Why No Love For Kokomo ?

[ontor pertawst]

I think the strangest thing about it is that VDP was involved but not Brian. But then, I guess it's just the sort of thing you'd expect to happen in the tangled, gossipy history of the Boys!

Cue the private plane story.

[Lowbacca]

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

Yes, he does. Brian's about success and approval, after all. "Kokomo" is an okay pop song, with Carl's vocals being the highlight. I used to listen to it quite a bit during some hot summer a while back. But still then not as much as to the 60's/70's classics. "Kokomo" not only isn't in the same league as the cream of the Brian era, it's not even competing in the same game. But it's a nice enough pop composition, I'll give 'em that. John Phillips knew how to write a song. Same as Scott McKenzie and Terry Melcher. (And Mike, of course. But it's not like he sat down and wrote "Kokomo" all by himself in a couple of minutes or something.)

And for those who think there's no place like Kokomo: click.



P.S. Nelson Bragg with a straw hat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0daYUiC8SD8  

[ontor pertawst]

Ah, but specifically not one "off the Florida Keys." My eyes still burn from the tears I shed over this.

Kokomo, Indiana, tho. That must be a helluva town.

[Lowbacca]

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.

As far as I know Brian was called, but Landy didn't want him to participate.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Ah, but specifically not one "off the Florida Keys." My eyes still burn from the tears I shed over this.

Kokomo, Indiana, tho. That must be a helluva town.

I still think Phillips or McKenzie or whoever got it from that old Chuck Berry song. Has there ever been a definitive story about the title? Oddly enough, I don't think Mike ever claimed it.

[buddhahat]

I actually really like Kokomo, and agree with Sheriff's suggestion that had Brian been involved in the writing of it, it would have a much better reputation.

I recently discovered that it was actually John Phillips of the Mamas & Papas, plus Therry Melcher, that originally wrote the song. I always assumed it was the Beach Boys sans Brian.

Edit - sorry, already mentioned above.

[drbeachboy]

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.

Not one thing mentioned there has anything to do with song itself or the performance. IMHO, if anyone hates the song for any or all of those reasons, well, nevermind, I'll just piss off too many folks. All I will say is that it was a Number One song that if nothing else has a terrific chorus by a terrific singer and band. It is now 23 years old and when performed in concert, still gets a great reaction from the audience. So, it has stood the test of time and most folks still want to hear it and act favorably to it. Of the hits released, yes it is in the Top 10, Brian's involvement or not.

[Lowbacca]

[SamMcK]

I just think its okay, I never play it and there's at least 250 Beach Boys songs i'd play over it.

[Eireannach]

  This.

[Eireannach]

Lowbacca killing it in this thread.

[pixletwin]

I hate Kokomo.

That being said, I know every word and if it ever comes on the radio or at a grocery store or somewhere I always have fun singing along with it.

Aaaaaaruba, Jamaica, Oooo..... etc...  

[SloopJohnB]

Brian likes Kokomo, you should too.

[Lowbacca]

Brian likes Kokomo, you should too.

Brian likes Norbit. 

[jamsvet]

Great song. I like anything put out by TBB or BW or AJ Or ML. With all of them, there are some songs I like better than others. If people want to dislike somebody, don't dislike the guy that kept the name alive for all these years.

[Rocky Raccoon]

Did Mike Love really have that much a part in writing it?  I always thought that Papa John wrote most of it.

[Ron]

I think Mike obviously wrote some of the verse, for instance the "We'll float out to sea/and we'll perfect our chemistry/by and by we'll defy a little bit of gravity" is vintage Mike. 

[EthanJClarke93]

Terrible Beat.
John Stamos.
Most Music from the 80's is Terrible anyhow.

[EgoHanger1966]

Not gonna lie, I really dug it when I saw them do it live on the current tour.
I know I'm not supposed to. 

[Ron]

I think Chicks really dig it too. 

[onkster]

I was working at a design firm, where there was a bratty young designer that tried so hard to rule the joint, and tended to speak for everyone. Yet, he got so many things wrong so often in his attempts to be cool. (No, "Cabron", is not a warm, brotherly Spanish term for your buddy, for example.)

He knew I liked the Beach Boys, and so he kept blasting this stupid parody of "Kokomo" called "Camel Toe".

Then he kept looking over at me to see if he was pissing me off yet, because, I mean, when you are so streetwise and dig stuff like Manic Street Preachers, why not bag on the BB fan over there?

But I wasn't bothered in the least; he had no idea what the BBs really were or why I liked them. He looked so frustrated that I wasn't sputtering and fuming.

Cabron!

[Chris Brown]

It's a great tune for what it sets out to be - killer vocals, catchy hook and just enough cheese to reel in the music buying public.  "God Only Knows" it ain't, but if you take away all of Mike's over-the-top boasting and the politics of the situation, you're left with a pretty darn good tune that deserves it's status in the Beach Boys canon.

[Autotune]

The main reason is that hardcore fans live their lives expecting that the BBs be famous because of their darker, artsy stuff. It's a way of validating themselves, I think. And then they score a huge hit with a pseudo tropical number about beaches. Hence part of the hatred. A similar reaction occurs when they put some surfboards onstage, or sing about cruisin'.

[onkster]

Validating? Hmmm, that might be true for some, but that sounds a bit dismissive.

In my case, SMiLE was my gateway drug into the BB world. I thought the earlier stuff was OK, but the stripey image and Be True To Your School had scared me off for years. Then SMiLE blew my mind, and my BB interested began to radiate out in all directions from there. Suddenly, I "got" Pet Sounds, and even the earlier stuff. I had a harder time getting into the later stuff, but still, I kept finding enough of the tidbits that got me interested during my initial SMiLE phase that I kept--and keep--listening. (Oh yeah, and I was late to the Dennis party. That really helped too!)

That said, I do enjoy Kokomo, though that sax solo hurts a little. Gotta love those vocals.

[startBBtoday]

For some reason I just think of Kokomo as a completely different entity than THE BEACH BOYS. I might be crazy, but it doesn't even really sound like a Beach Boys song. I don't mind it, I certainly don't hate it, it's just in my bottom tier of Beach Boys songs.

I think there's some embarrassment over it as well. We all view the Beach Boys as a serious band that put out great material throughout the 70s, but there's a stigma attached to Kokomo where casual fans or non-fans will kind of laugh at the Beach Boys and then mention Kokomo.

Kokomo was never a gateway to the Beach Boys for me, it was probably the last of the hits that I ever heard and I was born in 1986, so it probably shouldn't be that way. My first Beach Boys "album" was a mix tape my father gave me, then their first greatest hits CD and another generic best of. Hell, I'd even heard all of Holland before I ever heard Kokomo.

And I like John Stamos!