The Astronauts

Alongside Minnesota’s Trashmen, the Astronauts (from Colorado) were the leading landlocked Midwestern surf band of the ’60s. They documented several singles and albums and accomplished vast regional recognition, but only obtained one modest nationwide strike, “Baja.” With small material of their very own, they judiciously tapped heavyweights like Lee Hazelwood (who published “Baja”), Roger Religious, and Gary Usher, in addition to covering music by Dick Dale and Henry Mancini. The group shone brightest on the instrumentals, that used mounds of Fender reverb and two tempo guitars; if they sang, the outcomes were significantly less successful.