German soundtrack composer Martin Böttcher passed on friday. My old band recorded his Der Ölprinz and Kara Ben Nemsi Effendi main themes, and with Tecumseh Melodie I aimed to understand his unique sound by trying to rebuild some of his trademark devices. Martin Böttcher not only beamed generations of kids into a beautiful adventurous frontier west with his audio magic, but in the early seventies he also was one of first three sailboarders in Germany!

R.I.P. Dick Dale, surf rock pioneer dead at 81

Another legend gone. So shortly after Randy Nauert of The Challengers, Michel Legrand (The Thomas Crown Affair) and André Previn. The Guardian did the best thing they could and collected some of his most famous recordings in a tribute.

Here he’s opening The Ronettes’ Be My Baby at Gold Star Recordings in Los Angeles 1963.

https://youtu.be/ZV5tgZlTEkQ

Nice interview at Surfersjournal.com

Quote:

PM: Well, when I came on the boat that first time it was kinda shitty. If it had been going off, yeah, that would have been it right there. But a good friend of mine used to surf it by boat, this guy Bill Hike from Northern Cal. He’s probably like the first guy who really surfed here. He used to have an old Indo fishing boat and go to G-Land and come over here. He had it dialed. He was really the pioneer here. There might have been guys before him that surfed it, but he was really the first guy who really was on it, who was consistently surfing here all the time.

LM: Does he ever surf here anymore?

PM: Man, he came a few years ago. He’s got a kid that surfs. But it’s kinda sad, you know. He gets here and it’s crowded and everybody’s dropping in on him and they don’t give a shit, you know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM-hdtvdg0Q

Oh no – just reading about the passing of former Challengers bassist Randy Nauert. This is depressing, especially learning about his mis-fortune over the last months.

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