"Wipe Out" is an instrumental composed by Bob Berryhill, Pat Connolly, Jim Fuller, and Ron Wilson. It is a twelve bar blues first performed and recorded by the Surfaris, who were elevated to international status with the release of the "Surfer Joe" and "Wipe Out" single in 1963.

The single was first issued on the tiny DFS label (#11/12) in January 1963. It was reissued on the tiny Princess label (#50) in February 1963, and finally picked up for national distribution on Dot 45-16479 in April 1963. Dot reissued the single in April 1965 as 45-144.

The song – both the Surfaris' version as well as cover versions – has been featured in over 20 films and television series since 1964, appearing at least once a decade.

The term "wipe out" refers to a fall from a surfboard, especially one that looks painful.

Bob Berryhill, Pat Connolly, Jim Fuller and Ron Wilson wrote the tune almost on the spot, as a suitable B-side was needed for the intended "Surfer Joe" single. In late 1962, while the band was in Cucamonga's Pal Recording Studio recording the single, one of the band members suggested that a gimmick sound indicating a wipe out off a surfboard be emulated. The suggestion was made that during the introduction before the music starts, a cracking sound, imitating a breaking surfboard, should be made. This followed by a manic voice babbling, "ha ha ha ha ha, wipe out." The spoken voice at the beginning of the song is the voice of the band's manager at the time, Dale Smallin.

The afterthought track spent four months on the national Billboard chart in the autumn of 1963, reaching #2 and kept out of the top slot only by Stevie Wonder's "Fingertips". The smash hit "Wipe Out" returned to the Hot 100 in 1966, reaching #16 in Billboard and #9 in Cash Box in its second national chart run, landing at #63 on the Year-end chart. This time it is said to have sold around 700,000 copies in the US to add to its original million-plus. Meanwhile, original A-side "Surfer Joe", sung by Ron Wilson, only attracted airplay in the wake of "Wipe Out"'s success, and peaked at #62 during its six-week run. Wilson's energetic drum solo for "Wipe Out" (a sped-up version of his Charter Oak High School marching band's drum cadence) was beaten out on malt-shop tables all over the country, helping the song become one of the best-remembered instrumental tunes of the period. Drummer Sandy Nelson issued different versions on different LPs. "Wipe Out", in 1970, peaked at number 110 in the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. The single spent a grand total of 30 weeks on the Hot 100.

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