Here Comes The Night - 1979

[petsite]

I have read many, many authors take the Beach Boys to task over the release of this "bomb". How could they do it. What were they thinking. It is SO awful as to be unlistenable.

But, being 20 in 1979 and reveling in the music of the BB, I have to admit that I thought then (and still do today) that is was calculated move that didn't pay off. But I think that effort was well worth it. I really likethe track and Carl's vocals. I had relatives visiting from England at the time and they ALL took back copies of the single. My cousin who was a DJ took several back with him. I really liked it. I remember hearing that it would be a disco track and was driving back to my home on a Sunday night after dropping my girl friend off at her place. And there is was, on the radio. The 4:25 mix. And I turned it up. And it really got to me. Not like God Only Knows or Please Let Me Wonder had. But it was still an uplifting kinda groove. And I remember thinking "I hope they get a hit off this. They really need it!"

Sadly they didn't. But I think it was a noble effort just the same. I am sorry that I have to purchase foreign product to have the 45 mix. Why isn't it on domestic releases. Oh well, we can't have everything.

Bob Flory

[Sheriff John Stone]

Bob, I agree with you. It was a noble effort, and I always enjoyed the song. You're right, hidden behind all of the disco-fied arrangements is a fine vocal by Carl - and the group.

But I was also around back in 1979, and there were always two things that bothered me about "Here Comes The Night". First, the group was slightly late - but late nevertheless - in jumping on the disco bandwagon. And that is what they were portrayed to be - bandwagon jumpers. Which was a negative for a group that built its reputation on being innovative.

The other thing that detracted from "Here Comes The Night" was the length of the song. It's one thing to jump into the disco ring, but did they have to jump in with 11:00 minutes worth? That was almost 1/3 of the entire L.A. album! It took up the space of potentially 2-3 more songs. I had no problem with the special 12 inch mixes that were overly long (that was the norm for discos back then), but not for a Beach Boys' album. A 4:25 mix would've been fine.

[Jonas]

I never understood why they didnt put the radio edit on the album, and used the albums version as a 'club' cut...

[TheLazenby]

I know I'm in the minority, but I really like the 11 minute disco version, especially compared to the "Wild Honey" version...

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I never understood why they didnt put the radio edit on the album, and used the albums version as a 'club' cut...

I've often wondered the same thing.

Also, I've often wondered why the BeeGees got away with it, but the Beach Boys didn't. After hearing the Bee Gees earlier material for the first time several years ago (yes, I know...I'm late as hell), I can no longer stomach most of their disco material.

Yeah, I know. I'm strange.

[Jon Stebbins]

The Bee Gees got away with it because they were on the front end of the trend releasing their first disco/dance sides in 74/75. The BB's hit the tail end of a dying trend that was being backlashed to the hilt, releasing the HCTN disco side in 1979...that is a HUGE difference. Their effort smacked of bandwagon jumping and essentially killed their chance of having a successful launch on their new label. It along with 15 Big Ones and the death of Smile is among their biggest blunders of their entire career...as in the other two cases a lot was riding on this release and the result torched their credibility. I like Smiley Smile, i think its really cool in many ways, but man what a bad move. HCTN disco is at least as bad a move, maybe worse.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Their effort smacked of bandwagon jumping and essentially killed their chance of having a successful launch on their new label. It along with 15 Big Ones and the death of Smile is among their biggest blunders of their entire career...as in the other two cases a lot was riding on this release and the result torched their credibility. I like Smiley Smile, i think its really cool in many ways, but man what a bad move. HCTN disco is at least as bad a move, maybe worse.

While I agree with you about the bandwagon jumping (I said the exact same thing in my earlier post), and the band were, indeed, made fun of for "going disco", I don't think it killed their chance of having a successful lauch with the new label.

"Here Comes The Night" was not a total sales disaster. Didn't it go Top 50 or something? And, the group FOLLOWED it with "Good Timin", which went Top 40, and "Lady Lynda", which I think went Top 10 in England. Those three singles probably did better than any of the singles from the previous two albums, Love You and MIU.

I do remember very well the criticism that the group took in 1979. But, in a strange way, it also brought attention to the group. You've heard that saying, "Any publicity is good publicity". What really hurt L.A. (Light Album) was the almost total absence of Brian Douglas Wilson. With three or four good new songs from Brian, well....

[the captain]

When I first heard the disco version of HCTN--and it wasn't until maybe 2001 or 2002--the first thing I thought of was all those formerly pop-metal bands (the "hair bands") releasing dirtier, bluesier or rougher-edged music in the early-to-mid 90s after their industry collapsed, or of the KISS music on and after Dynasty (yes, in my early teens, I loved KISS). It felt to me like a blatant and calculated attempt at a hit, but a misfire. Too little, maybe, but definitely too late. (Don't get me wrong--cashing in and getting a hit doesn't bother me at all. If you are going to make a living at music, you need to make a living.)

Didn't work. Back to the drawing board. In their case, that seems to have meant reverting to oldies-style music once and for all.

[petsite]

I do remember very well the criticism that the group took in 1979. But, in a strange way, it also brought attention to the group. You've heard that saying, "Any publicity is good publicity". What really hurt L.A. (Light Album) was the almost total absence of Brian Douglas Wilson. With three or four good new songs from Brian, well....

That is a situation that REALLY offends me to this day. Brian comes out of detoxing at Alavarado Hospital in San Diego and catches a plane direct to LA and from LA to Miami. He is then asked to write and produce a new BB LP on the spot. My god! Do you ask a runner (for example) to come right out a cast for a broken leg to run a marathon the next day? No. And this was on that level to me, only much worse because the runner is healed but Brian certainly wasn't.

[MBE]

Well the hospital story was only told by Gaines and Gold so I reserve judgment as to if it really went down that way.  Back to the main topic.. I love Wild Honey the production, the singing, the mixes everything. The 1979 version is (to use a Mike Love phrase) nauseating. Everything about it is wrong, they were and even now are capable of so much better. Much worse then Smiley Smile or 15 Big Ones because at least both those albums had hit songs and had some connection with their musical history. The 1979 disco move was just cheap, having nothing remotely to do with what made the Beach Boys who they were. Wipeout was almost as bad to me but at least it was only 3 min. I agree LA Light would have survived a lot better with the short version. As much as I love half that album I almost always skip  HCTN.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Here's the thing, though..."Matchpoint" from a year earlier had a rather "disco-lite" type feel, so it wasn't that much of a shock. Of course, maybe 5 people total bought MIU when it first came out

Speaking of MIU, though, am I the only one who notices a rather strange transition in sound from MIU to LA? I'm not talking songs, rather, the actual sound .  LA seems much more current  and a lot "brighter"(as MIU sounded rather thin, although I actually prefer MIU), yet lifeless too at the same time. Am I alone in thinking that the whole of LA sounds cold? Comparing it to KTSA...LA has better songs (although Going South is terrible), but  the production IMHO is as sterile as Imagination was later.

Also, can anyone please explain to me why Looking Down the Coast was left off, because to me it sounds more vibrant than most of that album...

Well the hospital story was only told by Gaines and Gold so I reserve judgment as to if it really went down that way.

Brian's more active in the outtakes for the album, so it makes me wonder. He did look great when he came out. Sadly he gained about 100 pounds over the next year...

[petsite]

I agree with the notion that the long disco mix should have stayed on a disco 12" and the short version should have been on LA.  I talked to Bruce in 1979 and he said that Curt had already started work on the disco version for his group California Music when Bruce informed him that he was going back to work for the BB. Curt suggested that they finish the project off as a BB cut.

Remember also that the group was in deep s**t at the time. They were over a year and a half late with the new LP.  We've heard the Criteria Rough Mix tape with Calendar Girl, Santa Ana Winds, California Feeling, etc. While some of those cuts would be finished off for LA, the group was struggling to come up with a decent LP for CBS. My guess is that the disco thing probably appealed to CBS as well as Bruce. They should have pulled more from Dennis's stash and the vaults.

Just my opinion. I  could be wrong.......

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

We've heard the Criteria Rough Mix tape with Calendar Girl, Santa Ana Winds, California Feeling, etc.

IMHO, those songs should have been on there. Drop Going South and Full Sail, use the single version of HCTN, and the mid-70s version of Shortnin' Bread, and the album would've been 1000x better.

[Eric Aniversario]

I have always loved the long version of HCTN, as well as the Wild Honey version.  The single edit (1979) seems a little forced to me...you can tell a lot was cut out.  I like the entire LA Light Album (it's second only to Friends for me), but if I were to pick a track to get rid of on the album, it would definitely be Shortenin' Bread.

[Smilin Ed H]

I'd dump Goin' South - should've been stuck on the 77 Christmas album!  Two turgid Carl ballads on one album is at least one too many.  But, yeah, stick on Lookin' Down the Coast, Santa Ana Winds and California Feelin'.

[Rocker]

HCTN is one of my favorite Beach Boys-tracks (the WH-version) and I even like the disco-version but I wish if they really had to go disco, they would've done it earlier and with a new song. I really believe they could've done a very great job as they were great musicians

[matt-zeus]

I agree, a new song would have been better, a remake stinks of desperation anyway. I quite like disco when done well but its horrid grooveless cold disco unlike some of the other better disco stuff. Indeed the Bee Gees and the Four Seasons did change their sound around the mid 70s to this more funky type of sound which did them many favours, and stuff like 'Oh what a night' and loads of the Bee Gees stuff is classic.
Even the Stones jumped on the bandwagon with 'Miss you' and thats a great if ridiculous song, they then over-egged it though with 'Emotional Rescue', which is dire!

[the captain]

Speaking of MIU, though, am I the only one who notices a rather strange transition in sound from MIU to LA? I'm not talking songs, rather, the actual sound .  LA seems much more current  and a lot "brighter"(as MIU sounded rather thin, although I actually prefer MIU), yet lifeless too at the same time. Am I alone in thinking that the whole of LA sounds cold? ... the production IMHO is as sterile as Imagination was later.

I agree whole-heartedly with all of the quoted text above. The change in producers--not to mention so many songs written by different people whose heads were in different places, musically speaking--really comes through.

[adamghost]

Agreed.  I love the track, myself...I think it's one of the band's best vocal performances and one of Carl's best leads, and it's got a pretty hard-edged feel, not disco-lite at all.  But the perceived cynicism of it -- and probably actual cynicism -- is a problem.  Then the band compounded the problem by not sticking to their  guns and withdrawing the single just as it was taking off (it had huge airplay in my neck of the woods).  They should have just said "screw you, it's a great track" and rode it out.  They've done as much before with their Reprise era records, which didn't chart nearly as well.