Surf II
Encyclopedia
Surf II is a 1984 American independent
comedy film written and directed by Randall M. Badat and starring Eddie Deezen
, Linda Kerridge, Eric Stoltz
, Jeffrey Rogers
and Peter Isacksen. The plot revolves around Menlo Schwartzer, a maniacal mad scientist
who creates a chemically-altered soft drink which turns its drinkers into mutant zombie
punks as part of a diabolical scheme to rid the beaches of surfers.
Surf II is a contemporary parody
of 1960s-style beach party film
s, mixing elements of the horror
, science fiction
, surf and teen film
genres. Despite what the title implies, there was never a Surf I. Surf II was marketed with a number of subheadings, the most common of which was in fact Surf II: The End of the Trilogy. Although the film was received negatively by critics upon release and has never been officially released on DVD, it has since been rediscovered in recent years on VHS
and YouTube
, and is now considered a cult film
.
Deep in his secret underwater laboratory, teenage mad scientist
Menlo Schwartzer plots to rid the beaches of his greatest enemies: surfers. Having been driven to revenge following a cruel practical joke gone awry, Menlo concocts an addictive chemical agent which turns its drinkers into mutated, garbage-ingesting zombie
punks. With the reluctant help of his girlfriend Sparkle and a pair of greedy, cigar-chomping soda businessmen, Menlo distributes the chemical under the guise of "Buzzz Cola", and one by one begins to build an army of brainless zombie slaves to do his bidding.
After several of their friends fall victim to Buzzz Cola, airheaded surfer dudes Chuck and Bob begin to piece together the parts of Menlo's evil scheme. Finding no help from their spaced-out parents or the bumbling efforts of the local police force, the two enlist the services of their eccentric science teacher and vow to stop Menlo for good, or else they won't be able to compete in the big surf contest this weekend.
Brinke Stevens
makes an uncredited cameo as a student.
' 1978 film I Wanna Hold Your Hand
. After completion, Badat showed the screenplay to producer George G. Braunstein, who agreed to help finance it, eventually selling the project to production company
Arista Films at the Cannes Film Festival
. Arista originally planned to film Surf II in 3-D
; though several pre-production posters were made carrying the title Surf II 3-D, the idea was eventually scrapped.
Surf II was filmed in 29 days during the summer of 1983. The beach scenes were shot at various locations throughout Malibu, Redondo Beach
and Hermosa Beach
, while interior shots were filmed at a studio in Culver City
. Many of the comic actors were allowed to improvise
their lines, and several of the odd props throughout the film were contributed by Deezen himself, including a baseball cap with an absurdly elongated brim and an oversized pair of novelty scissors. Among Surf IIs crew were cinematographer
Alex Phillips, Jr. (Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
), composer Peter Bernstein
and Academy Award-winning make up artist Greg Cannom
.
, which was released that summer. The film screened in Europe in the fall of 1984, retitled in Spain
as Locura de playa (roughly translated as "Beach Madness").
Initial critical reviews of Surf II were overwhelmingly negative. In his Movie Guide
, Leonard Maltin
gave the film a 1.5 out of 5 star rating, writing that the "best joke is its title - there never was a Surf I". Kim Newman
quipped in the Monthly Film Bulletin
, "traditionally, sequels are never up to the standards of the original: Surf II, which is a sequel to nothing in particular, is therefore worse than anyone could possibly have imagined", calling it "incoherent" and "most dreadful". The Chicago Tribune
called it "total trash" and the Los Angeles Times
simply remarked "there was no Surf I - and with luck, there'll be no Surf III". In a a more contemporary professional review, AllMovie, though having rated Surf II one star out of five, noted that the film is "never dull" and "deranged enough to be memorable", giving praise to the performances of the ensemble cast and summarizing, "Surf IIs unbalanced mix of amateurishness and gonzo humor will confound most viewers, but fans of B-movie weirdness will find more than enough memorable moments to keep themselves entertained".
In spite of (or perhaps because of) its critical ravaging, Surf II has developed a following among cult film
fans. Cult film website McBeardo's Midnight Movies ranked Surf II on its list of "15 Movies That Deserve Massive Cult Followings", calling the film "serious competition" for the position of the "#1 most off-the-wall and ingenious teen sex comedy of the ’80s". The Scarecrow Video
Movie Guide, describes the film as "[packing] more slapstick and early-80s drive-in mania into one movie than any sane mind could imagine", stating bluntly "missing this movie would be like beating yourself in the face with a brick!" Radioactive Reviews, a website specializing in reviewing "The Movies That DVD Forgot", noted that Surf II "doesn't make much sense and doesn't have much of a story", though the film creates "an amusing, cartoonish world that's fun to watch", and would ultimately be of interest to "lovers of [the 80s'] sillier, less-coherent cinematic creations".
On April 17, 2009, the New Beverly Cinema
in Los Angeles presented a 25th anniversary screening of Surf II hosted by the Alamo Drafthouse, with Badat, Braunstein, Deezen and first assistant director
D. Scott Easton in attendance. In 2010, Alamo Drafthouse programmers Zack Carlson and Bryan Connolly prominently featured Surf II in their book Destroy All Movies!!! The Complete Guide to Punks on Film, including interviews with Badat and Deezen. In an interview promoting the book, editor Connolly described Surf II as "the ultimate '80s party film".
Surf II was released on VHS in January of 1985 through Media Home Entertainment
, who retained its distribution rights until ceasing operations in 1992. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Surf II was occasionally shown on late night B-movie program USA Up All Night
, and would sometimes be used as late night filler on HBO.
There has yet to be an official North American DVD release for Surf II, presumably due to rights regarding the soundtrack. An unlicensed DVD copy had been released only in Italy
, formatted as a Region 2 PAL
DVD, which is now out of print. As a result of its unavailability, vintage VHS copies of Surf II usually average $50 on ebay
, and several torrents
and bootleg
DVDs of the film have surfaced. Currently, the film in its entirety has been unofficially uploaded to YouTube
.
/New Wave
hits and classic surf
tunes. The producers had struck a deal with Capitol Records
for the release of a soundtrack album, but as a result of the film's critical and financial disappointment, the project was ultimately abandoned.
The following is a list of songs which appear in Surf II:
Danny Elfman
of Oingo Boingo was briefly involved with the film's soundtrack production, contributing the exclusive track "Hold Me Back", which has never been given an official release outside of Surf II.
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
comedy film written and directed by Randall M. Badat and starring Eddie Deezen
Eddie Deezen
Eddie Deezen is an American character actor, voice actor and comedian, best known for his bit parts as nerd characters in 1970s and 1980s films such as Grease, Grease 2, Midnight Madness, 1941 and WarGames, as well as for larger roles in a number of independent cult films, including Surf II: The...
, Linda Kerridge, Eric Stoltz
Eric Stoltz
Eric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...
, Jeffrey Rogers
Jeffrey Rogers
Jeffrey Rogers is an American actor who has starred in films and appeared on television shows. He is perhaps best known for his role in the 1982 horror classic Friday the 13th Part III as Andy. His other films are Surf II and The Karate Kid, Part II...
and Peter Isacksen. The plot revolves around Menlo Schwartzer, a maniacal mad scientist
Mad scientist
A mad scientist is a stock character of popular fiction, specifically science fiction. The mad scientist may be villainous or antagonistic, benign or neutral, and whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, mad scientists often work with fictional technology in order to forward their schemes, if...
who creates a chemically-altered soft drink which turns its drinkers into mutant zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
punks as part of a diabolical scheme to rid the beaches of surfers.
Surf II is a contemporary parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of 1960s-style beach party film
Beach Party film
Beach party movies were an American 1960s genre of feature films created by American International Pictures with their surprise 1963 hit, Beach Party, and copied by virtually every other studio...
s, mixing elements of the horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
, science fiction
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
, surf and teen film
Teen film
Teen films is a film genre targeted at teenagers and young adults in which the plot is based upon the special interests of teenagers, such as coming of age, first love, rebellion, conflict with parents, teen angst, and alienation...
genres. Despite what the title implies, there was never a Surf I. Surf II was marketed with a number of subheadings, the most common of which was in fact Surf II: The End of the Trilogy. Although the film was received negatively by critics upon release and has never been officially released on DVD, it has since been rediscovered in recent years on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, and is now considered a cult film
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
.
Plot
- Long ago in "The Good Old Days", surfers ruled. It was bitchin'! That was before the threat of chemical pollution, nuclear waste and the horror of Buzzz Cola.
- Menlo Schwartzer was a high school genius who hated surfers. He invented a weird soft drink, involved local businessmen and set out to rule the coast. He nearly succeeded. This is the story of Buzzz Cola and Menlo's revenge.
Deep in his secret underwater laboratory, teenage mad scientist
Mad scientist
A mad scientist is a stock character of popular fiction, specifically science fiction. The mad scientist may be villainous or antagonistic, benign or neutral, and whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, mad scientists often work with fictional technology in order to forward their schemes, if...
Menlo Schwartzer plots to rid the beaches of his greatest enemies: surfers. Having been driven to revenge following a cruel practical joke gone awry, Menlo concocts an addictive chemical agent which turns its drinkers into mutated, garbage-ingesting zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
punks. With the reluctant help of his girlfriend Sparkle and a pair of greedy, cigar-chomping soda businessmen, Menlo distributes the chemical under the guise of "Buzzz Cola", and one by one begins to build an army of brainless zombie slaves to do his bidding.
After several of their friends fall victim to Buzzz Cola, airheaded surfer dudes Chuck and Bob begin to piece together the parts of Menlo's evil scheme. Finding no help from their spaced-out parents or the bumbling efforts of the local police force, the two enlist the services of their eccentric science teacher and vow to stop Menlo for good, or else they won't be able to compete in the big surf contest this weekend.
Cast
The Untouchables appear as themselves during a beach party scene. Scream queenScream queen
A scream queen is an actress who has become associated with horror films, either through an appearance in a notable entry in the genre as a frequent victim or through constant appearances as the female protagonist...
Brinke Stevens
Brinke Stevens
Brinke Stevens is an American actress, model and writer.-Life and career:Born in San Diego, California, Stevens has studied several foreign languages, including Esperanto, and gained a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Psychology from San Diego State University and a Master of Science in Marine...
makes an uncredited cameo as a student.
Production
Randall Badat claims that he conceived the idea for Surf II while being under the influence of heavy painkillers he was taking following a surfing injury. After being encouraged by friends to further develop the concept, Badat wrote the screenplay - originally titled Surf Trash - over a single weekend, basing many of the characters off people he knew directly from the So Cal surfer scene, including a man nicknamed "Johnny Big Head". Badat wrote the role of Menlo Schwartzer specifically for Eddie Deezen, having been a fan of his performance in Robert ZemeckisRobert Zemeckis
Robert Lee Zemeckis is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Zemeckis first came to public attention in the 1980s as the director of the comedic time-travel Back to the Future film series, as well as the Academy Award-winning live-action/animation epic Who Framed Roger Rabbit ,...
' 1978 film I Wanna Hold Your Hand
I Wanna Hold Your Hand (film)
I Wanna Hold Your Hand is a comedy film directed and co-written by Robert Zemeckis, which takes its name from the 1963 song "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles. It was produced and co-written by Bob Gale. The film is about "Beatlemania" and is a fictionalized account of the day of the...
. After completion, Badat showed the screenplay to producer George G. Braunstein, who agreed to help finance it, eventually selling the project to production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
Arista Films at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
. Arista originally planned to film Surf II in 3-D
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
; though several pre-production posters were made carrying the title Surf II 3-D, the idea was eventually scrapped.
Surf II was filmed in 29 days during the summer of 1983. The beach scenes were shot at various locations throughout Malibu, Redondo Beach
Redondo Beach, California
Redondo Beach is one of the three Beach Cities located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 66,748 at the 2010 census, up from 63,261 at the 2000 census. The city is located in the South Bay region of the greater Los Angeles area.Redondo Beach was originally part of...
and Hermosa Beach
Hermosa Beach, California
Hermosa Beach is a beachfront city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Its population was 19,506 at the 2010 census, up from 18,566 at the 2000 census....
, while interior shots were filmed at a studio in Culver City
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 38,883, up from 38,816 at the 2000 census. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Culver...
. Many of the comic actors were allowed to improvise
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
their lines, and several of the odd props throughout the film were contributed by Deezen himself, including a baseball cap with an absurdly elongated brim and an oversized pair of novelty scissors. Among Surf IIs crew were cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Alex Phillips, Jr. (Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is a 1974 American action film directed by Sam Peckinpah and featuring Warren Oates....
), composer Peter Bernstein
Peter Bernstein (composer)
Peter Bernstein is an American film score composer, and is the son of Academy Award-winning composer Elmer Bernstein, with whom he has frequently collaborated....
and Academy Award-winning make up artist Greg Cannom
Greg Cannom
Greg Cannom is a Hollywood special makeup effects artist. Cannom has been nominated for nine Academy Awards and has won three times. He has also been nominated for seven Saturn Awards and received one.-Partial filmography:...
.
Release and reception
Surf II was released theatrically in North America in January of 1984. While originally marketed with the title Surf II: The End of the Trilogy, later promotions re-titled the film Surf II: The Nerds Strike Back, following the success of Revenge of the NerdsRevenge of the Nerds
Revenge of the Nerds is a 1984 comedy film satirizing social life on a college campus. The film stars Robert Carradine and Anthony Edwards, with Curtis Armstrong, Ted McGinley, Julia Montgomery, Brian Tochi, Larry B. Scott, John Goodman, and Donald Gibb...
, which was released that summer. The film screened in Europe in the fall of 1984, retitled in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
as Locura de playa (roughly translated as "Beach Madness").
Initial critical reviews of Surf II were overwhelmingly negative. In his Movie Guide
Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide
Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide is a book-format collection of movie capsule reviews that began in 1969 and has been updated yearly since 1978. It was originally called TV Movies, which became Leonard Maltin's TV Movies and Video Guide, which then became Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide...
, Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
gave the film a 1.5 out of 5 star rating, writing that the "best joke is its title - there never was a Surf I". Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Kim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
quipped in the Monthly Film Bulletin
Monthly Film Bulletin
The Monthly Film Bulletin was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a narrow arthouse release. The MFB was edited in the mid-1950s by David Robinson, in the late...
, "traditionally, sequels are never up to the standards of the original: Surf II, which is a sequel to nothing in particular, is therefore worse than anyone could possibly have imagined", calling it "incoherent" and "most dreadful". The Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
called it "total trash" and the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
simply remarked "there was no Surf I - and with luck, there'll be no Surf III". In a a more contemporary professional review, AllMovie, though having rated Surf II one star out of five, noted that the film is "never dull" and "deranged enough to be memorable", giving praise to the performances of the ensemble cast and summarizing, "Surf IIs unbalanced mix of amateurishness and gonzo humor will confound most viewers, but fans of B-movie weirdness will find more than enough memorable moments to keep themselves entertained".
In spite of (or perhaps because of) its critical ravaging, Surf II has developed a following among cult film
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
fans. Cult film website McBeardo's Midnight Movies ranked Surf II on its list of "15 Movies That Deserve Massive Cult Followings", calling the film "serious competition" for the position of the "#1 most off-the-wall and ingenious teen sex comedy of the ’80s". The Scarecrow Video
Scarecrow Video
Scarecrow Video is an independently owned video sales and rental store.Located in the University District of Seattle, Washington, the store was opened in 1988 by Rebecca and George Latsios. It currently stocks over 100,000 titles, many of them out of print...
Movie Guide, describes the film as "[packing] more slapstick and early-80s drive-in mania into one movie than any sane mind could imagine", stating bluntly "missing this movie would be like beating yourself in the face with a brick!" Radioactive Reviews, a website specializing in reviewing "The Movies That DVD Forgot", noted that Surf II "doesn't make much sense and doesn't have much of a story", though the film creates "an amusing, cartoonish world that's fun to watch", and would ultimately be of interest to "lovers of [the 80s'] sillier, less-coherent cinematic creations".
On April 17, 2009, the New Beverly Cinema
New Beverly Cinema
The New Beverly Cinema is a historic movie theater located in Los Angeles, California, United States. Housed in a theater which dates to the 1920s, it is one of the oldest revival houses in the region....
in Los Angeles presented a 25th anniversary screening of Surf II hosted by the Alamo Drafthouse, with Badat, Braunstein, Deezen and first assistant director
Assistant director
The role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...
D. Scott Easton in attendance. In 2010, Alamo Drafthouse programmers Zack Carlson and Bryan Connolly prominently featured Surf II in their book Destroy All Movies!!! The Complete Guide to Punks on Film, including interviews with Badat and Deezen. In an interview promoting the book, editor Connolly described Surf II as "the ultimate '80s party film".
Home video
Media Home Entertainment
Media Home Entertainment Inc. was a home video company headquartered in Culver City, California, originally established in 1978 by filmmaker Charles Band....
, who retained its distribution rights until ceasing operations in 1992. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Surf II was occasionally shown on late night B-movie program USA Up All Night
USA Up All Night
USA Up All Night is an American cable television series that aired weekly on Friday and Saturday nights on the USA Network. The show aired from 1989 to 1998.-Synopsis:...
, and would sometimes be used as late night filler on HBO.
There has yet to be an official North American DVD release for Surf II, presumably due to rights regarding the soundtrack. An unlicensed DVD copy had been released only in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, formatted as a Region 2 PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
DVD, which is now out of print. As a result of its unavailability, vintage VHS copies of Surf II usually average $50 on ebay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
, and several torrents
Torrent file
A torrent file stores metadata used for BitTorrent. It is defined in the BitTorrent specification.Simply, a torrent is data about a target file, though it contains no information about the content of the file. The only data that the torrent holds is information about the location of different...
and bootleg
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
DVDs of the film have surfaced. Currently, the film in its entirety has been unofficially uploaded to YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
Soundtrack
Surf IIs soundtrack consists mainly of contemporary punkPunk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
/New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
hits and classic surf
Surf music
Surf music is a genre of popular music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Orange County and other areas of Southern California. It was particularly popular between 1961 and 1965, has subsequently been revived and was highly influential on subsequent rock music...
tunes. The producers had struck a deal with Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
for the release of a soundtrack album, but as a result of the film's critical and financial disappointment, the project was ultimately abandoned.
The following is a list of songs which appear in Surf II:
- "I Get AroundI Get Around"I Get Around" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for The Beach Boys. The song features Love on lead vocal for the verse, and Wilson for the chorus. It is noteworthy for its back-to-front structure - it starts with a chorus and has two short verses...
" - The Beach BoysThe Beach BoysThe Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962... - "Stoked" - The Beach Boys
- "Surfin' USASurfin' USA (song)"Surfin' USA" is a song with lyrics written by Brian Wilson for The Beach Boys, set to the melody from Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen". Berry received co-writing credit for composing the song after litigating. "Surfin' USA" was recorded by The Beach Boys and released as a single on March 4,...
" - The Beach Boys - "PipelinePipeline (song)"Pipeline" is a surf rock tune by The Chantays which was recorded in 1963.The tune, originally called "Liberty's Whip," was renamed after the band members saw a surfing movie showing scenes of the Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii. The tune, fitting in with the popular surfing craze of the time, swiftly...
" - The ChantaysThe ChantaysThe Chantays are an American surf rock band from the early 1960s, known for the hit instrumental, "Pipeline" . Their music combined electronic keyboards and surf guitar, creating a unique ghostly sound.-History:... - "Moral Majority" - The Circle Jerks
- "A.W.O.L." - Deserters
- "The Wedge" - Dick DaleDick DaleDick Dale is an American surf rock guitarist, known as The King of the Surf Guitar. He experimented with reverberation and made use of custom made Fender amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier.-Early life:Dale was born in South Boston, Massachusetts and lived in nearby...
- "She Blinded Me With ScienceShe Blinded Me with Science"She Blinded Me With Science" is a New Wave song by British musician Thomas Dolby, released in 1982. It was first released as a single in the UK in October 1982 and was subsequently included on the EP Blinded by Science and the second edition of Dolby's debut album The Golden Age of Wireless. It is...
" - Thomas DolbyThomas DolbyThomas Dolby is an English musician and producer. Best known for his 1982 hit "She Blinded Me with Science", and 1984 single "Hyperactive!", he has also worked extensively in production and as a session musician.-Early life:Dolby was born in London, England, contrary to information in early 1980s... - "Fuel Injected" - Jon & the Nightriders
- "Surf Jam" - Jon & the Nightriders
- "Hold Me Back" - Oingo BoingoOingo BoingoOingo Boingo was an American new wave band. They are best known for their influence on other musicians, their soundtrack contributions and their high energy Halloween concerts. The band was founded in 1972 as The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, a performance art group...
- "Only a Lad" - Oingo Boingo
- "Cry" - Johnny RayJohnny RayJohn Cornelius Ray is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball who had a 10-year career from 1981 to 1990. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League and the California Angels of the American League...
- "Fan Fan Fanatish" - Rheingold
- "Six Months In A Leaky BoatSix Months in a Leaky Boat"Six Months in a Leaky Boat" is a single from New Zealand art rock group Split Enz's album Time and Tide. It was written by Tim Finn and released as a single in 1982....
" - Split EnzSplit EnzSplit Enz were a New Zealand band of the 1970s and early 1980s featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn. They achieved chart success in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada during the early 1980s ‒ most notably with the single "I Got You", and built a cult following elsewhere... - "Built for Speed" - Stray CatsStray CatsStray Cats are an American Rockabilly band formed in 1980 by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer , upright bassist Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK, Australia and the U.S...
- "Talk Talk" - Talk TalkTalk TalkTalk Talk were an English musical group, active from 1981 to 1991. The group had a string of international hit singles including "Today", "Talk Talk", "It's My Life", "Such a Shame", "Dum Dum Girl", "Life's What You Make It" and "Living in Another World"....
- "Dancebeat" - The Untouchables
- "Hawaii Five-O" - The VenturesThe VenturesThe Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...
- "Mexican RadioMexican Radio"Mexican Radio" is a song written and performed by the band Wall of Voodoo, and produced by Richard Mazda. The track was initially made commercially available on their 1983 album Call of the West. The song peaked at #58 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S...
" - Wall of VoodooWall of VoodooWall of Voodoo was an American New Wave group from Los Angeles best known for the 1983 hit "Mexican Radio". The band had a sound that was a fusion of synthesizer-based New Wave music with the spaghetti western soundtrack style of Ennio Morricone.-Formation:...
Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976...
of Oingo Boingo was briefly involved with the film's soundtrack production, contributing the exclusive track "Hold Me Back", which has never been given an official release outside of Surf II.