Drew Steele
(August 6, 1957)-(October 5, 2021)

By Harvey Kubernik 

     Drew Steele, co-founder of the Surf Punks, performance artist, painter and voice over and collage artist died in Hawaii after a heroic 2 year battle with cancer.

     Steele is survived by his wife Jill Steele, children Shelby Steele and Jade Steele, mother Patti MacLeod, brother Tommy Steele and sister Stephanie Zalin.

     Andrew Kenton Steele was born in Lewes, Delaware. The family subsequently moved to West Los Angeles and the Pacific Palisades area.  He is a graduate of Pacific Palisades High School and attended Santa Monica City College.  

    A former AFTRA and SAG member, as a pre-teen, Steele appeared in national television commercials and TV shows, including Nanny and the Professor.

   During the late seventies and early eighties, Steele worked at Euphoria Records in Malibu, California.  He often said “that besides performing as a musician the Euphoria job was his favorite job of his adult life.”

    Steele formed the pop punk band Surf Punks in 1976 with fellow Malibu/Zuma resident Dennis Dragon, who engineered and produced their first recording, “My Beach” b/w “My Wave” recorded in Dragon’s Rear Entry studio. It was issued in Australia by Malibu resident Denny Cordell on his Shelter Records label. 

      The Surf Punks made their live band debut in 1978 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.  Steele and Dragon teamed for a debut self-titled LP, Surf Punks on their independent Day-Glo Records label, garnering radio airplay in Southern California on FM stations KROQ-FM and KXLU-FM. In 1980 Epic Records signed the band and reissued their disc.

     In 1979-1982, the Surf Punks aided by additional musicians and friends performed at the Whisky a Go Go, the Roxy Theatre, Starwood and then at the Aloha Stadium Jam in Hawaii along with Foreigner and Joan Jett.

    “Drew was a nice guy and easy to work with. I saw his humorous band the Surf Punks which featured all manner of mayhem and wild abandon live,” offered photographer and writer, Heather Harris.

    “Their onstage set decor included working blenders for making smoothies for the band between and during songs, Malibu real estate ‘for sale’ signs and assorted beach props. Yes, his wife and he cut out for Hawaii eventually, but it's hard to think of this chapter of L.A. beach music lore closed forever,”

   Johnny Rivers and his Soul City label released the single “Surf's Up Medley.”  The Surf Punks via songwriter Scott Goddard later collaborated with Leon Russell at his Paradise studios on video endeavors.

   Other albums by the Surf Punks were Locals Only, Oh No! Not Them Again, and Party Bomb.      

   Steele appeared in numerous Surf Punks’ videos including “My Beach,” “Shark Attack,” “Welcome to California,” “Come On-A My House (a fabulous Rosemary Clooney cover) and in movies Skateboard Madness, Urgh!  A Music War and Under the Boardwalk. 

    Steele had solo cameos in Rockula, and Back to the Beach. And, who can ever forget the appearance of Drew and Dennis on The People’s Court TV show?    

    The multi-talented Drew Steele also participated in a slew of spoken word, poetry and performance art bookings around Southern California and at various clubs and record stores. He was taped for the seminal music and art series Goodnight L.A. in 1985 broadcast on ABC-TV Friday evenings in the Los Angeles market.   

   A true artist and renaissance man, often overlooked by the Surf Punks’ territorial rantings and humor-laced tunes, Drew’s creative eye influenced everything in his life from his home to the gardens he designed and maintained.

      His particular talent for lighting, design and costumes was first evident in the Surf Punks sets. These multi-media shows influenced bands that came later including the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

     In addition to appearing in films like Back to the Beach and Under the Boardwalk he was hired for these productions to authenticate the surf clothing and provide props.

    Following his sonic and visual expedition with the Surf Punks, Steele became a member of the band Crowbar Salvation. Band photographer Paul Brown commented, “A sad day for all... he was a great person....always so funny....one of a kind....I am so sad....we worked together on Crowbar Salvation's album cover and other photo shoots in 1988/’89. He was the nicest guy ever........he will be missed by many but never forgotten.....”

     Drew Steele’s first priority was always family: Earlier this century he relocated to Hawaii with his wife Jill. He was a devoted father to Shelby and Jade.

   Drew always joked that “if he hadn’t left Los Angeles when he did, he would have been in rehab.”

    Drew was a generous soul and it was an honor to have known and worked with him on assorted projects and with the Surf Punks.

     I was a stage member in their live shows, portraying a Dummy at a Life Guard station, and later co-producing and co-publishing with Dennis Dragon, “Cool Patrol,” a recording featuring former KLOS-FM deejay Frazer Smith. It became a regional hit. Television producers Mark Tinker and Bruce Paltrow heard it, and eventually broadcast on an episode of their TV series The White Shadow.