Eddie & The Showmen

Eddie & the Showmen were a surf rock band of the 1960s. Formed in Southern California by Eddie Bertrand, formerly of The Bel-Airs, they released several singles on Liberty records though never a full album. Their highest-charting single in Los Angeles was Mr. Rebel, which reached #4 on the Wallichs Music City Hit List on February 10, 1964. The band originally formed because Eddie Bertrand wanted to move on from the Bel-Airs. While the Bel-Airs focused more on guitar interplay and a moderate sound, Eddie & the Showmen played more in the style of Dick Dale with a prominent lead guitar and heavy sound. The band's original drummer was ex-Mousketeer Dick Dodd, who later joined The Standells. Interestingly enough, one of Eddie & the Showmen's biggest hits, Squad Car, was a cover of the Bel-Airs. Squad Car is also one of the most covered surf instrumentals among modern surf bands, and most versions sound more like the Eddie & the Showmen version than the Bel-Airs version. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.