Why did the 'Add Some Music To Your Day' single fail and what if it had not?

[leggo of my ego]

Didn't Fred Vail give the catch-all explanation for the BB lackluster chart performance on the Brian Wilson Songwriter 61-69 DVD?

That hot-shot program director said the BB's were'nt "hip anymore"

That's a fate worse than death baby-o.

[Nicko1234]

Didn't Fred Vail give the catch-all explanation for the BB lackluster chart performance on the Brian Wilson Songwriter 61-69 DVD?

That hot-shot program director said the BB's were'nt "hip anymore"

In the U.S. certainly but not elsewhere.

[joshferrell]

Didn't Fred Vail give the catch-all explanation for the BB lackluster chart performance on the Brian Wilson Songwriter 61-69 DVD?

That hot-shot program director said the BB's were'nt "hip anymore"

That's a fate worse than death baby-o.

..more then one person spoke about it. although I'm not sure if Fred was one of them, I don't remember but he could have.

[Mikie]

Warners seemed to have released a large quantity of the "Slip On Through" singles. They were ubiquitous, even in the 80's.

still is! This guy has been selling NOS copies for at least five years

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BEACH-BOYS-Slip-On-Through-THIS-WHOLE-WORLD-UNPLAYED-NM-/360138198183?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item53d9e8cca7

See what I mean?  Only 6 bucks, opening bid.  There musta been boxes and boxes of those produced. Slip On Through/This Whole World is still hands down MUCH easire to pick up than the others (with exception to Sail On Sailor). I mean, both songs are great (especially TWW) but compared to the other singles, this one is everywhere. I don't understand it -they obviously produced more copies or Warners didn't retract them quickly like the other early 1970 - 1974 singles.

Try finding a stock copy of Child Of Winter these days.........not real easy!

[filledeplage]

I find this songs position in the Beach Boys cannon perplexing.

To me it sounds very accessible: it fits like a hand in the glove of contemporary music of that time (like the peace anthems of the counter culture) and was in many ways very similar to what other music stars were doing at the time (with a distinct Beach Boys flavour to it!).

I've heard the interviews concerning that the main radio stations in the US didn't want to play Beach Boys as they 'weren't hip anymore'. So it was recieved unfairly but Break Away didn't suffer the same problem. Why would one hinder ASMTYD given its obvious selling potential?

Furthermore, why did it fail internationally? Cottonfields had been huge just a few months earlier. Was this song really unlikeable to many? I must profess my enjoyment of it. The vocals, the lyrics, the tasteful backing track and superb production (thank you Stephen Desper); they are all beautiful.

It charted, but not highly, was rapidly forgotten and the resulting Sunflower album bombed. The failure of Sunflower can largely be attributed to no hit single. What were the reasons behind Add Some Music To Your Day's failure to recapture the audiences?  

Time-line context. Check out the background of the Woodstock LP's (RIP Richie Havens) and the overshadowing of almost every other artist.  It seems that ASMTYD did not do that badly in certain markets which were BB hotspots.  Sunflower does have some cool cuts.  

But the country's focus was on Woodstock, those stars whose work got jump starts there, and the big promotion that each new cut, provided a boost to all those artists, for their individual work.  And, it was a movie.  A virtual two-fer.

Smartest thing the band ever did, was to keep touring, and keep the name out there.  When the pendulum finally swung back, a rebirth began.  

[Mikie]

I find this songs position in the Beach Boys cannon perplexing.

To me it sounds very accessible: it fits like a hand in the glove of contemporary music of that time (like the peace anthems of the counter culture) and was in many ways very similar to what other music stars were doing at the time (with a distinct Beach Boys flavour to it!).

I've heard the interviews concerning that the main radio stations in the US didn't want to play Beach Boys as they 'weren't hip anymore'. So it was recieved unfairly but Break Away didn't suffer the same problem. Why would one hinder ASMTYD given its obvious selling potential?

Furthermore, why did it fail internationally? Cottonfields had been huge just a few months earlier. Was this song really unlikeable to many? I must profess my enjoyment of it. The vocals, the lyrics, the tasteful backing track and superb production (thank you Stephen Desper); they are all beautiful.

It charted, but not highly, was rapidly forgotten and the resulting Sunflower album bombed. The failure of Sunflower can largely be attributed to no hit single. What were the reasons behind Add Some Music To Your Day's failure to recapture the audiences?  

Time-line context. Check out the background of the Woodstock LP's (RIP Richie Havens) and the overshadowing of almost every other artist.  It seems that ASMTYD did not do that badly in certain markets which were BB hotspots.  Sunflower does have some cool cuts.  

But the country's focus was on Woodstock, those stars whose work got jump starts there, and the big promotion that each new cut, provided a boost to all those artists, for their individual work.  And, it was a movie.  A virtual two-fer.

Smartest thing the band ever did, was to keep touring, and keep the name out there.  When the pendulum finally swung back, a rebirth began.  

Both Woodstock AND the Monterey/Big Sur Festival in '70. And Altimont.

[halblaineisgood]

.

[metal flake paint]

Didn't Fred Vail give the catch-all explanation for the BB lackluster chart performance on the Brian Wilson Songwriter 61-69 DVD?

That hot-shot program director said the BB's were'nt "hip anymore"

That's a fate worse than death baby-o.

..more then one person spoke about it. although I'm not sure if Fred was one of them, I don't remember but he could have.

It's mentioned here too, from 10:15 onwards:

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

[Custom Machine]

*WARNING:POSSIBLE MISTAKEN CHRONOLOGY AHEAD*

Brian wanted to change their name to 'Beach' because deep down he knew there were NO MORE HITS. Brian wanting to be called 'Beach' = Phil shutting down Philles. The Beach men thing was around the time of ASMTYD, right? He wanted to be the 'Beach' because they weren't going to sell any records. He wanted to be the beach men so that all of their subsequent flops would not tarnish the hit-era boy's reputation.

The idea of changing the group's name to "Beach" was for the opposite reason you suggest.  Since the name "The Beach Boys" was uncool in the US, the thought would have been that a new but related name would have denoted a newer, hipper band, hopefully resulting in increased record sales.  In 1968 The Young Rascals became The Rascals, and in early 1970 Paul Revere and the Raiders became The Raiders, both names sounding a whole lot better than simply "Beach".

[halblaineisgood]

.

[OneEar/OneEye]

Perhaps they could have changed their name from Beach Boys to Sea Men....

Anyway, to me, Add Some Music To Your Day always sounded right on for the time period it was released.  I don't understand what isn't commercial about it - it sounds good to me, and maybe it is a bit saccharine, but then so too were many hits of that era.   They had plenty of material (both released and unreleased) at the time that (to my ears) sure sound like hits, but they just weren't being afforded the attention any longer. 

[MBE]

It was the misguided image people had of the group at the time in the USA that saw it become only a minor hit. It's damn good and is about as 1970 modern as you could get. Brian probably would have been more active past 1970 had it sold well. If you read his comments on the 1967-70 singles flopping in the Byron Priess book, you can tell it hurt him a lot when those 45s didn't sell.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I find this songs position in the Beach Boys cannon perplexing.

  

I find Joe Knott's credit perplexing.

[leggo of my ego]

Didn't Fred Vail give the catch-all explanation for the BB lackluster chart performance on the Brian Wilson Songwriter 61-69 DVD?

That hot-shot program director said the BB's were'nt "hip anymore"

That's a fate worse than death baby-o.

..more then one person spoke about it. although I'm not sure if Fred was one of them, I don't remember but he could have.

It's mentioned here too, from 10:15 onwards:

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

Yeah, its a detailed account on the DVD with names, locations etc...it was pretty moving, Fred Vail came to tears
recalling the guy's "not hip" verdict. Active support from the radio stations was no small thing -- while they were
on top the BB didn't record a plethora of Station ID's for markets all over the country for the fun, fun, fun of it.  

[RubberSoul13]

My praise band played "Add Some Music..." at an Earth Day Festival Saturday, and it received a so-so response...we played it just fine, but the crowd just wasn't digging it. I love the tune obviously! But, don't know that I'll try and incorporate it with them again. No one even knew it was a beach boys song!

[Mikie]

It's true. Vail was on the money. They weren't hip. Ice Cream white suits in concert and on live TV? Some of those songs on 20/20 and Sunflower (especially Bruce's) were just not cool during that 1969/'70 period. Add Some Music to us was fantastic. But to the main stream Rock fans and DJ's, it was considered "Pop" or "Wimp Rock". Hit singles were starting to go by the wayside in favor of album rock. FM was getting bigger and bigger and so were the Floyd, Zeppelin, The Dead, Stones, Airplane, Creedence, etc. The Boys just weren't cool and that was what Reiley was there for - to help with that image.

Then the Surf's Up album came out with an environmental/awareness vibe and it eventually went gold.

[Steve Mayo]

Then the Surf's Up album came out with an environmental/awareness vibe and it eventually went gold.

say what??   

[bgas]

*WARNING:POSSIBLE MISTAKEN CHRONOLOGY AHEAD*

Brian wanted to change their name to 'Beach' because deep down he knew there were NO MORE HITS. Brian wanting to be called 'Beach' = Phil shutting down Philles. The Beach men thing was around the time of ASMTYD, right? He wanted to be the 'Beach' because they weren't going to sell any records. He wanted to be the beach men so that all of their subsequent flops would not tarnish the hit-era boy's reputation.

The idea of changing the group's name to "Beach" was for the opposite reason you suggest.  Since the name "The Beach Boys" was uncool in the US, the though would have been that a new but related name would have denoted a newer, hipper band, hopefully resulting in increased record sales.  In 1968 The Young Rascals became The Rascals, and in early 1970 Paul Revere and the Raiders became The Raiders, both names sounding a whole lot better than simply "Beach".

The BBs should have followed completed the trifecta and become The Boys.   

Then the Surf's Up album came out with an environmental/awareness vibe and it eventually went gold.

say what??   

I think that's on account of the hundreds of thousands of returned copies, which eventually sold as  cut-outs and were mistakenly counted for GOLD. 

[Emdeeh]

"Add Some Music" (which I love) got two weeks of airplay on FM-100 in Memphis, then promptly dropped off the playlist. I think it was a little too lightweight to compete with the other music that got heavy airplay at the time. FM-100 played a wide diversity of music at the time. Surf's Up was their album of the week when it was released and fared a bit better on air.

[bgas]

Warners seemed to have released a large quantity of the "Slip On Through" singles. They were ubiquitous, even in the 80's.

still is! This guy has been selling NOS copies for at least five years

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BEACH-BOYS-Slip-On-Through-THIS-WHOLE-WORLD-UNPLAYED-NM-/360138198183?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item53d9e8cca7

See what I mean?  Only 6 bucks, opening bid.  There musta been boxes and boxes of those produced. Slip On Through/This Whole World is still hands down MUCH easire to pick up than the others (with exception to Sail On Sailor). I mean, both songs are great (especially TWW) but compared to the other singles, this one is everywhere. I don't understand it -they obviously produced more copies or Warners didn't retract them quickly like the other early 1970 - 1974 singles.

Try finding a stock copy of Child Of Winter these days.........not real easy!

But you just don't get the Buy It Now thing, eh Mikie?  No Bids, just buy at the price.  OR search around to find a copy for $3: 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171028889947

For a REAL Challenge try finding a Reprise Steamboat of  REP 1138 - Sail On Sailor / Only With You  ( Makes finding COW look like child's play )

[Mikie]

Bgas, read my posts.  I don't need another Slip On Through!  And no promos!  Not even any mustard colored labeled singles with Steamboats on 'em!  Just plain old canary yellow labled Warner/Reprise singles!  Got any dups for sale?

[Mikie]

Then the Surf's Up album came out with an environmental/awareness vibe and it eventually went gold.

say what??    

Just wanted to see if anybody was reading my posts!    The gambler from Cinci doesn't agree!!

Nah, to be truthful, I remembered AGD or somebody saying that the Surf's Up album eventually went gold. No dice. Just looked at his site and the next album(s) to go gold were "Endless Summer" and "In Concert".

[BergenWhitesMoustache]

[

But you just don't get the Buy It Now thing, eh Mikie?  No Bids, just buy at the price.  OR search around to find a copy for $3: 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171028889947

The reason I linked to the one I linked to and not the marginally cheaper one is because the guy clearly has like, a two hundred count box of Slip on Through's, which I find pretty cool/amazing...

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I feel that the song that should have been pushed for Sunflower was It's About Time. I agree with Dominique Prior on ASMTYD. I see how a lot of hard core Beach Boys fans like it, but I don't think it will bring in the masses. At least not in 1970. Slip On Through rocks, and This Whole World is a great song, but like its been said before, any single with the word Beach Boys on it wasn't going to sell at this point.

If anything, the Surfs Up lp was a much 'hipper' album as was Holland. Perhaps we should be amazed that the Beach Boys were able to do the impossible and gain respect from the counter culture from 71-74 up until Endless Summer hit big.

Was there any other pre British invasion lilly white American band that was able to accomplish that at all? Most of them probably went by the Mike Love philosophy of sticking to the formula until it didn't work any more. Then they would brake up. Then they would try to re unite from time to time when their greatest hits were selling again.

[smile-holland]

Try finding a stock copy of Child Of Winter these days.........not real easy!

Relatively easy though compared to the Cool Cool Water of Surf's Up 45, which are still on my wishlist...