It's surf music time!! The Astronauts: Baja & Hot Doggin' (1963)

From the beginnings of recorded pop music in the early 20th century, record companies have attempted to follow trends. If something works for one company, the others will try to emulate it. One of the trends in the early 60's was surf music. Pioneers in the genre like Dick Dale were equaled and surpassed by The Beach Boys, and then every major record executive had to have at least one surf group in their stable. RCA Victor hitched it's wagons to "The Astronauts" out of Boulder, Colorado (I know...am not sure what Boulder has to do with surfing...but anyways..). Instrumentally, I think they were better than the BB's, however no one in the group had anywhere close to the talents of Brian and Carl Wilson, and without strong vocals they were never able to fully distinguish themselves. They produced two real gems. One was "Baja" which hit the charts for one week in 1963, the other, "Hot Doggin" never placed at all, but both have become popular with the surf music set over the years, which secures their place in that section of rock history....