The Ongoing History of New Music, episode 1017: The surprising history and influence of surf music
Every once in a long while, a new genre of popular music emerges, evolves a little bit and then stays almost exactly the same with only the slightest of variations. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course. A formula is discovered. It seems to work, so why change it?
Old-school 12-bar blues is an example, It features one of the most common chord progressions in Western music. The style of lyrics, phrasing, structure, and duration have been pretty much standard since the days of gospel and spirituals and African-based oral tradition. An Alabama musician named W.C. Handy was the first to codify 12-bar blues playing around 1905.
Ska might be an example. It has many different flavours, but there are common components under the hood, rooted in playing on the off-beat—the “one” and “three” instead of the “two” and “four.”
You might say the same about reggaeton and its foundations in the dembow beat, although you’ll probably get a little pushback from fans.
Let me throw this into the mix: garage rock Two or three chords played on guitar, bass, and drums with a loose, rebellious vibe. Nothing too complicated. It’s just gotta feel good.
And here’s one more that might not spring to mind right away: surf music. It, too, can come in different forms: as a type of garage rock; it can be punky; it can be hardcore. It’s great for skateboarding or snowboarding. And yes, it’s also about the beach, the boards, and the swells.
But it’s also more than that. It’s about guitars, amps, pedals, amps, cars, girls, beer, and parties. It can feature vocals but it might be best experienced as instrumentals.
There’s a lot more to surf music than you might think. And its importance, influence, and legacy go far, far beyond the beach. Let me show you.
Songs heard on this show:
- Shadowy Men on a Shadow Planet, Having an Average Weekend
- Link Wray, Rumble
- Dick Dale, Let’s Go Trippin’
- Dick Sale Miserlou
- Ramones, Surfin’ Bird
- B-52’s, Rock Lobster (original)
- The Clash, Charlie Don’t Surf
- Forgotten Rebels, Surfin’ on Heroin
- The Go-Go’s, Surfing and Spying
- Agent Orange, It’s in Your Head
- Dead Kennedys, Holiday in Cambodia
- Pixies, Where is My Mind?
Here’s Eric Wilhite’s playlist.
The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on the following stations:
- 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7pm
- Q107/Toronto – Sunday night at 8pm
- Live 88-5/Ottawa – Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 6pm.
- 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener – Sunday nights at 11pm
- FM96/London – Sunday nights at 8pm
- Power 97/Winnipeg – Sunday nights at 11pm
- Sonic 102.9/Edmonton – Sunday at 8am and 8pm
- The Zone/Victoria – Sunday at 8am and 9pm
- The Fox/Vancouver – Sunday at 11pm
- Surge 105/Halifax – Sunday at 7pm
- WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown – Mon-Fri at 9pm
- We’re still looking for more affiliates in Calgary, Kamloops, Kelowna, Regina, Saskatoon, Brandon, Windsor, Montreal, Halifax, Charlottetown, Moncton, Fredericton, and St John’s and anywhere else with a transmitter. If you’re in any of those markets and you want the show, lemme know and I’ll see what I can do.
