April Birthdays 
I'll start this off by saying I hope I don't offend anyone or get in any kind of trouble for posting this to the forums, but I really am surprised that theres not more information available in the form of a 'book' available to the public on the topic 'history' of surf music that I thought for the new guy/gal on the block wondering about roots this would be a great read.
I know the internet is full of info, and when I found the text from the book included with The Cowabunga Surf Box Set put out by Rhino posted online I thought a link to it would be cool for people here, new and old. I have a set of the cds, and found the book a very informative read! The set is out of print and can be found pretty easily on places like ebay.
Neato info on the beginnings such as, and I quote...
_"Mr. Moto" (named after the late-'30s film detective played by Peter Lorre) was played in a minor key, uncommon for a guitar instrumental at that time but commonplace among surf instrumentals a year later. The record featured no bass guitar, a lack partly made up for by guitarist Paul Johnson's strumming technique.
The Belairs (named for sax player Chaz Stuart's '55 Chevy) were still in high school when they pooled their money to make a professional recording. "Mr. Moto" was the first of five tunes recorded at the Liberty Records Studios in Hollywood...and all in one hour! A demo of the tune finally found a home at Richard Vaughn's small, independent Arvee Records. Responsibility for promoting "Mr. Moto" was given to one of the label's A&R men, Sonny Bono, still a couple of years away from meeting his singing partner and future wife, Cher. Johnson even played guitar on the couple's first recording together, "Baby Don't Go." National chart success eluded "Mr. Moto" although it was a local hit in Southern California during the summer of 1961.
Johnson has said, "The summer of '61 was when the self-conscious concept of surf music came about, so obviously records like 'Underwater' by The Frogmen and 'Church Key' by The Revels - as well as 'Mr. Moto' and 'Let's Go Trippin'' - couldn't possibly have been thought of as surf music when they were made. The surfers were going to these dances and saying, 'Man, this music sounds like riding a wave!' They started calling it surf music; they just laid claim to it. I specifically remember Lance Carson, a well-known surfer, saying 'You ought to make a record and call it "The Surfer Stomp."' I brushed it off and thought, 'Yeah, somebody probably will do that,' but that wasn't where I was coming from." _
Heres the link to the rest...
http://hem.passagen.se/sonicsurfcity/links/surf_dictionary/surf_dictionary.htm
A special thanks to John Blair! If you read this John I hope you republish your Surf Discography book one day soon 
Rockin' the reverb 
Alan
