100 Greatest Songs of the 60’s #82 Jan and Dean – Surf City

Released: 1963

There’s a lot to be said for optimism as one of pop’s defining qualities; indeed the early part of the 1960’s, despite rumblings from the Cold War was a time for some at least of renewed hope, the pursuit of civil rights, the Space Race and mass production making for progress of very different kinds.

Against this backdrop music which seemed to be woven into the fabric of sunny California – which might as well have been on a different planet for most people – seemed almost fantastical, a celebration of human perfection, sun and sea. After The Chantays’ instrumental Pipeline came a wave, crested by The Beach Boys Surfin’, Surfer Stomp by The Mar-Ketts, with Dick Dale and The Surfaris amongst the rest of the pack. Sounding great on low quality AM radio, pretty soon the music – a conflation of trebly reverb drenched guitar, angelic harmonies and tumbling drums – had become one of the decade’s first cultural niche movements.

Jan and Dean met at high school, but it wasn’t until several years later that they began to play on the same circuit as The Beach Boys, in the process making friends with Brian Wilson. Their relationship yielded stunning results; after Wilson demurred on giving them the then-unrecorded Surfin’ Safari, he instead offered the instrumental bones to and opening line of another song, Surf City.

Here was where the optimism came in. “Two girls for every boy” the pair crooned, making the journey to this hedonists’ paradise in an ancient, beat up car with the promise of parties and good times aplenty. Even if things went wrong on this utopian sounding number there was still a feeling of nothing to fear, other than calm weather and sand getting everywhere; with youth on it’s side and good times on every corner, Surf was definitely up.