The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 451

Number 451

The Surfaris

"Wipe Out"

(1963)

Genre: Surf Rock

Instantly recognisable song, with lyrics even i can remember Wipe Out! [repeat x 30]. Now that i am learning how to play the drums, [yes, Animal from the Muppet's still sounds better than me] I have been watching "The Ventures" version on youtube with Mel Taylor [?] pounding the snare drum amazingly fast. There is a Safari's version on youtube but the Ventures remake is something to behold. Both videos will be on the bottom on the page, hell i will even let you choose which one is the better version.

By the way here is a list of songs that are in danger of being voted off ..... 1: Michael Nesmith #549 - 2: Elvis Presley #501 - 3: REM #597 - 4: Cher #889 - 5: David Lee Roth #997. So there you go, if you want to save them go ahead, if you want to stick the boot in while they are down, be my guest. Once a song reaches 100 votes and its all negative, I will put up another song to take its place. Then you can vote for the old one back - Ha!

Oh, and please keep voting, otherwise i will have to take the word "Definitive" out of the title!

circa 1963

A Glendora, CA, surf group remembered for "Wipe Out," the number two 1963 hit that ranks as one of the great rock instrumentals, featuring a classic up-and-down guitar riff and a classic solo drum roll break, both of which were emulated by millions (the number is no exaggeration) of beginning rock & rollers. They recorded an astonishing number of albums (about half a dozen) and singles in the mid-'60s; the "Wipe Out" follow-up, "Point Panic," was the only one to struggle up to the middle of the charts. The Surfaris were not extraordinary, but they were more talented than the typical one-shot surf group; drummer Ron Wilson was praised by session stickman extraordinaire Hal Blaine, and his uninhibited splashing style sounds like a direct ancestor to Keith Moon. He also took the lead vocals on the group's occasional Beach Boys imitations. ~ [Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide]
surf rock ~ wo0t

The Surfaris disbanded in 1966 but have periodically reunited and are still active as of 2008, performing and recording, often re-recording their old and new songs. They still perform as Bob Berryhill's Surfaris and Jim Fuller's Surfaris (two separate groups) all over United States and Europe with a large fan base. Drummer Ron Wilson died 7 May 1989, one month short of his 45th birthday. Wilson had released an album of his songs, entitled Lost It In The Surf, on Bennet House Records of Grass Valley, California, recorded in June 1987. A very small number of cassettes of this album were produced. Lost It In The Surf included a cover of "Louie Louie", complete with Scottish bagpipes. [Source: Wikipedia]

Side Note: The afterthought track spent four months on the national Billboard chart in the autumn of 1963, reaching #2 and kept out of the top slot only by Stevie Wonder's Fingertips. The smash hit returned to the Hot 100 in 1966, reaching #16 in its second national chart run.

Wipe Out - Covers by other Bands

surfs up

~ The song has been covered by several artists including the American rap group The Fat Boys in which the song was released on their 1987 album Crushin' making guest appearances with the pop group The Beach Boys on the track. A promo clip was also filmed for The Fat Boys version of the song. This cover version reached #12 in the US charts and #2 in the UK charts in 1987.
~ The Saints, an English band covered the song (produced by Joe Meek) in the mid-1960s
~ The 2006 Dancehall riddim Wipe Out is based on the Surfaris song. Several well known Jamaican musicians (Lady Saw, T.O.K., Elephant Man, Beenie Man and others) recorded vocals over this instrumental.
~ Gary Hoey covered this song on his Monster Surf album in 2005.
~ The Queers performed a cover of "Wipe Out" on the Acid Beaters split-cd with The Manges in 2003.
~ The Korean rhythm video game Pump It Up featured a track called "Mr. Larpus" that was based on this song.
~ The Ventures cover the song on their live album The Ventures on Stage in 1965.
~ The Toy Dolls too cover the song with an additional Video made in 1984.
~ Serbian doo wop band Vampiri recorded a cover version on their 1992 album Tacno u ponoc.
In November, 1998, Phish played a cover of the song and then from that point, jokingly, throughout the duration of the show, slipped back into the song in the middle or between other songs, and then encored with it. The show was released on Live Phish Vol. 6. ~ [Source: Wikipedia]

For Beach Boys see Number 517, #560, #576, #641 & #714

For Keith Moon see The Who Number 556

For "Louie Louie" see The Kingsmen Number 584

For Stevie Wonder see Number 657

What does Rolling Stone think? Nothing actually. This iconic song "Wipe Out" and even the group is not mentioned on their website.

Rolling Stone magazine deemed their '451st Song of all Time' was "The Twist" by Chubby Checker. Chubby Checker's "The Twist" has appeared in The Definitive 1000 @ Number 743

Other songs with reference to The Surfaris: none

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (never heard of em) and the Album ranked at (and never heard of Wipe Out)

This song has a Definitive 1000 rating of 77.2 out of 108

The Surfaris