The Smiley Smile Message Board

Discuss, review and rate Still Cruisin', released August 1989.

(http://www.smileysmile.net/images/albums/stillcruisin.gif)

Call me crazy, but I like this album better than '85. By a lot. I really can't name a bum track on it. Nothing great on it, but nothing bad either.

OK. Crazy.

One of my favorite Beach Boys albums. I absolutely love the a capella opener to "Island Girl", and I enjoy the title track as well. Mike's bass vocal in "Wipe Out" is fun to sing along with. I rate this a 4, only because I wish they put out a few new songs instead of "California Girls", "I Get Around", and "Wouldn't It Be Nice".

It's fucking horrible.

Not really an album. A compilation of soundtrack and singles.
The last Beach Boys Capitol release? Sort of...
A completest must have. Casual Beach Boys fan?, nah..
Out of print...
PETE

AMEN!

1 for Somewhere Near Japan

I like some of it. Yes folks, I admit to liking Wipeout.  :-X

Some bad, some good.  LOVE Somewhere Near Japan.  All of it is at least listenable.

One of 4 BB lps I dont have on vinyl and one of 2 I dont have on disc.

It had its place.  Those songs were nowhere else initially and those singles and movie releases needed to be out there.  At least there was still some original music.  This would make it the last decent BB album.

Its still on my list to buy when I find it for a reasonable price.

A guilty pleasure.  I like every song on this album, though it's admittedly a bit strange to from "Make it Big" to "Round round get around, I get around".  "In My Car" has one hell of a rhythm to it.  Overall, a 4.  Though it's not a real album, it's a great compilation.  Good stuff!

Analog, please fix your avatar.

You're big on that, eh?

Yep. Those X's drive me crackers.

A steaming, sloppy pile of sh*t.  1.

Like it. The new songs are cool and at times great ( "Somewhere near Japan" ), but they shouldn't have put the three old songs on it, and if they had to do it, they at least should have taken the better sounding version of "WIBN".  3

yeah it's too bad that they couldn't just add 3 new songs (or more) and truly make it a "new" album.  The new songs are all decent.  No classics, but enjoyable later stuff.

I loved MAKE IT BIG. sounds to me like Carl listened to Balance of Power ELO album from'86.

This record isn’t half bad. It’s Achilles heel is the inclusion of the 3 oldies at the end. Otherwise, you have a pretty good album. Way better than BB ’85. Good stuff, even if leaning on nostalgia. And Somewhere Near Japan is probably their last halfway  decent effort. I don’t know why they’d include the oldies when they had so much good stuff in the can (Spirit of Rock and Roll would have made this record a classic).

The only thing that makes this album a 1 for me is Somewhere Near Japan.  I guess the title song is harmless yet still ultra-corny.  The intro to Island Girl is good, but after that I can do without the rest of the song.  Make it Big is God awful and Wipe Out is an embarassment.  The three old classics are fantastic but totally out of place.  Was there nothing else in the vaults?  Spirit Of Rock N Roll as mentioned before would have helped out a lot!

Make It Big is annoying, In My Car is just plain bad. Everything else is mediocre at worst. The last three songs are amazing, but, well, you know..

3/5

EDIT: In My Car really grew on me, and the only bad thing about Make It Big is that it's really really really 80s. I can't justify giving an album with no bad songs on it a 3.

4/5

Horribly programed bad concept. Japan is killer but the rest is pretty lame.

IN MY CAR IS THE BEST SONG FROM THIS ALBUM

I LOVE IT, THE BEST ALBUM

SOMEWHERE NEAR JAPAN AND STILL CRUISIN ARE GREAT  :)

So far you've commented favorably on two 80s albums and the Newcastle concert, and your signature is from Summer in Paradise.. I'm anticipating your opinion on Stars & Stripes ::)

Do you like any of their 60s or 70s stuff?

I assumed s/he was baiting people into arguments.

Oh, that's no fun.. a genuine fan of the later years who seems to not listen to or care for albums like Pet Sounds or Friends or even Surfin' Safari is a curious anomaly. There was an article I read the other day, and they interviewed a girl at a Beach Boys concert, and she said "The Beach Boys have always been my favorite band. My favorite song is Kokomo," she was a fun&sun type, obviously, but presumably she also liked songs like California Girls and Good Vibrations and I Get Around and the like.. but someone who only likes the 80s and 90s stuff, itself an attempt at trying to recreate their hitmaking sound? I want to know this person's thought process. Has he even heard Pet Sounds? Maybe he was a kid in the 80s and only heard their new releases.. and thought the three songs tacked on the end of Still Cruisin' sounded old and weird, you know?

i remember as a kid in the 80s, first cassette i ever had was Still Cruisin...enjoyed it...and the last tunes did kind of confuse me...

and then my dad had an 8-track of the Best of the BB (the collection made right after pet sounds with Louie Louie) and I remember like Louie Louie a lot and imitating Mike's bass vocals...but i also got to hear a lot of good stuff like warmth, kiss me baby, surfer girl, & Catch a wave...so i had an earlier exposure of good hits, but lesser known

i love the sixties too and the seventies aren't so bad, but the 80ies are better
i collected all albums, even summer in paradise  ::) but i have so many 80ies concert, that's why i like the 80ies
i like pet sounds too  :)

peter

BTW
i am just 16, it's a little bit hard to understand pet sounds, sunflower or friends in my age

Great. Post more.

Hard to understand Pet Sounds? I was 15 or 16 when I first listened to Pet Sounds, 17 when I listened to Friends.. how are they hard to understand? Pet Sounds especially, the songs are written from the point-of-view of a teenager.

I bought Still Cruisin only because I wanted to have all the Beach Boys albums, not because I expected it to be any good. But the album surprised me. It's really enjoyable. Not a great work of art, but it's cool.

Agreed. Just a nice, fun album to pop in and enjoy. Pretty much serves its purpose. As y'all said, it would have been a heck of a lot better of a final product had the classics been removed and replaced by a couple of new tracks...it just feels weird to end the album with the hits. However, again, it at least does a nice job of serving the purpose it was intended to serve.

The best song on the album is easily the title track, IMHO.

Nothing too spectacular on this album. the title track isnt THAT bad compared to say TM Song :-D but overall a pretty below-average album for "America's band". I especially dislike Kokomo. Not because its that terrible of a song but it just annoys me when I say to people "I love the Beach boys" and they start singing "arbua, jamaica" really sarcastically. It annoys me. That whole era sits uneasy with me. Dennis was gone :'(, John Stamos was there >:( Brian was virtually doing nothing anymore. It was basically the Terry Melcher & Mike Love show. And They were writing surfing songs even though they were like 50 years old (or whatever). And then It really annoys me to see footage of Mike (roughly aged 50 or so) with girls in bikinis on stage with him. Its pathetic and just ruined all the good work the original lineup (including Mike of course) did back in the 60's/70's.  Still not as bad as Summer In Paradise.

Hi. I thought "somewhere in Japan" should have been on the Good Vibrations box as the melcher/Love/Johnsson here cleary succeed in making a good 80:s Mamas and Papas/Byrds/Beach Boys kind of sound. I later found out That Terry Melcher is singing the parts that i first thought was Carl and that cooled my appreciation considerably...

Otherwise it's a failure that they couldn't even fill out the album with new songs. Two more decent Brian songs and a new take of Carl's "heaven" (regularly performed at the time)  had placed it one star above the 85 album.

Still No 3 stars rating after "love you" in my opinion.

Hold up, what? The bit that goes, "My engine's all burned out, my crew has all bailed out" isn't Carl, it's Melcher? Seriously?

Looks like that I am the only one who gave this album a 5.  :p

 
I am pretty sure that Carl is singing the verse.

Yeah, that sounds like Carl to me. I'd like a source on it being Melcher.

Terrible album.  Surely they could've cobbled together enough 'new' songs - or at least some that hadn't appeared on any albums. SNJ is the one song that's any good. That's Melcher?  Surely not.

My engine is over now.. is Carl  but the "i'm throwing out a lifeline.. is Terry according to Billy Hinchie in a recent interview in ESQ. After that statement i began to listen more closely (also S.I.P 92) and found many similrarities in Paul Revere and raiders albums that has stacks of Melcher backgrounds behind Mark Lindsay. I think i can hear him on certain vocal lines that i always thought was Carl in the first place (Lahaina aloha). What do you think ?

Listened to it and it's Carl, when something sounds more like Terry then the line "quite sincere" but that's Carl too imo. And on live performances Carl sung the mentionend verses and if Carl didn't sing it on the original version, he wouldn't sing it on live performances.

Thats not necessarily true. Other band members sung other parts that werent by them originally (eg: Dennis singing lead on Good Timin and I think there was an instance where Carl sung Help Me Rhonda even though Al was onstage at the same time)

Yeah, Carl or Dennis was just as [more?] likely to sing Rhonda than Al in the early 70s.

Rather than not singing it live if someone else sang it, I doubt at that stage of the game Carl would mime in the video to someone else's vocals. Maybe Billy is thinknig of the demo or something; I think Jeff Foskett sang Carl's part on Kokomo, and a guy who was there for the demoing might think twenty years later that Foskett is singing the chorus on Kokomo, because he remembers it "happening".

Maybe we should take this to the General Discussion Board, ask Alan Boyd.

Yeah, but when Al wasn't on some '90 concert no Beach Boy sung his part on Still Cruisin' or SNJ or Sail On Sailor was always sang by a non-Beach Boys since Blondie left, only in the mid 90ies Carl sung lead.

I hate to say that alot of the lines I thought were Carl's on SNJ do sound alot like Terry Melcher. I don't know what he sounded like in the 80s, though; I'm basing this on the Bruce and Terry/Rip Chords stuff I've heard.

I have to admit I gave Still Cruisin a 3. It makes it a bit easier to swallow when I realised that 1/2 the songs on it are from the 60's.

1/2? Not even 1/3.

Even if it was only 1/9, my point was that those older songs make the album a little easier to swallow, IMO.

Yes, I get it but I'm a nitpicker.   :-D

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Actually though, there are some bright non-60's moments on this album. The only song that really makes me cringe is Make It Big... Sounds so much like a crappy Van Halen knock off that it makes me laugh... Wait, I guess I am entertained by it so.. who knows? I'm confused now.  ;D

Yeh Ive never really dug Make It Big that too for me is probably the only song that I dont like on the album (besides Kokomo)

I like it but the movie version is better.

There is no way that is Melcher on "Japan".  Listen to him on th BGV's on the euro version o "Island Fever".  He sounds NOTHING like Carl.

Well I'm not going to rate the last three songs.  Preferrably they could have used the other available new tracks they had done in the last 4 years.  There was easily enough material for that.  But at any rate, the remaining the seven are not bad by any means.  In My Car is unbelievable to me for some reason.  I played it on the jukebox at the local bowling alley.  First time I'd heard it.  It doesn't work for some I understand but considering I'm one who has a huge appreciation for late 60's/early 70's Beach Boys for some reason it still works for me.

Still Cruisin' - 3.5/5
Somewhere Near Japan - 4.5/5
Island Girl - 3/5
In My Car - 5/5
Kokomo - 4/5
Wipe Out - 4/5
Make It Big - 3/5

That actually rounds to a 4.

As an album, I hardly want to rate it, to me its just a collection of songs. Regarding the new songs, I think they are better than BB85, at least I enjoy them more and think they are more imaginatively produced, and far better than the unreleased Sweet Insanity.

 Ideally, the new songs would have been issued iwth the best parts of the SI to make a solid Beach Boys album of twelve songs. Somewhere Near Japan is beautiful, but actually most of the songs are pleasant little ditties in their own right.


Failing that, it would have been nice to have these new songs collected together with other eighties singles(Rock and Roll to the Rescue, California Dreamin', East Meets West, Chasin' the Sky and that Little Richard song...)
I guess I'll rate it this album a one.5 and round up to two...and then I'll get to work on my Still Cruisin'/Sweet Insanity mix.

I gave it a 3.  It's okay.

Love this album, it's out of print so I had to get it from itunes.

I'd give it a 3.5.

There's a lot to enjoy here. Even though this is a patchwork record even by the standards of the group who did 20/20 and Carl And the Passions, for me it works surprisingly well even as an album (safe for the last three songs, that is). It's not perfect by any means, but most of the songs have aged a whole lot better than BB85. This is as close to making a truly satisfying album as the group ever got during the eighties. It could have used two or three more BW originals, though. What about "Too Much Sugar"?  :-D

This is certainly better than 85. I really really like somewhere near Japan despite some of the cheesy production elements. Great vocals

plus

you get to hear "keeping it clean Al Jardine" sing "and now she's driftin' on some Chinese junk"  :lol

I have reason to believe that the only "Beach Boy" singing on this "song" was Brian Wilson...

Honestly, I won't be surprised if this album ever gets "repackaged" as a Beach Boys At The Movies compliation.  They could throw in "Problem Child", "It's Such A Beautiful Day" and "Chasin' The Sky" and whatever else was missing from this album. 

Still Cruisin': Like this song, it has a cool Beach Boys summer feeling and cool vocals from Bruce!
Somewhere Near Japan: Just discovered this great song!
Island Girl: Very cool song from Al with a great acapella intro and Al doing some short falsetto part! ;D
In My Car: Very 80s sounding song can not listen to it too often.
Kokomo: One song among others that brought me to the Beach Boys, good vocals from Mike and Carl!
Wipeout: Not my thing!
Make It Big: Good song, I like it!

The Album got a 4 from me, because of the 3 oldies at the end, it would have been better if they had recorded some new Material or put Rock & Roll To The Rescue to it!

R&R to the Rescue had already been on Made in USA.

And Wouldn't It Be Nice had already been on Pet Sounds!

Wipe Out is quite literally the weirdest song I've ever heard. And I have collections of The Residents, Eden Ahbez, and Bruce Haack.

"Somewhere Near Japan" is the best thing the Beach Boys have done since 60's at least, possibly even since the SMiLE sessions. 2 stars for that it's such a great song.

The rest of the album needs to rot in a hole somewhere. Even the 3 tracks from other albums sound worse here than they do on the original albums for some reason. It's like they're embarrassed to be on the same tracklisting as "Wipeout" and "Island Girl."

Time hasn't been too kind to the songs on this album. At the time it was issued however, it was rather "hip" and commercial. It wasn't outlandish to hear these songs on the radio in the same line up as Janet Jackson, Duran Duran, and Bruce Springsteen.

The new material has its moments. "In My Car" has great vocals from Brian, Carl, and Al and is actually a damn fine car song (regardless of Landy's involvement), "Island Girl" and "Make It Big" also feature fabulous group vocals (again featuring Brian). "Somewhere Near Japan" is an obvious winner. The single version included a remix with a different intro and some added vocals here and there that, as far as I know, hasn't shown up on CD. The title track is fun in that  the listener is able to distinctly pick out Mike, Carl, Al, and Bruce as they each sing an audible part.

Yeah, it's 80s gloss but once you get passed that, it can actually be an enjoyable listen.

My one big complaint about it is older tracks stick out like a sore thumb. I wish they had just thrown in unreleased tracks instead.

Shocking Tidbit Of The Day:

"Wipe Out" was originally going to be performed with (get ready for this) Run-DMC!!!

I actually love Wipeout as-is. Probably would have loved it with Run-DMC, too, though; I love their music from that period. In fact, I love more hip-hop from the late 80s than of any time before or after. Kind of my golden era for it.

If they'd taken off 'Make It Big' and the re-recordings of old hits and stuck 'Rock n'Roll to the Rescue', 'California Dreaming', 'Chasing the Sky' and a couple other 'new' or non-album songs, the album would have pretty good IMO.

'Rock n Roll to the Rescue' is a damn fine, fun Beach Boys rocker, in the noble tradition of 'I Get Around' and 'Surfin Safari' with Brian on great form. I was very surprised when I saw that Brian hadn't written it but Terry Melcher/Mike Love. My view of the Melcher/Love writing partnership rose slightly as a result  :-D

'California Dreaming' is imo a latterday classic Beach Boys track, even with the overloud drums in places. Carl and Al are on grand vocal form here. Should have been on 'Still Cruisin'.

'Somewhere Near Japan' is a very good track (tho I wonder if Al realised whether the lyrics to this might possibly be drug-related, but he's certainly there on the track), 'In My Car' is carazy and kinda happening and is a good example of Brian's musical sense of humour IMO.

The title track is ok, but Mike's nasal vocal does spoil it a little imo.

Would give the album a 2.5/5 as is, but with the above tracks added, I'd give it a 3.5/5 . Not bad :)

The old tracks are not re-records; they are the originals. Although WIBN is a Alt. Take. The reason why Rock and Roll To The Rescue and California Dreamin' were not on Still Cruisin' is because they were on Made In USA album, which was less than 3 years old and had been their latest release.  I'm with you on adding It's A Beautiful Day and Chasin' The Sky, but I suppose Capitol did not want to spend the dollars it would have taken to lease the songs for the album.

Okay effort for the late 1980s, the lyrics for still crusin make me cringe though.

I guess this is from the era of guilty pleasures, but i like the new songs a lot (except Wipe Out - that should not have been on a BB's album; it's a Fat Boys track with BB's as guests, not the other way around). I'll never understand, though, why they had to pad it out with three oldies that we already had on Made In USA, Endless Summer, and countless other comps. Brian, as we know, was very prolific in this era, but I suppose it was too much of a headache to get him in the studio with the Boys as long as Landy's gang was around. Why no songs from Carl?

3

Kokomo, Like it or not, is a great song.

And SOMEWHERE NEAR JAPAN. HOLY sh*t THAT SONG IS GREAT!

Partial review here since I  did not hear it in its entirety. There's still that dated slick 80s production but it seems more toned down here. The tracks I heard are mainly because they have Carl in it, which makes it listenable. Kokomo is just mediocre but for some strange reason I found the Spanish version more listenable possibly because Brian is audible in the chorus (strange, I know), Somewhere Near Japan is a decent song which has nice vocals by Carl along with the rest. Other than that the album is blah. The inclusion of previously released songs just cheapens it even more.

They could have released Still Crusin' as a double album with Pet Sounds as the second disc.........

 :P

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8d/FrankDrebin.jpg)

I must be sick in the head or something, but I think Island Girl from this album is absolutely fantastic!

Somehow it's a neat tune, that's right.  :3d The entirety of Still Cruisin' is a pleasant guilty pleasure, anyway.  :)

Since we've been discussing twofers lately...

As has been mentioned previously in this thread, it would be nice if they (whoever?) could fill out Still Cruisin' with some other BB songs from that era like "Happy Endings", "Rock And Roll To The Rescue", and "California Dreamin", and team it with Summer In Paradise as a twofer.

I have no idea how it could be worked out - probably it can't - but I would like to see these Melcher productions in one package, not just to conveniently group them in one place, but to make an official presentation of a unique era in Beach Boys history. Granted, this was the nadir of the group, but a budget-priced twofer would be a diversion for a casual fan and a necessity for a completist/diehard.

SNJ is just fantastic to me - here the clean crisp digital production really is just justified. Fabulous vocals, pleasant melodies, and a classy beat - and who is playing those wonderful guitars especially on the coda?

The title track is fine too - I can't say no to the chiming Rickenbacker guitars and that Carl "when we go cruisin'...' bit

IG and IMC are fun atypical BB songs and Kokomo is fab. As a musician/producer I marvel at those swift accordian/steel drum arpeggio bits in the verses....Maybe I am alone in my view but I think Terry Melcher as a co-writer and producer did some fine and classy stuff in late 80's/90's for the Beach Boys.

btw someone on YouTube has posted the single mix:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGVK9zTYIlU

The CD must be worth a bit - a couple of days ago the cassette single went for nearly 20 bucks!!

tis my upload, but, alas, I only got the track from an 'alternative' compilation  :afro

Nice upload.  8)

btw when was the last time this song was played live, and are there recordings kicking around?

is this available on vinyl?


A friend recently gave me a couple of promo posters for this album and Made in the USA, they're about the size of a regular LP.

Yep, just got a copy ;)

I like this album, I don't know why there's not much love for it, but it's fun and enjoyable.

:) Mark

Wow, hard to understand?  Maybe ur living a charmed life then.  Pet Sounds & The Catcher in The Rye saved my life when I was 15.

Not half as good as the criminally underrated "The Beach Boys", in fact this album is one of their worse.
Having said that, this album could have been much worse. It's still a lot better than KTSA, SIP, MIU, 15 Big Ones, etc.
Having said THAT, this album was only made because of the surprising success of the crappy "Kokomo".
The title track is quite good, as it "Make It Big".
I don't know what they were thinking, adding the super-crappy Fat Boys collaboration of "Wipeout". Not to mention the bad idea of adding 3 60's era Beach Boys songs.
If they were going to try a album full of BB's songs that recently appeared in movies, they should have added "Chasin' The Sky", "Happy Endings", etc.
3 out of 5

I didn't really clarify back then, but what I meant seven years (!) ago it was difficult to understand since english isn't my first language. Now I love Pet Sounds but Still Cruisin' is still one of my favs, being an 80s child.

I bought both of these albums on vinyl when they came out.  I still think Rock and Roll to the Rescue sounds much better on vinyl and the 45 even better than the LP (I was a teenager in the 80's, still bought 45's at the Tower Records back then...)

Oh god I ALMOST hate this album... It's even not a real album, just a bad compilation. 2/5 pretty much just for Kokomo. Yes that's right.

Still Cruisin - Forgettable.
Somewhere Near Japan - Highlight.
Island Girl - Highlight, but mediocre.
In My Car - Highlight, but it's still mediocre.
Kokomo - Highlight.
Wipe Out - One of the worst songs ever.
Make It Big - Forgettable.

I Get Around
Wouldn't It Be Nice
California Girls
-WTF are these doing here?

Either my tastes are getting shittier, or I guess I just really love the Beach Boys, especially when Mike, Carl, Al and Brian are all involved and singing together. You definitely get that here at times, and it's easy to enjoy. The latter half screws the whole album up with utter filler, but a few songs on this album are pretty fucking great to be honest. "Island Girl", "Somewhere Near Japan", "In My Car" are all excellent, despite some cheesy dated production, but BW88 and BB85 were also horrid, probably even worse in some respects but still had great songs. I ended up avoiding this like the plague for many years, only heard "In My Car", but hearing SNJ and Island Girl was kind of a surprise to me. You'd expect awful embarrassing things like Wipe Out or stuff like off Summer In Paradise to fill this thing up, or faux-Caribbean music abominations a la "Kokomo", which "Island Girl" kind of is actually, but I can't help but enjoy hearing Carl and Al on here especially, that trademark Beach Boys harmony blend, and also some nice inclusions of Brian here and there. I just love the guys singing together and they really do it well here.

Now if they took off "Wipe Out", and the 60's rerun compilation songs tacked on the end for filler and actually tried to come up with a few more new songs, this might have gotten some more credit over the years. They could have easily filled it with other songs from the period (not exactly sure when Chasin The Sky comes from, but they could have tacked on Rock N Roll To The Rescue too). Would have made it much better and not feel like a cheap semi-compliation cash in.

Overall though, I enjoy at least the songs I mentioned, and I ended up giving it a 3 for those alone. "Kokomo" ain't bad. The whole thing is really a guilty pleasure, and songs like SNJ are actually really underrated.

3/5  I enjoy the LP but take  the last 3 songs off and add at least a dozen other songs released in movies or one off singles.. Fill it with 80 minutes of rare BB tracks some in movies some not.. Take a hint from the bootleggers..

This one is kinda hard to rate as its more of an EP or compilation to capitalize on the success of Kokomo. 

This album could've been 20/20 - 20 Years Later with an assortment of soundtrack songs, singles, one off's etc.  Instead it's just kinda lazy. 

That being said, the songs are surprisingly good.  I know I'm in the minority, but I kinda like the Mike Love / Terry Melcher / Jimmy Buffett wannabe late 80s offerings.  The title track and Kokomo are fun tracks.   I also really like Somewhere Near Japan and Island Car.  In My Car is basically a Brian outtake with Al and Carl's harmonies added, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable.  Make It Big is pretty decent too. 

Then, there's the attempt at a Aerosmith/RUN DMC style comeback hit with Wipe Out.  Its......interesting.  Not good, but interesting.  The video is at least somewhat comical. 

I'm sure there are plenty of other tracks from the late 80s that could've been included over California Girls, Wouldn't It Be Nice, and I Get Around.  It's kinda unfair to the newer songs to have these classics on the disc. 

So, I'll typically listen to the first six tracks if I spin this one.  For those six I rate it a four.  For the lack of other songs from this era, and Wipe Out, it might be closer to a three. 

Stale Cruisin':  The Beach Boys Lost in the 80s

Stale Cruisin'
Somewhere Near The Can
Island Girl
In My Car
Koko-blow
Wipe Out
Make It Big (make what big?)

Problem Chile (slight return)
Rock n' Roll to the Fescue
California Creamin'
Sloppy Endings
Chasin' The Sky

Groin' To The Beach
Doo-Doo Ron Ron
Why Don't The Let Us Fall In Love
It's A Beautiful Day

I've included a few from '79/'80, but they fit I think.  Are there any other tracks floating around from Beach Boy's 80s purgatory, that I've missed??  May as well include some early 90s???

Soul Searchin'?
You're Still A Mystery?

Add Crocodile Rock?

I've been listening to a variation of the tracklist above -- and, man, no matter which way you slice it this is bad Beach Boys!   :lol

I have a love of the band and can do some 80s cheese (for a few minutes) -- I also have nostalgia for this period, but that nostalgia also remembers how painfully devoid of quality it was for the band (and pop/rock music in general).  I also remember how much I really wanted the Boys to do good.  Wipe Out (which many seem to loathe) is actually the coolest thing they did during this period, and I bought the single.  Everything else is sappy (Happy Endings is awful) or just cheese.  Even tracks that have something going for them are marred by lame-ness.

Anyway, I may strike the 79/80 songs, since those are too good.  This era is really more 85-95.  That's the cheese era.

(http://i.ytimg.com/vi/uIYFmG7HbBc/hqdefault.jpg)

I will probably be verbally assaulted for this, but I think this is a great record.
1 Still Cruisin- A cheesey, but catchy song. A good opener.
2 Somewhere Near Japan- AN ABSOLUTE CLASSIC. This is one of their best songs of the 1980's for sure.
3 Island Girl- A nice Al tune. Catchy and inoffensive.
4 In My Car- Brian once described it as a "1990's car song" and that's exactly what it is. A creative step back for Brian, but a catchy rock tune nonetheless.
5 Kokomo- This would be enjoyable if I hadn't heard it 10 million times, and if Mike didn't talk about so much!
6 Wipe Out- Oooh. This is painful. This is horrible.
7 Make It Big- That's more like it. This has some great vocals.

With the exception of the horrendous Wipe Out, this is a very good album. Yeah I said it. I like Still Cruisin'.  8)

Agreed, with the bizarre inclusion of three 60s classics, this functions very well as a solid late 80s EP.  (Except for Wipe Out). 

Since Kokomo is almost 30 years old and doesn't get the airplay it used to, I find it much more enjoyable these days. 

I never disliked the new songs on the album; just the way they were presented. I can enjoy a good compilation, but this album tries to be both a greatest hits and a studio album. The guys could have easily come up with 4 more tunes for a studio album. Apparently, that's not what Capitol wanted.

Played this again tonight, and I still think the new songs were strong. Kokomo is over-familiar now, but it was a good, commercial sounding track. According to Carl, Capitol only wanted 3 new songs, the compromise was 5. Sheesh, that's the best deal they could get? Peaked at #40-something in Billboard, yet somehow got a gold record. Everyone involved blew the chance for the band to have a real strong comeback record. And yes, I blame Dr. Landy as much as anyone. He wanted to limit Brian's contact with the band. He was writing great stuff again, put 3 or 4 of Brian's songs on the album and you'd have a winner!

always skip the early songs just to hear the new songs.  They could have easily put on 'RRTTR', 'California dreamin', and even a couple of
80's live recordings of their hits would have been better than rehashing the old stuff to make a new 'official' album.  A wasted opportunity for a
great album.  A couple of Brian songs and a Bruce tune could have made this a Great album in their legacy.

I used to have that Sunkist album with the live Runaway; that should see proper release someday. Even though R&R Rescue and C Dreamin' were already on an album, it would have made more sense to include them, or Happy Endings, that the billionth reissue of the 60's stuff. If teens (and younger) got turned on to the group by Kokomo, they could have easily dropped down to the record store (remember those?) and picked up a copy of Made in USA, Endless Summer, or whatever else was available at that time.

  It still frustrates that STILL CRUSIN' couldn't have wrapped things up with a trio of tunes like "Chasin' the Sky", "Let's Go to Heaven in My Car", and maybe "The Spirit of Rock & Roll." "He Couldn't Get His Poor Old Body to Move" would have been OK as well.


 If so, we'd be looking back on a better album, easily superior to something like THE BEACH BOYS 85.

I would much prefer those songs plus It's A Beautiful Day in place with the last three songs.  Then you got one nice albums with songs that were almost imposible to track down else where.

I agree.  Having the three oldies on there is pointless. 

  I'm super glad you are wrong.

  You don't seem to listen well. As I have said numerous times, STILL CRUISIN' would have been a better album had it finished with newer recordings.

The Beach Boys have a massive hit and so many of their fans don’t even like it, never seen this before. Especially because it wasn’t even a break with what they have done before, like Genesis. Kokomo and Still Cruisin’ are Beach Boys classics in my book, and yes, I also dig their old surf songs and even more the Pet Sounds and Smile stuff. But it is exactly that stuff, that is out of place here.

Two nights ago I dreamt I was somewhere in Japan...

https://youtu.be/bAdeXsyIvE4

I agree.  I really like the Still Cruisin album (minus the rap crossover with The Fat Boys).  I like the six newish songs on it, but wish it was a full album of songs from that era rather than the three classics tacked on at the end.

It's easy to forget that Wipe Out was a pretty big hit in '87. I suppose that's why Mike wanted it on the album, but it's totally at odds with the rest of the material. If they couldn't come up with 3 more new songs, they should have put on a few more recent (more or less) hits like Getcha Back, California Dreamin', Rock 'N' Roll to the Rescue, or It's Gettin' Late.