Pulp Fiction Singles

Ensemble of two original CD singles from 1994, released for promotion of the “Pulp Fiction” film soundtrack.

The first single contains “Misirlou”, a folk song from the Eastern Mediterranean region, with origins in the Ottoman Empire. The original author of the song is not known, but Arabic, Greek and Jewish musicians were playing it by the 1920’s. In 1962, Dick Dale rearranged the song as a solo instrumental rock guitar piece. During a performance, Dale was bet by a young fan that he could not play a song on only one string of his guitar. Dale’s father and uncles were Lebanese-American musicians, and Dale remembered seeing his uncle play “Misirlou” on one string of the oud. He vastly increased the song’s tempo to make it into rock & roll. And so, it was Dale’s surf rock version that introduced “Misirlou” to a wider audience. The Beach Boys recorded a similar version for the 1963 album “Surfin’ USA”, solidifying “Misirlou” as a staple of American pop culture. In 1994, not only Dale’s career was rebooted after “Misirlou” was made the opening theme for “Pulp Fiction”, but the entire instrumental surf rock genre was popular again. Also on this CD single are an interview with Tarantino, and “You Never Can Tell” by Chuck Berry, including the movie dialogue.

The second single is Urge Overkill’s version of the Neil Diamond classic “Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon”, backed with “Bustin’ Surfboards by the Tornadoes, another old surf banger. The items are not for sale seperately, you get both singles. The cardboard sleeve of the Urge Overkill single looks a bit used, the rest of both items is tip top.