Wipe Out (Surfaris song)
Encyclopedia
"Wipe Out" is a Twelve-bar blues written by Bob Berryhill
, Pat Connolly
, Jim Fuller and Ron Wilson
. The tune was first performed and recorded by The Surfaris
, who were elevated to international status with the release of the "Surfer Joe" and "Wipe Out" single in 1963.
The song – both the Surfaris' version as well as cover versions – has been featured in over 20 films and television series since 1964, appearing at least once a decade. First heard in Kenneth Anger
’s short Scorpio Rising
, its most recent appearance was in Dominic Sena
’s 2009 thriller, Whiteout.
The term 'wipeout' refers to a fall from a surfboard
, especially one that looks painful.
recording the single, one of the band members suggested that a gimmick sound indicating a wipe out off a surfboard be emulated. The suggestion was made that during the introduction before the music starts, a cracking sound, imitating a breaking surfboard, should be made. This followed by a manic voice babbling, "ha ha ha ha ha, wipe out." The spoken voice at the beginning of the song is the voice of the band's manager of the time, Dale Smallin.
chart in the autumn of 1963, reaching #2 and kept out of the top slot only by Stevie Wonder
's "Fingertips
". The smash hit "Wipe Out" returned to the Hot 100 in 1966, reaching #16 in Billboard and #9 in Cash Box in its second national chart run. This time it is said to have sold around 700,000 copies in the US to add to its original million-plus. Meanwhile, original A-side "Surfer Joe", sung by Ron Wilson, only attracted airplay in the wake of "Wipe Out"'s success, and peaked at #62 during its six-week run. Ron Wilson's energetic drum solo
for "Wipe Out" (a sped-up version of his Charter Oak High School marching band's drum cadence
) was beaten out on malt-shop tables all over the country, helping the song become one of the best-remembered instrumental
tunes of the period.
In addition to being featured in several films and television shows since 1964 (usually in chase scenes), the song also appears in the 1997 video game Final Fantasy VII's
music track, "Electric de Chocobo" and the 2005 Korea
n rhythm video game
Pump It Up's
music track, "Mr. Larpus."
In 1993, Animal
recorded a cover of this song for the Muppet
album Muppet Beach Party. A music video was released to promote the album.
Tommy Tallarico
also performs this song for the 16-bit videogame Cool Spot
In the summer of 1987 a remake of "Wipe Out" by The Fat Boys
& The Beach Boys
collaborating made #12 US and #2 UK.
The Replacements
mention "Surfer Joe" in their 1989 song "I'll Be You
". They also would infrequently perform "Wipe Out" in their early concerts.
The song can be heard in the 2001 Disney film, Recess: School's Out
, when the gang (except for T.J. who gets captured) flees from the school after being caught spying.
The 1990 animated series, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
has a version of "Wipe Out" in the episode "Mind Your Mummy Mommy Mario." The song was removed in later reruns and video releases to avoid copyright issues; however, it is intact on the "King Koopa Katastrophe" video release.
Following the 2001 death of television personality Morton Downey, Jr.
(whom the aforementioned Super Mario Bros. 3
s character "Morton Koopa, Jr."
was allegedly named after), news reports and obituaries incorrectly credited him as the composer of "Wipe Out." As of 2010, Downey's official website continues to make this claim.
Bob Berryhill
Bob Berryhill is a founding member of The Surfaris and co-writer, recording artist of "Wipe Out" and other Surfaris' hits. In 1960, when Bob was 13 he took a trip to the Hawaiian Islands and learned to surf and play ukulele. On returning to California, he began working seriously on guitar and two...
, Pat Connolly
Pat Connolly
Pat Connolly was the bass guitarist for the Californian surf group The Surfaris from 1962-1965. They had a #2 U.S./#5 UK hit with Wipe Out. He left the band in 1965, for personal reasons.-References:*...
, Jim Fuller and Ron Wilson
Ron Wilson (drummer)
Ron Wilson was an American musician and recording artist, best known as an original member and drummer of The Surfaris, an early surf rock group of the 1960s...
. The tune was first performed and recorded by The Surfaris
The Surfaris
The Surfaris were an American surf rock band formed in Glendora, California in 1962. They are best known for two songs that hit the charts in the Los Angeles, California area, and nationally by May 1963: "Surfer Joe" on the A-side and "Wipe Out" on the B-side of a 45 RPM single.-Career:The original...
, who were elevated to international status with the release of the "Surfer Joe" and "Wipe Out" single in 1963.
The song – both the Surfaris' version as well as cover versions – has been featured in over 20 films and television series since 1964, appearing at least once a decade. First heard in Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger is an American underground experimental filmmaker, occasional actor and author...
’s short Scorpio Rising
Scorpio Rising (film)
Scorpio Rising is a 1964 experimental film by Kenneth Anger, starring Bruce Byron as Scorpio. Themes central to the film include the occult, biker subculture, Catholicism and Nazism; the film also explores the worship of rebel icons of the era, namely James Dean and Marlon Brando...
, its most recent appearance was in Dominic Sena
Dominic Sena
-Life and career:Sena was born in Niles, Ohio. He is of Italian-American heritage. His family hails from the town of Bagnoli Irpino, Avellino, Italy. As one of the founders of Propaganda Films, Sena worked primarily in music videos early in his career. Sena directed several of Janet Jackson's...
’s 2009 thriller, Whiteout.
The term 'wipeout' refers to a fall from a surfboard
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
, especially one that looks painful.
Background
Bob Berryhill, Pat Connolly, Jim Fuller and Ron Wilson wrote the tune almost on the spot as a suitable B-side was needed for the intended "Surfer Joe" single. In late 1962, while the band was in Cucamonga's Pal Recording StudioPal Recording Studio
Pal Recording Studio was an independent recording studio that operated in Cucamonga, California The studio was started by engineer/innovator Paul Buff. The studio is known for its instrumental Surf music recordings like Wipeout and the original demo recording of Pipeline. The original location...
recording the single, one of the band members suggested that a gimmick sound indicating a wipe out off a surfboard be emulated. The suggestion was made that during the introduction before the music starts, a cracking sound, imitating a breaking surfboard, should be made. This followed by a manic voice babbling, "ha ha ha ha ha, wipe out." The spoken voice at the beginning of the song is the voice of the band's manager of the time, Dale Smallin.
Single reception
The afterthought track spent four months on the national BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
chart in the autumn of 1963, reaching #2 and kept out of the top slot only by Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
's "Fingertips
Fingertips
"Fingertips" is a 1963 number one hit single recorded live by "Little" Stevie Wonder for Motown's Tamla label. Wonder's first hit single, "Fingertips" was the first live, non-studio recording to reach number one on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the United States since Johnny Standley's 1952...
". The smash hit "Wipe Out" returned to the Hot 100 in 1966, reaching #16 in Billboard and #9 in Cash Box in its second national chart run. This time it is said to have sold around 700,000 copies in the US to add to its original million-plus. Meanwhile, original A-side "Surfer Joe", sung by Ron Wilson, only attracted airplay in the wake of "Wipe Out"'s success, and peaked at #62 during its six-week run. Ron Wilson's energetic drum solo
Drum solo
A drum solo is an instrumental solo played on a drum kit. A drum solo may be set or improvised, and of any length, up to being the main performance....
for "Wipe Out" (a sped-up version of his Charter Oak High School marching band's drum cadence
Drum cadence
In music, a drum cadence is a work played exclusively by the percussion section of a modern marching band , descended from early military marches, primarily as a purposefully emphasized means of providing a beat to marchers and often using patterned rhythmic drum strokes to produce a drum beat.A...
) was beaten out on malt-shop tables all over the country, helping the song become one of the best-remembered instrumental
Instrumental rock
Instrumental rock is a type of rock music which emphasizes musical instruments, and which features very little or no singing.Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style, most notably Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Link...
tunes of the period.
Cultural impact
Another Southern Californian surf group calling themselves the Surfaris had formed around the same time. They renamed themselves the Original Surfaris following the popularity of "Wipe Out."In addition to being featured in several films and television shows since 1964 (usually in chase scenes), the song also appears in the 1997 video game Final Fantasy VII's
Final Fantasy VII
is a role-playing video game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was originally released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation and was re-released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers and in 2009...
music track, "Electric de Chocobo" and the 2005 Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n rhythm video game
Rhythm game
Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to press buttons in a sequence dictated on the screen...
Pump It Up's
Pump It Up
Pump It Up, commonly abbreviated as PIU or shortened to just Pump, is a music video game series currently developed by Nexcade and published by Andamiro, a Korean arcade game producer. The game is typically played on a dance pad with five arrow panels: up-left, up-right, bottom-left, bottom-right,...
music track, "Mr. Larpus."
In 1993, Animal
Animal (Muppet)
Animal is the primitive man and crazed drummer of Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem, the fictional band from The Muppet Show. He is one of the Muppets originally created by Michael K...
recorded a cover of this song for the Muppet
The Muppets
The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson starting in 1954–55. Although the term is often used to refer to any puppet that resembles the distinctive style of The Muppet Show, the term is both an informal name and legal trademark owned by the Walt Disney Company in reference...
album Muppet Beach Party. A music video was released to promote the album.
Tommy Tallarico
Tommy Tallarico
Tommy Tallarico is an American video game music composer and musician. He is best known as the co-creator of the concert series Video Games Live...
also performs this song for the 16-bit videogame Cool Spot
Cool Spot
Cool Spot was a mascot for 7 Up beginning in the late 80s. During this time, the red spot in the 7 Up logo was anthropomorphized: given arms, legs, a mouth, and sunglasses....
In the summer of 1987 a remake of "Wipe Out" by The Fat Boys
The Fat Boys
The Fat Boys are a successful African American hip-hop music trio from Brooklyn, New York City, that emerged in the early 1980s. Briefly, the group was known originally as the Disco 3.-Members:*Mark Morales a.k.a. "Prince Markie Dee"...
& The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The 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...
collaborating made #12 US and #2 UK.
The Replacements
The Replacements
The Replacements were an American punk rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1979, and are considered pioneers of alternative rock. The band was composed of guitarist and vocalist Paul Westerberg, guitarist Bob Stinson, bassist Tommy Stinson, and drummer Chris Mars for most of their career...
mention "Surfer Joe" in their 1989 song "I'll Be You
I'll Be You
"I'll Be You" was the lead single from The Replacements' seventh studio album Don't Tell a Soul in 1989 and was written by lead singer Paul Westerberg. It became the band's first and only Billboard Hot 100 appearance, peaking at #51 and reaching the top of both the album rock and modern rock...
". They also would infrequently perform "Wipe Out" in their early concerts.
The song can be heard in the 2001 Disney film, Recess: School's Out
Recess: School's Out
Recess: School's Out is a 2001 animated film based on the Disney television series Recess. This film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and was released theatrically nationwide on February 16, 2001. It was released on video and DVD on August 7, 2001.-Plot:School's out at Third Street School, but...
, when the gang (except for T.J. who gets captured) flees from the school after being caught spying.
The 1990 animated series, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 is an American animated television series based on the video game Super Mario Bros. 3. It aired on NBC with Captain N: The Game Master in a programming block titled Captain N & The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 from September 8, 1990 through December 1,...
has a version of "Wipe Out" in the episode "Mind Your Mummy Mommy Mario." The song was removed in later reruns and video releases to avoid copyright issues; however, it is intact on the "King Koopa Katastrophe" video release.
Following the 2001 death of television personality Morton Downey, Jr.
Morton Downey, Jr.
Morton Downey, Jr. was an American singer, songwriter and later a television talk show host of the 1980s who pioneered the "trash TV" format on his program The Morton Downey Jr. Show....
(whom the aforementioned Super Mario Bros. 3
Super Mario Bros. 3
, also referred to as Super Mario 3 and SMB3, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System , and is the third game in the Super Mario series. The game was released in Japan in 1988, in the United States in 1990, and in Europe in 1991...
s character "Morton Koopa, Jr."
Koopalings
The , also called the Koopa Kids, are a group of seven fictional characters in Nintendo's Mario series of video games. Their names are Ludwig von Koopa, Lemmy Koopa, Roy Koopa, Iggy Koopa, Wendy O. Koopa, Morton Koopa Jr. and Larry Koopa. They first appeared in the NES game Super Mario Bros. 3, and...
was allegedly named after), news reports and obituaries incorrectly credited him as the composer of "Wipe Out." As of 2010, Downey's official website continues to make this claim.