(always cast as “Dick
Dale”) 
If
there is a primary musician in this series, it’s Dick “inventor of
surf guitar” Dale, even though only appeared in the first two
films. He has several
numbers in Beach Party and is clearly made the “house band
leader” in Muscle Beach Party. He even had a handful of
speaking lines in the latter, which was rare; none of the other
musicians subsequently cast in these movies got to open their mouths
other than to introduce a number or sing the verses in their
songs.
Dale was one of the oldest members of the cast, having been born
in the 1930s to Lebanese and Polish parents. As a child in New England,
he grew up listening to folk music from both cultures, which
some of his fans feel had a major impact on his sense of melody and
the approach to playing.
Coming of age in the 1940s he also heard lots of big
band music, and became particularly interested in the drummer Gene
Krupa, whose wild, rhythmic style may have impacted Dale’s approach
to guitar.
Dick gained fame in 1962 when he recorded his first
album, Surfer’s Choice, on the Del-Tone label. Surfer’ Choice was
notable both as both the first surf music album and as a major
regional hit across Southern California. That popularity caught the
attention of L.A. based Capitol Records, which contracted Dale and
subsequently provided national distribution for the album.
By the following year, things were really taking
off for Dick. In
addition to his appearance in Beach Party,
he was featured in a Life Magazine article and got booked
onto the Ed Sullivan Show. During the following
years, he released several follow up albums on Capitol and developed
his famous relationship with Leo Fender (of Fender guitars). Dick and Leo worked together
to develop stronger and louder guitars and amps, engineering which
hugely affected the subsequent development of rock n’
roll.
Dale was moving from regional to
national celebrity at the time of these movies, which were not
his first. He and his band the Del-Tones had appeared in
several low budget "rock n' roll" films prior to Beach
Party, but these were really the first "major"
productions they participated in. As one will note from
score section of this site, AIP, Music Scorer Baxter and Director
Asher never really figured out how to best leverage Dale (he is used
as "audio wallpaper" far too often, and doesn't get nearly enough
solo performance screen time), which I suspect may have led to some
frustration on his part and departure after the second
film. 
Interestingly, after Dick ‘left,”
the producers at AIP didn’t subsequently put other brand name surf
bands in the series (the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, Astronauts,
Fantastic Baggies, etc.) even though the latter were
available. Jan and Dean material appeared in “Ride the Wild
Surf” in 1964, the Beach Boys were cast in “Girls on the Beach”
in 1965 and the Astronauts showed up in a bunch of Beach Party
Clones (“Wild, Wild Winter,” "Wild on the Beach,"
etc.) Why is mystery,
although I hypothesize AIP – which was infamous for making films as
cheaply as possible – probably looked into it but was unwilling to
pay whatever agents for those groups were
asking. 
As
any guitar fan knows, Dale is an active artist who still tours
regularly and whose concerts continue to attract
large, young crowds. As such, he and Frankie
Avalon are the only remaining musical stars of these
films who are really "still out there" (Dale more than
Avalon; he
focuses solely on music, while Avalon has a number of interests and
hence a more tangential focus on
performing).
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