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Sorry for the stupid thread but I noticed three different Beach Boys albums are in the top 50 of itunes at the moment. Also charting very high on amazon. Did I miss something?

Probably Stranger Things?

Which albums would those be? Sounds of Summer and what else?

Must be that, I don't watch the show, had no idea they were on the soundtrack

Two greatest hits and Pet Sounds

The usual suspects

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,28109.0.html (http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,28109.0.html)

In one of the opening scenes of the first episode, no less. And we were just talking about how Kate Bush got a huge bump from her song being in the show (well, it is in like 6 episodes or something) and the BB's California Dreamin is approaching 10 million streams and became their second biggest song on streaming, yet Kate got a ton of publicity (rightfully so) while the BB's really didn't get much in the press. And when they did, the articles referenced the Mamas & Papas original and not even the BB's version!

It's good to see Pet Sounds in there, I wonder if anything specific contributed to that bump in the charts.

As I stated in the other thread (the SOS thread), the tide has been turning for the band for a while now. It’s mostly due to the millennials and Gen Z folks. This is a band that averaged a gain of 1500-2000 new Spotify followers a *day* for about 6 month’s time (currently averaging 1500 new a day per Chartmetric).  It’s even higher on YouTube. The age group of their fan base is younger compared to their peers in the 60s and 70s .

I’ve seen more than one post here and the other place  stating The Beach Boys would never been ranked along the classic rock greats like the Beatles and the Stones . Crazy part is, these are the only two places that say that ! Pretty much everyone else already has them on the same level. It seems like the only people who don’t give The Beach Boys their proper respect are their own fans

In addition to Stranger Things…. Long Promised Road, the recent documentary about Brian, debuted on US public television’s American Masters series this week and is now available for streaming via PBS stations. Having it available over the air and streaming on PBS  brings the film to a huge audience that didn’t make it to the theater last summer. There’s been a fair amount of media coverage which likely caused some folks to watch the movie and buy some music.

Thanks for the info guitarfool. Stranger things and the Long Promised Road doc causing a surge in interest in the catalogue

Great Post Billy C. The Beach Boys are timeless, us hardcores are way over critical 😂

Thanks for this info

 Plus on amazon’s digital chart the little duece coupe lp is at #51.

And amazon is now out of stock of the version of pet sounds that has been charting the past few days. That has caused pet sounds to fall over a 100 places in amazon’s chart.

Yep. It’s like a part of the fandom has resigned itself to thinking that the Boys will never get respect.  And this why some of us are frustrated.  Saying the BB are “kitsch” really is an insult to The Beach Boys, their music, their artistry, and their talent.  The thing that Howie and others are trying to say is that the Boys DESERVE to be mentioned in the same breath as the Beatles and the Stones.  Their body of work is every bit as great as the Beatles et. al and has had almost as much as a cultural impact, too.  Calling them “kitsch” or “malt shop memories” sells their art and short and I, as a fan, am glad that there are people who are trying to change that.

I expect nothing less from Capital records

Capital records has nothing to do about this. Amazon had the inventory. Amazon sold out. Even they didn’t know there would be a bigger demand for that lp. They have reordered more from Capital.

I stand by what I said even though I'm probably wrong on this specific point

But in general I don't like how Capitol handle the catalogue

As far as I can tell, there are multiple version of "Pet Sounds" still in stock on Amazon US, both on CD and vinyl. And obviously digital purchases don't sell out. And streaming is obviously what it is.

I don't see the problem. And as others have said, I'd look to Amazon first rather than Capitol for stocking issues. I mean, I guess if there's a specific pressing/version, and it's still in-print but out of stock *everywhere*, then maybe one could look to Capitol for blame. But even then, there are like a thousand versions of this album available in tons of formats.

I don't see there being many people that fall into the category of being a new enough to need to pick up "Pet Sounds" for the first time, but also be super picky about only buying one particular version/edition/pressing.

Down to cost. Mono/stereo for under  $10. Plus it was marked as amazon choice. That version was the one charting this week. Last evening they sold out. Slowly getting new stock.

Care to point where this was ever said by anyone?

Sure


That particular one was easy to find , as you said it.

I’m not posting the EH comments here.

Having the Brent Wilson doc playing on PBS is huge in terms of explaining the Brian Wilson story to the general public. 

The one with Jason Fine.? Just fabulous. Waited years for something like this.

Yes, correct.   I just rewatched on the PBS app, which, by the way, indicates that it's the #4 most watched PBS show of the week after the PBS Newshour, Masterpiece Theatre-Endeavor and Nova.

People need something healing due to the times we live in--and, even though they had more than their share of squabbles, debacles, and tragedy, the Beach Boys resonate two levels of healing--Mike's "positivity" and Brian's "musical spirituality." They remind us of the beauty in life that can still be found around us, even in a "Strange World" that is more often than filled with cruel and unusual punishment. Despite a few unfortunate faux pas over the years, the band's music still transcends politics, and creates its own "blossom world" for our ears and our souls. People keep gravitating back to them because they know, deep down, that no one else embodies such basic truths and complex realities, and no one else has the depth of classic songs, whether they be hit or deep cut or downright off-the-wall--or as transcendent and mindblowing as any "classical" composer. Right now, Brian's story, the canny placement of their music in the current zeitgeist, and the re-emergence of both touring groups is something for the public to hang onto as they wait for life to return to normal and find room for Brian's central message to us all: love and mercy. Boy, do we need it, and boy are we lucky that most of the band is still with us, each portion giving us a portal to the vision of joy and harmony that otherwise seems so elusive.

We saw this happen in a somewhat similar way in 1975-76, and while the band has never been able to find its "third wind" after the early years and the 1967-73 peregrinations, the essence of what they provide for us is still intact, and is needed maybe more than ever. Despite a couple of really crappy mixes, the Sounds of Summer set is going to help a lot of folks have a summer with the best musical companions they could ever hope for. I only wish Carl and Dennis were here to see it as well. And Billy Hinsche.

Well said Don

Don, post of the year. Well said, indeed.

I think that is indeed the reason why the resurgence on the charts happened now, absolutely with Pet Sounds as more people saw the doc on PBS and sought out the music, even moreso than the Stranger Things soundtrack. Thank you for that reminder of the recent PBS airings.

Hi happy to be a new member here. Have enjoyed this board for years. Anyway, it seems most of you missed it that God Only Knows played a prominent role in the shocking season final of The Good Doctor. Happy and tragic . Probably contributing to the Best Of Collections AND Pet Sounds being back on the charts.Catch the episode  if you can. Here is the last two minutes or so , will be hard to understand what is going on if you don't watch the show regularly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3aCRWoe9-Y

Welcome to the board!

I completely missed this season because Shaun’s girlfriend REALLY rubbed me the wrong way the previous season so I kinda skipped out. Wow…that gave me ER flashbacks .

It would seem the music industry has been having an identity crisis in the past few years.  A lot of older artists are seeing their albums reenter the charts seemingly apropos of nothing.  I think there's a nostalgia for simpler times and a lot of that older music still holds up.  And with the Beach Boys entering their 60th anniversary with a couple of high profile releases including last year's Feel Flows box set and this year's expanded Sounds Of Summer compilation, it isn't all that surprising that their music is getting some attention.  

I can't really think of any current artist that has done anything noteworthy lately, with maybe the exception of that Bruno Mars super group album Silk Sonic that came out last year.  But even that didn't seem to get the attention it deserved.

I think a big part of the BBs' "dismissal", at least in the US, comes down to the fact that they generally didn't get airplay on classic rock radio stations.

I wonder if they get play on classic rock satellite radio (besides the obvious BB Sirius channel). I mainly listen to new music these days so not sure if that’s the case

Also the fact that songs like this are popular with the younger set currently helps
https://youtu.be/MlThQTo6D8A

There are folks more familiar with the last several decades of radio than I, but I listened to a lot of classic rock radio back in the 80s and 90s, and even when they were playing mostly 60s and maybe some 70s stuff, there was like essentially *zero* Beach Boys being played. These days, "Classic Rock" is like Hootie and Blowfish and Bon Jovi, so even stuff that *was* being played back in the 90s on "Classic Rock" radio has been pushed out by newer stuff.

From what I've heard (I haven't listened to much "oldies" radio in decades), the BBs have even been edged out to some degree on "oldies" radio as well, with fewer songs in rotation than 10-20-30 years ago.

Satellite radio obviously has more flexibility on their play lists, but I doubt like the standard "Classic Rock" or decade-by-decade channels are playing a lot of BBs, certainly when it comes to post-60s material.

Currently, I'm seeing "California Dreamin'" has surpassed "Kokomo" as the most popular Beach Boys track on Spotify, and "Kokomo" has been at the top for as long as I can remember. If there's any "external" factors leading to a jump in interest in the BBs, that connection via being the opening song on the uber-popular "Stranger Things" has certainly played a role I would imagine.

Whereas the Kate Bush song getting huge numbers thanks to "Stranger Things" has led to a bunch of articles and Bush herself commenting, I haven't seen any of the actual BBs comment on "California Dreamin'"; I'm sure we'd already see a dozen articles with Mike commenting if the show had used "Kokomo." As it is, "California Dreamin'" is a relatively uniquely Al-centric Beach Boys track, and Al never seems to be on top of this kind of modern trending stuff, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised he's not talking much if at all about it, let alone adding it to the live setlist (his own or Brian's). Mike's probably still doing the song live as he has done since the 90s.

It's summer, and people want to listen to summer-y music. Kinda like how Christmas music starts topping the charts after Thanksgiving.

I think I've noticed the BB's going up in the charts during previous summers.

Thanks for the welcome.  I get what you mean about the girlfriend. That ending caught me totally off guard. I was so happy to hear God Only Knows playing at the wedding only to see it morph into the scene on floor below and then in the echo as it switched back to the wedding was really disturbing but I thought it was a great use of the song. It is amazing how this band with no hit singles since Kokomo is still important in the music world and appealing to yet another new generation of people. The music of the Beach Boys truly is timeless .

The name of the game today for legacy artists is song placement. If you get a song in a popular movie, TV show, or video game, or even in a TikTok video that goes viral, the numbers are going to soar. All of the examples of BB's music being featured in these various outlets recently (including the PBS Brian Wilson documentary tie-in promotion) seem to be the main catalysts for this current climb in the charts. It's much higher now than what it has been in previous summers when the songs were not featured in other media. And the "charts" are for streaming media and downloads, in terms of numbers that digital format simply dominates the music markets today, like it or not. People hear a song on a favorite show or game, they head right to the streaming services to get it.