Musician. Born Robert Graham Demmon, he was a guitarist best known as a member of the classic surf band The Astronauts. He helped form the instrumental quintet with a friend, bassist Stormy Patterson, with the advent of the surf music craze in the early 1960s. Gaining popularity with live performances throughout the midwest, they were noticed by an RCA Victor Records executive in 1962 and signed to a recording contact. The following year they released their first album and scored an international hit single with the track "Baja". The Astronauts released six more albums, with singles including "Competition Coupe", "Banzai Pipeline", appeared in the films "Surf Party" (1964) and "Speedy Gonzales" (1965), and toured Japan. After the group disbanded in the late 1960s, Demmon became a successful teacher in Coronado, California and was the director of the award-winning Coronado High School Marching Band.
Musician. Born Robert Graham Demmon, he was a guitarist best known as a member of the classic surf band The Astronauts. He helped form the instrumental quintet with a friend, bassist Stormy Patterson, with the advent of the surf music craze in the early 1960s. Gaining popularity with live performances throughout the midwest, they were noticed by an RCA Victor Records executive in 1962 and signed to a recording contact. The following year they released their first album and scored an international hit single with the track "Baja". The Astronauts released six more albums, with singles including "Competition Coupe", "Banzai Pipeline", appeared in the films "Surf Party" (1964) and "Speedy Gonzales" (1965), and toured Japan. After the group disbanded in the late 1960s, Demmon became a successful teacher in Coronado, California and was the director of the award-winning Coronado High School Marching Band.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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