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It was Dick Dale and his band the Del-Tones that gave the ballroom a
new lease on life. Dale was a self-taught guitarist (who learned
several other instruments as well) who performed all over Southern
California after graduation from high school in 1954. By 1959, he had
settled into regular weekend appearances at the Rinky Dink Ice Cream
Parlor (at the corner of E. Balboa Blvd. and Main St.). After adding a
couple of musicians to fill out the sound, his audience quickly grew
beyond the capacity of the ice cream parlor. He was asked to take his
music elsewhere.
Dale asked the owners of the Rendezvous if he could use the building
for dances. There was opposition but the owners finally relented after
it was agreed to split the door proceeds. After some difficulty, the
City of Newport Beach finally granted him the necessary permits but
only under a set of strict rules (there was to be no alcohol sold or
consumed on the premises and a dress code would be enforced). Dale's
first appearance at the Rendezvous (July 1, 1961) was a bit
disappointing; only 17 of his friends, many of them surfers, came to
hear him play.
Within four months, though, he was playing to sellout crowds. Every
night he played there, the crowds came, several thousand strong. Paul
Johnson, guitarist for The Belairs ("Mr. Moto"), has said, "I remember
making the trek to the Rendezvous in the summer of '61 to see what all
the fuss was about over Dick Dale. It was a powerful experience; his
music was incredibly dynamic, louder and more sophisticated than The
Belairs, and the energy between The Del-Tones and all of those surfers
stomping on the hardwood floor in their sandals was extremely intense.
The tone of Dale's guitar was bigger than any I had ever heard, and
his blazing technique was something to behold"(The Belairs played at
the Rendezvous in 1962). Dale's Rendezvous shows became known as
"stomps." Since the majority of his audiences were from the surf and
beach culture, it wasn't surprising that a dance called "The Surfer
Stomp"originated there. Surf music was born. It has become intimately
and inseparably connected with Dick Dale and the Rendezvous Ballroom.
High tides would sometimes bring the surf close enough to the building
to dampen the shoes of patrons standing in line...it was the perfect
ambience.
Dick Dale & The Del-Tones played their last show at the ballroom on
December 23, 1961. They made numerous appearances in early 1962 before
settling in as the house band at the Harmony Park Ballroom in Anaheim.
The Rendezvous continued to provide dances and nearly every surf band
in Southern California, inspired by the creativity and popularity of
Dale, played there at least once during the next couple of years. In
1966, for the second and last time, the Rendezvous burned to the
ground. Interestingly, a band called the Cindermen played the ballroom
the night before the fire. The structure was not rebuilt and, instead,
condos went up on the site. In 1986, the Orange County Historical
Commission honored the original site with a bronze plaque at the
corner of Washington and Ocean Front, reminding us that "the music and
dancing have ended, but the memories linger on."
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