The Pyramids were an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 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...

 group from Long Beach, California

Long Beach, California

Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...

, who formed in 1961. In early 1964, they made the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 with their instrumental

Instrumental

An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....

 "Penetration." It proved to be the final major instrumental surf hit

Hit record

A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...

.

In July 1964, the group appeared in the American International Pictures

American International Pictures

American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...

' film Bikini Beach

Bikini Beach

Bikini Beach is a 1964 teen film directed by William Asher and starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. The film belongs to the beach party genre of movies, popular in the 1960s. This is the third in a series of seven films produced by American International Pictures .-Plot:School is out and...

, coming onstage wearing Beatle

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 wigs, which were lifted to reveal their shaved heads.

For the film they performed two songs - “Record Run” and the instrumental "Bikini Drag", both written by Gary Usher

Gary Usher

Gary Usher was an American surf rock musician, songwriter, and record producer.-Biography:Usher's early life was spent in Grafton, Massachusetts. He attended Norcross Grammar School with his sister, Sandra, who was in the same class and was likely his twin. Gary was kiddingly called "Chicken Feed"...

 and Roger Christian. They are also shown performing back-up on two other songs (both written by Guy Hemric and Jerry Styner): "How About That?" by Frankie Avalon

Frankie Avalon

Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...

 and "Happy Feelin’ (Dance and Shout)" by Little Stevie Wonder.

Singles

• (US) 1962 - "Pyramid's Stomp" / "Paul"
• (US/UK) 1963 - "Penetration" / "Here Comes Marsha"
• (US) 1964 - "Midnight Run" / "Custom Caravan"
• (US) 1964 - "Contact" / "Pressure"
• (US) 1965 - "I Don't Wanna Cry"