Dick Dale/The Not So Good Ole Boys

When Dick Dale was starting out as a pioneer of the surf rock sound of the 1960s, he had a tendency to blow out most of the guitar amplifiers that were popular at the time. Fender Guitar saw his problem as a challenge and teamed up with Dale to create the Fender Showman, an amp that would redefine how people experienced live music because of its ability to withstand Dale’s screaming guitar licks. Fans of the film Pulp Fiction will recognize the familiar tremolo of “Misirlou,” but his other hits — like “Pipeline” and “Let’s Go Trippin’” — are truly historical in the way that they defined such a unique style of rock and roll before The Beatles had ever even reached America. Oh, and if every other neat fact about him wasn’t enough to grab your attention, the dude just happened to turn 76 years old this past May. (Jacob DeSmit)