The Sandals

In scoring Bruce Brown's landmark surfing documentary The Endless Summer, the Sandals became the first authentic surf-rock band to compose music for a major film of the genre, thereby establishing its characteristic instrumental style. The ensemble originated in San Clemente, California, during 1962 under the name the Twangs, founded by Belgian-born brothers Walter Georis on guitar and Gaston on keyboards, who carried over the instrumental approach popularized by the Shadows; lead guitarist John Blakeley, bassist John Gibson, and drummer Danny Brawner, meanwhile, drew their primary influences from the Ventures. Rebranded as the Sandells, the group landed a contract with World Pacific in 1964 and soon issued its debut single, "Out Front." Brown had already been drawing material from the World Pacific roster for his productions, though earlier choices had favored West Coast jazz recordings; upon hearing the Sandells he judged their sound an ideal match for The Endless Summer, leading the musicians to create a new instrumental title theme and adopt the name the Sandals to suit the project, while their prior World Pacific tracks were assembled into the official soundtrack release. Though the Sandals disbanded in 1968, their second and final album—the soundtrack to Dick Barrymore's The Last of the Ski Bums—did not surface until the following year. John Blakeley later appeared with Stoneground, and the Georis brothers eventually ran the Tri-Surf label.