Surf Punks
The Surf Punks were formed in 1979 by Malibu residents Dennis Dragon (son of the Symphony conductor Carmen Dragon) and Drew Steele (son of the B-movie actress Nancy Archer, made famous as the alcoholic abused housewife in Attack of The Fifty Foot Woman, and Gavin Mcloud of "Love Boat" fame) Their first album, an independent release on their own label, Day Glo Records, including the songs "My Beach" and "My Wave" garnered them enough airplay on the then fledgling KROQ to lead to a re-release of the album on EPIC Records in 1980, and the release of two further albums, "Locals Only" and "Oh No, Not Them Again". The Surf Punks also provided the music to KLOS Shock Jock Frazier Smith's signature show bumper, "Cool Patrol". Record industry legend Kim Fowley also spent a short time flirting with the band, later claiming to have "Discovered them". The Surf Punks were managed from 1980 to 1983 by Michael Parenti ( the artist, http://es-tr.com , not Michael Parenti the political wiriter), who also provided many of the T-Shirt designs for the band. The live shows of the Surf Punks included prancing bikini-babes on stage, as well as a full size Lifeguard Tower (with lifeguard!) Beach Sand, surfboards, etc. In the heydays of the punk explosion in LA, the shows were wild and abandoned, the lead singer Drew Steele known to cover his body with baby oil, ketchup, mayonnaise, and all sorts of sundry foodstuffs during the song "I Can't Get a Tan", which usually led to the audience being doused with a fire extinguisher, and then having a bag of baking flour dumped on them in a white cloud by the flailing Steele. The lyrics of the band centered primarily on the in-group out group experiences of "locals" - surfers living on the beach in Malibu, and "valleys" - commuters from the San Fernando valley to the private and public beaches of the exclusive Malibu beach community. Never truly "punk" in the traditional sense of the word, the Surf Punks were a tongue in cheek cabaret act, offering an intelligent take on the "turf wars" over the southern California beaches and its waves. The term "surf punk" was a generational adaptation of the term "surf nazi" which was in wide use in the early days of the sport in the 60's and 70's also used tongue in cheek to describe people who were fanatically dedicated to their sport.
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