The Surf Coasters (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: ザ・サーフコースターズ ''Za Sāfukōsutāzu'') are a

surf band, started by Shigeo Naka in 1994.

History

The band became known with their stint on the

talent show A talent show or talent contest is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are p ...

television program A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via Terrestrial television, over-the-air, Satellite television, satellite, and cable te ...

'' Ebisu-Onsen'', a show very similar in concept to the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

program, ''

Star Search ''Star Search'' (later known as ''Ed McMahon's Star Search'') is an American television show that was produced by T.P.E./ Rysher Entertainment from 1983 to 1995, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Al Masini. A relaunch was produced by 29 ...

'' on which the winning band would receive a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

. Although the Surf Coasters did not win the competition, their success on the show led to a loyal fan following. They succeeded to make it into the final round of the competition, where they finished in second place; however, they still received a record deal, which led to the release of their debut CD, ''Surf Panic '95'', which, despite being an

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

album, sold well. The band also played that year with surf music legend and "King of the Surf Guitar",

Dick Dale Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American Rock music, rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scale (music), scales and experimenting wit ...

, who was on his first tour of Japan. Reportedly, after the tour Dale referred to Naka as the "Prince of the Surf Guitar.". Since then, the band has released upwards of twenty records, for the Columbia, Victor and BMG

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

s, and have become the number one instrumental band across Japan. Their sound has varied since 1995, including

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

, acoustic arrangements,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, and heavy metal. Naka has also gone on to record, with and without the rest of the band, on other musical projects, including

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

s for film and

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

. Shigeo Naka was a guest guitarist playing the song "Test Driver" and Naka's own composition, "The Clash", with

Takeshi Terauchi , also known as Terry, was a Japanese instrumental rock Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes instrumental performance and features very little or no singing. Examples of instrumental music in rock can be found in practically eve ...

& Blue Jeans on their 1996 album, ''Catch a Wave''. Kurita has been playing bass with his band Chill.

Other band members

*Nobuhiro Kurita, who joined the band on

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

in 1997. During the band's first

tour, Kurita was dubbed "Zen Punk" for his cartoonish presence. He began playing the bass after being encouraged to do so by a friend in

junior high Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

school. *Naotaka Seki, a

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

who was recruited by Naka into the band in 2001, while touring with Ryouchi Endo. He began drumming after seeing Munetaka Higuchi, drummer for the band

Loudness In acoustics, loudness is the subjectivity, subjective perception of sound pressure. More formally, it is defined as the "attribute of auditory sensation in terms of which sounds can be ordered on a scale extending from quiet to loud". The relat ...

, and deciding that he looked cool.

Discography

Albums

* ''Surf Panic '95'' (1995) * ''Surfside Village'' (1995) * ''Waitin' 4 The Surf'' (1995) * ''Surface Impression'' (1996) * ''Surfdelicious'' (1996) * ''Surfin' Elvis / The Pelvis'' (1997) * ''Surfdelic (''Fun House, 1998) * ''NakaShigeo plays Paul Mauriat'' (1999) * ''The Surf Coasters'' (1999) * ''Surf is Dead'' (2000) * ''六人ノ刺客'' (Six Assassins) (2000) * ''Easter!!'' (2001) * ''L'Esprit'' (2002) * ''Surf Attack'' (2003) * ''p.m.'' (2003) * ''Private Recordings Vol.1 / The Surf Coasters featuring 中シゲヲ'' (2004) * ''Samurai Struck (U.S.A. ISSUE)'' (2005) * ''Samurai Struck (JAPAN ISSUE)'' (2005) * ''Live'' (Pullup, 2006) * ''Outside Break'' (Fivenine Factory, 2008) * ''Breakout'' (Fivenine Factory, 2008) * ''Gold'' (Indies House/Finger, 2010) * ''Rising'' (78label, 2016)

Best Of compilations

* ''Fly Up!! Best of The Surf Coasters Vol.1'' (Invitation, 2000) * ''Misirlou 10th Anniversary Best'' (Victor, 2004) * ''Anthology 20th Anniversary Collection'' (Victor, 2014) * ''Extras'' (Vivid Sound Corporation/Steps, 2020)

Singles/EPs

* Intruder (Mini CD single)(Victor, 1995) * ''Wild Cherry'' (12" EP)(Victor, 1996) * ''Astral Circle'' (Mini CD single)(Victor, 1996) * ''Light My Fire'' (Inter, 2002)

Video game soundtracks

* ''Soundtrack from "Runabout"'' (1997) * ''Super Runabout'' (1999) * ''Runabout3 neoAGE'' (2002)

DVDs

* ''On Stage'' (2004)

References

* *

External links

Surf Coasters collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

's live music archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Surf Coasters 1994 establishments in Japan Japanese instrumental rock musical groups Japanese psychedelic rock music groups Musical groups established in 1994 Musical groups from Tokyo Surf rock music groups