Dick Dale's Let's Go Trippin' hit #60 on the Billboard chart in 1961, and was #4 in Los Angeles. It was released in September 1961, preceding the Beach Boys' Surfin' by two months. Surfin' Safari was released, with 409 on the B side, in June 1962, and peaked at #14.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
The Day The Music Died
- Thread starter landtuna
- Start date
- Status
Dick Dale's Let's Go Trippin' hit #60 on the Billboard chart in 1961, and was #4 in Los Angeles. It was released in September 1961, preceding the Beach Boys' Surfin' by two months. Surfin' Safari was released, with 409 on the B side, in June 1962, and peaked at #14.
I remember having a conversation with a number of friends during the summer of 1960 and we all seemed to agree that the previous year had been awful for pop (T-40) music. I don't remember that continuing into the following year.
My comments pertain only to T-40 music as I wasn't a Country music fan at all back then (although Chet Atkins was a favorite whom I saw in person in Japan in '65). Also, I lived in AZ and CA during that time. The only "Eastern" music I was aware of was on shows like "American Bandstand" which didn't play controversial music of any kind.
You've put this thread in "National Radio." That means more than just where you grew up. There was a lot of music that was popular outside of your personal social circle.
If you want to talk about surf music, you can't ignore The Ventures, who had a major national hit with Walk Don't Run in 1960. If white music in Arizona was boring, Ray Charles released "What'd I Say" during this time. Just because YOU were living in the doldrums doesn't mean everyone else was.
I was using http://www.bobborst.com/popculture/top-100-songs-of-the-year/?year=1961 as my reference but it must be different than yours. I also checked my KTKT Hooper & Pulse listings for 1961 and didn't see any Surf songs there.
Of course. But I am not telepathic and cannot remember what my peers in Memphis or Jasper Junction were dancing to way back then. I did quote Billboard which is as close as I can come.
If you will remember, the original subject was the death of Holly, Richardson and Valens which was a national radio subject and why this post is located here. I didn't change the discussion - only replied to other's posts which, obviously, were sourced from where I was living at the time.
IMHO, Walk, Don't Run was not Surf music. It was instrumental and not different than Duane Eddy's Because They're Young or Sandy Nelson's Teen Beat. The Beach Boys really began the Surf phase and some of the Ventures later music fit that description (Pipeline, Wipe Out, etc.).
Not sure Ray Charles' What I Say has anything to do with this conversation about Surf.
If you go to the Wikipedia page for the song, you'll see that it's classified as "surf rock."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walk,_Don't_Run_(song)
Obviously, I don't share Wikipedia's opinion and I think anyone who listens to the music would agree.
Well, he DID live in Tucson at the time.
(Sorry, landtuna, couldn't resist.)
HEY! Tucson wasn't a bad place to grow up. A bit boring at times but we didn't have a lot of the problems larger cities had.
I listen to music, and I don't agree.
Hooper and Pulse were radio ratings companies. They never, ever published or tabulated lists of music.
You are entitled to your opinion.....as am I. Not sure you will find many who believe Wikipedia is an authoritative source.
In the late 50's and early 60's KTKT put out a weekly flyer listing that week's song ratings by Hooper & Pulse. I have a year's worth of those original flyers. If you would like to see a sample please give me a URL and I will be happy to share them with you.
How about quoting the population of China? That would be several billion but no more accurate.
How about I just edit the Wikipedia posting to agree with me? Makes about as much sense.
You're losing it A.
I thought those surveys/rankings were done by the stations themselves, based on local record sales, requests, maybe personal interviews, and the like. And the result was more airplay for #1 than #30. Weren't Hooper and Pulse the forerunners of Arbitron/Nielsen?
Once again, you're welcome to post a more authoritative source.
Hooper and Pulse were radio ratings companies, so many stations that were at the top of the ratings would put "Hooper rated #1" or "Pulse rated #1" or something similar on all their published promotional material.
Statements like that were common back when regulations did not require attribution and a statement of limitations.
In the 50's and much of the 60's, Pulse and Hooper and the lesser known Trendex were the dominant forces in local market radio ratings research, with Hooper fading away around 1972 and The Pulse publishing its last survey in September of 1978.
None of those companies published music charts, rankers or lists.
A quick search online of Billboard or Broadcasting magazines from that period will reveal no references to Hooper or Pulse music charts.
- Status