Why No Love For Kokomo ?

[baseball95]

As a long time fan i always wondered why people seem to dislike Kokomo so much ?
I know it's not a top 5 BB song but it is definetly in the top 10.
Is it because Mike wrote it and Brian wasn't involved?
Do people have that much hatred for Mike ?
I mean the song went #1, so someone please tell me ------ Why do People hate Kokomo so much ?

[Wirestone]

Is it because Mike wrote it and Brian wasn't involved?

Partly, yes.

Do people have that much hatred for Mike ?

Yes.

I know it's not a top 5 BB song but it is definetly in the top 10.

Debatable.

[Justin]

Not sure myself.   I found myself "trained" to hate it too but only realizing later that it's a ridiculously catchy song.  Perhaps the 80's production and its use in that movie didn't help matters.  

[ontor pertawst]

Well, Full House was pretty awful. That's enough to destroy any song, really. It still has a seriously catchy hook, but a patina of moldy mildewy cheese that puts some people off thanks to that whole era.

As to hatred, yeah, how could anybody get mildly annoyed at Kokomo and it's auteur when he said stuff like "He’s a paranoid schizophrenic, and he feels guilty because he cheated me out of millions of dollars and credit for for things. His ego was distorted at the time that he couldn’t come to grips with the fact that there was a catalyst necessary to bring out the greatness in him. It was me with the concepts and Brian with the music, and that’s where the strength lay. I am always into the concept and the lyrics and the rhymes and things that encompass a lot of meaning…mean one thing to someone who is eight years old and something completely different to someone 28 years old. I am always thinking of those kinds of things when I am writing a lyric – same as I did with Kokomo, which was No.1 in 1988, whereas Brian’s solo album came out and didn’t have one hit record on it."

Hit single dick swinging contests are pretty easy to get annoyed by, hmm?

[Sheriff John Stone]

Beach Boys' fans hate it because:

1. Brian had nothing to do with it.
2. It went to #1 at a time when Brian was supposed to shine with his new solo album/career.
3. Mike mentioned No. 1 every time he talked about "Kokomo".
4. Mike takes more credit for the song than he deserves; see John Phillips.

[Lowbacca]

I mean the song went #1, so someone please tell me ------ Why do People hate Kokomo so much ?

The reasons why most die-hard fanatics hate / don't like "Kokomo" have (almost) nothing to do with it being a #1 song. And why shouldn't we be able to hate something that was successful?

Also, "Kokomo" among the 10 best BBs songs? What..?  

[Rocker]

I like that song very much. It's great, catchy and full of nice vocals. The only downside it has to me is that the Beach Boys (mainly Mike) tried afterwards to reduce themselves to these kind of thematic styles

[Lowbacca]

Well, Full House was pretty awful. That's enough to destroy any song, really. It still has a seriously catchy hook, but a patina of moldy mildewy cheese that puts some people off thanks to that whole era.

It was on "Full House"?

[AndrewHickey]

Because it's not very good.
If it's 'definitely in the top 10', then that would make it better than most or all of, off the top of my head, Good Vibrations, God Only Knows, Surf's Up, Wonderful, Let Him Run Wild, Don't Talk, Sail On Sailor, All This Is That, Forever, This Whole World, Til I Die, Still I Dream Of It, Airplane, Please Let Me Wonder, Don't Worry Baby, Darlin', Warmth Of The Sun... that sounds frankly insane to me.

It's a mediocre song, performed by people who sound bored while they're recording it. It probably wouldn't be hated at all if it weren't on all the hits compilations and played at every gig, in the same way Barbara Ann would be much better regarded if it remained as an album track.

Personally I don't hate Mike at all. But Kokomo just has none of the things I like in a piece of music about it.

[ontor pertawst]

Plus, I think the world stood up as one and felt a bit cheated when they woke up from the dream and realized there really WASN'T a place called Kokomo. We staggered around for weeks afterwards nursing hollow, empty feelings. A deep cultural malaise set in, also known as the 90s.

[Ron]

As a long time fan i always wondered why people seem to dislike Kokomo so much ?
I know it's not a top 5 BB song but it is definetly in the top 10.
Is it because Mike wrote it and Brian wasn't involved?
Do people have that much hatred for Mike ?
I mean the song went #1, so someone please tell me ------ Why do People hate Kokomo so much ?

It's the 1 song that shows that the Beach Boys didn't need Brian... so people were against it from the start.  Also it's a complete abandonment of the progressive sound that they flirted with in the 70's, so most people see it as a step back into their cliche.  

I like it though.  Great song in every way, well written, well recorded, well sang, and catchy.  

[Lowbacca]

[Sheriff John Stone]

I don't think it's a great song; I think it's a good song, though.

Mike did contribute a catchy hook. Carl's vocal is tremendous. A lot of people like the tropical feel of the record. It made for nice radio music. The song could be enjoyed by both kids and adults. The sax solo is acceptable.

If "Kokomo" had Brian Wilson listed on the credits ANYWHERE, this song would be viewed in a completely different light.

[Jukka]

As a new member, I want to make clear where I stand on this touchy subject: I love Kokomo. Always have, always will. The first Beach Boys song I heard (I was eight years old), and it still makes me feel good. When Carl comes in with the "ooh I want to take you" -chorus vocal, the hair on my arms stand up, and they never lie.

I think hating Kokomo is getting just as old as hating Mike. it's not even that cheesy as people think. It continues the glorious BB-tradition of listing exotic places (Surfin' USA, Funky Pretty, Hawaii, anyone?)

The only good reason for hating Kokomo I can think of is the fact the band started to chase hits with similar songs, only worse, and this resulted in Summer in Paradise. But then again, the band had already been artisticallly dead for quite a few years anyway.

[AndrewHickey]

The only good reason for hating Kokomo I can think of is the fact the band started to chase hits with similar songs, only worse, and this resulted in Summer in Paradise.

I would have thought that it sounding unpleasant to my ears was a good enough reason...

[Zach95]

^Pretty much sums it up.

The picture, I meant.  I wasn't fast enough 

[ontor pertawst]

Brian Wilson: "I thought Kokomo was really great."

[Justin]

haha very nice Lobacca...I think you've got it.

Funny how none of these issues actually have anything to do with the music.  I think people's hate for this song is more superficial than people actually realize.

[Ron]

Supposedly from time to time Brian still laments about how he missed out on being on that record.  

[ontor pertawst]

Well, of course a lot of people's disgust is superficial. You tie a good song to a crappy commercial, more than a handful of people are going to gag. You throw in muppet baby maggot children and Stamos lip syncing to Kokomo on teevee, you'll get a similar reaction from people with opinions they can't wait to share on the internet.

I think for me it was being taken by my father inexplicably to watch that movie the filter won't let me type in without misspelling horribly about mixed drinks... and being disturbed by Tom Cruise's ferret-like features that poisoned me on Kokomo.

Somehow this childhood trauma did not affect my appreciation of Michael Caine.

[Ron]

Stamos likely made me like the song MORE, when I was a kid I really liked Full House and saw the Beach Boys on there.  I liked it. 

I'm also not the type to grow up and turn my back on the things I loved when I was younger.  It's alright to like John Stamos.  Really.  It is. 

[ontor pertawst]

I like saying his name, I'll grant you that. John Stamos. It has good rhythm to it. JOHN STAMOS! All of my life I've managed to avoid John Stamos, and this weekend I get to see him twice in as many days. Hopefully this will increase my chances to say...

JOHN STAMOS!

[Ron]

The reason John Stamos gets off the hook for me is he doesn't take himself anymore seriously than anybody else does.  He's simply a b-list actor from the 90's and he knows it. 

[Sheriff John Stone]

Supposedly from time to time Brian still laments about how he missed out on being on that record.  

And, I'd love to know the real story on that one. Brian has stated that he was called AND he wasn't called....I also read that they only gave him a few hours "to report" to the studio for the vocals. I also read Brian (or Landy?) say that they had a prior appointment and couldn't make it.

Regardless of the musical merits of "Kokomo", it is one of the most important releases in the group's financial career. It's not quite on the level of Endless Summer, but that song brought many, many new fans to the group. They milked the popularity from that song for quite a few years.

[Justin]

Stamos likely made me like the song MORE, when I was a kid I really liked Full House and saw the Beach Boys on there.  I liked it. 

I'm also not the type to grow up and turn my back on the things I loved when I was younger.  It's alright to like John Stamos.  Really.  It is. 

Bless you, Ron!