The Surfsiders "Sing The Beach Boys Songbook" (Design/ Pickwick, DLP-208, 1965)

Easily one of the most noteworthy attempts at ripping-kids-off-by-replicating-a-popular-group's-songs, the Surfsiders 1965 LP seems to have finally gained a kind of celebrity status over the last decade. Essentially a collection of hit Beach Boys singles as performed by atonal studio hacks with maybe a day to crank this damn record out, this baby manages to turn the (you know; heartbreaking, gorgeously sculpted and layered, etc etc -- you've heard it all before) original B. Wilson arrangements into simplified off-key bar band bleats loaded with dimestore barbershop quartet harmonies, all lovingly topped off by some frighteningly enthusiastic playing. Probably besting even the lamest Beatles ripoff records for both style and substance, this gem can go toe to toe with "Pet Sounds" any day of the week for me. The more you love (or hate) the originals the better this ought to get, and this rip is from the cleanest copy of the LP (of the, *koff koff*, four) that I've owned over the years. Fun, fun, fun!


Link Removed