US musician hailed as the King of the Surf Guitar who found new fame when his recording of Misirlou was used in Pulp Fiction Dick Dale, who has died aged 81, was the American guitarist whose powerful twang saw him hailed as the King of the Surf Guitar. His chart success in the 1960s was brief, yet as a pioneer of the electric guitar his influence was immense, and in 1994 he won a huge new audience when Quentin Tarantino used Dale’s 1962 recording of the Greek standard Misirlou over the opening credits of his hit film Pulp Fiction. Dale’s 1961 single, Let’s Go Trippin’, issued on his own label, Del-Tone Records, is now considered the first surf record. The following year, on Misirlou (originally titled Miserlou), he mixed Arabic scales with reverb to create one of the most exciting instrumentals in rock history. Continue reading...