On This Day in 1963, the Beach Boys Debuted on the Hot 100 With the First Song Brian Wilson Ever Wrote

August 3, 2026, 2:20pm

On this day (August 3) in 1963, the Beach Boys entered the Billboard Hot 100 with “Surfer Girl.” Roughly a month later, the single peaked at No. 7, becoming the band’s second top 10 single. Notably, Brian Wilson has claimed that this was the first song he wrote. However, that, along with many other facts about the song’s origin, has been disputed over the years.

Some facts about “Surfer Girl” are chiseled in stone. For instance, there’s no doubt that Wilson wrote it. Moreover, it was a slight break from what the Beach Boys had been doing for the past two years. Most of their singles had been surf-related. This track sits comfortably under that umbrella. However, it goes outside the mold of cars, girls, and waves. Instead, it is a love song with strong harmonies. Later, Wilson would call it the band’s “ballad theme song.”

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According to Songfacts, the single version of “Surfer Girl” wasn’t the first recording. The Beach Boys cut the song for the first time in February 1962. However, it was not broadcast quality. It was later released on Becoming the Beach Boys: The Complete Hits & Dorinda Morgan Sessions in 2016.

Digging Into the Lore of This Beach Boys Hit

First, Brian Wilson says that “Surfer Girl” is the first song he wrote. However, some high school classmates have come forward over the years to dispute this. Additionally, he initially claimed that the song was inspired by a girl he was dating at the time. That would have been Judy Bowles, who inspired “Judy.” However, in his biography, he said that he didn’t have anyone in mind when he wrote it.

Wilson has also given conflicting stories about how he wrote the song. All of them start with him in his car. Usually, he recalls driving to a hot dog stand. In one version, he created a melody in his head. Then, he went home and worked up the song using that melody.

In another version, he was humming along with a song on the radio. Then, he turned the radio off and kept humming it. He used that melody as the foundation for what he wrote in the car, then went home to finish it. Most of the time, the song he was humming was Dion and the Belmonts’ cover of “When You Wish Upon a Star.”

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