B is for… Black Sand Beach

You’d have to go a long way to beat the ice cool brilliance of Eleki legend Yūzō Kayama chopping his way through Black Sand Beach with his band, The Launchers - watch this YouTube clip for proof.

Multi-talented Yūzō was also an actor, starring in a series of ‘Wakadaish’ ('Young General') movies: a Japanese take on teen scene flicks like Beach Blanket Bingo and Cliff Richard’s camp classic, Summer Holiday (1963). Seven Samurai director, Akira Kurosawa, even cast Yūzō in a couple of his films.

While he was obviously no slouch in front of the camera, it’s Yūzō's awesome Mosrite guitar and Teisco amp tone on Black Sand Beach that’ll keep this Japanese surf master on our Xmas card list.

B is also for… The Bambi Molesters

It’s almost impossible to think of great surf music without conjuring up images of, er, Croatia. Well, it will be after you hear The Bambi Molesters. Brilliantly daft name aside, these guys have nailed the classic surf sound in a big way. The band’s new album As The Dark Wave Swells is released 19 July 2010 and it’s a doozy.