Miserlou

"Miserlou" (sometimes rendered "Misirlou") is a traditional Mediterranean song dating to the 1920s and originating in Greece. It was la The word roughly translates to "Arab Land." Dick Dale reworked the song using his trademark Surf Rock sound, and this became the version of the song that caught on in America. It was released as a single on the Del-Tone label in 1962, and later that year as "Miserlou Twist" on his first album Surfers' Choice. As Surf Rock caught on, the song was recorded by The Beach Boys, The Ventures, The Surfaris, The Bobby Fuller Four and just about anyone looking for the young California sound.

Variations of the song have appeared in numerous movies, but when Dick Dale's version was used to open the 1994 movie Pulp Fiction, it revived both Dale's career and the Surf Music genre. Dale earned his first appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman a few weeks after the movie came out, and became a popular live act once again. His success in the '60s was limited to America, but this time he was welcomed in the UK, as well as Australia and Japan, where his sound caught on and he made tour appearances for the first time. Dale's "Miserlou" was also used in the movies Space Jam and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.

Dale included a traditional version of the song on his 1993 album Tribal Thunder as a hidden track (you can thank Nirvana for the hidden track craze of the early '90s). Dale was showing his producer how the song was done originally, and they decided to include it with the set.