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Thread title speaks for itself.

Anyone have a clue?

I'm guessing it's more complex a situation with rights, due to different movie soundtracks being involved? Plus probably a general lack of interest for it being out there. Parts of the album are definitely a guilty pleasure for me.

I'd guess that nobody cares enough to make it available; same with Summer in Paradise perhaps? Still Cruisin' has Kokomo but that's available on several hit compilations and only the most hardcore fans care about stuff like Somewhere Near Japan (good song) let alone Island Girl (guilty pleasure at best). Wasn't Still Cruisin' (the song) a minor hit though?

Yeah, I used to hear "Still Cruisin'" (the song) piped in at placed like Walgreens, so I've always considered it a minor hit.

Surprisingly it was top 10 on the A/C chart. I sure never heard it back in the day.

Made Top 30 in Australia too. I need to ask some of the Aussies around here if they know it.

I've recently realized that, despite its ridiculous Paul Simon allusion, the song kinda isn't awful. It's got a reasonable amount of grit and some nice guitar playing.

Or what about "Make It Big"? Awesome song!!

In my car is an absolute tune as well. Would have liked to have that available

Agreed...I have a serious obsession with In My Car.

Still Crusin’ got a good amount of airplay in Australia at the time. I remember seeing the video a bunch.

Actually really enjoy this album, but the combination of 1987-1989 songs with 3 tracks from the 60s just never worked for me.

IMO it's a better experience to combine the 80s stuff with other similar era tracks like California Dreamin', Problem Child, and the often ignored Chasing The Sky (great Carl vocal, and really decent song) to create a more coherent "album". I think I'll go make a Playlist right now!

This might be one of the main reasons it hasn't been part of even a low effort digital rerelease. I mean, the repeated tracks on Little Deuce Coupe kind of contradict this line of thinking, but maybe they're between a rock and a hard place with presenting an album that is authentic vs. complete and cohesive. Those last three tracks could be swapped for Rock and Roll to the Rescue, California Dreamin, and Problem Child or others, but rights issues aside it just wouldn't really be the Still Cruisin' album anymore.

Absolutely agree, it's no longer the album.

Your comment reminded me though of the Beatles Yellow Submarine album, which originally had the orchestrations as filler, but was reissued at some stage with stray singles/b-sides. It was no longer the album, but it was a better listening experience.

The "songtrack" version was probably an excellent purchase and listen for alot of people who saw the film or were looking for a greatest hits in 1999 but it never seemed like a necessary purchase with the main discography in hand.

In general I have a problem with reissues changing the core tracklist while retaining the same title and artwork. Just call it a compilation with a fresh title. For a more recent example, I'm a big fan of 90's shoegazers Lilys but am disappointedly skipping the forthcoming reissue of their second record due to bonus tracks at the expense of the original program.

Speaking of what's in a name, I wonder if anyone's ever ordered a stock-photo listed copy of BB85 only to find that 20/20 looking Pickwick comp in their mailbox. Entirely different circumstances I know, but the point is album titles create expectations.

While it doesn't help to explain why it currently is out of print and not even available to stream, to understand the context of this album it helps to read interviews with the guys (mainly Mike) from that era.

It appears that the original idea for the album was for it to be entirely BB songs that had been featured in movies. It was intended to be essentially a re-package/compilation with a "movie" theme.

While from the fan perspective it was usually felt that the reissued/hits/oldies were what watered down the album, an interview with Mike discussing the album indicates that he felt the "non-movie" songs were what watered the album down, and that it was all inter-band politics that led to other members getting tracks (and "non-movie" tracks at that) like Brian's "In My Car" and Al's "Island Girl." Mike of course contradicted his own reasoning here by contributing his own "non-movie" song, "Somewhere Near Japan."

The band, particularly Mike, also seemed annoyed that Capitol didn't push "Somewhere Near Japan" harder as a single, feeling it got lost in label politics in terms of what they chose to push to radio and promote. While "SNJ" was undoubtedly a highlight of the album, I don't think it would have scored the band a big hit under any circumstance.

Ultimately, despite the album going gold (due surely to it being the first BB album to feature "Kokomo"), the Capitol album deal was a one-and-done, and within a few years they were having to bankroll "Summer In Paradise" themselves.

Instead of calling it Still Cruisin', how about Best of the Beach Boys - 80's playlist? They could take the new songs from the album, plus Kokomo, and surround  them with other 80's recordings - Getcha Back, California Dreaming, Rock 'N' Roll to the Rescue, Where I Belong, It's Gettin' Late, Keepin' the Summer Alive, Goin' On. If they really want to stretch it, Come Go with Me and The Beach Boys Medley were hits in that decade.
I would buy a comp like that. Get Mike and Brian to contribute some recollections of the individual songs.
Mike: Kokomo was our first number one in 22 years, a worldwide hit that outsold Good Vibrations, Help Me Rhonda, I Get Around. It was our biggest hit ever, and I wrote it, with a little help from our producer Terry Melcher, Papa John Phillips, and Scott "San Francisco" Mackenzie. Of course, it didn't hurt that it was in a Tom Cruise movie where he nails the Adventures in Babysitting girl, Elisabeth Shue. Just being in the presence of such a fabulous babe would have me wanting to unleash the love.
Brian: Goin' On is a song I wrote with Mike. That song has merit.
Mike: Rock 'N' Roll to the Rescue is another one I wrote with Terry Melcher (he used to produce Paul Revere and the Raiders - Good Thing, baby, yeah! - and The Byrds - to everything Turn, Turn, Turn. Terry decided that my cousin Brian should sing this one. Brian was being treated at the time by Dr. Eugene Landy. It's a drag Brian burned out his brain on drugs - both he and Dennis had major substance abuse issues. I never did; I preferred to meditate instead of medicate. Dr. Landy wanted co-writing credit on this song, and I humbly told him to stick that where the sun don't shine.
Brian: In My Car. That's a cool song. That song has merit.
Mike: Getcha Back. That was the first song I wrote with Terry. We wanted it to sound like Hungry Heart, but Steve Levine's production took all the balls out of it. My cousin Brian impressed us all with his falsetto singing on this track - the best vocal performance he'd recorded since he messed up his mind and body with hard drugs. Did I mention that I meditate every day?
Brian: Keepin' the Summer Alive. Cool song.

Brevity is the soul of wit.

Mike Love to the T!

I knew as soon as I mentioned swapping in other 80s songs we were headed down this path.

It was probably inevitable anyway, given Kokomo was on the Still Cruisin' album.


As to brevity being the soul of wit, sometimes it is.

Just thought I'd bump this with track listing for a proposed home compilation/Playlist.

My thoughts:

1. Chasin' The Sky
2. Runaway live 1982 from the Sunkist LP
3. East Meets West with the Four Seasons
4. Happy Birthday America
5. Happy Endings with Little Richard
6. Lady Liberty
7. Rock 'n' Roll To The Rescue
8. California Dreamin'
9. Still Cruisin'
10. Somewhere Near Japan
11. Island Girl
12. In My Car
13. Kokomo
14. Make It Big
15. Wipe Out with the Fat Boys
16. Problem Child
17. Crocodile Rock
18. The Spirit of Rock and Roll (Brian's original 1986 version) - bonus track

Possible additions/bonus tracks/substitutes
There are official released alternate edits etc for a few of these - Somewhere Near Japan, Make It Big, Wipe Out, Rock 'n' Roll to the Rescue, California Dreamin' + the Spanish Kokomo with Brian appearing. There is the Bob Dylan version of Spirit if you prefer that.

I think from these 18 official release (except Spirit, although there is a later official release of that song) songs most people could come up with a pretty pleasing 12 track 80s/early 90s playlist without touching any of the 1985 album tracks.

I can tell you the first track I'd be dropping, but I reckon you could guess.

Forgot to say - I think the best version of Spirit is the one from 12 Dec 1986 Hawaii, but the version from the DVD has too much audience noise - a soundboard recording might be better. The Beach Boys backing vocals improve the song imho.

Yeah, I could take a guess, but I think I'd Wipe Out on that.

Me too - great song!  Marred only by ludicrous 80s drum sound.

I liked the solo version he sang on the tv show

:lol

In all seriousness, that's a great idea for a release. I wrote in the 'new 1985 footage' thread that the Beach Boys need to do a re-release of BB85 due to the recent 80s nostalgia kick that has been going on. But a "Best of the 80s" album would sell so much better, and make more sense. I know it'll never happen, but it sure would be nice.

A best of the 80's comp seems like it would be very easy to market to a casual audience, but perhaps difficult to agreeably curate. I'd venture to say that 80's nostalgia is here to stay, albeit at maybe less of a height than it was a few years ago. A Made In USA meets Outrun kind of aesthetic (no pun intended) would make a fitting cover design I think.

I remember seeing about a themed Monkees comp coming out a few years ago that portrayed them as more of a psychedelic band. Anyone know how successful this was at attracting a curious crossover audience. Seems like it'd be a similar campaign for an 80's Beach Boys summary.

What struck me when I was compiling the tracklist above was that there were about 1/2 a dozen "duets" as well as about 1/2 a dozen "soundtrack" songs. As someone recently pointed out, Terry Melcher seemed to be able to get these BB songs into movies and it must have had some payoff (even setting aside Kokomo, which is obvious).

Hope I haven't misquoted someone too badly.

The Monkees album was titled Summer of Love. I thought it was a great idea, but the actual album didn't follow through 100%. They included songs from the first two albums which weren't psycadelic at all. I imagined a comp focused on PACJLTD, Headquarters, Head, and BB&M.
Us hardcore BB fans probably wouldn't care for an 80's comp that included Come Go With Me (recorded in the 70's) and The Beach Boys Medley, but I suppose the record labels would want to include anything resembling a hit from that era. I would be okay with that as long as they also dug up some rarities like Chasin' the Sky. How about Barbie (Living Doll)? I know it was all Brian, but it was released under the Beach Boys name.

I'll agree that Come Go With Me would be a bit of a stretch on this collection. Yeah it was a hit in the 80s but it'd make me shake my head in a similar fashion to when I see bars use Oregon Trail imagery to promote 90's nights. That being said, including Living Doll and/or Chasin' The Sky would make the difference for me between buy and pass.

Side note: Living Doll b/w Barbie seems like rather low hanging fruit for the RSD release no one asked for.

It's not much of a song, but still, it's Brian, I'd like to have it on vinyl.
At the time of release, a friend said "I'm gonna have to buy a Barbie doll", lol. "Well, maybe I can give it to my niece".

If general lack of interest were a good enough reason not to take 30 seconds to upload the tracks to Spotify's servers, there'd be only a handful of albums there.

If general lack of interest were a good enough reason not to take 30 seconds to upload the tracks to Spotify's servers, there'd be only a handful of albums there.

If general lack of interest were a good enough reason not to take 30 seconds to upload the tracks to Spotify's servers, there'd be only a handful of albums there.

I have maybe 2 people in my life who care about an album being cohesive. I haven't thought that way at all since the early 2000's. If that's the reason, it's lame.