HBkahuna
Joined: Mar 02, 2006
Posts: 1778
Star, Idaho. Formerly lived in Surf City USA.
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Posted on Mar 13 2006 07:57 PM
I was driving around Surf City today listening to The Chantays "Next Set" & wondering if a surf song could ever hit the top 10 again. Pipeline, in my view is such a great song. It's amazing that Bob Spickard & Brian Carmen wrote that as teenagers while jamming together in one of their bedrooms. The end result is amazing.
Is there anyone out their present day who could crack the top 10 or even top 40 with a surf instro song? The Space Cossacks "Mir Rescue" & Slacktones' "Rosarito 3 day" had that special something in my limited view. There are some really amazing surf instro bands out there right now. What is holding surf instro back? Who will step up?
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PolloGuitar
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 5097
San Francisco
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Posted on Mar 13 2006 08:51 PM
No.
Even the most modern of the surf bands still is far outside the mainstream. The present day equivalent of the guitar instrumental would be somebody like Joe Satriani, and he hasn't come close to a hit. Maybe a movie soundtrack theme might get in the top 10- like the Axel F theme or Vangelis did.
fd
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JakeDobner
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 12159
Seattle
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Posted on Mar 13 2006 09:29 PM
I really don't think so. If it does it will only be as a retro blast from the past and not hold much validity among mainstream music. Much like Brian Setzer's Jump Jive and Wail. Save for Setzer I can't think of any other acts of the time that was a hit still going strong.
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jhawkdville
Joined: Mar 04, 2006
Posts: 52
Encinitas, CA
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Posted on Mar 13 2006 11:31 PM
Astute observations...and I would have to agree w/them. Pipeline was written in 1963. The world has changed a hell of a lot since then...43 years ago. Perhaps the closest we could hope for is a surf-influenced hit instrumental that incorporates some of the following things NOT in trad surf music: tapping, reverse bends, distortion, polyrhythms, more complex harmony perhaps thru the use of chord extensions (13ths, 11ths, -7b5, etc.), synthesizers, etc. etc. Bottom line is that today's music scene draws from a musical palette that's a lot bigger than it was in 1963.
~ J
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10331
southern Michigan
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Posted on Mar 13 2006 11:36 PM
LBOPdot_Net_
Astute observations...and I would have to agree w/them. Pipeline was written in 1963. The world has changed a hell of a lot since then...43 years ago. Perhaps the closest we could hope for is a surf-influenced hit instrumental that incorporates some of the following things NOT in trad surf music: tapping, reverse bends, distortion, polyrhythms, more complex harmony perhaps thru the use of chord extensions (13ths, 11ths, -7b5, etc.), synthesizers, etc. etc. Bottom line is that today's music scene draws from a musical palette that's a lot bigger than it was in 1963. ~ J
In today's top 10? Are you kidding? Besides distortion and synthesizers, none of those other things are to be found in today's top ten.
— Ivan
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CaptainSpringfield
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 4387
Under the Sun
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Posted on Mar 13 2006 11:40 PM
I think the closest it'd come would be if an album--maybe a soundtrack--containing a surf instro hit the charts. Even then I doubt it'd go top ten, and its chart position wouldn't be a result of the surf content. If you want to get that vague, then it happened with Green Day a few years ago.
I wouldn't rule out something with a surf influence hitting the charts again, though--like that one Offspring song that swiped an Agent Orange lick.
Besides, consider what's actually popular right now. Do you <i>really</i> want to be mentioning a surf band in the same sentence as Fallout Boy or Avenged Sevenfold?
-Warren
Edit: On the current Billboard singles chart the highest-ranking "rock" song is #15. (It's also completely awful--go figure.) Less than half of the top 50 could be classified as rock--as long as that's the case, I'd say no sub-genre of rock & roll is going to make much of an impact on the charts, especially one that had its commercial peak almost a half-century ago.
— That was excessively violent and completely unnecessary. I loved it.
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jhawkdville
Joined: Mar 04, 2006
Posts: 52
Encinitas, CA
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Posted on Mar 14 2006 12:11 AM
IvanP
In today's top 10? Are you kidding? Besides distortion and synthesizers, none of those other things are to be found in today's top ten.
I was actually thinking of Carlos Santana, who won a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for Blues For Salvador in 1988. Not today's Top 10 literally. Carlos has been known to "channel" jazz great John Coltrane.
The "real" current Top 10 seems to be urban influenced. It's probably why "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" won the Oscar this year for best original song.
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opivy21
Joined: Mar 09, 2006
Posts: 8
South Carolina
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Posted on Mar 14 2006 04:49 PM
There's a popular Black Eyed Peas song that uses Misirlou, but that doesn't really count because they made a bad song out of it. Probably 95% of the people who like that song wouldn't know Dick Dale if he kicked them in the face.
But as for an actual Surf Musician making the charts, it just doesn't seem likely. Most of the MTV-watching, radio-listening public probably just don't want to hear surf.
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bigtikidude
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 25566
Anaheim(So.Cal.)U.S.A.
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Posted on Mar 14 2006 09:56 PM
Surf in the top ten ever again? no way!! As much as I'd like
to see it. It'll never happen, period. Radio just doesn't have a
clue or the right priorities to be that cool.
I think the closest thing to Instro music being in the
mainstream might be techno, or maybe ez listening, but those
are both far from the top 10 or surf.
And Yes HB, some of the surf guitarists we hear, see are amazing
musicians, it's sad that they don't get more exposure/credit/money
for what they do. The only thing I can say is what I always say.
Go out and see the bands while they are around. Even if it's a hour
or 2 drive.
— Jeff(bigtikidude)
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Tikitena
Joined: Mar 21, 2006
Posts: 1540
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Posted on Mar 24 2006 01:49 AM
no, never again. The rest of the world isn't as cool as us .000000001% on this list.
— "Turn the knob to 10 and break it off!" -Baja Marty
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butchdelux
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 250
Port Fierce, Florida
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Posted on Mar 24 2006 09:05 AM
Won't happen, ever again.
And as many of you folks that wish it were possible for surf to crack mainstream consciousness again, let me assure you, sincerely, that, no, you don't.
What happens when any marginal scene becomes mainstream, at least IMHO, is that the lowest common denominator of that scene is the one that gets raised to the highest level of public awareness, at the expense of higher quality artists who helped innovate or move the genre forward.
In other words, what would happen is that one (hypothetical)band, you know, the one most of us think is, well..."ok," will be the next big thing. The bigtime music rags and TV will tout this band as the "return of surf," and a hundred soundalike bands will pop up. Meanwhile, all the bands we love and listen to now, the Space Cossacks, Slacktone, Nebulas, Satan's Pilgrims...forgotten, except by those of us with impeccable enough tastes to have been fans prior to this hypothetical boom. We'd be the ones tagged as elitists by an army newbies who would take over websites like this one like ants. Once the media was done with hypothetical band-x and it's soundalikes, the surf we love would be deadder than grunge.
Actually, let's put it in the context of grunge...where your proto-bands like The Melvins and Green River, Sonic Youth and Pixies never reach the noteriety status of the Nirvanas, Alice In Chans(es) and Pearl Jams. Then, along comes bandds like Bush and Sponge and Candlebox, next thing you know, it ALL goes to shit and no one wants hear anything that sounds remotely grungey again. People just start swing-dancing and listening to ska.
You don't want your precious genre in the Top 10.
— The Disasternauts
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Klas
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 2293
Stockholm, Sweden
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Posted on Mar 24 2006 09:25 AM
I would even say that just trying to get surf music into the mainstream could be really harmful.
— T H E ✠ S U R F I T E S
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dp
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 3546
mojave desert, california
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Posted on Mar 24 2006 10:28 AM
cavefishbutchdelux
Actually, let's put it in the context of grunge...where your proto-bands like The Melvins and Green River, Sonic Youth and Pixies never reach the noteriety status of the Nirvanas, Alice In Chans(es) and Pearl Jams. Then, along comes bandds like Bush and Sponge and Candlebox, next thing you know, it ALL goes to #### and no one wants hear anything that sounds remotely grungey again. People just start swing-dancing and listening to ska.
You don't want your precious genre in the Top 10.
i like this analogy a lot...what would have happened if The Meat Puppets, The Minutemen, Sonic Youth and the Pixies would have all "hit big"...???
I think Butch is on to something with this hypothesis...
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ikarigend0
Joined: Mar 24, 2006
Posts: 2
Landlocked- in Arkansas
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Posted on Mar 24 2006 04:01 PM
There's a band in Japan, called The Surfcoasters, that is widely popular there. And actually toured with Dick Dale throughout Japan in 1995. Shigeo Naka, the band's guitarist, was crowned prince of Surf Guitar by Dick Dale.
The surf sound is still widely popular in Japan, as far as I know. If that means anything for us, the trend may catch on here. Wouldn't count on it though...
— Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.- Albert Einstein<br>
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skeeter
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 2063
Virginia, USA
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Posted on Mar 24 2006 04:37 PM
The Stray Cats popularity didn't damage the integrity of the RAB scene. I know some hardcore Rockabilly purists who are big fans of Setzer.
So I don't necessarily think it would harm the genre if it suddenly gained a little popularity, in fact I think it would be real cool. It would be a fluke, and very unlikely, but I don't think it's impossible.
-Paul
— Paul
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JakeDobner
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 12159
Seattle
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Posted on Mar 24 2006 07:12 PM
ikarigend0
There's a band in Japan, called The Surfcoasters, that is widely popular there. And actually toured with Dick Dale throughout Japan in 1995. Shigeo Naka, the band's guitarist, was crowned prince of Surf Guitar by Dick Dale.
The surf sound is still widely popular in Japan, as far as I know. If that means anything for us, the trend may catch on here. Wouldn't count on it though...
Surf Coasters broke up February 2nd. They are not widely popular in Japan.
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revmike
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 3804
North Atlantic
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Posted on Apr 14 2006 05:38 PM
College Radio in Canada still plays surf enough to place it in the top 10. I think both Atomic 7 CDs were top 10, and Urban Surf Kings CDs have been in the top 20 for Canadian Campus Radio (cross Canada chart compiled from individual stations). Atomic 7, Huevos Rancheros, Shadowy Men, USK and the Rambling Ambassadors have all hit #1 on several college stations up here.
Surfin' the Great White North,
Mike
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http://www.urbansurfkings.com/
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bigtikidude
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 25566
Anaheim(So.Cal.)U.S.A.
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Posted on Apr 17 2006 03:23 PM
Not to downplay your spot in colledge radio Mike.
But I think HB kahuna meant Billboard Top 10. 
Jeff(bigtikidude)
— Jeff(bigtikidude)
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ehrie
Joined: Mar 23, 2006
Posts: 25
Heidelberg /Germany
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Posted on Apr 19 2006 02:19 PM
In Germany no way to reach the top 10 with surf! If you hear Surf in public, you hear surf only in commercials for tooth paste or on "travel tv" when talk bout hawaii or other paradies alike islands. Especially in Germany the Surf Scene is very, very small. The most people here don´t even know what Surf is or what it stands for. Just a few years ago I was on a Bambi Molesters show in Ulm (south of Germany) and they played in front of 20 people, 5 of them were paying guests.
Sorry for my unconvenient english... I´m working on it 
— 
www.surfmusic-forum.com
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holikujak
Joined: Apr 03, 2006
Posts: 107
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Posted on Apr 19 2006 04:55 PM
i dunno, alot of people at my school like surf, but it seems the reason they dont really listen to it is because its not mainstream, i think it would be unlikely for surf rock to make a big comeback but i think it could pull off a zoot suit riot, or at least become popular among certain social groups, which could potentially reach the mainstream.
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