Sidewalk Surfing by Jan and Dean

[Cathy Gale]

Hi, all

I really need to find out the date when this song was first released.

I'm getting conflicting info. Some sources say that it was released
in 1958, and started the craze of skateboarding (or at least, helped
it along), but other sources say the album on which this song appears
wasn't released until 1964.

Anyone know for sure???

Any help much appreciated.

[Harold Groot]

On Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:27:50 -0700 (PDT), Cathy Gale

Post by Cathy Gale
Hi, all
I really need to find out the date when this song was first released.
I'm getting conflicting info. Some sources say that it was released
in 1958, and started the craze of skateboarding (or at least, helped
it along), but other sources say the album on which this song appears
wasn't released until 1964.
Anyone know for sure???
Any help much appreciated.

Jan & Dean's "Sidewalk Surfing" (Liberty 55727) was released in 1964,
making it to the Top-40 on 11/21/64. It was in the Top-40 for only 5
weeks. It's highest position was #25 on the charts.

It was essentially a new set of words to the song "Catch A Wave" by
the Beach Boys from 1963. (Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys was a
co-writer on many of the songs that were hits for Jan & Dean.)

Source: The Billboard Book of Top-40 Hits
by Joel Washburn

Skateboards were essentially unknown in most of the nation in the 50s.
They existed in California but they didn't become a nationwide craze
until the early 60s. I would say that Jan & Dean in late 1964 were
cashing in on an already-established craze. They may have helped it
along a bit, but not in a really major way.