The City Surfers

Disbanded

1963

Members

Bobby Darin (drums), Roger McGuinn (songwriter, guitar, vocals), Terry Melcher (vocals, piano), Frank Gari (vocals).

The 'City Surfers' was another experiment of Bobby Darin and (Jim) Roger McGuinn (while Bobby Darin had problems with his voice): Surf Music, Jan And Dean-style.

With fellow songwriter Frank Gari, McGuinn wrote a handful of surf songs in the style of the Beach Boys. These were released as singles by the City Surfers, a pre-fab studio group featuring McGuinn on guitar, Darin on drums, and Gari on vocals. In the US, the A-side of the first single "Beach Ball"/"Sun Tan Baby" (Capitol, July 1963) received some airplay in New York City but little elsewhere; later a cover of the song was a hit in Australia. The follow-up, "Powder Puff"/"50 Miles To Go" (Capitol, Sept. 1963) also stiffed in the States. McGuinn performs the "Beach Ball" (in a faux-Brian Wilson voice) in his autobiographical stage show and on Live from Mars.