of this incredible cluster of LP’s that all came out in ’89 with mulitiple volumes coming out through the early 90’s and forward. This stuff is what had the biggest impact on the on the 90’s surf scene that I knew. They came out on labels like Romulan and Satan Records, but seemed like everyone I knew had them.
It’s not a bad thing if someone got into surf because of PF. But the scene was formidable and most of the major bands were there before the film. Quentin is known for having his finger on the pulse of counter-culture stuff. I feel perhaps what was going on in the ever growing scene in the early 90's is what inspired him, not the other way around. He would later put the 5.6.7.8's in KILL BILL.
— BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
www.facebook.com/BossFink
www.doublecrownrecords.com
Last edited: Oct 22, 2014 12:24:02
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josheboy
Joined: Mar 13, 2009
Posts: 2367
Twin Cities, MN
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Posted on Oct 22 2014 12:54 PM
All excellent points, Norm. Its true we place perhaps a little too much credit on Pulp Fiction and not enough on the rising swell of musicians that were already starting the revival. Pulp Fiction did bring the sound to the masses, but there's definite evidence of a movement rising before it was released.
In addition to the bands you mentioned, Man or Astro-man was releasing surf music pre Pulp Fiction as well. Is it Man or Astro-Man was released, as well as a few singles which ended up on Project Infinity.
It's interesting how much the net and social media have played a part in extending the revival (or "re-swelling the third wave"). I'm certainly glad for it 
Edit: Also to point out, that the 90s had a ton of "retro revival" going on. Surf, Swing, Lounge, Tiki, Rockabilly, Burlesque, Mid-Century Modern, etc all had a revival in popularity, which had nothing to do with Pulp Fiction or any one movie/event. So I think the surf revival was a natural part of the retro revival in general, and would have happened to some extent regardless of Pulp Fiction's soundtrack.
Last edited: Oct 22, 2014 13:03:08
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shivers13
Joined: Jul 29, 2009
Posts: 2605
Boss Angeles, CA
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Posted on Oct 22 2014 01:13 PM
josheboy wrote:
All excellent points, Norm.
Thanks, Josh! These are the reasons why I don't break stuff into waves. There's a flow from the revival that started around 1980 through the 90's into today and not clear cut "waves", if you ask me.
In addition to the bands you mentioned, Man or Astro-man was releasing surf music pre Pulp Fiction as well. Is it Man or Astro-Man was released, as well as a few singles which ended up on Project Infinity.
Indeed, Man or Astroman was going strong before. There's also Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planent that ran from 1984–1996. I always thought they influenced MoaM but not sure. Not really my bag but I knew people who liked them.
Edit: Also to point out, that the 90s had a ton of "retro revival" going on. Surf, Swing, Lounge, Tiki, Rockabilly, Burlesque, Mid-Century Modern, etc all had a revival in popularity, which had nothing to do with Pulp Fiction or any one movie/event. So I think the surf revival was a natural part of the retro revival in general, and would have happened to some extent regardless of Pulp Fiction's soundtrack.
I totally agree with this.
— BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
www.facebook.com/BossFink
www.doublecrownrecords.com
Last edited: Oct 22, 2014 13:20:04
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ErnestHernandez
Joined: Jun 16, 2008
Posts: 597
The Alamo City, TX
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Posted on Oct 22 2014 02:57 PM
Wow, this is a great discussion...really dig the 80s-90s timeline being discussed.
I got interested in "surf" via the larger "roots" music revival of the 80s and bought compilations of rockabilly, blues, honky tonk and surf, mostly on cassette. I gravitated naturally to the ambient sound of surf because I was a kid of the post-punk,Manchester/Athens era and a song like Surf Rider sounded familiar but really fresh to me in '88.
Even here in So. Texas, I remember seeing "surf" or garage-instro bands as part of the scene in the late 80s, BUT after PF hit and Miserlou became an anthem, it felt like "surf" came into it's own as a genre recognized by the general public...out of the underground and into the larger "consumer" collective consciousness, for better or for worse.
So, I think it can be debated that '94 may not be the correct date for the beginning of a revival, BUT it certainly is a mile marker that denotes a new wave of awareness in surf music and garage/instro.
Looking forward to more discussion of some of these great early '90s bands...btw, where do LSJ factor in?
Also, looking forward to your book JP.
— https://kingpelican.bandcamp.com/
Last edited: Oct 22, 2014 16:27:42
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websurfer
Joined: May 14, 2007
Posts: 1753
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Posted on Oct 22 2014 03:09 PM
josheboy wrote:
It's interesting how much the net and social media have played a part in extending the revival (or "re-swelling the third wave"). I'm certainly glad for it
The rise in popularity of surf music in the '90s correlates with the development of the internet. 1994 is the year it was christened the "information super highway". I suspect the proliferation of surf bands around the world in the years following may have been partly due to the increased availability of information about the music and the ability to share it.
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spskins
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 3795
tn
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Posted on Oct 22 2014 04:43 PM
I agree with Norm about those labels and bands being the groundswell. Don't forget The Untamed Youth, as well. As I said before, we saw them, Phantom Surfers, The Mummies, The Trashwomen, MOAM, and Jackie & The Cedrics in the year before we started, and during our first year.
We did, however, feel the change in the air once PF came out as we toured around the states. People had a way to label us and have a way to relate to the music, as it became associated with guns, violence, Sado-masochism and dancing the Batman. In a word, trash. And it worked for a bit. I also think it provided a conduit for women to get into it and dance. Believe it or not, there was a time when surf shows weren't such a sausage party.
I also think everyone was grunge/alternative-weary and wanted to just have fun. The economy was good, the Cold War was over and it was time to party!
— http://www.satanspilgrims.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Satans-Pilgrims/8210228553
https://satanspilgrims.bandcamp.com/
http://www.surfyindustries.com
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shivers13
Joined: Jul 29, 2009
Posts: 2605
Boss Angeles, CA
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Posted on Oct 22 2014 05:37 PM
spskins wrote:
I agree with Norm about those labels and bands being the groundswell. Don't forget The Untamed Youth, as well. As I said before, we saw them, Phantom Surfers, The Mummies, The Trashwomen, MOAM, and Jackie & The Cedrics in the year before we started, and during our first year.
Indeed!!! I mentioned the Untamed Youth in an earlier post. Girls would dance like nuts at their L.A. shows. As you know, but some people might not, the surf scene then was more intertwined with the garage scene. Many surf bands came out of garage like The Bomboras, The Boardwalkers, etc often performing both Surf and Garage in the set. That's the model the Ghastly Ones followed.
We did, however, feel the change in the air once PF came out as we toured around the states. People had a way to label us and have a way to relate to the music, as it became associated with guns, violence, Sado-masochism and dancing the Batman. In a word, trash. And it worked for a bit.
A wider audience is good but when its just a trend to people it won't last. PF and wider acceptance by the mainstream ultimately led to Surf's demise in the 90's. Ironically, it was the beginning of the end. The Phantom Surfer's declared the Surf Crash in '97. I think it lasted a tiny bit longer than that, but by the end of the decade it had been drowned in a sea of reverb-drenched Taco Bell commercials.
The Ghastly Ones would come back around 2005 much like you guys did thanks to MySpace and fans like Tiki Tena, but only for shows here and there. However, the worldwide audience that the internet provides is great for selling more records than before. Your audience is now on the web.
— BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
www.facebook.com/BossFink
www.doublecrownrecords.com
Last edited: Oct 22, 2014 17:44:26
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