The Surf Coasters

Shigeo Naka, a gifted guitar player with too many influences to even name a favorite, formed the Surf Coasters with some surf music loving friends in early 1994. They were rehearsing and playing a few shows, and looking for a break. They auditioned for a TV show called Ebisu-Onsen, which has a format very much like Star Search here in the U.S., as amateur performers compete for a recording contract. Most of the acts were bland pop singers, and the Surf Coasters’ hip shaking rock made them crowd favorites and they returned week after week, making it to the finals.

Yuzo Sasaki is the editor of New Eleki Dynamica, a Japanese magazine dedicated to surf and instrumental music. He recalls being happily surprised to see The Surf Coasters shredding through “Miserlou” on Ebisu-Onsen; a surf band finally back in the spotlight in Japan. He remembers Shigeo’s big smile and the girls screaming like it was the second coming of the Beatles.

Meanwhile, back in America, Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” was released with Dick Dale’s “Miserlou” serving as it’s theme song. The movie inspired the formation of hundreds of new surf bands in the U.S. and gave momentum to what’s now know as the third wave of surf music. Well, it should be no surprise to you that Pulp Fiction was a huge hit in Japan as well and similarly inspired an interest in surf music. As Japanese fans of the movie soundtrack heard “Miserlou,” the Surf Coasters were appearing on Ebisu-Onsen, and many people thought they had written the song! Unbelievably, they finished second, but this still led to a record contract and their first album, Surf Panic ‘95, and then five more albums for the Victor label, and then more albums after that.