Music Deaths: Dick Dale, King of the Surf Guitar

DICK DALE, 81

Died March 16, 2019.

Real name Richard Anthony Monsour.    Pioneer of Surf Music.  Known as "The King of the Surf Guitar."

His band was the Del-ones and biggest hit on Billboard was 1962s "Let's Go Trippin' " which went to #60. He had one other Top 100 with #98  "The Scavenger" in 1963.  But his best known song was "Misirlou"  in 1962.

Worth a listen to his songs on You Tube.

Who Were the Pyramids Back in 1964?-- Part 3

Better-known surf bands like the Surfaris and Chantays covered the "Penetration" single. There is an album available by the Pyramids "Penetration: The Best of the Pyramids" which includes Penetration, Road Runnah, Pyramid Stomp, Contact, Pressure, Record Run, Do the Slauson and Koko Joe. //// So, I then "had" to hear some more Pyramid songs and came across an album called "Surf Music Madrid: Fourteen Hits of Surf Music" on You Tube. Well, that was an hour as I had to listen and this site gives you the chance to hear all 14. Just click on the time at the end of each selection. //// Among the songs featured: SURFERS BLUE-- Journeymen // EXOTIC-- Original Surfers // EVERYBODY UP-- Fender IV // SCORPION-- Jesters // A-RAB-- and BAHA-REE-BA! PT. 1-- Trademarks.

Who Were the Pyramids Back in 1964?-- Part 2

From Wikipedia. Continued from Feb. 22nd. //// Surf band from Long Beach, California, in 1961 who only had one song rank in the Billboard Top 100, "Penetration." It was the last surfing instrumental to rank in the Top Twenty in July 1964. //// Appeared in the movie "Bikini Beach" wearing Beatle wigs (not according to the video of them from the movie on You Tube where they were bald). The Modest Conspiring site calls them the First Punk Band playing Surf Rock. //// On You Tube, their "Bikini Drag" song opens with what at first looks like a group of balloons, but when the camera moves back, we see that these are their shaved heads. They put on quite an energetic show and one even did a back flip. //// More to Come. --RoadDog

Who Were the Pyramids Back in 1964?-- Part 1

From You Tube, Top Pop Singles. //// Yesterday, when I had the WLS Chicago radio Top Ten songs from Feb. 21, 1964, I had a group called the Pyramids at #4 with their song "Penetration." Just who were these guys getting blindsided by Beatlemania? I had never heard of them. As it turned out, this was their only top 40 in Chicago and their only top 20 in the country, peaking at #18 on Billboard. //// From Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles: "It debuted Feb. 1 and was on the charts ten weeks and released on Best Records #13002. Surf band from Long Beach, California: Skip Mercer, Willie Glover, Steve Leonard, Ron McMullen and Tom Pittman. Performed with shaved heads. Appeared in the movie "Bikini Beach." //// Next, I had to hear the song. I went to You Tube (and was only there for ten minutes, probably a new record for me.) The video showed them with shaved heads (the direct opposite of the Beatles, perhaps in protest?) as that one of the members was black (I didn't know there were any black musicians in Surf Rock). They also had the video of them performing in the movie "Bikini Beach." //// More Than You Ever Thought You'd Know About the Pyramids. --RoadDog