Randy Nauert (pronounced "Nort"; January 1, 1945 – February 7, 2019) was an American surf music and culture entrepreneur. He started in the music business as a

bass player A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low br ...

who played with

The Bel-Airs The Bel-Airs were an early and influential surf rock band from South Bay, Los Angeles, active in the early 1960s. They were best known for their 1961 hit "Mr. Moto", an instrumental surf rock song that featured a flamenco-inspired intro and cont ...

and took his experience to broader appeal with The Challengers who were in the forefront of the surf music explosion in southern California. He also worked as a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

music manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-day ...

, producer and

music publisher A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...

. He is well known as being one of the first pioneers of

surf music Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental s ...

Overview

Randy Nauert was a surf music pioneer. He enjoyed surfing and playing his bass guitar in bands during his school years. He taught

Rick Griffin Richard Alden "Rick" Griffin (June 18, 1944 – August 18, 1991) was an American artist and one of the leading designers of psychedelic posters in the 1960s. As a contributor to the underground comix movement, his work appeared regularly in ...

how to surf. In 1960, the first professional band he played in was named

and in late 1962 he co-founded The Challengers. They produced a smash hit album titled “

Surfbeat ''Surfbeat'' was the first album recorded by the Los Angeles-based surf rock group The Challengers. They recorded the album in a 3½ hour session at the end of 1962. The album was released in early 1963 and became a huge hit, helping to propel ...

” released in January 1963. “Surfbeat” took the California Sound and surf music to new levels of acceptance. It remains the best selling surf album of all time. His band released 15 Challengers albums throughout the sixties as well as 12 others recorded under different names for the US and foreign markets. He appeared on TV shows during the peak of surf music's heyday such as

Hollywood A Go-Go ''Hollywood a Go-Go'' was a Los Angeles-based music variety show that ran in syndication from 1965 to 1966. The show was hosted by Sam Riddle, with music by The Sinners and dancing by The Gazzarri Dancers. It was filmed at the KHJ-TV studios in ...

, Surf's Up,

The Lloyd Thaxton Show Lloyd Thaxton (May 31, 1927 – October 5, 2008) was an American writer, television producer, director, and television host widely known for his syndicated pop music television program of the 1960s, ''The Lloyd Thaxton Show'', which began as a lo ...

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

and other local shows in the Los Angeles area. He also worked as a record producer through the rest of the 60's evolving with hot rod rock, folk rock, pop, rock and psychedelic rock music as they developed. Nauert continued in the music and film industry throughout the decades that followed.

Death and legacy

Randy Nauert died on February 7, 2019, of a heart attack. He endured prolonged suffering from his fire recovery efforts in the area that he lived in for over two months prior to his death. Nauert helped many known and unknown artists and was connected in many aspects of the music business. Nauert is known as a caring person who helped others and cared for his family and friends. He was a living history book for the communities he lived in and the music he helped pioneer in the exploding pop culture scene in southern California. He adopted and raised many animals over his lifetime and educated others about their proper treatment.

Credits (incomplete)

Bands and music

The Surfaris The Surfaris are an American surf rock band formed in Glendora, California, United States, in 1962. They are best known for two songs that hit the charts in the Los Angeles area, and nationally by May 1963: "Surfer Joe" and " Wipe Out", which ...

* The Challengers * The Good Guys * The Surfriders * The Clee-Shays * The De-Fenders

TV and film

* The 6.25 Show 1963 TV * Celebrity Party 1963 TV * Thank Your Lucky Stars 1964 TV * The Lloyd Thaxton Show 1965 TV * Hollywood A Go Go 1965-1966 TV * American Bandstand 1965-1966 TV * The Shack 2012 Film * New Dimensions 2018 Film

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nauert, Randy 1945 births 2019 deaths Musicians from California American bass guitarists American male composers American composers American music managers Record producers from California