The Surf’s Modern Era All-Time Beach Top 40: A Look Back at July 4th Weekend, 2018

15d (edited) • SURFLINE

Back over the Fourth of July weekend in 2018, 94.9 The Surf counted down the Modern Era All-Time Beach Top 40—a listener-voted list of the best beach music songs from the contemporary era. It was a snapshot of where the genre stood at that moment, and looking back at it now, it holds up remarkably well.

At number one: King Tyrone & the Graveyard Ramblers with “Mama’s Drinkin’ Liquor Again,” a song that captured the rowdy, fun-loving spirit of the modern beach music scene. Jim Quick and Coastline landed at number two with “Turn Me Over,” and Too Much Sylvia claimed the three spot with “Stepped Right Out of My Dream”—a song that remains a shag floor staple. Mayer Hawthorne’s “The Walk” at number four was an example of how the beach music community has always had an ear for crossover material, adopting songs the mainstream never tagged as beach music.

The list told you a lot about who mattered in modern beach music. Band of Oz appeared three times (“Build Me Up” at #8, “I Can’t Think” at #11, and “Dance to the Radio” at #33). Gary Lowder & Smokin’ Hot showed up three times. Too Much Sylvia had three entries. Jim Quick had two as a solo act and with Coastline. The Entertainers placed twice. These were the workhorses of the genre—the bands putting out new music year after year, keeping the pipeline full.

Then there were the surprises. Rod Stewart’s “Sexual Religion” at #7. Charlie Puth and Meghan Trainor’s “Let’s Marvin Gaye” at #15. Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling” at #27. Kelly Clarkson and Vince Gill’s “Don’t Rush” at #28. Lisa Stansfield closing out the list at #40 with “8 3 1.” The shag community has always been selective about which pop and R&B songs it adopts, but once a song gets the stamp of approval on the dance floor, it belongs to beach music forever.

Almost eight years later, many of these songs are still in heavy rotation at The Surf and on shag floors across the Carolinas. Some of these artists—Jim Quick, Gary Lowder, Craig Woolard—are still charting new material on the Surf Countdown. Others, like Ms. Jody (“Still Strokin’” at #12), represent the southern soul side of the genre that DJ Heavy champions every afternoon. The Modern Era Top 40 wasn’t just a holiday weekend countdown—it was a time capsule of a genre that keeps reinventing itself while never forgetting where it came from.

Source: 94.9 The Surf Modern Era All-Time Beach Music Top 4th, July 4th Weekend, 2018

This article first appeared in the February 18th Issue of The SurfLINE

1 comment