There is a ton of modern Hot Rod Music. It is just a bunch of hip hop artists rapping about their souped up cars and how fast they go.

Hi George,
I see you rumbled in from the HAMB:>,welcome to SG101.
The only band i can think is The Superstocks, Gary Usher
bridged the gap between surf/hot rod quite well. Also the
Pyronauts play at Billetproof every year it seems(very enjoyable)
I enjoy the old car scene and cars in general,but i only want to
hear surf music in my head:>.

in weekend mode already:>
gary

Klas

shivers13
Some good examples are Gene "The Draggin' King" Moles tune "Burning Rubber" and The New Dimensions "Chicky Run"

Excellent examples. Both are among my all time favorite instro tunes, any genre.

Here's "Burnin' Rubber": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyP1A2jwx4E

Im not familiar with Hot Rod music at all. And honestly I didn't even know there was a difference between that and surf music. I just thought it was surf but with car noises and all that junk. Although, I never thought of The Dragsters album as hot rod music because of the car clips. I always related it to surf, but I guess that's what confused me about Hot Rod music.

A lot of what you fellas said pretty much explains it. I did hear that Astronauts album "Competition Coupe" a while ago. But can't remember any of the songs. This Gene Moles tune is pretty sick though. I dig it! Thanks for the link. Finally something interesting to read on this forum :lol:.

The Deadbeats

JakeDobner
There is a ton of modern Hot Rod Music. It is just a bunch of hip hop artists rapping about their souped up cars and how fast they go.

They're almost never about how fast they go. Anyway, I don't want to go down this road but any time the "RAP IS DUMB" argument appears out of nowhere on these boards I have to groan. It's a form of music, if people enjoy it, it's valid. Here we are talking about the tiniest niche of rock, and yet we selectively whine about the surface level of rap when there's horrible horrible rock equally worth complaining about. If anything a surf fan should know that there's considerable depth and variety to any kind of music.

Storm Surge of Reverb: Surf & Instro Radio

JakeDobner
But the majority of rap is actually quite dumb. It is complete inanity, the lack of complete sentences, let alone complete thoughts is mind boggling.

This could also describe much of the best rock and roll . . .

Same here, Klas. The better vocal stuff is with Chuck Girard on lead vocal. As you mentioned, The Revells are basically the same group of guys that were used for The Hondells, and also The Sunsets, The Competitors, The Go-Go's, The Devon's and others. Some of this stuff can be hit and miss just like in any genre of music, but there's some serious gems in there, without a doubt!

BOSS FINK "R.P.M." available now from DOUBLE CROWN RECORDS!
www.facebook.com/BossFink
www.doublecrownrecords.com

I have said it before and will say it again, considering some of the box sets that Bear Family has done and other labels and the treatment some minor stars have been given if anybody really deserves a good box set covering all they did it would be Gary Usher.

Me, I am always more of a hot rod than surf guy for no other reason than I am into cars big time.

www.kingvoodoo.blogspot.com

shivers13
Sounds cool to me, Merc. I wish they would let me pick the songs! That would be a dream come true.

A few months ago The Peterson Auto Museum had a display of Hot Rod Album covers. Thought you guys would dig this pic I took...

Sometimes when I see other peoples' records I think "that belongs in a museum"
Then when I see it in a museum I think "that belongs with me"

Storm Surge of Reverb: Surf & Instro Radio

shivers13
It's actually a quest of mine to own as many of these as possible. I'm closing in.

I've got that Girlschool LP if you need it.

That was excessively violent and completely unnecessary. I loved it.

I guess I should have elaborated a bit - I just don't see a defining musical characteristic that sets hot rod instros apart from regular surf. Not in the same way as spy or space-themed surf, or (as much as I can't stand the style) spaghetti western.

If you want to define it as surf, only riff-based with less reverb, more of a R&B feel, more emphasis on horns and pianos, and a lack of Middle Eastern or Spanish melodies, the only problem I see with that is ... well, that also defines a lot of non-hot rod studio surf projects. Take off the cover songs from each, and musically how much difference is there between Jerry Cole's surf albums and his hot rod ones? Same with the T-Bones.

Strip off the sound effects and that slot-car themed Phantom Surfers album is the same musically as the instros on With Dick Dale or 18 Deadly Ones. Same with the Volcanos' Finish Line Fever - musically, that one's not that far removed from their Surf Quake album.

Or take the Hondells - the main guitar lead on "Haulin' Honda" is very similar to the one from The Ghouls' "Voodoo Juice." (Hardly the first case of Richie Podolar's self-recycling.) When I listen to the Ghouls' album I don't think "There's a ringer on there that belongs on a hot rod album." "Haulin' Honda" and "Black Boots and Bikes" are two of my favorite surf songs, period - but I don't see what makes them hot rod tunes apart from the titles and samples.

The first time I heard "The Wedge" was on Dick Dale's best-of. I never _thought of it as a hot rod instro, and figured he named it after the surfing spot. Hell, even after buying _Mr. Eliminator and hearing it in the context of that album, I still don't think of it as a hot rod song. (And then there's the "This is a song about where I live" intro on The Tiger's Loose ...)

I've never heard a song with a surf-related title and thought, "Man, that sounds like a hot rod song." But that has happened with spy and space-oriented surf songs, and even - bleah - spaghetti western ones.

Just my $0.02.

That was excessively violent and completely unnecessary. I loved it.