Tex Ihasz talks about and plays 'Surfside''. National Folk Festival 2014
Channel: Rob Willis
Date: 2014-04-28

The first Australian surf hit was the instrumental 'Surfside' from The Denvermen, it entered the charts in January 1963 and reaching No. 1 in the Sydney Top 40.
Alex (Tex) Ihasz a member of  The Denvermen,  talks with Senior Curator at The National Library of Australia, Kevin Bradley, about the tune. Tex, Kevin, Bill Browne and Matt Nightingale then play 'Surfside'. 
For just on 20 years the National Library of Australia has been presenting folk documentaries at the National Folk Festival looking at the music and folklore that has become part of our culture.  This year's theme, Wet Dreams 2, investigated Australians and their relationship with water, from drought to flood to surf.
Australian surf music took elements from overseas musical genres and then put them together in a way that was played with an Australian "musical accent".
Thanks to Keith Bell and Steve Bullock for the video.
A full interview with Tex Ihasz is available from the NLA.