Jan and Dean
Influential singing duo starting in the late 1950s but mainly in the The Sixties. Almost as important to the surf-pop scene as The Beach Boys, Jan and Dean made countless songs, some of which are misattributed to the Beach Boys. They were not rivals; in fact, Brian did backup and co-wrote "Surf City".
Their full names were William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence. They started with the hit "Baby Talk" in 1959, and kept singing while going through college (unlike the Beach Boys) until Jan had a wreck in 1966, but had a comeback in the early 1970s. Berry died in 2004, but Torrence continues to tour and give interviews. Note: Discography covers only the pre-accident years.
Discography:
- Jan & Dean (1960)
- Jan & Dean's Golden Hits (1962)
- Jan & Dean Take Linda Surfin' (1963)
- Surf City and Other Swingin' Cities (1963)
- Drag City (1963)
- Dead Man's Curve (1964)
- Ride the Wild Surf (1964)
- Command Performance (1965)
- Pop Symphony (1965)
- Golden Hits (1965)
- Folk & Roll (1965)
- Jan & Dean Meet Batman (1966)
Jan and Dean provides examples of the following tropes:
- Cool Old Lady: "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena"
- In the Style Of: Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons ("Linda")
- New Sound Album: Carnival of Sound, a psychedelic Smile-esque album Jan Berry started work on shortly after his accident. Unfortunately, it wasn't released until 2010.
- Teenage Death Songs: "Dead Man's Curve", possibly.
- Vaporware: Carnival of Sound.