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Let's see if I can put more of a focus on this (I just realized I had
something with me here at the office that would help in this case).
April, 1962 -- Mar-Kets' "Surfer's Stomp" LP
April, 1962 -- Vaughn Monroe's "Surfer's Stomp" LP (yea, I know....I can
hear the grumbling already)
October, 1962 -- Beach Boys' "Surfin' Safari" LP
November, 1962 (pretty sure it was November) -- Challengers' "Surfbeat" LP
November, 1962 -- Dick Dale & The Del-Tones' "Surfer's Choice" LP
This would make "Surfer's Choice" actually the 5th surf music LP (broad
definition of "surf music" here) to be released. It was, however, the
first surf music LP to appear on radio station KFWB's Top 5 chart (KFWB
being one of the two major L.A. Top 40 stations at the time and an
important operation to the early history of surf music).
So, the chronological order completely depends on how you define it.
The first surf music album with a variation of the word "surf" in the title
-- Mar-Kets
The first surf music album with a surfing photo on the cover -- Beach Boys
The first surf music album with all instrumentals -- Mar-Kets
The first surf instrumental music album in the traditionally accepted sense
-- Challengers or Dick Dale
The first surf music album with at least one vocal on it -- Vaughn Monroe
The first surf music album to make the Billboard LP charts -- Beach Boys
doo dah
doo dah
Regardless of "firsts," the above list includes the first 5 LPs released
within the genre. Much more interesting to me is that gap of 6 months
between April and October 1962 without any "surf music" LPs dropped on the
market.
john blair
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