On this date in 1964, JAN & DEAN were on American Bandstand performing their single SIDEWALK SURFIN' (Aug 22, 1964).
Written by Brian Wilson (music) and Roger Christian (lyrics), SIDEWALK SURFIN' was recorded as a single and then appeared on the 1964 album Ride The Wild Surf, and later on the Little Old Lady From Pasadena album.
The song reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 31, 1964.
Jan Berry, Dean Torrence's partner in the Jan and Dean duo, wanted to write and compose about a sport other than surfing.
He came up with the idea to make music about skateboarding. After trying, unsuccessfully, to come up with a song about that sport by himself, he decided to go with the Beach Boys' song "Catch a Wave," a song drawn from the group's 1963 album Surfer Girl. Berry asked the composer, Brian Wilson and Wilson's then-current lyricist associate, Roger Christian, to rewrite it. They complied, and eventually came up with "Sidewalk Surfin'," which is "Catch a Wave" with different lyrics about skateboarding.