Jan & Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late-1950s through the mid-1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry, born April 3, 1941, and Dean Ormsby Torrence, born March 10, 1940. Although Jan & Dean pre-dated The Beach Boys, they became most famously associated with the "surf music" craze inspired by The Beach Boys.

It's almost too easy to underestimate the importance of Jan & Dean in the history of rock & roll and its evolution into rock. The mere mention of their name today evokes images of suntanned, California teens dancing and surfing on the beaches of Malibu. The ultimate good-time music act of the early '60s, who only earned one gold record, for their song, "Surf City."{1}