20.10.2012: Ohrwürmer und Anderes 19 | Pure Pop Pleasures

Guten Abend! :wave:

Hallo Philipp!

4. NIGHT OF THE LIVING WEDGE – The Wedge [2:31]
(Fred Grabert)
FRED GRABERT: lead guitar * LOU MAXFIELD: rhythm guitar * ACE THE BASS: bass * TOM BROWN: drums *
Produced by HAROLD BRONSON
From the EP The Big, Bad, Boss Beat Of…The Wedge, Rhino #509 (1980).

The band’s „Night Of The Living Wedge,“ an excellent example of combining a contemporary sound with a vintage style, is the most exciting track from The Big, Bad, Boss Beat Of…The Wedge EP, released in the fall of 1980. Missing are the traditional reverbed guitars. Instead, the guitars have a slightly distorted edge to them that wasn’t far removed from the rock guitar tone du jour at the time. The style of the tune, though, owes everything to The Ventures and Dick Dale.
Harold Bronson asked his friend, drummer Tom Brown, to recruit musicians to make a good surf instrumental record. Brown had a lengthy background as a drummer. He played with The Illusions (represented earlier in the collection with „Jezabel“) and he began a long-standing association with Eddie Bertrand after the breakup of Eddie & The Showmen. In the mid-’80s, Brown joined the staff of Rhino Records, where he continues to work as a manager of RhinoDirect’s Customer Service department („Goddamn!“).

5. MY BEACH – Surf Punks [1:48]
(Dennis Dragon/Drew Steele)
JOHNNY MALIBU: lead guitar, vocals * DREW STEELE: rhythm guitar, vocals * JOHN HUNT: bass * DENNIS DRAGON: drums, vocals *
Produced by DENNIS DRAGON
From the album Surf Punks, Day Glo #0456 (1979).

Like surf music in the ’60s, punk rock music of the ’70s had both an attitude and a style. While surf music was almost always positive and happy, punk rock expressed dissatisfaction and anger. However, like some punk rock groups, the Surf Punks had a self-parodying side, and a sense of humor. The band was organized by drummer and producer Dennis Dragon, who was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying, „What we’re doing isn’t really music. It’s more of an attitude. If people want to bag it, they’ll have to put it somewhere between Spike Jones and the Sierra Club…with maybe a little [Frank] Zappa and The Monkees thrown in.“
The band debuted at the Santa Monica Civic auditorium in October 1979. Their shows tended to be very theatrical with a lot of stage props. Some shows included real sand, a full-sized lifeguard tower, and a troupe of young girls in bikinis. „I don’t claim to have any original ideas,“ Dragon said, „It’s just that we live down here [in Malibu] and we’re simply reflecting what’s happening. So, when I see a guy out in the water and he’s on this wave, and he actually thinks he owns that wave – well, I gotta talk about it, ‚cause that’s totally crazy!“
The Surf Punks‘ themes reflected the politics of the beach culture, which by the ’80s had grown substantially. So had its problems. „My Beach“ noted with sardonic humor that the beaches had become more territorial than ever.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surf_Punks

After graduation, John went on a three month surf trip to Mexico and made the transition from bass to guitar. He had a four track tape in his VW bus, and listened to and practiced the music of George Benson, Jimi Hendrix, Kenny Burrell, Grant Green, and Wes Montgomery. Shortly after returning from Mexico, John joined a modern, neo-classical type of rock band from Montana called „The Magic Castle“, led by Mike Rapp. John stayed with this group for about a year and a half, and then left to explore jazz/fusion, which was just coming onto the scene. Steve Bader, the bassist from „Magic Castle“, got John an audition for the New Orleans band „Lovera“. Then 21 years old, John passed the audition, accepted their offer, and toured with them throughout the Midwest and South for three months. On tour while in Dallas, TX, John felt he had the potential to become a blues guitarist with impact.
After leaving „Lovera“, John played with guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Chuck Smith. At the time, Chuck was the only white artist who had signed with Motown. In the late 70’s, John joined the Surf Punks, a crazy, satirical punk rock and surf band formed by Malibu residents Dennis Dragon and Drew Steele. It was during this period that John became known as „Johnny Malibu“. The Surf Punks recorded on Enigma and Epic Records, and they made an album called „My Beach“, that included songs written, sung, and played by John. However, John decided to take his career in a different direction, so he moved on after playing two concerts with the group. Notwithstanding that decision, John released a new Johnny Malibu CD in 1994 with Dennis Dragon and Drew Steele.
Aus:
http://www.johnhguitar.com/john-heussenstamm/About1.php

7. CHUMMING – The Halibuts [1:58]
(Peter Curry)
PETER CURRY: lead guitar, bass * RICK JOHNSON: rhythm guitar * BRUCE PADDY: keyboards * RANDY HASKINS: drums * JOE LYOU: sax
Produced by PETER CURRY
From the album Chumming, Flatfish #4000 (1993).

The Halibuts are the longest-existing surf revival band in Southern California. They formed in Manhattan Beach in 1982 and are still performing and recording in 1996. Although they use standard instrumentation (i.e., vintage Fender guitars and amps), their original compositions and arrangements of cover tunes tend to involve more complex patterns and melodies.
„Chumming,“ the title track from their third album, was released in 1993 on their own label and nationally distributed by Upstart Records in 1995. A new album is on the way in 1996.

http://www.musikear.com/imageficha/the-halibuts.jpg

8. SAVE THE WAVES – The Surfdusters [3:02]
(Ralph Johnston)
RALPH JOHNSTON: lead guitar * RICH HAGENSEN: rhythm guitar * GRANT SHANKARUK: bass * FRANK NICHOLS: drums *
Produced by RALPH JOHNSTON
Recorded in 1995; Previously unissued.

The Surfdusters formed in Vancouver, Canada in 1989. Their presence in what has now become an „international“ surf music community was established by releasing cassette tapes and singles. The fact that the band’s rhythm guitarist, Rich Hagensen, also publishes a rock instrumental newsletter on a regular basis has helped The Surfdusters‘ visibility. The resurgence of interest in surf music created a demand for live appearances around Vancouver.
Hagensen and guitarist Ralph Johnston met in 1982, and their first recordings were issued in 1990. Personal appearances increased and there were several articles about them in various local and international magazines. Battles of the bands, radio interviews, and more independently-released recordings followed. „Save The Waves“ originally appeared on The Surfdusters‘ 1992 self-released cassette Live…Party On ’92. In July 1995. The tune was rerecorded especially for this collection.