What's the best music to play on the way to the beach? Myself, I'm keen on some Sun Ra (That explains everything. Ed.) or Jackie Mittoo, while Harry has taken to demanding that The Clash blast out of the car at full volume. Fearless of the immense work involved (Neil Watson, take note), I asked Alf Alderson for his Top 10, and here's what he came up with. As Alf says, "I’d be the first to admit that few of the tracks listed here are ‘surf music’ in the true sense of the word, but to my mind ‘surf music’ is more than just the sound of Dick Dale or the Beach Boys – it’s the sounds you turn up to full volume on your way to catch a few waves, the sounds that remind you of great times and great sessions with great mates."
Here, in no particular order, is Alf's Top 10.
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE: THE POLICE
Giving my age away here, but this catchy tune by Mr. Sting and co. had me tapping my foot (above which hung ludicrous nylon boardshorts) at the same time as my first surf trip to SW France. Happy memories of drubbings by the waves and the alcohol at Chambre d’Amour.
HEY LITTLE SISTER: RY COODER
I used to listen to this Ry Cooder track while working in the original Ma Sime’s Surf Hut (it was quite literally a garden shed stocked with surf gear) above Whitesands Bay in Pembrokeshire. Slightest sign of a swell and the ‘Closed’ sign went up…
CALL ME THE BREEZE: JJ CALE
I first heard this classic piece of road music while living in Western Australia in the early 80s. Memories of hot sun, hot winds, hot waves.
BLUE MONDAY: NEW ORDER
Conjures up a long, lazy summer on the beach at Whitesands and drunken nights in the St. David’s Rugby Club, surfing any ripple available and desperately waiting for late August and the first real swells.
WIPEOUT: THE SURFARIS
At last, a surf music classic. I played in a band in St. David’s for many years, every member of which surfed, as did most of our audiences, and this one always had ‘em dancing on the tables.
ROAD TO NOWHERE: CHRIS REA
That rare thing, a British ‘road song’ and personally very appropriate at the time it was released as I was driving around the UK researching Surf UK. I bought it in Thurso and am always reminded of driving across Lewis in search of waves when I hear it – ironic considering that it’s about the M25…
DOO BOP: MILES DAVIS
Any track on Miles’ last album reminds me of drifting around in SW France with The Gill many years ago – not much surf on that trip but lots of laughs.
BLACKFOOT: ILLINOIS JACQUET
Ah yes – this groovy little jazz number was playing when, with my mate Tony Kitchell on board, I turned my van upside down on the Ile de Ré in France. We were fine, not so Tony’s boards which were on the roof (mine had wisely been stashed inside the van). We didn’t get any waves there either.
STAR GUITAR: THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS
This one brings back fairly recent memories of travelling in style down the Landes coast in my campervan – no more scuzzy tents in the forest now. And I got the CD it comes from for just €8 at the excellent weekly market at Montalivet-les-Bains.
GOOD VIBRATIONS: THE BEACH BOYS
However clichéd it may be to have a Beach Boys track in the list there’s no doubt that, irrespective of the band’s dubious surf connections, Brian Wilson and co. penned one of the finest pop songs of all time with this number.
