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Randy Nauert Paddle Out

A paddle out held on Tuesday … at Surfrider Beach .. for Randy Nauert … a Malibu original. Nauert was never as famous as Dick Dale … but he followed a similar career ark. The teenaged surfer from the Palos Verdes Peninsula started making music in the surf wave of the early 1960s. His group was called The Challengers. Originally known as The Bel-Airs, they were one of the earliest “surf bands,” initially playing school dances and small clubs around Hermosa Beach. Words from 991KBU
Photos from Sandy Sandbakken


A paddle out held on Tuesday , April 16th … at Surfrider Beach .. for Randy Nauert … a Malibu original. Nauert was never as famous as Dick Dale … but he followed a similar career ark.

The teenaged surfer from the Palos Verdes Peninsula started making music in the surf wave of the early 1960s.

His group was called The Challengers.

Originally known as The Bel-Airs, they were one of the earliest “surf bands,” initially playing school dances and small clubs around Hermosa Beach.

In January 1963 they released “Surfbeat” …. it became a massive hit and helped put the surf rock genre on the map.

Nauert moved to Malibu … his T V show Wave Watch was a staple on malibu public access television for 104 episodes.

Nauert lived in Encinal Canyon … he was a familiar sight in his Arson Watch van around Malibu.

His compound burned in the Woolsey Fire … he suffered a heart attack while clearing land two months after the fire.

At the paddle out … his longtime friend and TV show associate Peter Townsend said it was the fire.

“I would think that those fires had an effect on Randy. Because t was his nature to help everybody. And every time you would see a photo on Facebook, he loved his Facebook, there would see a photo of him helping somebody. You know Randy was in his 70s now. And he was up there clearing properties, and friggin’ treating them as if he was a teenager. And I’m sure that didn’t help him when he finally has a heart attack.”

Randy Nauert was eulogized by his longtime friend … John Mazza.

“He really was the spirit of Malibu.”



Randy's band still has their music on Amazon:

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