Skateboarding Lifestyle: Skateboarding Music

Article by Tom Smith

Skateboarding, like its grandfather surfing, has always gone hand in hand with music. And for a good reason because music is a great way to pump up your adrenaline when you’re riding, especially in fairly difficult obstacles. That said, a lot of music that’s associated with skateboarding is typically fast and loud. If it’s the sort of music that your parents don’t want to hear, then chances are that that’s the type of music that you want to play when you’re riding.

So, music is basically an integral part of the entire skateboarding lifestyle. We’ll tell you more about their relationship right now.

Types of Music that Skaters Listen to Over the Years

Because skateboarding was invented by surfers who wanted an alternative activity when the waves were too small for surfing, there’s a good chance that the early skaters listened to a lot of surf music. It’s the sort of twangy, laid-back music that a majority of surfers listened to at the time. So, from that time on, the relationship between music and skating has already been firmly established.

Although today’s skateboarding style is fast-paced, the sport isn’t all about speed. Again, it’s also a way of life for a lot of skaters. This is a lot like reggae music that became popular in the late 1970′s. Therefore, it’s not surprising that reggae music became popular among skaters during that time.

Then, as skating became more aggressive and skaters wanted to have more speed on their sskateboard wheels, the music that skaters loved also became faster. So, by the early 1980s, punk rock and heavy metal became the music of choice of the skaters of that era. These types of music became a perfect accompaniment to all those fast and high-flying tricks that skaters did. Almost 30 years on, punk rock and heavy metal are still popular choices of music among today’s skaters.

But that’s not to say that the musical tastes of skaters have not evolved over those three decades. Today, it’s not at all surprising for skaters to listen to hip hop music too. The thumping beats that’s typical of this music genre also goes great with skaters who want to pump themselves up when doing tricks.

Where to Check Out Great Skateboarding Music

Do you like music and skateboarding? Want to listen to more styles of music when you’re riding? Check out your local skate shop. There’s a good chance that you’re going to find albums of some popular bands and artists there. You can also ask in forums or your friends on the types of music that they listen to when they’re riding. They might be listening to bands that you haven’t heard before which, will help your musical horizon even further. You can also check out local skating festivals and see the bands that play there. These may not be extremely popular bands, but if you really like them, it won’t hurt to ask if they have albums that you can buy.

So, no matter what music genre you prefer, listen to those that will help you get more pumped up when you ride your board and increase your passion for this particular sport.

About the Author

Skateboarding, like its grandfather surfing, has always gone hand in hand with music. And for a good reason because music is a great way to pump up your adrenaline when you’re riding, especially in fairly difficult obstacles.

Related Surf Music Articles

The Evolution Of Surf Clothing And Surf Accessories

Article by James Jones

In the fifties, surfing was almost unknown by the general community. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, everybody wanted to go surfing or at least have an association with the lifestyle. Suddenly, a new style of surf clothing began to be seen, even in midwestern states far from the waves. What happened?

Contrary to popular belief, it was not the Beach Boys who first brought surfing into the limelight. It was the little-known true story of a surfer girl by the name of “Gidget” that started it all. The book, written by her father, was published in 1957. The film rights were sold and in 1959, a movie by the same name was released.

The producers of the film knew they were on to something big and enlisted big stars James Darren and Sandra Dee to star in the movie, with superstar Cliff Robertson in a strong supporting role. The movie featured some surfing footage, but mostly it featured girls in bikinis and well-built guys in surfing trunks.

The popularity of that movie led to many more imitators. In pop music, surf music became huge, with groups like Jan and Dean and the Beach Boys making in to Number One on the charts. About the only teenagers who didn’t like their music were surfers, who really preferred to keep their sport to themselves. Instead, they listened to the music of bands like Dick Dale and the Ventures. The fast-paced guitar licks in instrumentals like “Perfidia” and “Walk, Don’t Run” were what they listened to before they tackled the waves.

Nothing could stop the rising popularity of surfing, though. By the early sixties, surfing was a fad. Those who were lucky enough to live within driving distance of the beach were learning to surf. Those who were not so lucky started wearing surf fashion.

In those early years, men’s surf trunks and girl’s bikinis were the only “official” surfwear accessories. Over the years, entire ranges of surfing gear were designed and marketed by surfwear companies, a few of which have become giants in the sports apparel industry.

Surfwear is not just for surfers anymore. You can find it in the most far-flung corners of the world. From the limited apparel of the sixties, the range of surfing related clothing and accessories has grown to include all kinds of men’s and women’s clothing, shoes and even watches and jewelry. Today, you can be dressed for any occasion in surfing brands and styles.

Gidget must be proud of her legacy, but she may be bewildered, as well. How could she have imagined that surfers today enjoy million dollar contracts with surf clothing companies and are counted amongst the world’s sports superstars? Believe it or not, Gidget, that’s what’s happened!

About the Author

Find great deals on surf clothes by shopping online. There you will find the many choices for surf clothing that you have to choose between. Head online today.

Surfers’ Choice – The Surf Music Special

Article by Christian Lorenz

Every year at the start of the summer, surfing hits the lifestyle pages. It’s less known, that Surfing spawned it’s own raunchy soundtrack in the 1950′s.

At its best, it’s ‘Punk’ rock before its time. A genre dominated by real life beach bums and exploitation artists could only produce extreme records – Both in a good and in a bad way. The rush only lasted from roughly 1959 to 1963. After that nobody wanted to know. Apart from The Ramones and Quentin Tarantino.

Surfing is not actually great in August. Now is the time to catch the waves breaking on European shores. Like other dads, I too will hope to dust off my trusty stick (the board) and bring it on a long weekend where the action is. I’ll be too slow – a 7′ stick likes a good bit of paddling speed to get going – but hey, I’ll knock some fun out of it.

Anyway, Surf Music sounds just right when the swell is up. So here’s your guide to what’s hot in Surf Music.

Top 5 Surf Music Artists

Dick Dale & His DeltonesThe TrashmenFleet FoxesDennis WilsonThe Beach Boys

Dick Dale & His Deltones ‘Surfers’ Choice’Dick Dale is the original surfer dude and beach bum. Dick earned a living giving guitar lessons to kids on the beach in between his surf sessions. He developed his own unique style of fast single-note guitar picking to express the sensation of powering down a wave.

Dale’s style fast became wildly popular and his band would play to packed ball rooms up and down the California coast. There is no discussion, this guy is the best when it comes to surf guitar.

It’s no accident that Quentin Tarantino picked Dale’s Misirlou as theme tune for his cracking classic ‘Pulp Fiction’.

Dick himself had a bit of a comeback following ‘Pulp Fiction’. He’s still a mean guitar player and a hell of a showman. I’ve seen him being carried into an Amsterdam venue on a surfboard by fans while playing his guitar without missing a beat. No kidding.

The Trashmen ‘Tube City’The Ramones famously covered The Trashmen’s ‘Surfin’ Bird’. The original recording is easily as whacked out and demented as its punk rock cover.

Let’s face it, The Trashmen probably never surfed in their lives, they just had a sharp eye for trends. The band also exploited the hot rod and drag racing fad and other early 60s crazes in their inimitable style.

‘Tube City’ is choc full of surf references (a Tube is a hollow wave that breaks over the surfer as he/she rides it) but the music is pure garage rock. Mental, high octane rock’n'roll that had its roots in an instrumental rock scene where hits were made by crazy antics and weird sounds. The Trashmen had too much of both and didn’t survive after rock turned serious in the mid-60′s.

Gimmicks aside, what The Trashmen also had was a sound that few could rival in terms of sheer rawness. Often cited as proto-punks, the band made seriously ill records at a time when most bands were brainwashed and sanitised within an inch of their lives as they entered the recording studio.

Fleet Foxes ‘Fleet Foxes’Seattle band Fleet Foxes sit inbetween the darker side of the Beach Boys and the jangly folk rock of the Byrds. At their best, the Foxes make timeless surf pop songs full of towering vocal harmonies.

The harmonies and the echo-drenched drums expand songs like ‘White Winter Hymnal’ and ‘He Doesn’t Know Why’ into soundscapes as big and wide as a Pacific beach. Both tracks plus the quieter ‘Heard Them Stirring’ recall the more intense creations by Beach Boys’ mastermind Brian Wilson.

The ex-Grunge Rockers among you may like to know that this five-piece hails from the suburbs of Grunge capital Seattle. Like the Seattle bands that came before them, the Fleet Foxes display a mellow, laid back vibe throughout the album. Strictly speaking, Fleet Foxes are ‘surf’ by association, as their inspiration are the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson rather than sport itself. But hats off to the world’s first grunge surf pop band for an ace addition to the surf music canon.

Dennis Wilson ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’Brian Wilson might have filled his living room with sand to get the right vibes for writing songs, but his brother Dennis was the only Beach Boy who actually surfed.

Fuelled by the Beach Boys’ success, Dennis was a notorious playboy, living fast and hard. A different side of Dennis came out in the studio when he began recording his solo debut Pacific Ocean Blue. The album may be marred in parts by obnoxious boogie rock, but there are songs here that are truly far out and visionary.

At its best, Pacific Ocean Blue mixes touches of William Orbit style ambient music, soft rock, weird synthesisers and some tight disco funk. It’s the kind of music that would have not been out of place at an all night disco session in Ibiza back in the jet set 1970′s. In other words, it’s Balearic Disco at its best.

The Beach Boys ‘Surfin’ Safari’/'Surfin’ USA’/'Surfer Girl’Surfer dude Dennis Wilson spotted the potential for his brothers’ band to cash in on the surfing craze that spread across the USA as the 50′s gave way to the 60′s. So the band posed with longboards and Pendleton woollen plaid shirts – the hottest surf fashion item of the day.

It’s all pure exploitation, naturally. Early Beach Boys albums were full of tame cover versions – including sanitised attempts at covering Dick Dale’s crazy surf guitar antics – and other fillers with as many titles as possible including surf references. However, the harmonies are tight and you can hear chief songscribe Brian Wilsom developing his unique, psychedelic-baroque style that came to the fore on ‘Pet Sounds’.

About the Author

Christian Lorenz writes for online music magazine http://www.tuneraker.com

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