Retro take on those Californian surfin' sounds which failed to get caught in the slipstream of The Beach Boys revival
Label: Paladin
Year of Release: 1976
1976 was an unexpectedly grand year for The Beach Boys. Prior to that point in the seventies, they had become reduced to almost a cult concern, releasing albums which charted modestly and produced no hit singles - all a far cry from their peak. When the compilation "Twenty Golden Greats" came out in '76, however, the public were clearly reminded of the power of their finest work, and a huge revival tour was created and new success "enjoyed".
Perhaps unsurprisingly, some record labels took a chance on Beach Boys soundalikes in the hope that their noise could be approximated to new success as well. It wasn't really until 1981 when Gidea Park finally charted with "Beach Boy Gold" that this paid off. Prior to that point, most attempts to ape the Wilson sound tended to fall on deaf ears in the UK.
This arguably unnecessary cover of "Fun Fun Fun" is an early example of the post-Golden Greats cod-Californian sound. It's a curiosity in that it does inflate and modernise the work somewhat, using more sophisticated seventies studio techniques and beefing up the tune slightly with more prominent guitars. This facelift clearly failed to connect with record buyers, however, and the single sold poorly.
The flip "Blue Surf" is the group's own work and is a much more interesting parody of the original sound, although the bass backing vocals feel as if they've been accidentally dropped in from a Big Bopper tribute act in the next room.
And who were Adam Surf and his very Englishly, honestly named Pebble Beach Band? Why, that would be a good question. They never had another record out, even though I would have thought their sound would have made them ideal for a quickie Beach Boys soundalike budget compilation, and nothing more was heard from them. The Beach Boys, meanwhile, began scoring hits again on both sides of the Atlantic and their stock remains high to this day. Did I even need to add that?
3 comments:
I'd wager Adam Surf is a pseudonym of the record's executive producer Adam Sieff, who (co-)produced a couple of dozen tracks between 1978 and 1989 according to the 45cat website.
That's a good point, Arthur, and almost certainly correct.
Pebble Beach Studios were in Worthing, owned by Adam Sieff and Andy Cowan Martin with Tony Platt as the house engineer.
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