The British pop duo Peter and Gordon show up next on the list of most forgotten artists, but they weren’t forgotten by this blog, having shown up in a post one year ago.
That brings us to another duo, this one from the good old U.S. of A. Jan and Dean were a surf rock act who were contemporaries and collaborators with The Beach Boys. William Jan Berry co-wrote a slew of songs with The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson (RIP), including today’s SOTD, which reached #1 on the Hot 100.
Jan and Dean had 13 Top 40 hits in all between the late 50s and mid 60s. In addition to the #1 hit ‘Surf City’ they reached #3 with ‘The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena),’ #8 with ‘Dead Man’s Curve,’ and #10 with their debut single ‘Baby Talk.’
Two years after the release of ‘Dead Man’s Curve,’ a song about a crash on a notorious Los Angeles roadway, Berry was in a serious car accident near that very spot. He spent two months in a coma and suffered brain damage and partial paralysis. He returned to the studio a year later but the duo wasn’t able to rekindle their success.
Berry died in 2004 at just 62. His musical partner, Dean Ormsby Torrence, lives in Huntington Beach, California, with his wife and two daughters. Huntington Beach is nicknamed Surf City due to its ideal year-round surfing conditions, and in recognition of the Jan and Dean song.
I bought a ’30 Ford wagon and we call it a woodie
(Surf City, here we come)
You know it’s not very cherry, it’s an oldie but a goody
(Surf City, here we come)
Well, it ain’t got a back seat or a rear window
But it still gets me where I wanna go
And we’re goin’ to Surf City, cause it’s two to one
You know we’re goin’ to Surf City, gonna have some fun
Ya, we’re goin’ to Surf City, cause it’s two to one
You know we’re goin’ to Surf City, gonna have some fun, now
Two girls for every boy
You see they never roll the streets up cause there’s always somethin’ goin’
(Surf City, here we come)
You know they’re either out surfin’ or they got a party growin’
(Surf City, here we come)
Well, with two swingin’ honeys for every guy
And all you gotta do is just wink your eye
Ya, we’re goin’ to Surf City, cause it’s two to one
You know we’re goin’ to Surf City, gonna have some fun
Ya, we’re goin’ to Surf City, cause it’s two to one
Ya, we’re goin’ to Surf City, gonna have some fun, now
Two girls for every boy
And if my woody breaks down on me somewhere on the surf route
(Surf City, here we come)
I’ll strap my board to my back and hitch a ride in my wetsuit
(Surf City, here we come)
And when I get to Surf City I’ll be shootin’ the curl
And checkin’ out the parties for a surfer girl
And we’re goin’ to Surf City, cause it’s two to one
You know we’re goin’ to Surf City, gonna have some fun
Ya, we’re goin’ to Surf City, cause it’s two to one
Ya, we’re goin’ to Surf City, gonna have some fun, now
Two girls for every
Two girls for every boy
Meet Me In Montauk 
I’ve heard of Jan and Dean, but I always thought “Surf City” was a Beach Boys song!
sounds just like a Beach Boys song!