the year before the bel-airs breakup, richard delvy left the bel-airs to form a new band called the challengers. he brought in bassist randy nauert and keyboardist jim roberts who had played with the bel-airs. delvy later brought in guitarist art fisher who had played with the bel-airs during the recording of the challengers third album "on the move". delvy also recruited glenn grey (lead guitar), don landis (rhythm guitar) and nick hefner (saxophone). they played at many high schools and many local dances and clubs. they eventually earned enough money to rent a recording studio "world pacific" to start recording. in about three and a half hours, they had an album titled "surfbeat". saxophonist nick hefner played on only one track.