Los Angeles: Dick Dale, the King of the Surf Guitar whose "Miserlou" was famously used as the title music for Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, has died. He was 81. His bassist, Sam Bolle, confirmed the news to the Guardian.

Dale formulated the sound and attack of the Southern California-bred instrumental style "Surf Music" in the early '60s. His self-released records with his band the Deltones led the way for countless other acts -- the Chantays, the Surfaris, Eddie and the Showmen and the Pyramids among them -- who emulated his reverb-soaked, "wet" sound and aggressive attack in their own hits.