403) The Sunsets — “The Hot Generation”
Hot ’67 A-side was the theme to the Australian surfing movie The Hot Generation.
Mike Stax says the song “is a relentlessly upbeat celebration of [Australia’s] surfin’ lifestyle”. (http://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2012/07/various-artists-hot-generation-1960s.html?m=1) Richie Unterberger describes it as “surf-cum-mod.” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/hot-generation-1960s-punk-from-down-under-mw0000660957) The Pandoras did a fantastic 80’s punk version.
Anyway, the Sunsets would morph into proggers Tamam Shud:
Tamam Shud evolved from an instrumental surf band called The Four Strangers, formed in 1964 in Newcastle, New South Wales. . . . As The Strangers in 1965 they issued the single Sad and Lonely and then changed their name to The Sunsets. The Sunset’s tracks were used for two surf films – A Life in the Sun (1966) and The Hot Generation (1967) – both directed by Paul Witzig. Later that year . . . the group . . . changed their name to Tamam Shud.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/worldtreasuresmusic.com/2016/08/06/evolution-tamun-shuds-cult-surf-soundtrack/amp/
Alec Paleo’s liner notes to the Australian garage comp Hot Generation! tell us that:
[T]he group smarted from press criticism that they were behind-the-times [because of the surf music], when in fact, after moving to Sydney permanently . . . the group had begun to psychedelicise at a rapid rate. By the years end [bassist Eric] Connell had quit and the group had become Tamam Shud.
Surfer Today tells us about The Hot Generation:
[The movie] captures the last hurrah of the original longboard era in Australia. It’s not a tame farewell; the late 1960s was a time of explosive change. The celebrated session of Nat and McTavish at Honolua Bay is the most obvious signpost here to surfing’s bold new direction, the performance of their radical vee-bottoms sounding the death knell for the longboard establishment. . . . Dolphins, sunshine, fabulous glassy peelers, and two standout surfers having the time of their lives.
https://www.surfertoday.com/surf-movies/the-hot-generation
The longboard establishment is hassling me! Hey hey, ho ho, the longboard establishment has got to go!
The soundtrack version:
The Pandoras:
The movie trailer:
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