...by Emma Jade Gunn
Monster Summer Hits Wild Surf on CD is a find. Deliciously digitized remasters of some old surf songs by some hard to find artists and a free mini-poster to boot. This remaster is cooler than a North Shore breeze. The mini-poster is about 9 1/2 by 9 1/4 inches and is a copy of the fantastic art that graces the cover.
- SURFIN'
- The Beach Boys (B. Wilson – M. Love) Vintage barber shop Beach Boys sounds with the dippity dip background vocals. Exactly as you remember it but without the radio interference!
- SURF CITY
- Jan & Dean (J. Berry – B. Wilson) Back when Woodies were station wagons. No back seat, no rear window, just two to one at Surf City! Two girls for every boy..... whoa, dreamsville for you guys but kinda hard on us girls. Wink, Jan, wink!
- SURFER'S STOMP
- The Marketts (Saraceno – Daughtery) Am I the only who went, "Ah, nooooo" when they found out the great Marketts were studio guys and there was no real "just the group of us" band? Oh, well, Surfer's Stomp is great. Now that we're older it's also great jogging music! Hit the beach. Barefoot. Run it off, baby!
- THEME FROM "ENDLESS SUMMER"
- The Sandals (G. Georis – J. Blakeley) Just like it used to be. No voices, just some humming and some great instrumental sounds. Necking music. 'Nuff said.
- HAWAII FIVE-O
- The Ventures (Mort Stevens) Okay, so maybe The Ventures had some help from an orchestra on this one. It still rocks and rocks big!
- SURFIN' SAFARI
- The Beach Boys (B. Wilson – M. Love) Everyone is learning how! And how! Come on, baby, wait and see, I'm gonna take you surfin' with me. Come on and surfari with me. Get ready to go with this one. Memories! Ah, to be sixteen and own a bikini — even on the shores of Peru!
- FINKSVILLE U.S.A.
- Mr. Gasser & the Weirdos (Klimes – Altizer – Day – Roth) What do you mean, you don't remember Gasser? Cretin! It's Finksville, and Gasser will talk ya through it with a little help from a funkalicious sax! The ssssurfing's great! And ignore the manta rays.
- SHOOT THE CURL
- The Honeys (S. Glantz – D. Rovell) Girl groups! AWRIGHT! We'll outsurf the guys, shoot the curl. We're gonna shoot the curl for one clear mile. Pre-feminism girl power! We got the style! Wooooooo!
- TELL 'EM I'M SURFIN'
- The Fantastic Baggies (P. Sloan – S. Barri) Quintessential surf dude stuff here. Forget baseball, forget cool pools (no ten foot waves), we're goin' surfin' with baggies on. Yep, some of us lived this song, including that weirdly wonderful pipeline word slur at the end.
- RIDE THE WILD SURF
- Jan & Dean (Berry – Wilson – Christian) A mondo classic no one should ever be without. Surf on the northern Shore, or at least pretend you can hit the Oahu waves by replaying this song again and again and again. Ride. Ride. Ride. Ride. Ride. Gotta take that one last ride!
- SURFIN' BIRD
- The Trashmen (Frazier – White – Wilson – Harris) Remember dancing to this frenetic fantasy of insanity? I, for one, have driven more than one person into early retirement by playing it over and over again! Oh, hey, do you have the lyrics memorized yet? Smile, baby, everyone is talking about the bird!
- SURF AGE
- Jerry Cole & His Spacemen (Jerry Cole) From the drum opening to the sexy sax Surf Age rocks. Wow, this is just as much hip latino as space. Two, two, two songs in one!
- I LIVE FOR THE SUN
- The Sunrays (R. Henn) I can't believe how many of my buddies made this song their theme song. Too cool to give up. My girl and me will stay by the sea, livin' and lovin' — sun, sun, sun, sun! Go!
- SURFIN' U.S.A.
- The Beach Boys (Chuck Berry) Well, maybe Chuck took awhile, but he got his name on this one as writer. 'Bout time. Great song, great, great tune! Oh, Brian, just because we believe Chuck doesn't mean we don't also believe you when you say it was an original thought. I mean, who could get it out of their heads once it was heard even in part? Surfin' U.S.A., Pacific Palisades, La Jolla, hum, hum, hum. See what I mean?
- PAPA-OOM-MOW-MOW
- The Rivingtons (Frazier – White – Wilson – Harris) Hey, there! What's your name? Super fantasmagorical Surfin' Bird-esque bit of fun! Jazzy, deep, rich, throaty. Excuse me, I'm feeling faint. Perfection. And all in just a couple of minutes.
- WIPE OUT
- The Ventures (The Surfaris) Dig that drum! Oh, my! I don't care if you love The Surfaris, any drummer that drums like this is just, well, okay to the nth, baby! The Ventures did themselves proud on this version of Wipe Out!
- PIPELINE
- Jerry Cole & His Spacemen (Spickard – Carmen) Oh, Jerry! Another 'make me moan' edition of Pipeline. I spent weeks and weeks learning the lead to this song on my Strat just so I'd have it with me every moment. It's the Gidgiest!
- SUMMER MEANS FUN
- The Fantastic Baggies (P.F. Sloan – S. Barri) The Fantastic Baggies are back with another of those editions of a classic. I Live for the Sun crossed Surf City and with a dose of Valium thrown in. What, me worry?
- PRAY FOR SURF
- The Honeys (S. Glantz – D. Rovell) The Honeys showing us girls how to get our feet off the ground. You go, girl!
- SURFER GIRL
- The Beach Boys (Brian Wilson) Ah, a surfer love song. Make my heart come all undone. My little surfer girl. Standing by the ocean .... hum, hum, ha, hum..... in my woody I would take you.... hum, hum, ha, hum..... dreams come true....
- GOOFY-FOOT GLEN
- John Severson (Jimmie Haskell) Don't you just love the title of this song? The first time I heard it I expected some weird lyrics. Surprise! Just great calypso-type grooves. Really cool if you're a girl with long hair you can flip over your shoulder with a quick and sexy toss of your head.
- SIDEWALK SURFIN'
- Jan & Dean (B. Wilson – R. Christian) I had a skateboard back when skateboards were usually a chunk of two-by-four with sawed-up metal-wheeled roller skates nailed to the bottom. Our parents used to throw them in the burning barrels every time someone new broke a leg. We just put on this song and waited until we found another two-by-four. For some reason or parents never grasped that roller skates come in pairs. Ah, fond memories.
- SURF ROUTE 101
- The Super Stocks (G. Usher – R. Christian) Is this surf music? Sounds like someone mixed a surf song with a country music tune and slapped in a little bit of light jazz. Experimentation! The foundation of the surf life!
- DOIN' THE SURFINK
- Mr. Gasser & the Weirdos (Klimes – Altizer – Day – Roth) Slimy spot, wiggle, shake. This is a dance. Honest. And I don't understand why we're still not doing it. Hanging ten without a board. How cool can you get?
- MUSCLE BEACH PARTY
- The Super Stocks (Usher – Christian – Wilson) Filled with ominous warnings about muscle men and taking vitamins. Hey, they did look good, dudes! Just bring me a Kleenex so I don't publicly drool, okay? What? You said that thin guy has a new long board? Okay, he wins.
- COME SEPTEMBER
- John Severson (Bobby Darin) Do, dah, do! Kind of like Herb Alpert caught in a curl. Nice. Perky, even! No words, but who needs words? We are surf rockers. I repeat. Who needs words?
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1991 This Compilation Capitol Records, Inc.