The Smiley Smile Message Board

I'm not trying to start a raging forest fire here, but what IS it with Kokomo??

I personally love the song, but would never place is alongside Good Vibrations or their other number 1 hits!

Why was it such a big hit?

Who loved it enough to make it so?

What components made it such a hit?

Why do "fans" hate it so much?

What are the circumstances/stories regarding its creation?

I have my own thoughts and theories, but want to hear so from others!

One of the biggest movies of the year.

Tom Cruise.

Movie soundtrack.

Big marketing budget.

positivity







 ;D

"Kokomo" has a good melody, catchy lyrics, excellent vocals, a tropical/summer-y "feel", and it's well-produced. If Brian Wilson had anything to do with the composition and/or production, the term "genius" and the phrase "still has it" would be applied to "Kokomo".

Many fans resent it, specifically its success, because it was a commercial hit while many superior Beach Boys/Brian Wilson songs did not achieve a similar fate - and the fact that Mike Love was involved with it and Brian Wilson was not.

It only irritates me now because I use to love it when I was youngin and I listened to it a lot (waaaay before my Beach Boys fascination). I do remember not really liking the first verse, even though the lyrics were easy to remember. The song really picks up in the chorus, its just so damn catchy, and Carl's parts...I mean, Carl can just about make anything good.

Yup.

Also, count me as a fan too.

I just think it's bad music. The sound and the production are a big turn off. I like a lot of Mike's stuff but not this. I have no resentment for it other then everything Dennis wrote or anything the group did from 61-74 is better and this should be the stuff people seek out. Oh well.

I like Kokomo. It is a lovely pop tune, catchy, and well-crafted. I don't know why diehards resent it. It is the Mike factor, I guess.

it's the production i hate. it's even worse than BW88.  Carls bit is the dogs nads though, and it's got Van Dyke on it, which adds to the WTF factor  ??? but imo it's just not a very inspired song - 'hey guys, we should write a song about a tropical place again!', y'know?

Oh and of course, having Mr. Positive Thinker at the helm didn't hurt at all  ;D

I LOVE this song. Excellent vocals, great melodies and it sounds really sunny. Of course the production's too plastic, but that's just how Top 40 music sounded in the eighties. And this might sound odd, but "Kokomo" is easily the most nostalgic BB song for me. It was a hit when I was nine and since my parents always prefered contemporary music over oldies it's the only BB song that I really grew up with.

I have mixed feelings about it. I like the chorus and Carl's part. I don't like Mike's part. I'm not trying to be antagonistic, but Mike's part sounds creepy to me, and sounded even more creepy when I was 12 or 13 and there's this 45 year old man's voice singing "Port au Prince, I wanna catch a glimpse." But that's just my hang-up, I guess. I'm also not too crazy about the lyrics-- trite stuff about going to a tropical paradise. The vocals (except Mike's lead) are great, but I don't like the instrumentation,  particularly the sax solo, though I know sax solos were big at the time. But if it came on the radio, I wouldn't change the station.

I think, though, that Mike's "Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama" bass line gave this song just the right hook, just as his "I'm pickin' up good vibrations" thing helped to propel that song to number one.  I'm not a big fan of the sax solo, either, but it certainly worked at the time.  I think the whole 'tropical island' vibe has been very popular here in the states throughout the years, with Jimmy Buffett making a career out of it, and others like Kenny Chesney cashing in, as well.

Maybe that's just it-- I'm not a big Jimmy Buffett fan either. (I've never heard Chesney.)

Underrated by Beach Boys fans.

Overrated by general public=radio stations who made it number one.

Its OK. At the time, I was no BB fan but  it actually sounded pretty good on the radio, and I liked it. I was glad when it hit number one. My little sister had the cassette single bw Tutti Frutti.

I really loved this song.....when I was 7.

I think Sheriff hits it on the head, regarding the die-hard fan reaction.  As for the general public, it's a "love-it-or-hate-it" kinda song...I think some people hate the "Aruba, Jamaica" part 'cause they think it's cheesy.  Personally, it doesn't bother me all that much, and I really like the verses, which are pretty tranquil and evocative of the islands. 

BTW, I know it's generally accepted that the "success" of the movie launched the success of the song, but I vividly recall reading an article in Billboard at the time that may be cause to re-evaluate that notion...the jist of the article was that the movie "Cocktail" was only MILDLY successful at the box office, but the soundtrack album was WILDLY successful, as it contained super-hits like "Kokomo" and Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy".  So maybe it's time for history to be revised?  I THINK the article may have even suggested that the MOVIE became MORE popular AFTER the soundtrack & its singles became big hits.

A different take --

I think it just doesn't sound like the Beach Boys. Nonexistent harmonies and Mike singing in a totally different voice. If all you know of the Beach Boys were the 60s records, I don't think you'd necessarily recognize it as the group.

And in some ways, I think that's why it was a hit. It was a different sound for a familiar group (but with related subject matter) and a catchy tune. Nuff said.

"Beach Baby" by "First Class" was a #4 US pseudo-BB hit and it's not half the song or performance that Kokomo is.

Every time I hear Kokomo it makes me want to sing along, even though I think it has an elevated level of treacliness. It's just so darn catchy.

<<<If Brian Wilson had anything to do with the composition and/or production, the term "genius" and the phrase "still has it" would be applied to "Kokomo".>>>


I've been saying that for YEARS!

Me too! 

I think it's the time it came out...the 80's had no shame     :lol

Mike "plays" a mean sax in that video!

I actually think when you consider the year/era Kokomo was recorded, the production isn't all that bad. The only things that really date it are the weird drum machine sounding opening and the sax solo (a staple of 80s balladry) otherwise, it sounds like classic Beach Boys to me.

Speaking of the weird drum machine sounding opening..... Doesn't it really just hook you/pull you into the song?

Kinda genius, if you ask me....

And then Mike comes in for the verses singing in a lovely tenor, then THAT CHORUS!!!

and if the chorus doesn't grab you, Mike goes into his classic Beach Boys bass vocal for the

"To martinique, that monserrat mystique" part!

The song is a perfect example of most of the things that make the Beach Boys so great!

But why is Al just standing there with just a tamborine in the video?

Why couldn't he just have a guitar strapped on and pretend to be playing it like everyone else?

Were they trying to be true to life because he isn't playing guitar on the record?

How many other songs did Al not play guitar on, but did so on stage?

It's just odd.

I was just thinking of the lipsynched "Getcha Back", performed on the Solid Gold TV show, with Al on tambourine. Alan Jardine, Mr. Tambourine Man!

OK, back to Kokomo, that's where we wanna go, way down to Kokomo...

There's also the One Life To Live "performance" of Kokomo with Mike winking and making eyes at one of the female charachters!

Al's on lead Tamborine for that as well.

You know, a lot of people don't realize what a quality lead tambourinist Al Jardine was because of the fact that he was in the middle of a group that at any given time had 4-6 other really solid lead tambourinists. There is a very famous bit of studio outtakes in which Al was trying to have a go at what became his first lead tambourine hit, but Murray Wilson himself is just tearing him apart. "Syncopate it, Al 'tch tch TCH tch TCH tch TCH TCH'! Ya got any heart? Let's hear it."

Of course, David Marks was a great lead tambourinist, very largely responsible for the Beach Boys' tambourine sound that dominated those early records, but he was unfairly forgotten for years.

EVERYONE is overshadowed by the lead tamborine skills of Mr. Love in his heyday!!!!!

True dat. I heard the famed SOT label will release an 8 CD-set called: 'Gotta Love That Tambourine'. It solely features tambourine demos and outtakes by Mike Love, unaccompanied, to exhibit his supernatural skills. Those who join in the special pre-sale offer will get two CDs with Mike solo on triangle as a bonus.

Get it. You know it makes cents.

I like that song a lot. I think it sounds like a 1963-1964 Beach Boys song with a Sunflower-ish arrangement and production. Great combination.

I saw Brian twice on his 2007 European tour and "Beach Baby" was the last song that was played before Brian came on, on both occasions. Kind of like an 'intro'.

(double post)

Strange. I never liked that song. It always was for me: 'James Last Attempts The Beach Boys', or something like that. In other words: faux-Wilsonia.