Wave-wise, Santa Monica is not even in the conversation as a great surfing town. You can scrape together a decent surf life here, but only by commuting up or down the coast. I learned to surf in Santa Monica at age nine, and by 10 I'd already learned to call Bay Street "Bay Slop." Zero local pride, except maybe for 

Nobody lives in Santa Monica to surf Santa Monica, in other words.

But if it isn't the first place you'd think of to ride waves, Santa Monica used to be one of the very best places to be a surfer. For decades—1945 to 1975, give or take—surfers here were cheek-to-jowl and bumper-to-bumper with most of what was interesting and progressive in the overlapping worlds of American art, entertainment, design, industry, and technology. From the corner of Pico and Main, it's 12 miles up the coast to First Point Malibu. Capitol Records, Hughes Aircraft, Paramount, Musso and Frank, Kantor Gallery, Gold Star Studios—all these places, traffic permitting, were just as close. From that same Pico and Main intersection, it was a beeline 15-minute walk south on Main to Richard Diebenkorn's studio, or an equally direct 15-minute walk up Pico to Con Surfboards, take your pick.

In the very heart of the town, surrounded by Santa Monica High (Buzzy Trent, Matt Kivlin, Rob Lowe, Ricky Grigg, Ry Cooder), Rand Corporation (30-plus Nobel Prize winners and counting), Chez Jay (Rat Pack, Warren Beatty, Pentagon Papers), and what would later be the Jeff Ho-Zephyr building, is the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Designed by modernist kingpin Welton Becket—he also did the Capitol Records building, the Chandler, the Cinerama Dome, and the LAX Theme Building—the Civic had 27,000 square feet of exhibition space and featured a set of basement hydraulics that could bump the main hall floor from flat to sloped, depending on the event.

The Civic opened in the summer of 1958 with an already-packed schedule of concerts, trade shows, and sports events. The Harlem Globetrotters booked the Civic that year, as did the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing. From '61 to '68, the Civic hosted the Academy Awards—Liz Taylor, Sidney Poitier, and Sophia Loren all picked up a Best Actor statue there—and between the stars and the building itself, the Civic, for at least one night a year, was the glam center of the universe.

In its "Places to go Today" column for August 19, 1960, the 

 has a vague Santa Monica Civic listing for "Surfing movie, Bud Browne" (probably 

), and I'm pretty sure that was the first surf-related event there.

 was probably the last surf movie to play the Civic, although I'm not 100% sure there either.

Meanwhile, you can use the Civic all by itself to demonstrate how the Santa Monica surfer, year after year, was practically gang-tackled with opportunity in terms of arts and entertainment. The list below is arbitrary, and we're going to leave out a ton of events, but in order to fit this into a single post let's begin with the 1963 Los Angeles Surf Fair and end in 1977, with 

"In addition to the equipment exhibits, the International Surf Film Festival, surfing music, and the contests to be held in conjunction with the 

 there will be many other special attractions: The top Southern California Surf Clubs will attend with trophies, photos, and club information; a display of completely restored Fords; top Southern California Woodies; appearances by top surfing celebrities; world’s most expensive Surf Wagon (handmade Rolls Royce originally made for the Shah of Persia); free literature and product demonstrations, and much more." 


Apr 13, 1964
"It's that time of year again when the evening's biggest television spectacle is devoted to the movies. The Oscarcast originates from the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Jack Lemmon is the master of ceremonies, and the presenters run the gamut from veterans Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Julie Andrews, Rita Hayworth, Donna Reed, Gregory Peck and Rock Hudson to newcomers like Yvette Mimieux and Steve McQueen. Sammy Davis Jr. provides a musical interlude. Nominated songs are sung by James Darren, Debbie Reynolds and Andy Williams. Fascination and viewing interest rise as dignity and decorum deteriorate." 


Oct 16, 1964
"Bud Browne's latest color spectacular, 

 was shot in Hawaii, Australia, California, and Mexico."

Featured acts: Rolling Stones, Supremes, Beach Boys, Bo Diddley, James Brown, Lesley Gore, Marvin Gaye, Jan and Dean, Chuck Berry, Smokey Robinson, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer, the Barbarians. "In 1964, some of the most talented black and white artists across the globe came together for a show of unparalleled pop madness, shown on closed-circuit screens across the U.S. From its frantic pacing to the rockers performing with every ounce of their youthful energy, you'll never again see a concert film as exciting as this one." 

FIRST ANNUAL NATIONAL SKATEBOARD CHAMPIONSHIPS


Dec 4, 1964
"Eighty-four contestants competed in the first annual national skateboard championships conducted last week at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. The winners, in order, in the women's open division were Pat McGee, Gioia Siciliano, Coleen Jones, Valerie Perez and Gail Yarbrough. The winners among boys 13 years old and less were Mike Mel, Brad Jackson, Greg Carroll, Woody Woodward, Reg Nolte and Bruce Bacon. The winners among older boys were Danny Bearer, John Fries, Peewee Kokolacis, David Wilson. Greg Joy and Tim Harrison." 

"If I could write an opening paragraph like Bruce Brown shoots opening footage for his surfing films, I wouldn't have anything to worry about for the rest of my days. 

 playing tonight at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, is one good film." 

[Kyle Given, review from the Evening Vanguard]


Mar 27, 1965
Listen to most of this show 


May 19, 1965
"Jim Wilhoite Presents: Exciting Surf Action from California and Hawaii. Surf-Venture to Maui with Mickey Munoz and Butch Van Artsdalen. Feature Length. Full Color. Living Sound." 


May 28, 1965
"Onetime-bellboy Roger Miller has walked off with three awards in Billboard’s 18th annual country music poll. Miller, 29, whose claim to fame soared with his popular song King of the Road, was chosen most promising male artist and favorite country music songwriter, and King of the Road was selected as the favorite single record." 

[From Tennessee Johnson City Press, Oct 23, 1965. Watch Miller 

 on the Jimmy Dean Show, recorded a few months earlier]


Aug 7, 1965
Comedy singer-songwriter, best known for "Hello Mother, Hello Father," Lehrer also wrote 

"(I'm Spending) Hanukah in Santa Monica."

INTERNATIONAL SURFING HALL OF FAME AWARDS

"The recent Hall of Fame Awards must be looked upon as the high point of modern-day surfing. Surely, the formal affair at the Civic did much to alleviate the long-hair juvenile delinquent image surfing has borne wrongly in the past." 


Aug 6, 1966
"Greg MacGillivray's new color surfing film stars Richard Chew, Bob Limacher and Mark Martinson. Co-billed is 'The Day War Came to Malibu'." 

"My first concert! So excited to finally get to see Jeff Beck and the band play live. Two weeks earlier, my older brother had seen them play at the Avalon Ballroom on Catalina Island CA where Jimmy Page was still playing bass and Jeff Beck holding down the lead duties. Apparently a terrific show. The Yardbirds were the headlining act supported by Los Bravos who were having chart success with their hit song 'Black Is Black.' A local band called the Inroads were the opening act. Unfortunately, for the Santa Monica Civic show, Jeff was absent due to illness. The band played as a four piece with Jimmy Page on guitar using Jeff's Les Paul, with Chris Dreja relegated to bass instead of rhythm guitar. We were disappointed with Beck's no-show. Page's soloing work was pretty choppy and not up at the level that Beck was playing at that time." 

[From a 2015 post by a Washington state blogger named the Big Whistle]


Jan 20, 1967
"Six days after the Human Be-In [in San Francisco], Tim appeared with the Grateful Dead at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Owsley Stanley would later recall, 'Somebody played a sitar and Tim did a rave, and then the band played. He was being Guru Tim. Everything he said was very provocative, 

Fuck authorities. To hell with your parents. Turn on, tune in, drop out. Take acid, don't care about what anyone would say, do as you please.

 He scared a lot of people because they thought he was too weird. And he was. He just kind of went around the bend. Everyone was saying, 

Look, Tim, you're out of control here. You've got to cool it. You're bringing too much heat on everything. We don't want a lot of attention.

[From Timothy Leary: a Biography, by Robert Greenfield]

HELLZA-PLOTZIN! AN AMERICAN JEWISH VARIETY REVUE


Feb 24, 1968
"To a surfer, only two things are important: the sun and the surf. This free and easy attitude is depicted in the new color film Free and Easy." 

STARS FOR McCARTHY: GALA RALLY FOR SENATOR EUGENE McCARTHY

"Stars for McCarthy: Dick Van Dyke, Carl Reiner, Barbara Bane, Martin Landau. Organized by the McCarthy for President Campaign Committee." 

Other celebrity attendees included Myrna Loy, and three Playboy Bunnies.


Aug 28, 1968
"The Who, accompanied by the James Cotton Blues Band and The Caretakers, were booked in for two shows at the Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA but ticket sales were poor so both shows were combined into one. Despite the low turnout of fans, Pete did manage to destroy an Olympic White Fender Strat." 

[From the Official Facebook Page for the Who]


Oct 9, 1968
"There were scattered jeers from demonstrators in a crowd of 7,000 at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. 'We shout down the hecklers,' Nixon said. 'They don't have a chance.' More jeers came. The crowd roared, drowning out the hecklers. 'That's it, sock it to 'em, sock it to 'em,' said Nixon, smiling." 

Hosted by Bill Cosby and Merv Griffin. Outstanding Comedy Series: 

 Outstanding Achievement in Daytime Programming: 

ROLLER DERBY: LOS ANGELES T-BIRDS vs NEW YORK BOMBERS


Nov 15, 1969
Watch the Mount Baker Slush Cup sequence 

"The dominant figure on stage is lead singer-writer-flutist Ian Anderson, a 22-year-old former college art major whose outrageously eccentric antics sometimes resemble a Captain Hook gone mad. From the beginning, many of rock's leading figures—from Elvis Presley to Mick Jagger—have been blessed with a high sense of drama that has added to the impact of their music. Anderson, clearly, is in this tradition. Wearing knee-length boots and an ankle-length coat, he races on stage with eyes bugged open, arms outstretched, fingers moving wildly as if they were pulled by puppet strings. There is an obvious parallel between Anderson's stage antics and those of the Stones' Jagger. Both have supreme confidence on stage, flaunt the audience with their comments, and use the rather deadpan nature of the other members of the groups to accentuate their own actions." 

 to watch Jethro Tull's 1969 Royal Albert Hall performance]


Dec 21, 1969
"There was a time—from 1967 to around the mid-1970s—when you couldn’t walk into a bookstore or record store or turn on a TV or radio without bumping into Rod McKuen. If he wasn’t as big as the Beatles, he was as big as Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass or Jacqueline Susann and certainly more prolific. 'Every enlightened suburban split-level home,' as a profile that appeared in 

in 2002 put it, 'had its share of Rod McKuen.' His mellow poetry was on the end table (

), his lovestruck music and spoken-word recordings were on the hi-fi and his kindly face was on the set, on 

. Guys bought his books to show their girlfriends how sensitive they were and women bought them for their boyfriends to show them what sensitive was. 

"Considering the unarguable brilliance of its records, it is surprising how uninspiring Traffic, who appeared twice at the Santa Monica Civic Sunday night, can be on stage. There is not even the slightest hint of staging or awareness of the audience in the group’s act; one sometimes feels as if he’s being allowed to watch it rehearsing. It must be noted, of course, that no group that features [Steve Winwood's] singing could fail to provide at least a few ecstatic moments. To hear Winwood sing, even if what he's singing is a traditional English folk tune, is to get your money's worth." 

Watch "Dear Mr. Fantasy," live at the Civic in 1972]


Aug 13, 1970
"George Greenough is not God. The image is that George is some god-like eccentric genius who is perfect and therefore produces only perfect things. So he makes a surfing film and calls it 

. The best title ever given a surfing film. If you go by the image you’d expect it to be perfect. But it’s not. George Greenough was beset by the same variables that have beset every other guy who has made a surfing film. You can’t control the weather, the waves, or the rapid progress that surfing has made over the past few years. You spend a lot of time and a lot of money and you come out with some recent hot surfing footage, some not-too-recent mediocre surfing footage, and some ancient shitty surfing footage. You’ve got to make the movie ninety minutes long so you wind up compromising by using some bum film. You put some of the hot stuff at the beginning to stoke everybody so they’ll stick around, you fill the big middle part with the mediocre shitty stuff, and you put the rest of the hot stuff at the end so everybody’s last impression will be good and they’ll tell their friends. The last 15 minutes of 

 will have you screaming and stamping your feet. It was all shot from within the tube. The camera work is excellent and Greenough has set a precedent that all future surf film producers will have to follow. The rest of the surfing in the film ranges from fair to boring." 

HOME DECORATOR EXPO, STEREO, AND BRIDAL SHOW

"Don’t let the title fool you! This is a pure, hard-driving surf film based around last season’s surfing on Hawaii’s North Shore and Maui, along with excellent shots of California and Mexico. In Hawaii, Jepsen has captured some remarkable footage of Jeff Hakman, Barry Kanaiaupuni, Greg Elterman, and all the rest of the Island brothers. Hakman surfs Haleiwa like a symphony conductor with all instruments finely tuned; Barry powers tubes, and Jepsen blends it all together with appropriate sounds ranging from hard rock to classical guitar. Technically the film is occasionally dark and-or fuzzy, and the music isn’t always in sync, but these flaws seem too petty to mention, for the 'full-juice' surfing captured on film is powerful, and Jepsen has held his narration to an effective minimum." 

FOURTH ANNUAL MISS DRILL TEAM USA PAGEANT

David Bowie on Fanny: "One of the finest rock bands of their time. They were extraordinary: They wrote everything, they played like motherfuckers, they were just colossal and wonderful, and nobody’s ever mentioned them." Groundbreaking all-female quartet; 


Feb 5, 1972
"Cheech and Chong, the half-Chicano, half-Chinese comedy team, are to the young, long-haired freak audience what Johnny Carson [is] to the short-haired, straight audience. The zooming popularity of these fuzzy characters is linked inextricably in recent years to touring by rock bands. No longer are rock music freaks content only to buy and play albums, as they did in the early days of the Beatles, the Stones, the Zombies and the Byrds. With the growth of concerts and concert audiences also grew a large, natural audience for comedians. The laughter balances the music. 'It's like Coke and 7-Up,' said Tommy Chong. 'People just can’t drink cola all the time. You need a break, an alternative. People need comedy with their music.' But for years there were no comedians capable of holding a rock audience. There were no laughmakers capable of balancing tho multi-decibel blasts of an Allman Brothers or a Kinks. None, that is, until Cheech and Chong. 

Listen to Cheech and Chong's "Old Man in the Park,"

Read Eve Babitz feature on Five Summer Stories' SM Civic premier.

In July, Carlin was arrested after performing his already infamous "Seven Dirty Words" routine, which he performed for the first time at the Santa Monica Civic. 

Watch George Carlin on the Dick Cavett Show, 1972


Oct 7, 1972
Surf movie by Murray McIntosh, featuring, according to handbill, "French Perfection and Hawaiian Nectar" designed to "Light you up inside your head."


Oct 20, 1972
"The most important rock concert this Fall in Southern California [will] take place this Friday night when England's David Bowie steps onstage at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. There'll be several other notable concerts this year, [including] Elvis Presley, Paul Simon, Marvin Gaye, and Elton John, but Bowie's is the most significant because it will help answer the question of whether he is indeed the exciting new superstar that rock music so desperately needs to lift it from its present doldrums." 

watch Bowie sing "Ziggy Stardust" from the Civic show]

CIVIC-MINDED: HOW THE CIVIC AUDITORIUM HELPED MAKE SANTA MONICA A FIRST-RATE SURF TOWN

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