Can someone explain how R&R Music was a Top 10 hit for 6 weeks?

[Mr. Cohen]

And it was in the top 20 for 2 months! Can anyone explain the mood around this song at the time it was released? Considering what was going on at the time with the BBs, it was really a minor miracle that they were able to pull out a hit like this. Granted, it was essentially a musical retread of "Surfin' USA", but somehow it worked.

Was this treated as a big return for the Boys? How did Brian feel about the success?

I've read some claim that it was only a hit because the public was hungry for anything new from the BBs, but somehow it achieved a level of success a song like "It's OK" couldn't quite capture.

Did this song feel contemporary at the time? In a way, it feels like a transmission from a drunk space station.

Incredible!

[drbeachboy]

Can't really say why with any certainty, but I will say that it sounded pretty cool on AM radio and my car radio.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

The Beach Boys were having a renaissance because of the success of Endless Summer.

Granted, it was essentially a musical retread of "Surfin' USA", but somehow it worked.

It might seem that way because, in many ways, Surfin' USA is a musical retread of Sweet Little Sixteen.

[Dave in KC]

I think the " hunger" reason is very credible.

[job]

It was summer and it felt good.  I remember at the beach, and at the community pool, that tune was playing on every radio starting right around my birthday (July 16) that summer.  I still remember it fondly.

[startBBtoday]

I know it's been beaten to death, but it's insane that they waited three months to release It's OK as a single -- once summer was over in September. The single still did well, comparatively speaking, but it could have done so much better if it was released in June or July.

In an ideal world, they release Rock and Roll Music in May, It's OK in July, and they would have finished Good Timin, put it on 15 Big Ones and released that in September.

It's amazing how badly they squandered the success they received from Endless Summer and their touring. "River Song" could have been put on a post Endless Summer album as well, and perhaps it would have done better commercially with a Beach Boys credit.

They had enough for a commercial, decent summer album based on what they had in the vaults, a couple covers and what's already on the album.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Yeah, obviously the listening public was ready for some NEW Beach Boys' music after the success of Endless Summer and Spirit Of America in 1974 and 1975. And, as inaccurate as it may have been, the "Brian Is Back" campaign worked. It got people interested...or curious.

"Rock And Roll Music" benefited by being released almost six weeks BEFORE the 15 Big Ones album. So, I guess people couldn't wait. Which might be one reason why the superior "It's OK" single didn't fare as well. Many people already had it on the album.

[Summertime Blooz]

And, one would assume, based on the success of Endless Summer, Warner Brothers probably put on the full-court press to promote the album. I don't think heavy support and promotion from the record label can be overlooked. Even bad records (not saying this was one) can become hits with enough push and favors being called in by the sales department.

[tpesky]

They also sounded like "The Beach Boys" to many people for the first time since the late 60s.

[southbay]

I know it's been beaten to death, but it's insane that they waited three months to release It's OK as a single -- once summer was over in September. The single still did well, comparatively speaking, but it could have done so much better if it was released in June or July.

In an ideal world, they release Rock and Roll Music in May, It's OK in July, and they would have finished Good Timin, put it on 15 Big Ones and released that in September.

It's amazing how badly they squandered the success they received from Endless Summer and their touring. "River Song" could have been put on a post Endless Summer album as well, and perhaps it would have done better commercially with a Beach Boys credit.

They had enough for a commercial, decent summer album based on what they had in the vaults, a couple covers and what's already on the album.

I completely feel your pain, but it is actually not amazing at all.  It is absolutely staying in character with every freaking decision they have ever made. They have squandered every bit of  momentum they have ever enjoyed. The Beach Boys are the George Costanza of the Rock world. Every decision they have made should have been the opposite. And don't get me started on the aborted 1995 album...

[pixletwin]

Same reason David Leroth's version of California Girls was a hit. Fresh take on a hit standard.

[Moon Dawg]

  Could it have something to do with Chuck Berry being an ace songwriter?

[Mikie]

'Cause there was nothing else good that was out at the time. I think Capitol Records released a Beatles Rock & Roll Music album around that time, didn't they? And it did pretty well.

Just think. If The Beach Boys woulda released the ALTERNATE version of Rock & Roll Music (MIC version) in 1976 it probably would've gone at least top 10 and been on the charts longer!

I had Brian sign my Rock & Roll Music single 2-3 weeks after it came out in '76. He asked me how I liked it and I of course lied and told him I did.

[Steve Latshaw]

Nostalgia was in the air in the summer of 1976.  Henry Gross had the Beach Boys pastiche Shannon out; his Springtime Mama would be an even better Beach Boys clone.  Beach Baby by First Class was still in heavy rotation as a recurrent on Top 40 stations.  Capitol shoved out a wildly successful Beatles comp called Rock & Roll Music and the Beatles themselves had a hit single on the radio that summer with Got to Get You Into My Life.   We listed to WLS-AM out of Chicago and you heard Beatles and Beach Boys all the time, particularly Do It Again, Surfin USA, Fun Fun Fun and Help Me Rhonda.  They were still considered contemporary acts.  Endless Summer and Spirit of America were still selling like hotcakes... but Rock & Roll Music just sounded great coming out of an AM car radio.  When that song started we'd all sing it at high volume, til we were hoarse.  It just sounded like a classic anthem Beach Boys single and we loved it.  As Carl Wilson said at the time, it was just a great single, a kickass single.

While a lot of the contemporary hits that summer were great background music (Starland Vocal Band, Abba, Chicago, the Spinners, Heart, all come to mind)... these summer anthems like Rock & Roll Music always got the volume cranked and everyone singing.

[the captain]

I can't speak with any contemporaneous authority because I was approximately -2 months old when it came out. And I don't agree with Mikie that there wasn't anything else good out there at the time. There's a lot of dance music/disco, sure, but plenty of quality within and outside that sound.

Here's my hypothesis: "Rock 'n' Roll Music" was a hit for the Beach Boys in the summer of 1976 because it's a good song, the public was ready for new Beach Boys product (especially if it reminded them of earlier times, as nostalgia was indeed en vogue), and, honestly, it was a good single. There. I said it. It didn't change the world or anything, but it's fun.

[drbeachboy]

Considering it is one of the very few "New" songs (post 1969) to stay consistantly in their live shows for 38 years, says just how popular and how much most people like it.

[Gregg]

Just think. If The Beach Boys woulda released the ALTERNATE version of Rock & Roll Music (MIC version) in 1976 it probably would've gone at least top 10 and been on the charts longer!

I had Brian sign my Rock & Roll Music single 2-3 weeks after it came out in '76. He asked me how I liked it and I of course lied and told him I did.

Uh.... it did go top 10. It went to #5.

I remember being surprised it did that well, but like everyone else has said, it sounded great on the radio. It seemed like it fit in perfectly at the time. There was still that nostalgia thing going on and I think people were just really happy to have the Beach Boys back on the radio with a new release.

[smilethebeachboysloveyou]

I have a semi-related observation and question.  Prior to my becoming a Beach Boys fan, I had some exposure to most of the band's top 40 hits and certainly all of their top 10 hits except for this one, which I didn't even know existed until I bought Sounds of Summer.  Anyone have a similar experience?  Seems that in spite of its high chart rating, its popularity hasn't aged that well.  Rightly so, in my mind.

[Nicko1234]

I have a semi-related observation and question.  Prior to my becoming a Beach Boys fan, I had some exposure to most of the band's top 40 hits and certainly all of their top 10 hits except for this one, which I didn't even know existed until I bought Sounds of Summer.  Anyone have a similar experience?  Seems that in spite of its high chart rating, its popularity hasn't aged that well.  Rightly so, in my mind.

I agree that it hasn`t become a quintessential Beach Boys song...

Certainly in the U.K. it has often been omitted from Best of compilations and the same has happened quite a few times in America as well.

[TimeToGetAlone]

At least the single version is considerably better than the album version.  I still wish It's OK was the first single though.  It's also anthemic, it's original, and a better recording overall.  A top 30 placing is nice enough, but surely an early summer release would have boosted its fortunes.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

I have a semi-related observation and question.  Prior to my becoming a Beach Boys fan, I had some exposure to most of the band's top 40 hits and certainly all of their top 10 hits except for this one, which I didn't even know existed until I bought Sounds of Summer.  Anyone have a similar experience?  Seems that in spite of its high chart rating, its popularity hasn't aged that well.  Rightly so, in my mind.

I agree that it hasn`t become a quintessential Beach Boys song...

Certainly in the U.K. it has often been omitted from Best of compilations and the same has happened quite a few times in America as well.

I have no love for the BB version of Rock & Roll Music (love the CB original) so I'm not trying to defend its exclusion when I say that the reason, I think, that it has not "become a quintessential Beach Boys song" as you correctly put it, is because it kind of disrupts the narrative that the Beach Boys were a great 60s band whose greatness ended with the 60s and then re-emerged with one mega-hit comeback single in the 80s. Of course, this narrative is false because it excludes, generally, the beautiful music that the band made in the late 60s and early 70s, and it also excludes the several hits the band had along the road to Kokomo.

I personally think the reason why R&R Music has lasted for so long in the Beach Boys setlist is because it works as a kind of nod to Chuck Berry. They used to cover Johnny B. Goode but then had a hit with another one, so they use that. The song too has a good deal of cultural capital. It has been recorded by two other giants: Chuck Berry and The Beatles. There's a good chance that an audience who goes to see the live show would have heard it from one of these three sources.

[doc smiley]

At least the single version is considerably better than the album version.  I still wish It's OK was the first single though.  It's also anthemic, it's original, and a better recording overall.  A top 30 placing is nice enough, but surely an early summer release would have boosted its fortunes.

much as I like the thought above.. the problem was and really still is even with the MIC version, "It's OK" starts cold (no real intro) and is barely 2:00 long at best with a sizable fade-out.. for 1976 radio its too short. This is a song that needed someone to write a beginning to!

[drbeachboy]

It's been included in every Greatest Hits series since the turn of the century. It's not on the Icon  release, but nothing past 1966 is either. Also, their last three Top 10 hits are: Good Vibrations, Rock And Roll Music and Kokomo.

[smilethebeachboysloveyou]

I personally think the reason why R&R Music has lasted for so long in the Beach Boys setlist is because it works as a kind of nod to Chuck Berry. They used to cover Johnny B. Goode but then had a hit with another one, so they use that. The song too has a good deal of cultural capital. It has been recorded by two other giants: Chuck Berry and The Beatles. There's a good chance that an audience who goes to see the live show would have heard it from one of these three sources.

That's probably true.  I like both the Chuck Berry and Beatles versions of the song, and I liked it when I heard the Beach Boys play it during the C50 tour.  It's a great song that is ruined in album version by production and one of Mike's lesser lead vocals on a rocker, but those problems are easily remedied when it comes to playing it live.

[GhostyTMRS]

I remember when it came out. If you thought 2012 was a big year for the Beach Boys, it had nothing on 1975-76. I was just a kid but EVERYONE liked them.  Heck, we all thought Endless Summer was a new album. There was no way that single could fail.