SelectBooks, Inc. Announces the Paperback Release of "Surf City: The Jan & Dean Story" by Dean Torrence.

Front cover

Surf Music Icon Dean Torrence's New Memoir To Be Released September 2016

Surf City ($17.95; ISBN: 978-1-59079-365-4​) is a provocative and often irreverent account of Jan & Dean’s rise to fame as teen idols and surf music icons.

With a foreword by The Beach Boys’ Mike Love, Surf City tells the story of Jan & Dean’s years of success followed by Jan’s near-fatal accident and struggle with addiction. Filled with stories of Dean’s time in the industry, including his long and storied relationship with The Beach Boys, anecdotes include a game of football with Elvis, scamming an ex-con, a  near encounter with the Manson Family, and performing their first hit on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand.

I'm certain you, the reader, will have a great time reading this story that Dean shares with us of his life experience, his Surf City Saga.

Mike Love, Beach Boys vocalist

As early teen icons, Jan and Dean left an indelible mark on the music of the sixties and the American psyche. With hit singles like “Surf City,” “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena,” and “Dead Man’s Curve,” Jan & Dean helped pioneer the California Sound that swept the nation. Surf City is a must-read for anyone interested in early rock ’n’ roll music and the West Coast scene of the 1960s. 

Dean Ormsby Torrence is the co-founder of the rock-and-roll duo Jan & Dean. At the height of their career Jan & Dean had sixteen Top 40 hits, a total of twenty-six chart records, and they hosted and performed at the historic T.A.M.I. Show. Their story was featured in the 1978 film Deadman’s Curve. With six gold records to his name, Dean Torrence is already a rock legend. He also has one Grammy plus numerous nominations for his masterful graphic design work on album covers and rock logos.

For pop culture addicts and music buffs alike, Surf City is indispensable. Torrence provides an intriguing behind-the-scenes look at the record industry at the time.

Dean Torrence lives in Huntington Beach, “Surf City,” and continues to tour with his band, The Surf City Allstars, often appearing with The Beach Boys. Brian Wilson and Mike Love, who Jan & Dean had a close relationship with, also have new, highly anticipated memoirs coming out this fall. Promotional events for Surf City will be forthcoming.

***

DEAN ORMSBY TORRENCE is the co-founder of the rock-and-roll duo Jan & Dean. Born in Los Angeles in 1940, Torrence helped pioneer the California Sound during the sixties with top ten hits like “Surf City,” “Little Old Lady from Pasadena,” and “Dead Man’s Curve.”

At the height of their career Jan & Dean had sixteen Top 40 hits, a total of twenty-six chart records, and they hosted and performed at the historic T.A.M.I. Show. They won six gold records, one Grammy plus numerous nominations, and appeared seventeen times on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand.

Torrence cowrote the screenplay of Jan & Dean’s story featured in the 1978 CBS movie, Deadman’s Curve.

He also formed a successful graphic design studio after receiving a degree in advertising design from The School of Architecture and Fine Arts at the University of Southern California (USC). He is the designer of the logo for The American Music Awards, The Beach Boys logo, and The Roxy logo.

Torrence lives in Huntington Beach, “Surf City,” with his wife of thirty-four years and has two beautiful daughters, Katie, age twenty-six, and Jillian, age twenty-two. He continues to tour with his band, The Surf City Allstars.

Contact Information: ​Kenichi Sugihara; info@selectbooks.com; phone 212 206 1997

Source: SelectBooks, Inc.

Share:

Additional Images