Led by longtime Malibu musician John Zambetti, the band has entertained generations of fans and kept surf music alive

By Barbara Burke

Special to The Malibu Times

Malibu’s John Zambetti and his childhood friend, Walter Lindsay Egan, and their band, The Malibooz, have entertained audiences nationwide for six decades, singing surf music, and composing and performing songs that are etched in many readers’ memories of their youth.  

On April 14, the Malibooz was inducted into the California Hall of Fame. Carefully vetted by the Hall of Fame Committee, both The Malibooz, the band, as well as Egan individually, were inducted at a joyous event that provided the band members with a wonderful opportunity to reflect on just how far two kids from the city — and the many iterations of The Malibooz — have traveled, literally and figuratively, as they performed gigs and shared many musical and life experiences with fans old and new over the years.

As fans turned to social media to congratulate the band members, one longtime, loyal admirer summed up the sentiments of many of the band’s devotees. “What a well deserved honor. I’ve been blessed to witness the ride — Congratulations!” Jon Mitchell posted.

At the ceremony, those introducing the awardees noted that when Zambetti entered Loyola High School in New York in the fall of 1962, he was already playing lead guitar in his surf band, The Statics, with his elementary school friends. He quickly decided to transition into a band with some of the upperclassmen at his high school. However, after playing for a year with them, he was unhappy with their musicianship and decided to start his own band, The Malibooz. 

So, in early 1964, he approached his best friend and classmate, Walter Egan, who he knew was playing folk guitar. He told Walter that if he bought an electric guitar, he could join John’s new band. John went with Walter to speak to his parents to assure them that, if they gave Walter the money for a Fender Stratocaster, The Malibooz would be making enough to pay it back in no time, a prognostication that proved to be very true.

Once Egan joined the band, it really soared and soon became a favorite in the New York City area. In late 1964, along with another bandmate, Chris Murray, John wrote the tune “Goin’ to Malibu.” In 1965, they recorded it along with Egan’s song, “That’s a Lie,” and later on that year, they were able to get gigs playing at the New York State World’s Fair where The Malibooz played a concert at the New York State Pavilion and then in a color TV broadcast at the RCA Pavilion. At the RCA pavilion TV show, host Colin Murphy approached Zambetti after they had played the first of five songs and asked him to explain the difference between surf music and the “English Sound.” John went into an extemporaneous explanation, showing the differences between the two genres on his guitar. 

That classic moment is captured on the band’s “Malibooz Rule!” album. For that album, Egan and Zambetti decided to fly the original three other members of The Malibooz out to California to re-record “Goin’ to Malibu.” 

“In 1996, Rhino released the box set ‘Cowabunga Surf.’ ‘Goin’ to Malibu’ was part of the collection and MTV picked it up that summer as the theme song for their MTV hit ‘Malibu Beach House,'” Zambetti recalled. “So, quite remarkably, a song written by a 14-year-old from the Bronx later became the theme song for the MTV ‘Malibu Beach House’ 30 years later! That demonstrates how long-lasting and lucky Malibooz has been and how its relevance transcends more than surf music — it has helped to define not only a genre but also a popular culture still treasured by many.”

In 1966, having graduated high school along with drummer Tom Scarp, the three bandmates entered Georgetown University. By that time they were mostly playing British invasion style peppered with some originals so they eventually changed their name from The Malibooz to Sageworth.

After college, Egan continued as guitarist and primary songwriter for Sageworth. Zambetti played for a year with a band called Wine-Dark-Sea. 

Then, he went to medical school in New York City, paying his expenses by doing session work and playing clubs at night. In 1976, when Egan signed to Columbia records, he invited Zambetti to come out and record with him. Egan enjoyed a successful solo career highlighted by his mega-hit, “Magnet & Steel,” his homage to Stevie Nicks, which was released in 1978. 

Due to the success of Egan’s solo career, in 1981, Columbia offered to release a Malibooz single. This was quickly followed by an offer from Rhino Records to release a Malibooz album. Hence, The Malibooz’s first album: “Malibooz Rule!”  

Scott Monahan joined the band at that time on keyboards and vocals. David Chamberlain soon joined, playing bass. Both Scott and David have been mainstays of the band ever since, contributing their ideas, and even some original tunes along the way. More recently. Michael Mason has joined on drums to complete the current lineup. 

Over decades during which society — and the music industry, and the band members, and their fans — have changed vastly, The Malibooz has stayed reassuringly the same, playing surf music and spreading joy to the band’s loyal fans, yet concurrently they have also evolved and generated music that is relevant and trend setting. 

The Malibooz have recorded seven albums and more than 30 of their songs have been featured in movies and television shows. In 2010, they released their “Queens’ English” album, which included guest performances by a dozen of the original British invasion icons, including Tony Hicks of The Hollies, Spencer Davis, Chad & Jeremy, and the Quarrymen. “Queens’ English” received the Album of the Year Award from the Malibu Music Awards this year. Their current album, “QE 2,” includes The Malibooz’ cover of The Beatles’ “We Can Work It Out,” which is currently in rotation on the SiriusXM Beatles’ Channel.  

The Malibooz continue performing live, to the delight of their loyal fans, most recently on March 31, when they opened for Herman’s Hermits at The Canyon Club and delighted a standing-room-only crowd.  

The band has sold records in more than 64 countries. They have been Grammy semi-finalists eight times and they continue placing songs in movies and TV, including having two songs featured in the new movie, “21 Miles in Malibu,” a documentary by one of Malibu’s talented producers and writers, Michel Shane (“Catch Me if You Can,” “I, Robot”), that addresses the perils of Malibu’s main thoroughfare, the Pacific Coast Highway, and that admonishes civic leaders at all levels of government in California to stop the madness inherent in Malibu’s Pacific Coast Highway’s horrendous infrastructure challenges and pandemic of speeding.

2024 represents the 60th anniversary of The Malibooz and the band members were very honored to be inducted into the California Music Hall of Fame.

Egan was also inducted as a solo artist. And the band plays on!

She was instrumental in helping locals enjoy concerts and charitable events in the city

By Barbara Burke

Special to The Malibu Times

Short in stature, but long on kindness and amiability, Maggie Luckerath was always ready to lend a helping hand to others and to make Malibu a better place.  Luckerath passed away at the age of 78 on April 5 surrounded by friends and family after valiantly battling leukemia.

Every town has one — a person who exemplifies the spirit of camaraderie shared only by those who have lived in the area for a long time and who deeply love their town and its residents.  Malibu had Luckerath, whom many would describe as a force of nature — and a force of good for Malibu. Knowing her as “Mama Bu,” several grieving neighbors and friends recalled that she was the hostess with the mostess as she coordinated weekly buffets at the Summer concerts that locals treasure on Trancas lawn and that she was so generous.

“Maggie was a force to be reckoned with.  She loved her ‘Bu’ community with all her heart,” Wailani O’Herlihy shared. “She could be outspoken because of her German heritage, but you always knew where she was coming from because she didn’t hide her feelings.  Malibu loved her. Maggie would organize potluck dinners for the Vintage Summer Series and we had gourmet food.”

Reflecting further, O’Herlihy added, “Even though Maggie was sick at the time, she quickly donated medical supplies for Lahaina, Maui, when the fire hit. She was selfless like that — Maggie had a special Aloha for Malibu and we’ll all miss her dearly.”

Born Magadelina Anna Frey, Luckerath began her life in Pennsylvania Dutch Country. She was the youngest daughter of nine children born to two German immigrants, the late Frederick C. and Anna Huber Frey.  Maggie and her siblings lost their father in a tragic accident when she was only 5. Perhaps that reality helped to shape her independent, fair-minded, charitable nature that endeared her to many in Malibu. No doubt such a tragedy and its consequences also helped to inform and define Luckerath’s sense of fairness and the incredible kindness that she often extended to strangers who were down on their luck and in need of a helping hand.

Like most farm families facing such obstacles, Luckerath, her siblings, their mother and the extended family remained a tight-knit group. Luckerath’s older brother, Fred took over the reins and, with the help of siblings, he built the farm into a thriving business, assisted a little by Amish neighbors whom they employed to lend a hand. Such resilience taught Luckerath frugality — which she stated was a key secret to successful relationships and lives — but it also ingrained in her a common sense and kindness.

Malibu was not Luckerath’s next stop along her life’s pathway. Rather, right after high school, she went to Washington, D.C. where she worked for the federal government, using her people’s skills and learning her life-long skill sets and perspectives that focused on having not only a local, but a global, perspective.

“Looking back, I guess it was my roots in Southern Lancaster County and being a farm girl who learned hard working ethics at home that gave me the foundation on which to build my later years,” Luckerath once told this journalist. “Straight from the plowed fields of my family’s farm — Twin Oaks Farm near Quarryville, Pennsylvania, I ended up in Washington D.C., working for the Veterans Administration where I was the receptionist at their Administrative building just opposite of Lafayette Park and near the White House.” 

Luckerath said that “she loved money and saving,” but that she also “bought a brand new Mustang out of the showroom.” But, most of all, she was adventurous. After a few years in Washington, she traveled overseas, first to visit her father’s family in the Black Forest, and her mother’s family in Rosenhein near Munich. Then it was on to Geneva, Switzerland, where she landed a job at Chrysler — that was a long way to go for a young American farmgirl, especially so many decades ago.  

However,  it was a trip that helped to chart her life’s course. Hubert Luckerath, a successful young German banker, saw a good thing when he encountered it.  Attracted by Maggie’s vivacious personality, humor, and good looks, Hubert soon proposed and, ultimately, two children blessed Maggie’s and Hubert’s life. 

It wasn’t until their later years that Hubert and Maggie blessed Malibu — and bless it, she did. She loved to walk on the beach. Locals would stop to chat as Maggie seemed to know everything that mattered in the community. Her doing so resulted in many Malibuites feeling that Maggie mattered to the community — she was a key contributor to the many wefts that locals continue to weave as they create and update Malibu’s colorful tapestry.

“Losing Maggie is such a loss for the community — she was a woman with a big, big heart,” Pastor Erin Stenberg of Malibu Methodist Church said. “Maggie had a great knack for pulling people together and for creating a welcoming community.”   

Grieving over Maggie’s body right after she passed, O’Herlihy kindly and sadly bid her friend adieu, saying, “We’ll see you again soon, firecracker!” referring to Luckerath’s vivacious and industrious nature. As those grieving someone lost know, it’s a solace when there is a symmetry to memories of the departed. In Luckerath’s case, being characterized at the end of her life by a good friend evinced that she always had her essential, ebullient nature — Luckerath once shared that her nickname in high school was “Live Wire.”  Both descriptors aptly characterize her and, as friends and family are grieving the loss of Maggie Luckerath, many are wistfully wishing that locals will carry on her energetic, empathetic, charitable legacy. 

Luckerath is survived by her loving husband of 55 years, Hubert; her daughter, Tanya; and son, Peter. She is also survived by siblings Anita Barthelson, John Frey (Mary), and C. William “Willie” Frey (Joan). She was preceded in death by siblings Frederick “Fred” Frey, Adolf “Pete” Frey, Ernst “Ernie” Frey, Siegfried Frey, and Maria Frey.

Services to honor Luckerath will be private at the convenience of family and close friends.  In lieu of sending donations or flowers, readers can honor Luckerath’s wish that they take the time to enjoy Malibu’s beaches and, most importantly, to be kind to one another.

Hundreds attend paddle out at First Point before celebrating his life in an SRO memorial service

By Barbara Burke 

Special to The Malibu Times

“Matt always loved the rain and he loved going down to the ocean when it rained,” a tearful, grieving, shocked Jill Rapf said days after unexpectedly losing her wonderful husband and best friend, Matt Rapf, 61. Rapf died suddenly of a heart attack on Feb. 4, while paddling out at Zuma Beach in honor of Lyon Herron. When his family, friends, and our community lost Rapf, he was surrounded by his tribe as he transitioned in his absolute favorite place — the ocean.

So, it was fitting that on April 13, a dreary Malibu morning with rain impending, Rapf was again surrounded by his tribe of hundreds of friends and family who gathered to honor him with a paddle out at First Point, the very place that he grew up and made many friends and memories.

“How can he be gone?” a devastated Jill posted a few days after Matt passed, juxtaposing her post with the image of a brawny, smiling Matt in the ocean, the very picture of health and optimism, the image of him that many Malibuites will always recall.

“It was an epic paddle out in Matt’s honor,” Skylar Peak said. “He loved the rain piercing the ocean’s surface and our hills above beautiful Malibu.”

Andy Lyon, Rapf’s childhood friend, agreed: “The paddle out was amazing. We really lucked out because the forecast was for horrible weather and that freed up the whole beach and everyone could park.”

First Point was where Lyon and Rapf surfed for decades, Lyon noted, adding, “We could see Matt’s house from the paddle-out circle which was about a quarter of a mile from where he first surfed.”

Touchingly, Lyon recounted, “I was honored to take Matt’s ashes out on a big board with a wreath of leis.  I took him on his last go out and took him around the circle so everyone could see and honor him. Jill was able to spread his ashes and it was beautiful.”

Another of Rapf’s friends, Greg Beaton, described the entourage’s energy as family and friends embraced one another within the circle of love, honor and remembrance. “This is what surfing is all about – Having your friends around you, energy from the ocean and conversations that are as deep as the ocean,” he said.

Matt loved us and we loved him back. 

After the paddle out, those celebrating Rapf’s life proceeded to Malibu Gathering Church, where attendees honored him further, recalling how he befriended and helped so many in the community, his sometimes dark sense of humor, and his love of family.

“The memorial service was cathartic, emotional, and moving, and everyone felt Matt there with us,” Jill Rapf said. “It was not just somber or emotional because there was so much joy in it and the standing-room-only gathering was such proof of Matt’s life well lived and that he had touched so many people — there was such a great community response and it was a melding of all those who knew him, including people who he grew up with, who he surfed with, his real estate community, and his recovery community.”

Pastor Brian Kelly recalled how giving Rapf was, noting that just last December, he and five other dads took a trip to the Dominican Republic to learn about how Mission of Hope is helping Haitian children. 

“Matt was part of the Gathering Church for the last 15 years and God’s grace changed Matt’s life,” Kelly said. “Matt knew how important it was to remember that what changes your life is knowing that despite being more flawed than you know, God loves you more than you know. Matt was a great example of how God helps you be a better person, husband, father, and friend.” 

Tracy Stoker, who grew up with Rapf and attended church with him, shared, “I had the opportunity of watching Matt from the age of 10 through his teenage years and as a 20-to-30-year-old, and then, the transitions he made as he matured into life and its limits.” 

Barry Kearson, Rapf’s Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor, spoke of his giving nature: “Matt was generous, sometimes to a fault, and he was a caring human being who did so many things for people struggling with alcohol and addiction — our sponsor-sponsee relationship was very intimate and like many who are grieving his loss, I still cannot believe that he is gone.”

Dale Rhodes also spoke about Rapf’s sobriety journey and his extensions of deep friendship.

“I have known Matt since we were 18 years old,” Rhodes said. “I was a competitive surfer, a kid from the valley who sometimes clashed with local surfers back in the ’80s, but Matt and I became friends and ultimately, he has been my AA sponsor for the last 10 years.”

There were so many sharing reflections about Rapf’s friendship connections.

“Matt loved us and we loved him back,” Jill Rapf said.  

Beaton shared, “Matt lived his life with passion and expression with family first and service above self inside and out of Alcoholics Anonymous.”  

“At the end of his life, the life none of us knew would be cut so short, Matt was truly a beautiful soul who loved his family foremost and his community of Malibu, and especially, his church family,” Stoker said. “His legacy lives on through his sweet wife, Jill, who continues to embody the love and devotion that Matt held dear.”

Jill Rapf and Lyon both commented that at the end of the day after the memorial, the rain subsided and a double rainbow emerged right where the paddle out had been and there were other rainbows as well, all seemingly helping to ensure that Matt Rapf would want those grieving him to also feel and share joy.

And now, as the Rapf family and Matt’s friends carry on in life, they are embraced by his tribe, buoyed by his love, and they will always honor him. 

“Matt was a kind man — a family man,” Peak said. “His honorable soul left us too early — Malibu is a better place because of him — Long live Matt Rapf!”

Coastal vulnerability discussed; another workshop on Zoom scheduled for Tuesday, April 30 

The City of Malibu is taking steps to plan for predicted sea level rise and mitigate potential associated coastal erosion with a Coastal Vulnerability Assessment (CVA) and series of public workshops. Concerned residents and developers attended the second meeting held April 18 at Malibu City Hall. A summary packed with information was presented and then the public was invited to share concerns that will be incorporated into a final report.

A public survey of 76 respondents revealed 67 percent live along Malibu’s coast. A majority of respondents said they enjoyed beach activities such as surfing, walking along the beach, ocean swimming, and wave watching. However, 76 percent said they thought sea level rise and coastal erosion are issues in Malibu and cited loss of sand, increased erosion, rising tides, and wave runup, that they would like to see addressed.

Adaptation measures that could be taken include artificial reefs, submerged rock breakwaters, edging, dredging, revetment, dam removal, and beach dune and lagoon restoration. 

The city’s Environmental Sustainability Director Yolanda Bundy reiterated, “A majority of the survey responders have stated that they are seeing changes along Malibu coastline. This is possibly due to sea level rise, coastal erosion, sea water flooding, and other coastal hazards and are interested in what can be done to mitigate the effects of sea level rise.” 

Some local areas have been identified by Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors as possible targets for adaptation measures. Zuma Beach and Point Dume were singled out as coastal areas that could benefit from adaptation plans. Mitigation could include beach nourishment, living shorelines such as dunes and other measures to increase the resilience of the county beaches and public amenities. According to the CVA, Caltrans is also prioritizing sea level rise and climate change adaptation efforts for roadways throughout the state. Caltrans District 7, which covers Malibu, designated high priority for adaptation assessments for several bridges, small culverts, and roadway segments in Malibu for individual adaptation assessments. 

Coastal engineer James Jackson of Environmental Science Associates (ESA) addressed the meeting, saying the CVA “evaluates coastal hazards, existing conditions, future sea level rise” including flooding and erosion. It’s predicted that sea level rise will impact critical infrastructure, including wastewater treatment and the Pacific Coast Highway. 

ESA predicts 2.5 feet of sea level rise to occur between 2070-75. It gets worse with a projected 6.6 feet rise by 2100-30. 

“Sea level rise science is ever-changing and evolving as the scientific community understands and models the effects of sea level rise,” Jackson explained. “These projections are precautionary by design … It’s important for communities to plan ahead.”

Jackson stated low-lying areas are subject to coastal storm flooding and tidal inundation, which makes PCH vulnerable “as you can observe a number of reaches of the highway that are armored with revetment.” He added a sobering prediction: “Beaches in Malibu are primarily narrow under existing conditions. Five percent of the coast has little to no beach in high tides. If sea level rises by 2.5 feet, over 40 percent of the coast could be without a beach and nearly 80 percent of the coast could be without a dry sand beach with 6.6 sea level rise.”

Community input is sought before the Coastal Vulnerability Assessment is finalized.

Another public workshop on Zoom will be held on Tuesday, April 30, at 3 p.m. to provide your feedback and discuss the next steps on the projected impacts of sea level rise. Visit the virtual link to access the meeting. A recording of the first virtual workshop presenting technical results is available at Virtual Workshop Recording. Access the draft Coastal Vulnerability Assessment report, interactive GIS map, and additional information on the Malibu Coastal webpage (malibucity.org/859/Coastal). For inquiries, call (310) 456-2489, ext. 390, or email mbuilding@malibucity.org.