Missed Hits & Hits Missed

[Steve Latshaw]

From my perspective, the post 1970 Beach Boys (both together and solo) had a bad habit of issuing the wrong tracks as singles - while sometimes ignoring the obvious choices.  I assume this was the fault of the bean counter marketing geniuses at Reprise, CBS, Capitol, et. al., but it happened with increasing and alarming regularity.

Any thoughts as to album cuts that should have been singles and might have been hits?

[Lowbacca]

Interesting topic.


"Feel Flows" (in a shorter single version maybe)
"The Trader" (in a shorter single version maybe)
"Palisades Park"
"Roller Skating Child"
"I Wanna Pick You Up"
"She's Got Rhythm"
"Angel Come Home"
"Crack At Your Love"

[Mr. Cohen]

Totally agree that "Palisades Park" should've been the third single from 15 Fat Ones, with another one of those "hot mixes". I can't imagine it hitting the top 10, but it would've charted decently. I would've been curious to see what "Wontcha Come Out Tonight?" or  "Some Of Your Love" would've done. People aren't huge fans of those songs, but if "Almost Summer" did OK on the radio, who knows?

[Mr. Cohen]

BTW, home much coke TM do you think they did before this performance? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7SmgdvPpQY

[bgas]

Quality is much better here (other than the timing strip):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwZFOG1J7Xk 
and you get it complete with the afterview....

[Lowbacca]

BTW, home much coke TM do you think they did before this performance? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7SmgdvPpQY

[Steve Latshaw]

"Angel Come Home"

From Bruce's interview with David Leaf in Pet Sounds newsletter, November 1978:

"There's one song of Carl's, "Angel Come Home," that I hope is a hit.  He wrote it with Geoffrey Cushing-Murray.  It's really good.  It's probably the first time that Dennis has sung a hit lead, even though Dennis sang "Do You Wanna Dance."  It's the first time a commercial Beach Boys record has showcased Dennis the right way... "Angel Come Home" is a track that they cut two years ago up at Caribou Ranch, and it's just been sitting there.  Nobody volunteers anything, so I had to kind of hear about it.  Carl's so humble... the song is really hot."

[Lowbacca]

"Angel Come Home"

From Bruce's interview with David Leaf in Pet Sounds newsletter, November 1978:

"There's one song of Carl's, "Angel Come Home," that I hope is a hit.  He wrote it with Geoffrey Cushing-Murray.  It's really good.  It's probably the first time that Dennis has sung a hit lead, even though Dennis sang "Do You Wanna Dance."  It's the first time a commercial Beach Boys record has showcased Dennis the right way... "Angel Come Home" is a track that they cut two years ago up at Caribou Ranch, and it's just been sitting there.  Nobody volunteers anything, so I had to kind of hear about it.  Carl's so humble... the song is really hot."

Thanks for that! Why wasn't it a single then..?

[Mr. Cohen]

'Cause "Here Comes the Night" and "Good Timin'". "Angel Come Home" could've been a good third single,  but how much better would it have done than "Lady Lynda"? "Lynda" was a hit in the UK and a Top 40 Adult Contemporary song in the US. I see "Angel Come Home" doing a bit better on the AC chart, but it didn't have #1 potential.

[Steve Latshaw]

My list...

It's About Time (pushed as the A side - might have turned sales of the album around by connecting with FM/rock audiences)

Palisades Park (a single mix ala MIC R&RM)

Roller Skating Child (a single mix)

Country Pie (a legit Beach Boys version)

Matchpoint of Our Love

Angel Come Home

Roller Skating Child (live version - 1979)

Keepin' the Summer Alive

Runaway (live)

Spring Vacation

[joshferrell]

"Louie Louie", "Long Tall Texan" and "Frosty the snowman" since they ended up on their greatest hits compilations anyways..      but seriously the most obvious ones are "Surf City" (which Brian gave to J&D) and "seasons in the sun" which became big hits when they both were released..as far as actual album tracks I like "trader" also "Baby Blue" and "Where I belong" as single mixes...

[Lowbacca]

Roller Skating Child (live version - 1979)

[Eric Aniversario]

Slip on through
Feel flows
Only with you
Roller skating child
Match point of our love
Angel come home
I do love you
Island Fever
From there to back again
Spring vacation

[phirnis]

Lahaina Aloha

[Sheriff John Stone]

I thought "Spring Vacation" was a no-brainer. The timing, the lyrics, the Beach Boys' sound, a Mike Love lead vocal, a preview of the album - and I think it's a good song (love the intro for radio). The song makes me feel good.

If not that, and I know people didn't/don't agree, but I would've trotted out "Summer's Gone". Great song, great Brian lead, the length of the song, and the lyrics might've touched some in the context of The Beach Boys' story. I always felt the strength of a song could overcome what appears to be a lack of commerciality. "Summer's Gone" deserved to be heard by more people.

Going back a ways, and I realize this never had a chance, but I felt that "The Night Was So Young" was one of the stronger tracks on Love You ("Roller Skating Child" and "I'll Bet He's Nice" being the other two strongest). I love the melody, the escalating high part ("Is somebody gonna tell me..."), and even the direct lyrics. It probably would've bombed but I also wish more people would've heard that song...on the radio. Maybe if Brian or Carl could've grafted an intro onto a single mix?

[Dogbone51]

Hey All--

I think there are definitely some obvious choices for singles in the USA.....including things like "Catch A Wave" and "Hawaii".  

It's amazing to see that FOUR singles were released from SUNFLOWER...but if you know the story about the ORIGINAL single PROMO mix for "Add Some Music To Your Day"....the record was climbing the charts but the mix on the promo single was so bad, Radio programmers started to stop playing it.  By the time the record was remixed by Stephen Desper and copies were reserviced to the Radio programmers, it was too late.   The other singles, "Slip On Through", "Tears in the Morning (with the ending tag edited off)" and "Cool, Cool Water (edited)" were fairly good choices, but as Fred Vail has said many times (he was promoting the records)..."The DJs loved the records, but wouldn't touch anything that said "The Beach Boys"."    Sad really.

On SURF'S UP...."Long Promised Road" was a good choice for a first single, and released twice.  It did garner some FM airplay (and does to this day) but it wasn't enough to push high in the charts.  The follow up was "Surf's Up b/w Don't Go Near The Water".  A great song, but most would agree, not a "pop" song for the Top 40 radio airplay.  "Feel Flows" would've been a good choice, but I still don't think Top 40 Radio would've played it.  Mostly an FM Radio Track.

On CARL AND THE PASSION-SO TOUGH..."Marcella" was the obvious choice, but for some reason they chose "You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone" to be the First single.  By the time "Marcella" did show up as the 2nd single, the album was probably almost off the charts, and there was little interest left in promoting it.

HOLLAND..."Sail On Sailor" as the obvious choice and recorded in LA after the trip to the Netherlands, so that the record had a good strong single.  It was released twice and did gather some airplay.   "The Trader" did get some airplay on FM, but really, except for part three of "California Saga: Californ-y-a"...there wasn't really much else that was strong enough for a single.  If I remember correctly (and I may be wrong) the 2nd issue of "Sail On Sailor" only came out, when the song was included on the GOOD VIBRATIONS-BEST OF collection (you know the one with the WAVE on the cover MS 2223 and MSK 2280).   The cover had stickers that said, "Includes the HIT,  SAIL ON SAILOR"....

Most have agreed, that "It's OK" should have been the first single from 15 BIG ONES.   Then followed up with "Rock and Roll Music".   "Susie Cincinnati" as a third single was the worst choice the band could have made, and "Palisades Park" should've been chosen.  I think I remember Carl saying something about not "being 100% pleased" with the mix...and this may have kept it from being chosen.  Who knows.

Many of you have "Roller Skating Child" on your list.  This should have been released as a single.  It's a great little "pop" song, but probably just didn't sound right on the radio.  LOVE YOU is a great album, but as many have said, the production was a bit rough, and this may have been the reason why no second single was chosen after "Honkin Down The Highway".  Another missed opportunity.

"Peggy Sue" from MIU was nice enough....but I think the obvious choice for the time (1978) would've been "Match Point Of Our Love".  It has the Disco feel, a fairly nice vocal from Brian..and a catchy chorus.  Of course in 1981, when TEN YEARS OF HARMONY was released, "Come Go With Me" was the single (again from MIU) and did provide a Top 20 USA hit for the band.  Sounded nice on the radio actually, but again...a bit out of place, only because it was a re-record of an old song from the 1950s.   Further in 1978, in the UK...they issued "Kona Coast" as the follow up (to "Peggy Sue"), which is interesting to me.  Not sure why it wasn't consider from MIU after "Peggy Sue" in the USA.  Might have been a hit.  

The LA ALBUM, did sell fairly well.   Many hated "Here Comes The Night (Disco)"...in any of the many edits which came out on it.  "Good Timin'" sounded glorious when it was released and did get some airplay, but "Lady Lynda" was too sappy for the USA market, and probably the reason why it was ignored.  "Sumahama" appeared as the B-side to "It's A Beautiful Day"...but even that single lacked the punch of a good top 40 song, and really with the single edit, just goes on way too long.  Just not that great of a song.   In the UK, "Angel Come Home" was issued as a B-side to "Sumahama"....why it wasn't the other way around (in spite of "Sumahama" getting some UK airplay) will always be a mystery to me.

As for KEEPIN THE SUMMER ALIVE..."Goin On" is good, but again, lacks the punch of a good single.  "Livin With A Heartache" was a sleeper, and went on too long to be a hit.  Carl's vocal was not that good on it either.  In most of the EURO countries.."Oh Darlin'" was chosen as the first single...which was really a drag.  The UK also had "Santa Ana Winds"...and later "Keepin The Summer Alive".  This is where it was missed in the USA.  "Keepin The Summer Alive" as a single would've probably been a big hit.  They totally missed this one.  GREAT summer song!

I'll stop here....

Dogbone

[Mr. Cohen]

I thought "Spring Vacation" was a no-brainer. The timing, the lyrics, the Beach Boys' sound, a Mike Love lead vocal, a preview of the album - and I think it's a good song (love the intro for radio). The song makes me feel good.

It's a good song, but wasn't that one of the old Joe Thomas late '90s songs? And it sounds like it. In the early '00s it would've been pretty contemporary.

[Steve Latshaw]

Great points, Dogbone, and I had no idea about the bad mix of Add Some Music.  I always wondered why Marcella wasn't a hit... it fit perfectly into 1972... but your explanation makes perfect sense.

Another mistake, I think, was made by CBS with Pacific Ocean Blue.  They should have released River Song as the first single.  I think David Leaf even asked about it in Pet Sounds... and the label response was something to the effect that while "everyone knows River Song is a classic, it's not a single.  We think You and I best fits the demands of radio airplay..." or something like that.

[Dogbone51]

Hey Steve--

Some of it is of course speculation.  And I couldn't agree with you more about "Marcella".  Back in the Mid - 1980s I went to work for KFOG Radio in San Francisco.  One of the DJs there was a huge Beach Boys' fan (A guy named "M Dung"...many remember him) and he asked me to bring in my IN CONCERT album, as he wanted to feature the LIVE version of "Marcella" on a radio show he was doing with lost classic songs.  When he played "Marcella" that day, the song just completely rocked, and the phones lit up like fireworks.  We had about 40 phone calls from people asking "Where can I get that amazing song" etc.   Definitely one that was missed.

Also, "River Song"....did come out in the UK and Germany/Holland as the single from the album...so it did get released as an A-side.  

Personally, at least from my perspective, "You and I" was probably the most obvious choice, as it does have a good hook with the "No more lonely nights" chorus and such...

But again, I think there was really a time where the Beach Boys couldn't get on the radio if their life depended on it....for some of those years through the late 1960s and Most of the 1970s, except for of course the time of "Rock and Roll Music" and a few others.

Also note...Carl Wilson's solo stuff did get quite a bit of airplay here in the states.  I remember hearing "Heaven" quite a bit and later "Givin You Up".   "What You Do To Me" was also played a lot, but added to YOUNGBLOOD after the album was done, as some at Caribou (I would guess) didn't feel the album had a strong single.  That track was almost an embarassement for Carl, but it did chart if I remember correctly, but in the low 80s or 90s in the pop charts.

Dogbone

NOTE:  For those who want to hear the bad mix of "Add Some Music To Your Day".....you need to find the WHITE PROMO release 0894...and then look at the Deadwax on the "Add Some Music" side.  If the serial number is NOT followed by the RE Letters, then it's the FIRST(Or Bad) mix.  If it has the RE Letters with the serial number, then it's the REMIXED version.   The bad mix suffers mostly from being a bit squeezed in sound.   The Remixed version corrects this a bit by spreading out the sound a little more.  

[bgas]

NOTE:  For those who want to hear the bad mix of "Add Some Music To Your Day".....you need to find the WHITE PROMO release 0894...and then look at the Deadwax on the "Add Some Music" side.  If the serial number is NOT followed by the RE Letters, then it's the FIRST(Or Bad) mix.  If it has the RE Letters with the serial number, then it's the REMIXED version.   The bad mix suffers mostly from being a bit squeezed in sound.   The Remixed version corrects this a bit by spreading out the sound a little more.  

Do all the stock copies contain the remixed, non-squeezed version?

[Andrew G. Doe]

"By the time "Marcella" did show up as the 2nd single, the album was probably almost off the charts, and there was little interest left in promoting it."

Actually, the exact opposite was the case: "Marcella" was listed as bubbling under the Hot 100 on 7/15/72 and stayed there for three weeks: during that time CATP was at its chart peak - 50-50-56 - and stayed on the album chart for a further 11 weeks. Didn't go into free fall until early September. But yeah, your basic point is entirely valid: as the lead single it was a no-brainer of the highest order.

"What You Do To Me" peaked at #72.

[Alan Smith]

Eternally baffled that California Calling circulated as a promo 45 but never made it out as a general release single - dippy nostalgia and all, but still a bit more lively than the post Getcha Back singles.

100% agreement with Marcella, It's OK and Roller Skating Child   as preferred 1st singles which may have sustained interest and sales momentum of the parent albums.  And Spring Vacation.

Matchpoint of Our Love is a bit of a piece of sh*t, imo, but I can see why some would find it appealing as a single - given some Aussie Yobbos had a hit with a cricket analogy love song around the same time, no reason why a tennis themed number wouldn't have hit it out of the ballpark.

I'd also put in a dutiful vote for Still Surfin', over Summer of Love (yeah, I get SoL was a Baywatch tie in).

[Nicko1234]

In reverse order...

Spring Vacation is certainly the catchiest song on TWGMTR and with a lyrical rewrite would have made a good single.

Lahaina Aloha should certainly have been the main single from Summer in Paradise.

Where I Belong should have been the second single from BB85.

Forever might have stood the best chance from Sunflower.

And Little Honda of course...

[Alan Smith]

Forever might have stood the best chance from Sunflower.

It's been interesting thinking about the singles from these albums, but specifically for Sunflower and Surf's Up - mostly great solid songs and albums I love: I certainly have favourite go to tracks that kick my ass (This Whole World, All I Wanna, Feel Flows, Tree), but were there any songs that would have delivered the great smash hit singles the band was chasing?

[stack-o-tracks]

It wasn't The Beach Boys, but that song Pamela Jean sounds to me like a million and two seller. If a name as unsexy as Rhonda could hit #1, the elementary school teacher-sounding Pamela Jean could have as well.

Definitely The Trader. Shoulda, coulda, Eastwoulda been a hit.


Summer In Paradise (not this version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUlPQokMjKk) if they had Brian Wilson-arranged vocals. The background vocals just lack the harmonious glory of their past music. It needed a lot more Carl than it got....


Slip On Through could have been a hit if it was by a different band. The Doors, maybe.


With as many great songs as Love You has, it's just got too weird of a sound to have made a lot of hits, but that song The Night Was So Young is the most likely candidate to have hit the charts in a good spot near the top. The song I'll Bet He's Nice is a motherfucker, but the delivery is just not hit ready. Waaayy ahead of its time.