Jan and Dean

Jan and Dean were an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music styles later popularized by the Beach Boys.

Among their most successful songs was 1963's "Surf City", the first surf song to reach the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Their other charting top 10 singles were "Baby Talk" (1959), "Drag City" (1963), "Dead Man's Curve" (1964; inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008,) and "The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)" (1964).

In 1972, Torrence won the Grammy Award for Best Album Cover for the psychedelic rock band Pollution's first eponymous 1971 album, and was nominated three other times in the same category for albums of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. In 2013, Torrence's design contribution of the Surf City Allstars' In Concert CD was named a Silver Award of Distinction at the Communicator Awards competition.

William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004), was born in Los Angeles to Clara Lorentze Mustad (born September 2, 1919, Bergen, Norway – died July 9, 2009) and aeronautical engineer William L. Berry (born December 7, 1909, New York City – died December 19, 2004, Camarillo, California), He was raised in Bel Air, Los Angeles. Jan's father worked for Howard Hughes as a project manager of the "Spruce Goose" and flew on its only flight with Hughes.

Dean Ormsby Torrence (born (1940-03-10) March 10, 1940 (age 85)) was born in Los Angeles, the son of Natalie Ormsby (April 10, 1911 – August 10, 2008) and Maurice Dean Torrence (December 5, 1907 – November 16, 1997). His father, Maurice, was a graduate of Stanford University, and was a sales manager at the Wilshire Oil Company.

Berry and Torrence met while both were students at Emerson Junior High School in Westwood, Los Angeles, and both were on the school's football team. By 1957, they were students in the class of 1958 at the nearby University High School, where again they were both on the school's football team, the Warriors. Berry and Torrence had adjoining lockers, and after football practice, they began harmonizing together in the showers with several other football players, including future actor James Brolin.

In order to enter a talent competition at University High School, Berry and Torrence helped form a doo-wop group known as "The Barons" (named after their high school's Hi-Y club, of which they were members), which was composed of fellow University High students William "Chuck" Steele (lead singer), Arnold P. "Arnie" Ginsburg (born November 19, 1939; 1st tenor), Wallace S. "Wally" Yagi (born July 20, 1940; 2nd tenor), John 'Sagi" Seligman (2nd tenor), with Berry singing bass and Torrence providing falsetto.

During its short duration, Sandy Nelson, Torrence's neighbor, played drums, and future Beach Boy Bruce Johnston occasionally sang and played piano. The Barons rehearsed for hours in Berry's parents' garage, where Berry's father provided an upright piano and two two-track Ampex reel-to-reel tape recorders.