The Smiley Smile Message Board

I just learned that one of the songs I hear multiple times a day on Rite-Aid's EXTREMELY LIMITED Christmas radio rotation is "Winter Symphony" - one of the bonus tracks on 'Ultimate Christmas.'

Why in the world would we have this??  Was this even ever released outside of that compilation?

It was released on the Christmas With The Beach Boys compilation, as well as several bootlegs.

True, but that's just another iteration of Ultimate Christmas.

That IS crazy, Laz.

It seems the greatest concentration of oddball Beach Boys related songs heard in public are played in drug stores.  I nearly fell over a few years ago when I heard "Shoot the Curl" by the Honeys played in Walgreens.

Someone else reported hearing "Judy" in a drug store, I believe. I've heard my fair share of odd songs at similar locations, but never an obscure Beach Boys song.

I've heard plenty of semi-obscure BB songs in stores. Not "Judy", mind you, but have heard "Wake The World", "In My Car", and "Make it Good" before. That  last one really blew my mind.

I heard "Winter Symphony" at a Rite-Aid last year.

99.9 percent of the people strolling through Rite-Aid and hearing Winter Symphony have no idea who it is.

Not sure if this would be considered obscure, but Frosty the Snowman is in the rotation at the BX store (a store on an air force base) I manage a bank in.  Was it ever released as a single?  It kind of threw me for a loop, as I know Little Saint Nick was the usual selection.

Now I just want to troll Rite-Aids, telling people this is the same band who did "Surfin' USA" and standing back as their head explodes. Then I buy expired candy and go home so I can be well rested to do the exact same thing the day after.

Yeah, I hear Frosty the Snowman on the radio from time to time around Christmas.  It was not a single, but it really should have been.  It my mind, it's really kind of a perfect recording.

I hate most of the traditional Christmas songs on that album. They're my least favorite Beach Boys songs. Give me "Summer of Love" over "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" any day!

Also heard "Merry Christmas, Baby" at the bank.

That song is really popular..

I uploaded it to youtube and it's got over 200,000 views since

I think it's been added to some Xmas comps in recent years instead of ST. NICK.

That's great..

Fantastic Christmas song, one of Mike's best vocals IMO

99.9 percent of the people strolling through rite-aid have no idea they are even alive.....  :)

just one pharmacist's viewpoint...  :lol

I remember at one point last year, I heard Christmas Time Is Here Again on Philly's WJBR-FM 99.5, during their usual seasonal 24/7 period. Normally, Little Saint Nick is common on there, but Christmas Time Is Here Again was a shocker. I've also heard Santa's Beard and The Man With All The Toys played often in department stores.

For a minute I was thinking of THIS Santa's Beard. Also fantastic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzW0LsG8O-o

A bit off topic but in the spirit of xmas and Brian's favorite producer:   Darlene Love is performing Christmas Baby Please Come Home on David Letterman (US) this coming Friday Night.  It should be spectacular as usual.  If you are a big fan of this annual event as I am, you should visit the David  Letterman home page to see a very nicely produced montage of her and the band doing this song over the course of the last so many years.

Another oddity I heard was Belles of Christmas at a Ranch 99 (asian supermarket) located in Foster City, CA on Sunday night!  I had to do a few double takes to make sure I heard what I thought I was hearing.

I hear "your imagination" more than any other beach boys related songs when I'm at a store,or a taco bell or one of those places that play generic music in the backgorund,other than christmas where I hear "little saint nick"

Same here.

I think I heard it in a Walmart.

I work at Weis Markets, an east-coast grocery store. Part of their Christmas music includes all the originals from the Christmas Album, as well as "Kona Coast" and "Bells Of Christmas."

Of their non-Christmas Beach Boys-related music, I only remember ever hearing "California Girls," "Your Imagination," and, surprisingly, "Surf's Up."

I'm sad nobody seems to bother playing my favourite song from the Christmas album: "Christmas Day" but I am pleased "Merry Christmas Baby" gets some love. I have heard the ubiquitous "Little Saint Nick" and "Frosty The Snowman" at the local supermarket before, of course.

Heard it when I worked at a grocery store a few years back. I'd never heard it before, actually, and was really surprised to hear what sounded like a recent Brian solo track.

That whole album is a bit underrated imo...

I've heard Christmas Day a couple of times...one of them I distinctly remember was walking down the strip in Las Vegas.  This thread reminded me that I once heard "This Whole World" at K-Mart near closing time...I had been very ready to go after a long day of errands, but I extended my stay by a couple of minutes.  One of many obscure songs I've heard in different places...we have had threads about those before, but I think that this is the first time that I remembered to write about "This Whole World".

I was just in Toronto for a quick birthday trip.  I needed a few things from a drug store, so I went to the Shoppers Drug Mart that was next to my hotel.  What did I hear when I walked into the store?  "Child of Winter"!!!!!  I have never, ever heard that song in public before.

Doesn't Mr. Johnston have major, er connections to nation-wide drug store chains?

I`ve heard Blue Christmas and the MIU Xmas version of Peggy Sue in my local supermarket in years past.

Oh man, I couldn't imagine someone walking into a store and hearing those 70s Christmas songs.

"Mama's in the kitchen making turkeys and bread, the children are hungry, they're waitin' to be fed!"

That's still better than hearing "Melikilikilaka (sp?), that's Merry Christmas in Hawaii talk-a".

I disagree. From someone not familiar with the music, hearing "Melekalikimaka, that's Merry Christmas in Hawaii talk-a" is just a lame line in a song. But Brian in the spoken part in Child of Winter just sounds completely insane.

I always thought it was cookies & bread?  Gonna have to go have a listen!

I've heard both in public places, and both seemed to be thoroughly ignored by the people around me shopping! haha 

For years, me and a friend would use that same "pied piper"-like voice at random times, it was hilarious!  Almost daily!

I wish there was a version of Child of Winter without the spoken lines. Might make it listenable.

I enjoy it. It makes me laugh.

It sort of blew my mind to hear Brian do the Pied Piper voice in "Little St. Nick's Drive-In" or whatever neologism we're calling it.

I figured that voice was more likely connected to a little old lady from Pasadena vibe.

I heard "Christmas Day" just yesterday at a local grocery store!  Heard "Frosty" on the radio here as well, so that one's making the rounds.

Eventually, Rite-Aid added "Christmas Time Is Here Again" to the rotation as well.

Other Beach Boys-related tracks I've heard there include "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" (Brian), "Wind Chimes" (BWPS version), "Little Saint Nick", and at least one other track from Brian's Christmas CD.

On the other hand, whoever compiles the playlists is OBSESSED with the Bee Gees - I've heard tracks from their entire career (up to "This Is Where I Came In"), relatively obscure Andy Gibb material, songs Barry wrote for others (including at least three tracks from Kenny Rogers' "Eyes That See In The Dark" album)...

Yes, I also heard something from Brian's XMas album this year in a Rite-Aid, don't remember which one, but it wasn't "We Wish You A Merry Christmas."