From bongos to the Beach Boys, Woodies to wet suits, surfing has become a California culture that has captured the world. For 40 years, Surfer magazine has hailed all those who rip, roll and “ride, ride, ride” the wild surf.
The sport’s greatest moments can be found in a new 167-page coffee table book called “The Perfect Day: 40 Years of Surfer Magazine,” celebrating four decades of surf style.
“Surfer magazine has followed surfing through the years, with its serious articles, the essays, the photos and the crazy art,” says publisher Sarah Malarkey.
From the fabulous ’50s, the psychedelic ’60s to the new Millennium, surfing has been a reflection of the times.
To mark the occasion and to benefit the Surfrider Foundation, the magazine had itself an island-style birthday bash at Duke’s Malibu, which drew surf pros, local celebs and, of course, beach bunnies. Everyone looked very much the part sporting Hawaiian shirts and baggies, sarongs and Pukka shells as they sipped Coronas, scarfed down sushi and polished off plenty of pupu platters.
Whether you’re stoked or gnarly, hanging ten or wiping out, surfing, to be sure, has launched a language all its own. From Body Glove Day-Glo to itsy bitsy teeny weenies, it has a look all its own and from Jan and Dean to The Ventures, it has a sound all its own.
“When you have 40 years of counter-culture, that’s a pretty impressive slice of Americana,” says Surfer magazine’s editor, Sam George. “Surfing told us how to dress, what to think, what to listen to, where to go.”
It also broke new ground.
“Surfing told us we don’t have to wear a suit,” says George. “It told us the war in Vietnam was wrong. It told us there is a different way to live–that we can change. Surfers did and America followed.”
What began as an obscure Hawaiian sport evolved into a full-fledged lifestyle and all waves, of course, led to our very familiar beachside city.
“Malibu is, in many ways, the story of surfing. Its influence is all over the world, but the germ started here,” George explains. “We had the ultimate wave, the proximity to Hollywood, surfers mingling with stars and the start of a bohemian lifestyle.”
That lifestyle has gone mainstream.
Dentists from the Valley and accountants from the Inland Empire have joined the radical crowd attempting mind-blowing loops, 360-degree and 180-degree cutbacks.
Malibu will, indeed, remain the hub of surf culture, and a favorite for years to come. In the words of the legendary surf prophet Mickey Dora, “Malibu, personally, is my perfect wave. When it’s breaking correctly, when it’s right, it’s in the palm of my hand.” Ride on, get agro and let’er rip. Cowabunga dude!