Between 1959 and 1966, the guitar-driven sounds of surf music permeated the airwaves. Surfing was everywhere, in pop culture, on television, comic books, commercials…everywhere. And just as quickly, by 1966, the craze disappeared, but the sounds remain timeless.
In 1962 the surf rock band The Surfaris were working on a single called “Surfer Joe” when they realized they needed a suitable B-side for the intended “Surfer Joe” single. One of the band members suggested introducing the song with a cracking sound, imitating a breaking surfboard, followed by a manic voice babbling, “ha ha ha ha ha, wipe out”. The voice was that of the band’s manager, Dale Smallin. “Wipe Out” spent four months on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1963, reaching number 2. The A side song “Surfer Joe” went now where, while the B side become part of American culture. The Surfaris were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2019 for their hit instrumental song, “Wipe Out”.
The Fat Boys and the The Beach Boys teams up for a rap version of “Wipe Out” in the summer of 1987 – it made number 12 in the U.S. and number 2 in the U.K.
Modern surf guitar band Los Straightjackets keep the surf guitar sound alive wearing Mexican Wrestler masks.
“Wipe Out” has been included in a number of film soundtracks, including those of Dark Star (1974), Dirty Dancing (1987), The Sandlot (1993), Toy Story 2 (1999), Recess: School’s Out (2001), The Cat in the Hat (2003), Herbie Fully Loaded (2005), Surf’s Up (2007) and Far Cry New Dawn (2018).