The Surf Punks were a
pop punk band formed in 1976 by
Malibu residents Dennis Dragon (1947-2017) and Drew Steele. (Dragon was the son of symphony conductor
Carmen Dragon, the brother of Captain & Tennille's
Daryl Dragon, and he was previously the drummer of
the Byrds and
the Beach Boys. Steele's stepfather was
Gavin MacLeod of
McHale's Navy,
The Mary Tyler Moore Show and
Love Boat fame.) Dragon recruited the additional talents of Malibu residents Tony Creed AKA the "Hulk", for lead guitar and blues harp, fellow bodysurfer/frisbeeist John Hunt on the bass, and South Bay resident
John Heussenstamm
John Heussenstamm (born December 28, 1953) is an American guitarist and music educator. He was the original lead guitarist in the Surf Punks, toured with the Deniece Williams Band in 1977, and was a band member of Innocent Bystanders. He is the ...
for lead guitar. This was the original core group, produced and engineered by Dragon in his garage studio across the street from
Zuma Beach, his favorite body surfing spot. Mark Miller joined them on "Locals Only." Jeff "Ray Ban" Eyrich joined the Surf Punks on bass when John Hunt left the group.
Scott Goddard (1952–2006) later joined as lead vocalist on a few songs.
Background
Record producer and then Malibu resident
Denny Cordell saw merit in the group and released their first recordings on a single, "My Beach" b/w "My Wave", in Australia on
Shelter Records. Their subsequent first album, an independent release on their own label, Day Glo Records, garnered them enough airplay on the then fledgling L.A. alternative radio station
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock").
The stat ...
to lead to a re-release of the album on
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America
Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
in 1980, and the release of two further albums, ''Locals Only'' and ''Oh No, Not Them Again'' on
Enigma Records, with Mark Miller, keyboard player Jerry Weber and lifeguard/guitarist Andy Jackson.
Dragon and Hulk also provided the theme song to
KLOS disc jockey Frazer Smith's signature show bumper, "Cool Patrol". Heavy rotation on KROQ-FM was largely responsible for the band selling out their first live performance ever at the
Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
Santa Monica Civic Auditorium is a multi-purpose convention center at 1855 Main Street in Santa Monica, California, owned by the City of Santa Monica. It was built in 1958 and designed by Welton Becket and as a concert venue, it has a seating cap ...
. The Surf Punks were road managed from 1980 to 1983 by Michael Parenti (the artist, not the
political writer
The following people are authors of writings on political subjects:
See also
* Lists of writers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Political authors
Lists of writers
...
), who also provided many of the T-shirt designs for the band. At one time, rock legend
Johnny Rivers showed interest in the band by co-producing with Dragon a single titled "Surfs Up Medley", released on his own
Soul City
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
label. TV producer
Chris Bearde also managed the band for a short time and tried with movie producer
Brian Grazer and Rivers to procure a Hollywood movie deal for the band.
The live shows of the Surf Punks, in the heyday of the punk explosion in L.A., were full of wild abandon. High points of the show were "I Can't Get a Tan" and "Big Top".
The lyrics of the band centered primarily on the in-group/out-group experiences of "locals" (surfers living on the beach in Malibu) and "valleys" (commuters from the
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...
to the private and public beaches of the exclusive Malibu Beach community). Never truly "punk" in the traditional sense of the word, the Surf Punks were sort of a "
Beach Boys of the punk world," offering their take on the "turf wars" over the southern California beaches and its waves.
The band made at least five music videos: "My Beach",
"Big Top", "Welcome to California", "Shark Attack" and another for their cover of "
Come on-a My House", which was originally a hit for
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as " Botch-a-Me", " Mambo Italiano", ...
. They also appeared in the 1988 film ''
Under the Boardwalk''.
Discography
* ''Surf Punks'' (1979)
* ''My Beach'' (1980) distributed by
CBS Records, contains a cover of
The Sunrays'
I Live for the Sun
"I Live for the Sun" is a 1965 single written by Rick Henn and performed by American pop band the Sunrays.
Origin and recording
Band member Eddy Medora on the origin of the song: "I had a chorus that went, 'Run Run Run' and Ricky Henn called m ...
retitled "We All Live For The Sun", featuring a
dulcimer solo. Mastered at Artisan Sound Recorders by
Greg Fulginiti
* ''Locals Only'' (1982; reissued with bonus tracks 2013)
* ''Oh No! Not Them Again'' (1988; reissued 2007)
* ''Party Bomb'' (1988; reissued 2007)
* ''My Beach, My Wave'' (compilation 1988)
References
External links
Obituary of Dennis DragonTony Creed aka Hulk's WebsiteMichael Parenti's Blog with Surf Punks HistoryInterview with Dennis Dragon of the Surf Punks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Surf Punks
Surf music groups
Musical groups established in 1976
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Pop punk groups from California