"That's Why God Made The Radio" Single!

[Chris Brown]

Bruce's little vocal bit right before it is indeed ridiculously good, though.

Also, not complaining, just asking in a neutral manner: Is it me, or is Brian's lead doubled by someone? And it's seemingly not Jeff?

I hear that too - perhaps Scott?

[Runaways]

whoever they have doubling brian (if they are) blends really really well.  it just makes Brian sound younger.  I'm still amazed by Bruce's voice at the end there.  I would think when he was younger he'd hold "fallin in looooooooooooooooooooove" a lot longer.  but still amazing sounding. 

[Chris Brown]

whoever they have doubling brian (if they are) blends really really well.  it just makes Brian sound younger.  I'm still amazed by Bruce's voice at the end there.  I would think when he was younger he'd hold "fallin in looooooooooooooooooooove" a lot longer.  but still amazing sounding. 

It took me a few listens to notice that, but yeah Bruce nailed that line like it was 1970 all over again.

We may never know what Brian's exact contributions were to the track (hope I'm wrong on that), but I think we can all at least agree that he clearly had his hand in that tag - the little bit of it we hear sounds like vintage BW.

[Wirestone]

Some extra notes ...

Interesting how midrange it all is now. Falsetto is not all over the place.

As I said earlier, that Mike seems to be singing a midrange part at one point.

The song seems to be constructed so that nearly all of the guys get a line or emphasis somewhere during the tune. A callback to the Still Crusin' style of production where you basically got all four/five guys spotlighted on each song.

The song itself is a callback to the style of something like Soul Searchin' (another custom-written tune for the group), in that it sounds more 50s than 60s.

It would be really nice to hear that bridge!

From the sound of it, Brian seems clearly involved in the vocal arranging, the tag to the tune, and the verse is total rip of other songs he wrote. With the bridge still under wraps, that sounds like a Peterik/Thomas/Wilson credit to me!

[Alan Smith]

A small victory.  A good song for the boys.

Lovin' the voices, and the arrangement is great - and we finally get to hear (a reasonable amount of) this great white whale of a song.

Please, Capitol, release it tommorrow.












Oh, and hearing Good Vibrations merge into Kokomo is kinda jolting

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

The song seems to be constructed so that nearly all of the guys get a line or emphasis somewhere during the tune. A callback to the Still Crusin' style of production where you basically got all four/five guys spotlighted on each song.

I'd prefer to think of Add Some Music rather than Still Cruisin' ^_^

[runnersdialzero]

Bruce's little vocal bit right before it is indeed ridiculously good, though.

Also, not complaining, just asking in a neutral manner: Is it me, or is Brian's lead doubled by someone? And it's seemingly not Jeff?

I hear that too - perhaps Scott?

Scott's part of this? I wasn't aware, somehow. I was thinking it sounded like Scott, actually.

I keep listening to Bruce's part near the end. Damn, I love that d00d's voice.

[Wirestone]

Bruce's little vocal bit right before it is indeed ridiculously good, though.

Also, not complaining, just asking in a neutral manner: Is it me, or is Brian's lead doubled by someone? And it's seemingly not Jeff?

I hear that too - perhaps Scott?

Scott's part of this? I wasn't aware, somehow. I was thinking it sounded like Scott, actually.

I keep listening to Bruce's part near the end. Damn, I love that d00d's voice.

Scott's definitely in the touring band. Not sure how much the band members (besides Foskett) are contributing vocally to the album. Will be interesting to see.

[Runaways]

can't stop listening ._.

[Too Much Sugar]

can't stop listening ._.

Same here.  I liked it on first listen, but it does grow on you.  It really has that classic era sound down pat, from the music, production, and concept.  It's been a long, long time since I've heard a Beach Boys song nail it like that.  Definitely exceeded my expectations.  

Additionally, I also love the spoken word interludes throughout the song by the band members, reminiscent of TLOS.  Oh wait...  

[drbeachboy]

I liked it at first listen too, but it didn't knock my socks off. After listening to it about a dozen times now, it's growing on me more and more with each listen. It's The Beach Boys, but not a Beach Boys type of song that comes to mind right away. I am excited that it is a song that fits them at this time in their career, and I hope the general population will feel that way, as well. As most have been saying here, they are making and taking all the right steps to make this reunion a soaring, howling success.

[brother john]

Am I the only one who doesn't like it much?

It’s *deeply* unimpressive, at least at first listen. Not terrible, but there’s no ‘there’ there. And hugely derivative — it’s Keep An Eye On Your Summer Dream, Midnight Cowboy, Because You Only Live Twice. If this is the song everyone’s been raving about, then the rest of the album is going to be pretty poor.

That’s Jeff Foskett doubling Brian on the verses. It’s done subtly, but it still sounds odd to me, like a Frankenbrian. It works — it’s what they did on a couple of tracks on Smile, too — but it confuses my ears as they try to decode which of them is singing. Doubt that’ll be a problem for the average listener, though.

Harmonies are nice, but there’s a *LOT* of Foskett in there and very little of anyone else. This could have been put out as a Brian Wilson solo track and from the evidence we’ve got here no-one would know any different (actually I *strongly* suspect there’s a middle eight that’s been cut out for this video, I’d guess with a Mike Love lead). In fact, from this I can’t pick out a single Beach Boy on vocals other than Brian, just a Wall O’ Fosketts. But I quite like Jeff Foskett’s voice, unlike many…

The production sounds like Brian rather than Joe Thomas, which can only be a good thing. No acoustic guitars with pickups, no horrible snare sound and ‘sonic power’. It’s the best *sounding* thing released under the Beach Boys’ name since at least 1979.

So, the glass is half-full. I just won’t know what it’s half-full *of* until the single’s actually out…

Some people are never happy unless they're unhappy about something... This post reminds me of the classic Frasier sketch where he and Niles dissect a fabulous meal they've just had, but at the end agree that the most pleasurable part of it all was to be able to find fault with a tiny, tiny detail that was not up to their exacting standards.

What do you want, already? Enjoy what you have got, and don't mourn what you haven't   .

[STE]

Well I pretty much agree with AndrewH.  At least by listening to this low-quality version.
But let's see.

[brother john]

Interesting how midrange it all is now. Falsetto is not all over the place.

Given that the Beach Boys are all in their sixties now (except Mike who seems to be in his eighties) its not altogether surprising that its midrange (and probably just as well too!)

[Quzi]

I'm glad to hear that all the praise TWGMTR received was rightly given, this sounds ridiculously tight! I find that the subject matter and sound is more of a throwback to early '64 than the '65 era Mike pinned down. Sure, it's safe and nostalgic, but if they felt they had to go down that route, they've done it tastefully and they've pleased this kid.

Now I'm just hoping that everyone who is hyping this as the highpoint of the album is wrong

[Autotune]

Interesting how midrange it all is now. Falsetto is not all over the place.

Given that the Beach Boys are all in their sixties now (except Mike who seems to be in his eighties) its not altogether surprising that its midrange (and probably just as well too!)

Brian's music turned mid-range gradually as he quit singing falsetto. There's still high vocals in there, not only from Jeff but by Bruce and Brian.

I think Brian is double/triple/quadruple-stacked in the verses. But there's also a group unison with two or more guys singing the same line.

I think this has "classic" written all over it. It's majestic, beautiful.

Hey guys, could you imagine, a year ago, that we'd be listening to such a GREAT new recording from the Beach Boys?

[Shady]

I'm so excited for the full song to drop

Sounds brilliant

[Zach95]

Near perfection.  Sounds tight, tastefully produced, and respectable.  Loving every bit of it.

[Runaways]

Now I'm just hoping that everyone who is hyping this as the highpoint of the album is wrong

 

part of me thinks they were just hyping up the single.  Something these guys would do i think

[runnersdialzero]

Am I the only one who doesn't like it much?

It’s *deeply* unimpressive, at least at first listen. Not terrible, but there’s no ‘there’ there. And hugely derivative — it’s Keep An Eye On Your Summer Dream, Midnight Cowboy, Because You Only Live Twice. If this is the song everyone’s been raving about, then the rest of the album is going to be pretty poor.

That’s Jeff Foskett doubling Brian on the verses. It’s done subtly, but it still sounds odd to me, like a Frankenbrian. It works — it’s what they did on a couple of tracks on Smile, too — but it confuses my ears as they try to decode which of them is singing. Doubt that’ll be a problem for the average listener, though.

Harmonies are nice, but there’s a *LOT* of Foskett in there and very little of anyone else. This could have been put out as a Brian Wilson solo track and from the evidence we’ve got here no-one would know any different (actually I *strongly* suspect there’s a middle eight that’s been cut out for this video, I’d guess with a Mike Love lead). In fact, from this I can’t pick out a single Beach Boy on vocals other than Brian, just a Wall O’ Fosketts. But I quite like Jeff Foskett’s voice, unlike many…

The production sounds like Brian rather than Joe Thomas, which can only be a good thing. No acoustic guitars with pickups, no horrible snare sound and ‘sonic power’. It’s the best *sounding* thing released under the Beach Boys’ name since at least 1979.

So, the glass is half-full. I just won’t know what it’s half-full *of* until the single’s actually out…

Some people are never happy unless they're unhappy about something... This post reminds me of the classic Frasier sketch where he and Niles dissect a fabulous meal they've just had, but at the end agree that the most pleasurable part of it all was to be able to find fault with a tiny, tiny detail that was not up to their exacting standards.

What do you want, already? Enjoy what you have got, and don't mourn what you haven't   .

He's actually pretty spot on and, erm, did you miss the part where he went on to name several redeeming qualities?

[Justin]

Unless they filmed additional songs from the album, I'm sure the snippets of them singing "TWGMTR" in the studio would be the very same footage we can expect to see in that PBS special, "Summer's Gone" where they promised new songs from their new album. 

[mammy blue]

Based on the youtube clip, this is certainly better than any of us could have expected it to be. It's nothing we haven't heard before but the harmonies are very appealing and it's great to hear the voices together again, minus a couple important ones. I need to hear the song as a whole and assess it, but I think I prefer it to any of their singles post Goin' On. Of course I wish these guys all the best and I look forward to seeing them on friday.

[Jaspy]

Woke up this morning and had to listen to it again. Good sign I guess.

I wonder if it's an all around new recording or if parts date back to the second half of the 1990's.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Lyrics, as best I can decipher them:

Tunin' in the latest star
From the dashboard of my car
Cruisin' at seven
Push-button heaven
Capturin' memories from afar
In my car
In my car

chorus:
That's why God made the radio
So tune right in everywhere you go
He waved his hand
Gave us rock & roll
The soundtrack for fallin' in love
Fallin' in love
That's why God made the radio

Feel the music in the air
Find a song to take us there
It's paradise when I
Lift up my antennae
Recieving your signal
Like a prayer
Like a prayer

I'm not totally sure they sing "soundtrack" in the chorus, but I can't think of anything else that either fits or makes  sense... and how can you not adore this couplet ?

"It's paradise when I
Lift up my antennae"

[Jimmie_R]

The video is now up on Al Jardines facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/aljardine