30 years to the day since the release of 10-minute "Here Comes the Night"

[art rush]

So how are we all feeling?

[Jon Stebbins]

That song will always remind me of being at the BB's fan convention on the Queen Mary in 1978. Mike and Bruce were there and Bruce was going on about this great new single they had cut, or great new version of an old song Here Comes The Night that was nearing release...when he said the word "disco" there was an audible grumble throughout the room, but he said this was "good" disco and that we'd all dig it. So after a while I approached Bruce and whipped out my perfectly MINT first pressing copy of the Wild Honey LP. I mean this thing was gleaming, the orig. shrink was removed just so Bruce and Mike could sign near their back cover photos. I handed it to Bruce, pointed to his photo and asked him to please sign it for me. He took the album, and with a sharpie drew a giant circle and arrows around the song title Here Comes the Night, and he scribbled some large notation about the new version...my hair nearly fell out. Lets just say I'm slightly anal about my collectibles. I mean Bruce was very enthusiastic and joyful, he was trying to be nice to the dopey long haired fan with the old record...but my jaw was absolutely resting on the floor when he handed my treasured mint original copy of Wild Honey back to me with black markings, circles, lines, and arrows all over the back cover. And then, I hated the song, which only made it worse. That's what Here Comes the Night disco version makes me think of...30 years since my perfect Wild Honey got tagged.

[Aegir]

Wow, sorry Jon, but that's actually really funny.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Well you did ask him to sign it...

Seriously, though, I'd have been real pissed.

[Howie Edelson]

When you think about it, Bruce Johnston proudly and boastfully defacing WILD HONEY -- and not realizing or caring how or why -- kinda sums it all up. No?

[petsite]

Ok...I have to say it. I did not like disco. I was a new wave guy (I liked Blondie before she was "Blondie"). BUT, I liked "Here Comes The Night". The 4:32 45 mix. I can remember hearing it driving my Dad's car on a Sunday night when KILT in Houston would play new songs. I was floored. After the rough production of Love You (though still one of my faves to this day) and the wooden production of MIU, here was a track that was sharp, crisp, and.......commerical.

Since I was an intern at KILT, I drove down to the station the next day after work and got a copy of the 45 from record library (yes they told me I could  ). I played it alot that night and the rest of the week. I have alot of good memories of not only that single, but of the LA light album and the times. It was on tour for LA when I first met them.

Bob

[Fun Is In]

30 years? No wonder I have gray hair and less hair....I remember being in college when this came out and hoping that my music heroes had produced something of value amid the disco miasma. No such luck. But it's better than the all disco cover LP of Beach Boys songs done by, who was it?, the Good Vibrations?

[urbanite]

It didn't work as a disco song.  Carl Wilson's lead vocal just never worked on the new version.

I always thought the most natural choice for a disco version of a Beach Boys song would have been "Dance Dance Dance."   

[Thunderfingers75]

I can honestly say that I have never made it through the whole 10 minutes of that tune.

[petsite]

I do have to respectfully (and I meant that) disagree with Jon Stebbins when he says that the group "threw" away Baby Blue as the flipside HCTN. From talking with Bruce Johnston at that time (and from reading interviews with him at that same time), I think that both he and James Guercio thought that pairing Baby Blue and HCTN would make a very strong single. And it did. I remember finally getting a "stock" copy of HCTN (about a week or two after I got the promo with the song in mono/stereo) and listening to Baby Blue. I though that holy s**t, HERE is a strong double sided single for the group, like the singles of the 60's. Uptempo A side. Ballad B side.

Oh well......

[The infamous Baldwin Organ]

I wasn't alive in 1978, but as someone younger who only heard the disco version a few years ago, I think it was pretty inventive considering the time at which they released it.

I don't like disco music and I sometimes have a hard time with it's placement on the LA album, but if you're driving down the road, and then all of a sudden Carl's vocal comes in...it can be pretty cool too. I give them credit at least for trying something new.

[petsite]

As David Leaf said, "At least Bruce was TRYING to make them Contemporary..."

I will say that Good Timin' is the best track on the LP!.

[Jon Stebbins]

But Disco wasn't new in Feb. 1979 when this song came out. Disco was old, on the down slide, the trend was waning. Disco was new in 1974/75 when the Bee Gees and the Four Seasons decided to update their sound and get involved in that funky town dance scene. That was a smart move. But the Beach Boys in 1979 being nearly the last dinosaur to jump on that sinking boat of a trend was just pathetic. They looked like an old guy waking up from his nap and noticing everyone else had vacated the rock-house for the disco-house next door, and all the other old guys were over there making money...but by the time they got there that party was over. I think it made them look completely out of touch. It was like swinging at a fastball after it hit the catcher's glove.

[dogear]

Quite true, Jon, disco was a dying fad when the boys jumped on the bandwagon.
I'm afraid Curt Boettcher (then Becher) was partly responsible for that - eventhough I admire his work in the sixties, his disco period was his lowest point musicwise: just think of Bruce's Disco Pipeline 12", his own I Can Hear Music or the Geno Washington album he produced.

[punkinhead]

What a story,

what if you took you're in the plastic copy of Surfin' Safari around the time Bummer in Paradise came out and Mike draws a number on the Surfin' track label, remaking it and all....i could see him ruining that moment...though Mike ruins a lot of moments

[Howie Edelson]

In 1979 "HCTN" was even less relevant than the "disco" episode of CHiPS.

[petsite]

But Disco wasn't new in Feb. 1979 when this song came out. Disco was old, on the down slide, the trend was waning. Disco was new in 1974/75 when the Bee Gees and the Four Seasons decided to update their sound and get involved in that funky town dance scene. That was a smart move. But the Beach Boys in 1979 being nearly the last dinosaur to jump on that sinking boat of a trend was just pathetic. They looked like an old guy waking up from his nap and noticing everyone else had vacated the rock-house for the disco-house next door, and all the other old guys were over there making money...but by the time they got there that party was over. I think it made them look completely out of touch. It was like swinging at a fastball after it hit the catcher's glove.

Top 5 Singles for 1978 (Billboard)

1    Andy Gibb
Shadow Dancing   
 RSO
 
2    Bee Gees
Night Fever   
 RSO
 
3   Debby Boone
You Light Up My Life   
 Warner Bros./Curb
 
4    Bee Gees
Stayin' Alive   
 RSO
 
5    Exile
Kiss You All Over 

Top 5 Singles for 1979 (Billboard)

1    The Knack
My Sharona   
 Capitol
 
 
2    Donna Summer
Bad Girls   
 Casablanca
 
 
3    Chic
Le Freak   
 Atlantic
 
 
4    Rod Stewart
Da Ya Think I'm Sexy   
 Warner Bros.
 
 
5    Peaches & Herb
Reunited   
 Polydor


So (except for the excellent My Sharona), disco was still topping the charts. Just FYI. No fights wanted!

Bob

[TdHabib]

Jon's story is both hilarious and sad...

My thoughts on HCTN? I like it as a three and a half minute version, but the ten minute version I don't particularly care for. The endless variations on the theme stink, however, Carl's vocal is superb as usual, I don't mind the harmonies and I like the string overdubs. But it has ZERO artistic value. NONE. Which is the thing that makes me squirm. Whereas somethings like "Good Timin'," "Baby Blue" or even "Angel Comes Home" and "Lady Lynda (a rip-off of Bach but a good one)" are bursting with creative, new and rereshing ideas; HCTN is just a retread. LA could've been a great later period album with a better track selection and a little more critical editing.

Oh, and it reinforces my opinion that BJ didn't do a good job producing the album; while the original HCTN is raw and ready, the "Angel Come Home" from Midnight Special is rocking and powerful, the newly remixed "Love Surrounds Me" lacks some backing vocals but makes up for it with better balance and more Christine in the mix. If I compare those to the official BB versions it doesn't go in BJ's favor.

But I do adore Carl's vocal...

[Howie Edelson]

I think the point is that Disco was a fading genre by then. And in 1978/9 -- or '68/'69 for that matter -- the Beach Boys should never have been chasing down a trend. The fact of the matter is, Beach Boys shouldn't have been trying to trump Donna Summer at HER game. It reeked of desperation when they did it with "HCTN," as it did with that Fat Boys masterpiece in the '80s. A perfect example of a GOOD decision (whether you like or loathe it) is "Kokomo" -- a hit on their own terms, topping the charts while playing THEIR game.  "HCTN's" only distinction is that it TRULY marked the end of the "Brian Is Back" era. To the Rock elite it solidified their reputation as washed up. It made them a punch line (again).

Worse yet, the world shrugged.

"HCTN" is stupid, plain and simple. And what makes it suck so badly isn't just Bruce and Boettcher's truly clueless production, it's that it's SO lame, SO soulless, SO "white" for want of a better term, that it doesn't even come close to missing the mark, it doesn't even RATE.

That same year McCartney released "Goodnight Tonight" which got lambasted for being a "disco" single -- it's actually not -- but, the song itself, the melody is phenomenal. The record is great too -- as always, amazing bass work. If you get in the zone and break it down and think of it as a Cole Porter tune, it'll blow your mind. Bruce Johnston (who was handed the producer reigns by BRIAN WILSON of all people!!!) was able to achieve the OPPOSITE effect of McCartney. He took one of the coolest and beloved hidden Wilson/Love masterpieces and actually made you feel BAD when listening to it. Like getting into a fistfight in Church. You just don't DO THAT.

Think about that. And while you're at it, strip that man of his ball cap, "Daisy Duke" OP shorts and Pacifico beer. The only accomplishment in "HCTN" is that it made "Sumahama" the second worse song on LIGHT ALBUM.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Wow, a lot of differing opinions. And, for this song, who woulda thunk it?

"Here Comes The Night" always reminds me of spring (the season). I live in Pennsylvania, and just when it came out, the temperatures got a little warmer, there were only a couple more months of school, AND THE BEACH BOYS WERE ON THE RADIO! Really, a lot of stations were playing it, and I thought it sounded good on AM radio. I mean, it is a good SONG, Carl is a great singer, the lyrics were fine, the production was similar to a lot of what was being recorded those days. What was not to like about it?

I thought the production was excellent, Carl and Mike were spectacular, and I have no problem with the song they chose to "disco-fy". While I like the Wild Honey version, I wouldn't go so far as calling it a masterpiece. Actually, how many people even knew it was a re-recording of an older Beach Boys' song from 1967?

A lot of the press made a big deal out of the Beach Boys going disco, and I never understood that. First, almost everybody was delving into disco in some fashion, some more than others. Second, the Beach Boys were a "pop" band, not really known for serious rock or hard rock music. Third, it was just one song, what was the big deal? If they would've done an entire disco album, I could see the alarm.

I did have two problems with it, actually three. Why did the album version have to be over 11:00 minutes long? That took up almost one-third of the album! But, there was still room for another two cuts on L.A. They could've saved a long version exclusively for the 12" single.

Next, the disco era was fading. Yeah, in 1978 the charts were topped by disco, but one got the feeling that it did peak (thankfully), and The Beach Boys were slightly late, which, of course, contributed to them looking bad. The Beach Boys used to create fads, now they were chasing one.

Lastly, and this is going to get me in trouble, but I don't care.....I always resented that Brian and Dennis did not get involved with the recording and performance of the song. There's always that stereotype that Mike and somewhat Al, and somewhat the group, were stuck on recycling the oldies. Then, when Mike, Carl, Al, and Bruce decide to "step out" a little, be a little bold, take a chance, and, try to create something artistic (you might not like it but it was artistic), Brian and Dennis didn't want anything to do with it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think they attended the recording sessions. I saw The Beach Boys in concert a few times when they performed HCTN, and both Brian and Dennis left the stage; that bothered me; what happened to the TEAM? Then, when they appeared on national TV (The Midnight Special in 1979) and performed the song, THEN Dennis decides to stay on the stage. Anyway....

[KokoMoses]

Even Lou Reed did disco ("The Bells", also 1979) for God's sake!

I give The Beach Boys a pass. Why the hell should I care about what was/wasn't popular at the time? Since when does that dictate how a song sounds when it comes out of your speakers? Hell, Sunflower was a complete flop at the time right? And weren't they a little late jumping on the flower power/Maharishi bandwagon with Friends?

I love Carl and the Boy's vocals, and the song itself is pretty friggin' great!

[TdHabib]

I thought Brian was in the hospital during the HCTN sessions, thus unable to participate? Any truth to that??

[Jon Stebbins]

Yes, no doubt there were many high charting disco records in '79 but I think anyone who was around will agree that year was the butt-end of the trend. Kind of like there were some psychedelic or summer of love style hits in 1969/70 like Crimson and Clover, Aquarius ...but the cutting edge of that trend was 1966/1967 right? It would be like the Beach Boys releasing Good Vibrations in 1970...wouldn't make sense really(even though its a much much much better record than HCTN, and it still would have been great, but it would have been on the wrong end of the flower-pop trend instead of driving it, and probably perceived as bandwagon jumping quite a bit too late) With HCTN it was even worse because it was the BB's trying to be hip or current by embracing a genre that was not perceived by most people as either hip or current, a trend that was in the midst of generating a huge backlash among the kind of people who loved the BB's, and a trend that was slowly dying, and a trend or genre that the BB's fit into about as well as Carl fit into those really tight pants in 1964. I think if HCTN disco had been released in 1975 that would have been a cutting edge move, that would have been a move into a contemporary direction, but releasing it in 1979 was not a move into a contemporary direction at all...it was a miscalculated grasp at having a hit that ended up costing the '79 BB's something of which they had little to spare...credibility. I do realize that my opinion on this matter is not universally agreed with, but its one those that I feel very strongly about. I think L.A. Light might have been a better outing had they concentrated on Good Timin'/Baby Blue as the lead single instead of burning dollars, energy( and fans) by pushing HCTN.

[KokoMoses]

Fair enough!

But consider this! If one were to go to the record store (I know, those days are pretty much gone) and buy a big fat 70s disco compilation because they wanted to have some disco stuff to groove on, and HCTN 79 was included, it would hold up pretty well, if not better, than whatever else would be included in the package!

Sure, they might've been dangling by the trailerhitch of the bandwagon, but it wasn't as pathetic as say, The Villiage People trying to become New Romantics!

Anyone remember that??

[Sheriff John Stone]

Jon, you and I are roughly the same age so we both remember HCTN pretty well....I agree with your assessment of the disco scene around the release date of HCTN, and you're right, The Beach Boys were late, no doubt about it.

To just repeat something from my earlier post, I was surprised that the Beach Boys were criticized so much for recording HCTN. First, as I mentioned, it was just ONE SONG. And, really, I was surprised that anybody really cared. After Love You and MIU, they were fading fast.

But, Jon, I have to take exception with something you posted. I don't think The Beach Boys lost much credibility because of HCTN, and I'll tell you why. HCTN didn't do that badly commercially. It charted almost as high as "Good Timin", and, I believe, the 12" single did well on those special singles charts also. And, talking about "Good Timin" which followed, well, that was a semi-hit, so, apparently they were forgiven.

And, oddly enough, the Beach Boys gained a little bit of a resurgence with the release of L.A. didn't they? HCTN charted, "Good Timin" charted, and even "Lady Lynda" was a big hit overseas. Then the band was invited to appear on The Midnight Special. HCTN quickly became ancient history, and now, it's just a footnote.