Catch a Wave

Surf Rock music is characterized by its surf-related lyrics, high harmony vocals, catchy and earworm-like guitar solos and riffs, along with its high reverberation levels.  It was developed in in Southern California and it became especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms.  It started out with instrumental surf, distinguished by reverb-heavy electric guitars played to evoke the sound of crashing waves, largely pioneered by Dick Dale and the Del-Tones.  The second form is vocal surf, which took elements of the original surf sound and added vocal harmonies, a movement led by the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean.  Surf Rock transcended into a sense of what was cool (cars, girls and the beach) and that spilled over into culture and eventually this was picked up in film, dress, talk, lifestyle, and people.  The best surf music is high-octane rock ‘n’ roll, full of energy and invention, that includes bright, lead guitars, big stomping rhythms, and stunning harmonies.  Big surfboards, endless sun, and endless fun declined in popularity with the arrival of The Beatles, but the music still lives in the hearts of many today.  Surf rock didn’t just fall down and die, as it continues to be a prolific and appealing genre and an omnipresent musical force.  It’s a still-evolving dynamic genre, with new musicians making new sounds every day.

Last week we had The Earliest Style of Rock and Roll where the theme was to find Rockabilly music.  This week the theme is to find Surf Rock songs.  Take some time to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this music challenge, and even better, read as many of them as you can as you will probably find many enjoyable songs and it is quite possibly that you will learn a thing or two.  Share your music with others and post a video, try do some research and let everyone know something about the song that you post.  Tell everyone why you like the song, whether it was a hit, or what you think the song is about.  Show the lyrics, let’s all listen to our favorite songs and explore some new music.  Try to find a song that fits the theme, then write your post and create a pingback, or you can just place your link in the comments section.

Suggestions
• Try to use the prompt words or at least conform to a general theme, as you see it.  If the song you select does not meet the criteria, then please explain why you chose this song.
• It would be good if you could post the lyrics to the song of your choice, as this is helpful for the people that want to follow along with the music.
• Please try to include the songwriter(s) – it’s a good idea to give credit where credit is due. It would also be a good idea to give credit to the singer and the band associated with your song.
• Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be, but please try not to include too many videos as that just makes it take longer to look at all of the other posts.
• Link to the YouTube video, or you can pull it into your post, so others can listen to the song.
• Ping back to this post or place your link in the comments section below.
• Read at least one other person’s blog, so we can all share new and fantastic music and create amazing new blogging friends in the process.
• Feel free to suggest future prompts.
• Have fun and enjoy the music.

This week I will be writing about The Honeys song ‘Shoot the Curl’, and next week, I will be writing about the song ‘Catfish John’ done by Old & In the Way.  The upcoming prompts will be:
March 19, 2023 – Bluegrass
March 26, 2023 – Grunge music
April 2, 2023 – Alternative Rock outside the mainstream
April 9, 2023 – Soul Music