Instromania!

Monday, 7 September 2026

Playlist

Frantics - The Whip

Link Wray And The Raymen - Ace Of Spades (Alternate Take)

Bill Martin & Phil Coulter - Big Bass Guitar

Illés Együttes - Üzenet Eddynek

Debby Drake & Noel Regney And His Orchestra - Javanese Jade

A Go-Gos - Tic-Tac-Toe

Danny Bell And The Bell Hops - Chili With Honey

Les Fingers - Les Cavaliers Du Fue

La Unidad 5 - Pepinillos

Dick Dale And The Del-Tones - Mr. Eliminator

Madmen Of Note - Peppermint Fink

Aay Jays - The Aay Jays Theme

Transatlantics - Tea Legs

Black Hornets - Take The Bend

Silent Caravan - Det Finns Andra Världar

Jackie & The Cedrics - Latina

Condor Gruppe - Birds Lament

3Demons - Henko

Monday, 31 August 2026

Playlist

Frantics - The Whip

Les Fingers - Diamant

Baskerville Hounds - Never On Sunday

Four Dreamers - Twist A Napoli

Chris Allen And His Music - Comin' Home Baby

Russ Haddock Trio - Bohemian Girl

Honeycombs - Hurricane

Norman (Arab) Sands And The Valiants - Don't Wanna Leave The Congo

La Unidad 5 - Jericho

Berry Lipman And His Orchestra - Panamericana

Renegades - Geronimo

J.J. Band - Cousins Jack

Urban Zotel - Zotel's Mambo

SwuM & Wun Two - Poker Night

Man Or Astro-Man? - Italian Movie Theme

Savages - You're My Chocolate

Silent Caravan - Lost Tape Track 07

Jhufus - Purple Caterpillar

Monday, 24 August 2026

Playlist

Frantics - The Whip

Bobby Fuller And The Fanatics - Our Favorite Martian

Lorraine - Fiesta Hippie

Swanks - Ghost Train

Igor Khoma - Carpathians

Atlantis Együttes - Trubadúr Parafrázis

Ventures - Joker's Wild

Keith Mansfield - Mondays Child

Los Jaguars - Tormenta En El Mar De La Tranquilidad

Dick D'Agostin And The Swingers - Night Walk

Five Rogues - Tab Top

Jacques Siroul - Etrange Jardin D'Etoiles

Breeders - Flipside

Tiger Club - Trash Talking

King Kongs - Ginza Lights

Budos Band - Mark Of The Unnamed

Greenleaf - The Shipbuilder

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By the late 1950’s a new craze was sweeping rock’n’roll – hot guitar and saxophone instrumentals.

The first rock’n’roll instrumentals were originally performed by Rhythm & Blues combos popular at dances throughout the fifties. Black recorded music was overwhelmingly vocal, notable exceptions being Jody Williams "Lucky Lou" in 1957 and Mickey Bakers “Do What You Did”.

Rockabilly turned rock’n’roll into a worldwide phenomenon but by 1957 the inevitable conservative backlash had largely driven the music back underground replacing it with middle of the road pop sung by teen idols.

Offering an exciting alternative to this watered down material instrumental bands flourished at the local level and were responsible for keeping alive the raunchiest and wildest aspects of rock & roll. The lack of vocals allowed bands to engage in uninhibited jams and pioneer new musical styles.

Link Wrays “Rumble” in 1958 and Johnny & The Hurricanes “Crossfire” in 1959 were just two of many innovative tunes making an impression on the singles charts. In 1960 Duane Eddy was the first rock’n’roll guitarist to have a signature model guitar and was voted “World’s Number One Musical Personality” by New Musical Express in the UK. That country’s premier instrumental band The Shadows launched their debut single “Apache” the same year and later went on to adopt a distinctively exaggerated brand of choreography widely imitated. The most successful instrumental rock band of all time was The Ventures who’s influential “Walk Don’t Run” in 1960 inspired an entire generation of young guitarists.

Surf Music burst on the scene in Southern California in 1961 and infused new energy into the genre. Adding Spanish/Mexican and middle eastern influences to the rock’n’roll mix it got its unique sound by the use of newly invented technologies such as reverb tanks. Generous use of the whammy bar and rapid double picking on the guitar (as exemplified by Dick Dale in 1963 with “Miserlou”) were other features of the music.