ANOS 50 THE VENTURES OS PIONEIROS DO ROCK

The Ventures é uma banda instrumental estadunidense formada inicialmente como The Versatones em 1958 por Bob Bogle e Don Wilson, em Tacoma, Washington. É conhecida por seus clássicos Walk Don't Run, Surf Rider, Journey To The Star, Driving Guitars, Yellow Jacket e Bumble Bee Twist.
A banda começou de maneira independente, tocando em pequenos bares. Em 1959, Nokie Edwards (guitarra baixo) e Skip Moore (bateria) entraram para a banda. Na época, compuseram e gravaram "Walk Don't Run", um de seus maiores sucessos, mas nenhuma gravadora se interessou pelo som.
A solução encontrada foi fundar uma pequena gravadora, a "Blue Horizon Records", patrocinados pela mãe de Don Wilson. Trabalhando como seus próprios produtores, gravaram a música em formato single em vinil de 45 rpm e começaram a se auto-promover.
Ainda em 1959, um DJ de Seattle usou "Walk Don't Run" como vinheta de abertura de um programa de rádio. Foi então que o empresário Bob Reisdorf, dono da Dolton Records, escutou, quis conhecer e acabou contratando os Ventures. Em 1960, a música ocupou durante uma semana o segundo lugar na Billboard Top 100. Em 1968, outra música dos Ventures ficou famosa: "Hawaii 5-0". Ela foi usada como trilha de abertura de um seriado policial com o mesmo nome.
Na virada dos anos 70 para os anos 80, a banda foi redescoberta pelo público punk e new wave interessado na surf music. A banda Go-Go's até gravou uma música - "Surfin and Spying" - em sua homenagem. Nos anos 90, The Ventures ganharam outra grande publicidade, quando Quentin Tarantino incluiu a música "Surf Rider" na trilha sonora do filme de violência "Pulp Fiction".
Na segunda ida do o grupo ao Japão, em 1965, época em que houve também a ida da banda The Astronauts, e apresentação conjunta com as bandas locais Jannys e Terauchi Takeshi and Blue Jeans, houve o "boom" da música instrumental de guitarra, com aumento da venda de discos e de guitarras elétricas. Foram vendidas 50.000 guitarras elétricas em 2 anos, levando à abertura de 120 fábricas para atender a demanda, e até fábricantes de máquinas de costura começaram a produzir guitarras. Foram abertos vários concursos e torneios de guitarras em programas de TV (FujiTV, NTV, NET) e por fabricantes de guitarras. A partir daí, The Ventures sempre associou a venda de discos com a venda de guitarras elétricas.
A banda sempre fez muito sucesso fora dos Estados Unidos, na Europa e principalmente no Japão. Dezenas de discos foram produzidos especialmente para o mercado japonês e, desde 1960 até hoje, The Ventures, anualmente, fica 3 meses e faz mais de 50 shows de auditório, em turnê pelo país oriental. Já fizeram mais de 2000 shows no Japão, onde têm um público fiel.
Os Ventures nunca cancelaram seus shows programados, mesmo na indisponibilidade de algum integrante. Em 1996, tiveram as suas mãos eternizadas no "Rock Walk of Fame" de Hollywood.
Em 10 de março de 2008, The Ventures entraram para "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" com a música Walk Don't Run e Hawaii 5-0. Ano que comemorou os 50 Anos da Banda.
A Banda produziu mais de 200 álbuns em CD, 250 álbuns em formato LP e 150 (45rpm) compactos. Mais de 110.000.000 de unidades vendidas. 40.000.000 somente no Japão.
Studio albums (December 1960) Walk Don't Run (Not The Ventures on the front cover, but employees of Liberty Records substituting for the group, who were on a promotional tour) (July 1961) The Ventures (September 1961) Another Smash!!! (October 1961) The Colorful Ventures (January 1962) Twist with the Ventures (May 1962) Twist Party, Volume 2 (August 1962) Mashed Potatoes And Gravy (November 1962) Going to the Ventures' Dance Party! (January 1963) The Ventures Play "Telstar" and "The Lonely Bull" (April 1963) Bobby Vee Meets the Ventures (May 1963) Surfing (June 1963) Ventures Play the Country Classics (August 1963) Let's Go! (January 1964) The Ventures In Space (July 1964) The Fabulous Ventures (October 1964) Walk, Don't Run, Vol. 2 (February 1965) The Ventures Knock Me Out! (1965) Play Guitar, Vol. 1 (1965) Play Guitar, Vol. 2 (1965) Play Guitar, Vol. 3 (1965) Play Guitar, Vol. 4: Play Electric Bass (November 1965) Christmas Album (1965) Adventures in Paradise (February 1966) Where the Action Is! (March 1966) The Ventures Play the "Batman" Theme (1966) All About the Ventures (June 1966) Go With the Ventures! (September 1966) Wild Things! (February 1967) Guitar Freakout (June 1967) Super Psychedelics (December 1967) $1,000,000 Weekend (1967) Play Guitar, Vol. 7 (1967) Revolving Sounds (May 1968) Flights of Fantasy (August 1968) The Horse (January 1969) Underground Fire (May 1969) Hawaii Five-O (December 1969) Swamp Rock (1970) On the Scene (October 1970) 10th Anniversary Album (April 1971) New Testament (January 1972) Theme from "Shaft" (March 1972) Joy: Play the Classics (September 1972) Rock and Roll Forever (April 1974) Jim Croce Songbook (1974) Best of Pops Sounds (July 1974) The Ventures Play the Carpenters (August 1975) Now Playing (1976) Hollywood (March 1976) Rocky Road: The New Ventures (1976) Sunflower '76 (February 1977) TV Themes (1979) Latin Album (1980) Chameleon (1981) 60's Pops (1982) St. Lois Memory (1982) The Last Album on Liberty (June 1983) NASA 25th Anniversary Commemorative Album (1996) The Ventures Favorites (1997) Guitars on Mars (1997) Wild Again (1998) New Depths (1999) Walk Don't Run 2000 Nancy Sinatra vocal on "Kicks" (2001) Plays Southern All Stars (2002) The Ventures Play the Greatest Instrumental Hits (2002) Christmas Joy (2003) Gold (2004) Ventures Forever (2005) Ventures a Go-Go   Live albums (1965) The Ventures in Japan (1965) The Ventures in Japan, Vol. 2 (1965) The Ventures on Stage (1967) The Ventures on Stage Encore (1968) The Ventures Live, Again! (1968) The Ventures in Tokyo '68 (1970) Live! The Ventures (1971) Pops in Japan '71 (1971) The Ventures on Stage '71 (1972) The Ventures on Stage '72 (1973) Pops in Japan '73 (1973) The Ventures on Stage '73 (1974) The Ventures Special '74 on Japanese Tour (1974) The Ventures on Stage '74 (1975) The Ventures on Stage '75 (1976) The Ventures on Stage '76 (1977) Live in Japan '77 (1980) Super Live '80 (1981) Live in L.A. (1984) Original Members: Live in Japan (1995) Live in Japan '65 (1998) On Stage Encore / The Ventures Live, Again! (1999) Ventures In Japan/Ventures In Japan, Vol. 2 (2001) Live in Japan 2000 (2003) In Japan Live-2000 (2004) In Japan, Vol. 1-2 (2004) Pops in Japan, Vol. 1-2 (2004) Summer & Winter: Live (2005) Alive Five-O Hits Live   Compilations (1963) Tarantella / Memphis (July 1966) Running Strong (1966) The Versatile Ventures (1967) 8 Miles High (September 1967) Golden Greats (January 1968) Guitar Genius of the Ventures (1968) Pops in Japan / Pops in Japan, Vol. 2 (October 1969) Super Group (March 1970) More Golden Greats (February 1971) A Decade with the Ventures (November 1971) Ventures (August 1973) Only Hits (1974) Legendary Masters (January 1975) The Very Best of the Ventures (1975) 15th Anniversary Album: 15 Years of Japanese Pops (1975) The Ventures' 15th Anniversary (1976) Early Sounds of the Ventures (1977) 20 Greatest Hits (December 1980) Greatest Hits (1980) Rare Collections for Great Collectors (1980) The Best 10, Vol. 2 (1981) The Ventures Greatest Hits (1981) The Very Best of the Ventures (1983) Heritage Series: Movie Themes (1983) Heritage Series: Spotlight (1983) The Ventures Today (1986) Best of the Ventures (1986) Television's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (1986) The Collection (1987) Compact Ventures (1987) The Best of the Ventures (1988) Radical Guitars (1989) Christmas Classics (1989) Walk Don't Run: All Time Greatest Hits (1990) EP Collection (1990) Legendary Masters: The Best of the Ventures (1990) Walk--Don't Run: The Best of the Ventures (1992) Greatest Hits (1992) Legends of Rock 'n' Roll (1992) Only the Hits (1992) The Ventures Play Telstar / Ventures in Space (1995) Another Smash!!! / The Colourful Ventures (1995) Best of the Ventures (1995) Guitar Freakout / Super Psychedelics (1995) Hollywood's Hottest Hits (1995) Original (1995) Play the Carpenters / The Jim Croce Songbook (1995) Play the Hits (1995) Surfing (1995) Twist with the Ventures / The Ventures' Twist Party, Vol. 2 (1995) Ventures A Go-Go / Where the Action Is! (1995) Walk Don't Run, Vol. 2 / Ventures Knock Me Out! (1995) Walk Don't Run / Ventures (1996) Another Smash!!! / Ventures (1996) Best of Pops Sounds / Go with the Ventures (1996) Flights of Fantasy / The Ventures in Space (1996) Flights of Fantasy / Underground Fire (1996) Go With the Ventures! / Batman Theme (1996) Greatest Hits (1996) Hawaii Five-O / Swamp Rock (1996) Joy! The Ventures Play the Classics / Latin Album (1996) Mashed Potatoes and Gravy / Going to the Ventures Dance Party! (1996) Super Psychedelics / $1,000,000 Weekend (1996) Surfing / Colorful Ventures (1996) Tele-Ventures: The Ventures Perform the Great TV Themes (1996) Underground Fire / Hollywood Metal Dynamic Sound 3000 (1996) Walk Don't Run / Walk, Don't Run, Vol. 2 (1996) Where the Action Is! / The Ventures Knock Me Out! (1997) 36 All Time Greatest Hits (1997) Batman / TV Themes (1997) Guitar Freakout / Wild Things! (1997) In the Vaults (1997) Let's Go / Ventures Play the Country Classics (1997) Lonely Bull / $1,000,000 Weekend (1997) New Testament / More Golden Greats (1997) Play Guitar with the Ventures (1997) Play Guitar, Vol. 3 / Play Guitar, Vol. 4: Play Electric Bass (1997) Play Guitar, Vols. 1 & 2 (1997) Rock and Roll Forever / Now Playing (1997) Swamp Rock / Hawaii Five-O (1997) TV Themes / Bobby Vee Meets the Ventures (1997) The Fabulous Ventures / The Ventures a Go-Go (1997) The Ventures (1997) Ventures on Stage / Surfing (1997) Wild Things! / Fabulous Ventures (1998) Classic 60's Themes (1998) EP Collection, Vol. 3 (1998) Horse / New Testament (1998) On Stage Encore / The Ventures Live, Again! (1998) Play Guitar, Vols. 1-4 & 7 (1998) Stars on Guitars (1998) The Night Has a Thousand Eyes / Bobby Vee Meets the Ventures (1998) Theme from Shaft / Rocky Road (1999) Golden Pops / Pops in Japan '71 (1999) In the Vaults, Vol. 2 (1999) Rock & Roll Forever / Rocky Road (1999) The Ventures (1999) The Ventures' 10th Anniversary Album / Only Hits (1999) Theme From Shaft / Horse (1999) Ventures In Japan / Ventures In Japan, Vol. 2 (2000) Best of the Ventures: Walk Don't Run (2000) Gold (2000) Hawaii Five-O: Remixed Hits & More (2000) Play Screen Themes (2000) Story (2000) Ventures Gold, Vol. 2 (2001) The Ultimate Collection (2001) The Ventures Play the Greatest Surfin' Hits of All Time (2001) Ventures Gold, Vol. 3 (2002) Hyper Gold (2002) Surf Rock Anthology (2002) The Ventures Play the Greatest Instrumental Hits of All-Time (2003) All Time Greatest Hits (2003) Surfin' With the Ventures (2003) The Ventures Play the Greatest Instrumental Hits of All Time, Vol. 2 (2003) Your Hit Parade 60's (2004) Best of, Vol. 1-2 (2004) Guitar Legends (2004) In Japan, Vol. 1-2 (2004) Pops a la Carte (2004) Pops in Japan, Vol. 1-2 (2004) Sixties Guitar Party (2004) Super Deluxe (2004) Super Now (2004) Surfin' to Baja (2004) Walk Don't Run: Very Best Of (2005) 10th Anniversary Album (2005) In the Vaults, Vol. 3 (2005) Platinum Collection (2005) Ventures   Videos (1966) Live in Japan (1980) Concert UK (1981) Live in L.A. (1984) Original Members: Live in Japan (1984) Golden hits (1990) Live in Japan '90 (2001) Inside the Music: Surf's Up (2004) 45th Anniversary Memorial Concert (2004) Live in Japan '93 (2005) Beloved Invaders   Box sets (1993) Billboard Top Rock 'n' Roll Hits: 1957-1961 (1993) Super Box of Rock, Vol. 2 (1995) Rock Instrumental Classics, Vols. 1-5 (1996) Cowabunga! The Surf Box (1997) 36 All Time Greatest Hits (1997) Born to Be Wild (1997) Play Guitar with the Ventures (1997) The Ultimate History of Rock 'N' Roll Collection (1998) 100 Jukebox Hits: 50's & 60's (1998) Yuletide Soiree Party Pack (1999) Endless Summer Legends, Vols. 1-3 (1999) Hot Rod Box Set (2000) Brain in a Box: The Science Fiction Collection   Singles (1959) Cookies and Coke (1959) The Twomp (1960) Walk Don't Run (1960) Perfidia (1961) Ram-Bunk-Shush (1961) Lullaby Of The Leaves (1962) Yellow Jacket (1962) Instant Guitars (1962) Lolita Ya-Ya (1962) The 2000 Pound Bee (1963) The Ninth Wave (1963) The Savage (1963) Journey To The Stars (1964) Fugitive (1964) Walk Don't Run '64 (1964) Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1965) Diamond Head (1965) Pedal Pusher (1965) Bird Rockers (1965) Sleigh Ride/Snowflakes (Greensleeves) (1968) Flights of Fantasy (1969) Hawaii Five-0 (1970) Changing Times (1991) Wipe Out (1997) Surf on Guitar Medley   Soundtracks (1986) Television's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (1993) This Boy's Life (1996) Very Brady Sequel (2000) Cinemadness: Cool Songs From Hot Flicks (2000) Movie Madness: Cool Songs From Hot Flicks (2000) Tao of Steve (2001) 61*   See also The Ventures   Hawaii Five-O   Batman (TV series)   Peter Gunn

The Ventures
Informação geral
Apelido	The Versatones The New Ventures
Origem	Tacoma, Washington
País	Estados Unidos
Gênero(s)	Rock Instrumental surf rock
Período em atividade	1958 - presente
Gravadora(s)	Dolton Liberty United Artists Tridex Capitol
Página oficial	www.theventures.com
Integrantes
Don Wilson Nokie Edwards Gerry McGee Bob Spalding Leon Taylor
Ex-integrantes
Bob Bogle Howie Johnson Mel Taylor John Durrill Joe Barile George Babbitt Skip Moore