The Marketts were an American instrumental pop group, formed in Hollywood, California. They are best known for their 1963 million-seller, "Out of Limits".
Contents |
The Marketts' line-up constantly changed, being made up of various session musicians from the Los Angeles area. The group's direction was spearheaded by producer Joe Saraceno, although Saraceno did not arrange or play on any of the group's material.[1] They are best remembered for their surf rock hits, though not all of their material has this sound; Saraceno took the group's style in whatever direction he thought would catch the record-buying public's ear. In the U.S., the group had three Top 40 hits and had two popular albums.
The Marketts surfer sound was actually members of The Wrecking Crew in disguise. In the rockumentary The Wrecking Crew, Saraceno admitted that "Surfer's Stomp" was done by the Crew, and it wasn't until after it hit big, that he assembled The Marketts from kids off the street. In January 1962, the British music magazine NME noted that "Surfer's Stomp" was doing well stateside.[2]
The Marketts' biggest hit was originally entitled "Outer Limits", named after the television program of the same name; however, Rod Serling sued the Marketts for quoting the 4 note motif from his television show "The Twilight Zone" without his approval, which resulted in the change of the title to "Out of Limits". (Source: "Dick Clark's 25 Years of Rock and Roll".) It reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1964. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[3] The band name was used as late as 1977 for further releases, though their last hit came in 1966.