Happy Tiki Tuesday! Today we’re listening to a band that effortlessly crossed rock, tiki, and surf music genres in a fantastically fun way.
The Shadows were a London instrumental band active from 1958-1968 who were pioneers of surf rock with songs like “Kon-Tiki” and “Apache.” The founding members were lead guitarist Hank B. Marvin, rhythm guitarist Bruce Welch, Jet Harris on bass, and Tony Meehan on drums.
The band first started as the Drifters and later became “Cliff Richard & The Shadows” at the height of their fame. The backing band, The Shadows, became a successful unit who also played with other well known musicians including Olivia Newton-John.
Here are three of my favorite Shadows tunes performed live.
Here is a live version of “Wonderful Land.”
This is a great 1964 clip of “Apache” from a Belgian television show called “De topcollectie van.”
And here are The Shadows performing “Kon-Tiki.”
