Walk, Don't Run

Some Surf Music? Why not, I haven't featured it in a while.

Here's a bit on The Ventures. The Ventures, and a Time When Instrumentals Were Hits.

First a sad fact.

In fact, no instrumental has topped the U.S. pop singles chart since Jan Hammer’s “Miami Vice Theme” in 1985.

And The Ventures in particular.

No instrumental rock band had more consistent success, though, than The Ventures. Without a single vocal, this Tacoma, Washington, quartet (two guitars, bass and drums) scored 16 top-40 albums and six top-40 singles between 1960 and 1969. They did it by finding the perfect balance between a tune you could hum and a beat you could dance to. This wasn’t instrumental music to show off the players’ virtuosity; these were simple but hypnotic earworms that listeners couldn’t shake out of their heads.

I'm not sure when I first heard this song. I seem to remember that one of my cousins was a fan of Surf Rock, but I was much younger than he was. This version did apparently hit #1 on the Billboard charts, so I may have heard it on the radio.

This is "Walk, Don't Run" by The Ventures from 1964. (An updated version of their 1960 recording.)