I can't tell you how many times I passed by on the LP above over the years. Even when I was a teenager just getting into surf music, if I saw this in a thrift store I would smell a cash-in. "Wipe Out"? Really, that's the first cut? The majority of record-buying people wouldn't realize that it was not the original version. Only a fraction of people, those who knew surf music, would see it as a red flag. I did and I knew little about surf music but I did know the original version by the Surfaris. The fact that it was a cover and that the LP cover didn't have the band members' names or even a photo of the band on it was another couple of red fllags. Until today I had never bothered looking at the liner notes. Anonymous band plus cover of "Wipe Out" equaled don't bother. For years I thought that, decades. Today, there was a clue.
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
BUT, BABY, IT WAS THE LINER NOTES FAULT!
In the few credits there are was "Arranger: Paul Johnson". Paul Johnson
is a favorite of mine, as a member of the Bel-Airs ("Mr. Moto") and his
later bands, PJ and the Galaxies among them. Another credit, "Cover
photo: Bruce Brown Productions". OK, cool. They knew enough to go to the
source rather than use a stock photo. (Bruce Brown was a surf
film-maker. His sixth was the smash Endless Summer.) Then I saw
who the producer was, Richard Delvey, former member of the Bel-Airs and
then the Challengers. Okay, somethin's up. I went to Discogs
and they had a later dubious looking CD-R version of it listed and on
that listing it said that the Surfriders were the Challengers under a
different name. Even they didn't want to be known doing a Surfaris
cover. Okay, now I'll listen.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
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