Lloyd Thaxton Goes Surfing with The Challengers is the second album by the surf rock band The Challengers. This album was issued in 1963, at the peak of the "surf wave", in South California. This record was a "hard to find" LP, until the Sundazed Music cie (on the Yesterdazed Series) released it back, in 1994, with 2 previously unissued bonus tracks.
Lloyd Thaxton was host-producer of "The Lloyd Thaxton Show", one of the highest rated musical shows in Hollywood. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, and brought up in Toledo, Ohio, Lloyd moved his family to Hollywood in 1957.
The "Lloyd Thaxton Show" is a favorite not only for teenagers, but with their parents as well, because the show is more than a dance-party; it is filled with a variety of crazy and entertaining gimmicks.
By the time "Surfing With The Challengers" was issued in the spring of 1963, the band become one of the most visible and influential musical groups in Southern California. Their debut album, "Surfbeat" was selling well and Wallichs Music City had an entire window display devoted to the band. They were a permanent fixture on local TV dance shows and appeared at the Y-Day Concert at the Hollywood Bowl.
The choice of the tracks used for "Surfing With The Challengers" repeated the approach followed on their first album: unique surf instrumental versions of late 1950s rock instrumental (songs by Duane Eddy, The Fireballs and The Ventures) coupled with The Challengers' originals. This served to emphasize how much the new genre of surf music had been inspired by the rich heritage of rock instrumentals from the "golden age" just three or four years before.
The choice of material, and the wonderful crisp and restrained production of both this album and the earlier "Surfbeat", were inspirational to most teen bands at the time.