Pop Surf Culture

Brian Chidester

Hardcover

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From the original beachcomber personalities like the Waikiki Beachboys of the early 20th century, to the postwar rise of southern California as a creative epicenter for music, art, and film, ?Pop Surf Culture?traces the roots of the surf boom from its earliest days as an insular, regional Hawaiian subculture, to its proliferation nationwide in mainstream teen fads and entertainment. Criss-crossing through the 1950s Beat Generation, 1960s counterculture, 1970s punk rock, the book illustrates why surf culture is a vital art movement of the 20th century.

Pop Surf Culture?covers the highs and lows of surf's mainstreaming, including the popular "beach" movies of the 1950s and '60s which featured such stars as Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon and the music of Dick Dale & His Del-Tones, Brian Wilson, the Pyramids, Gary Usher, James Brown, and Little Stevie Wonder. 1960s art figures Michael Dormer and Rick Griffin--as well as the surf magazines which promoted their art--are featured alongside the progenitors of "surf music," from the little known (the Centurians) to the wildly popular (the Beach Boys). From Duke Kahanamoku, the Gas House, ?Gidget, surfing on television, the bohemian surf aesthetic, surf music hot spots, and Mickey "Da Cat" Dora, the entire spectrum of pop surf culture is covered within these colorfully illustrated pages.

Book Details

Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
Publish Date: Aug 18th, 2026
Pages: 300
Language: English
Edition: undefined - undefined
Dimensions: 0.00in - 0.00in - 0.00in - 0.00lb
EAN: 9798875002311
Categories: • Popular Culture• Subjects & Themes - General• Water Sports - Surfing

About the Author

Chidester, Brian: - Brian Chidester is an art historian, author, documentarian, and journalist. Exhibitions he has curated include: One Day You'll See: A History of Afrofuturism and Charles A.A. Dellschau and the Mythology of Flight. He is a contributor of articles and reviews for The American Prospect, The Atlantic, L.A. Weekly, Paste, and The Village Voice, and is the author of Pop Surf Culture: Music, Design, Film, and Fashion from the Bohemian Surf Era (Santa Monica Press). Chidester has also been a writer/researcher/producer of documentaries for the BBC, PBS, and Showtime, and is the director of the feature-length film As the Wind: The Enchanted Life of Eden Ahbez. He lives in New York City.

Priore, Domenic: - Domenic Priore is a writer and television producer specializing in pop culture, sociology, and music. He lives in Los Angeles.

Kohner-Zuckerman, Kathy: - Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman is the real-life inspiration for the character Gidget, from the 1957 novel, Gidget: The Little Girl with Big Ideas, written by her father Frederick Kohner.

Bengston, Billy Al: - Billy Al Bengston (1934-2022) was an American visual artist and sculptor best known for the psychedelic work he created that reflected California's "Kustom" car and motorcycle culture.

Praise for this book

More than a catalog of beach-blanket movies or a survey of surf music, Pop Surf Culture connects the historical dots between the surf culture we experienced domestically, the economic culture that made it marketable, and the foreign cultures that made it possible in the first place.-- "PopMatters"