Dec 14

The Rip Chords

Under Appreciated

THE RIP CHORDS
 
 
Once the Strangeloves came up with the hit song “I Want Candy” in mid-1965, they were put in the uncomfortable position of having to perform as live artists, so they brought a touring band with them (much as the UARB for July 2011 the Rip Chords had done). 
 
(May 2012)
 
*       *       *
 
Only a handful of the UARB’s that I have written about have so many current and former bandmembers that have individual Wikipedia articles, even though there is none on the band itself.  The only ones I can think of are the Rip Chords (July 2011) and the Eyes (July 2010). 
 
(October 2012)
 
*       *       *
 

The first time we all saw hula dancing was on Elvis Presley movies and other Hollywood productions, and it was typically winsome girls wearing grass skirts and small tops and flowered necklaces who were swaying gently to slow background music of no particular distinction.  I remember hearing that there was more to hula than that, but it wasn’t until I got to appraise Hilton Hawaiian Village at Waikiki Beach (near Honolulu) that I actually saw how strong and athletic the dancing was (and how there were at least as many men dancing as women) and actually heard the drum-driven music that accompanies that dancing. 

 

It is much the same with surf music; there is no denying the talent and fun of the music by the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean (and former UARB the Rip Chords for that matter), but there is more to the surf sound than that. 

 

*       *       *

 

My introduction to the tougher sounds of surf music was on one of the compilation albums of that period, Shut Downs and Hill Climbs that I picked up from Columbia Record Club when I was ordering Jan & Dean records and other such.  There are two Jan & Dean songs, “Hot Stocker” and “Little Deuce Coupe”; both are on one of their better albums, Drag City, with “Little Deuce Coupe” being a previous hit by the Beach Boys (and also the name of one of their albums, Little Deuce Coupe).  There are other cool numbers on the album also, such as “Six Days on the Road” by Dave Dudley, “Seven Little Girls Sittin’ in the Back Seat” by Paul Evans, two instrumentals by the Ventures (more about them later), and a cover of the Rip Chords hit “Hey Little Cobra” by a band called the T-Bones. 

 

*       *       *

 

There is also a rare surf song on Pebbles, Volume 4 LP having a female lead, called “Thinkin’ ’Bout You Baby” by Sharon Marie.  Another (from Born Bad, Vol. 6) is “Yum Yum Yamaha” by Carol Connors and the Cycles; Carol Connors co-wrote the hit song by the Rip Chords, “Hey Little Cobra”.  “Little Honda” by the Hondells (written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love of the Beach Boys) honored a different brand of Japanese motorcycle and was a Top Ten hit in 1964.

 

The album, Pebbles, Volume 4 LP was the first time I had heard of Bruce & Terry, two LA studio whiz kids, Bruce Johnston, now a member of the Beach Boys, and Terry Melcher to be specific.  (The surf scene seemed to have people like that by the carload – others include Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and Jan Berry of Jan & Dean).  When I looked up the Rip Chords in Wikipedia before starting my post on the UARB, I was redirected to their entry on Bruce & Terry. 

 
(December 2014)
 
*       *       *
 

Perhaps believing that there was only room for one Annette in show business, Annette Kleinbard changed her name to Carol Connors and had a lucrative career as a songwriter and performer.  For instance, with Terry Melcher (Bruce Johnston’s partner in Bruce & Terry), Carol Connors co-wrote the hit song “Hey Little Cobra” for past UARB the Rip Chords.  

 

(January 2015/1)

 

*       *       *

 

The Iguanas has taken first place among the least likely UARB or UARA of them all, even beating out the Rip Chords and Wendy Waldman, who was just the second rocker that I wrote about. One would think, with Iggy Pop’s unparalleled punk credentials, that every aspect of his musical life would have been examined in detail in Wikipedia long before now. But not even the band that gave him his name is there. Amazing. To cap it off, the Iguanas band that Iggy Pop was in is listed in Allmusic after another band called the Iguanas, from New Orleans; and they are the third Iguanas band in the Discogs list.  
(December 2016)
 
* * *
This past year, I have been able to show a lot of variety, from power pop to surf rock to rockabilly to singer-songwriter to my usual punk rock, psychedelic rock and garage rock.  One of the bands, the Rip Chords even had a hit song, “Hey Little Cobra” (#4 on the charts toward the end of the surf/hot rod era).  The first band for the new year was a new band, and I plan to keep that up in the years to come.  I have three new bands/artists to talk about already, so I will probably have more than one new band in the coming year. 
 
(Year 2 Review)
 
* * *
 
The name The Iguana Chronicles is taken from Iggy Pop’s first band, the Iguanas; once again, as with past UARB the Rip Chords (who had a big surf rock hit in 1964, “Hey Little Cobra”), I started my UARB post on the Iguanas during the month before someone finally wrote a Wikipedia article on the band.  As I said before in one of my recent posts, I don’t think I will ever get used to the idea of the Iguanas being among the UARB’s. 
 
(Year 9 Review)
 
*       *       *
 
Ten years ago, in December 2009, I wrote the first of my 82 posts on Under Appreciated Rock Bands, i.e., rock bands (and artists) who did not have a write-up as yet in Wikipedia. It wasn’t much to look at, just four short paragraphs, but I got a lot wordier and more wide-ranging as the years went by. I had hoped to keep this up for at least 5 years, if not 10 years; as it happened, my last post was dated December 2017 – 8 years later, and 2 years ago.
 
For two of the Under Appreciated Rock Bands – the Rip Chords (who had a major hit in the surf era with “Hey Little Cobra”) and the Iguanas (punk icon Iggy Pop’s first band, and the reason that he came to be called “Iggy”) – I managed to write my post literally the month before someone started a Wikipedia article on them. For another two – the Piltdown Men and Haymarket Square – it turns out that there was already a Wikipedia article on them; for the latter band, I just plain forgot to look! And one of the UARB’s, Wendy Bagwell and the Sunliters was not even a rock band – and I just found a Wikipedia article about them also, so I suppose I didn’t look closely enough when I started that post either. But I don’t care at this point: They are all Under Appreciated, from one end to the other, even for the handful who do have a Wikipedia article these days.
 
(Year 10 Review)
Last edited: March 22, 2021