The Original 1986

Bob & the Beachcombers

Thirty years of rock & roll in the Land of 10,000 Beaches, and still Minnesota didn't have a beach party band to call it's own. Bob was determined to make rock & roll history, and so it was that the original Beachcombers band debuted on December 7, 1986, with original members:

• Doug "The Snake" Locken on lead guitar
• Sally "Surfboard Sal" Westermeyer on drums
• Dick "Bird Dog" Erickson on bass
• Bob "The Big Kahuna" Burtis on keyboards, sax, and guitar.

In no time at all, they were making waves throughout the Twin Cities and across the upper Midwest.

Bob & the Beachcombers 1987

Next summer, the Beachcombers were the featured weekday attraction at the Valleyfair Amusement Park in Shakopee, Minnesota, with their original show, Beach Party Summer. Two performances daily introduced the new band to thousands of people from around the country.

An ever-expanding list of special events, city celebrations, corporate clients, and public shows took them across the Midwest, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Minot, North Dakota, and Bemidji, Minnesota, to Lincoln, Nebraska.

Bob & the Beachcombers 1990

Lee Sherseth left to play the blues, and gave up his job to Bill "Bogus" Quirk, joining Bob and Dick in the strongest Beachcomber line-up yet. Two new fully staged and costumed theme parties were introduced, called Saturday Night Cruise and Rock & Roll High School.

The Minnesota Surf sound was coming into its own, and the Beachcombers began showing up on cable TV broadcasts throughout the Twin Cities area and the Beachcombers broadened their family entertainment format to include performances at everything from ECFE groups and daycare centers to company picnics and Arts In the Parks shows around the five state area.