Goin' To The Beach

[Smilin Ed H]

Man, this song is stuck in my head..  Catchy as hell.  If this came out in 1963, so many here wouldn't have such a problem with it.

You're absolutely right. I already put it on a comp - right after "Drivin" and "Desert Drive"...

The point, surely, is that it's not from 1963. What was Mike writing lyrics to in 1963 that would've knocked this on its ass? Hawaii? Our Car Club? Even Be True To Your School?
It's not awful; it would have fit on KTSA (which is, I know damning it with faint praise); the overall sound is good; his voice is as it often was during that period, thin and reedy at times. Makes Waves of Love seem like Good Vibrations, however.

[Yorick]

I agree with those who said the chorus should have had a dual Mike/Brian lead like it is in the YouTube video of them working out the song. And they have included Brian's left piano bass lines, but the backing track had probably already been recorded when they were working out the harmonies captured in the video.

[Micha]

I actually like Kokomo.  Mike's lyrics are clever and Carl nails it.

Lots of people like it. You're in good company.

[Jukka]

Great song. I've been playing it over and over, and I'm loving it more and more. The music rocks surprisingly hard, Mike's vocals have some serious punch (especially considering the era) and lyrics are upbeat and fun. Makes me wanna go to the beach, over and over again. 9/10!

[Mr. Cohen]

but the backing track had probably already been recorded when they were working out the harmonies captured in the video.

Yes, because it would've been too much work for the BBs to scrap that original, meticulously recorded take.

[Yorick]

Well, even though the song may not sound all that spectacular, according to the website of a certain banned forum member they worked on the backingtrack for two days and recorded the vocals during another day.

[Nicko1234]

but the backing track had probably already been recorded when they were working out the harmonies captured in the video.

Yes, because it would've been too much work for the BBs to scrap that original, meticulously recorded take.

I doubt that would have entered their heads at that point. Look at what they went through over Sunshine. Bruce has talked about taking what Brian had done and looping and all all the rest which resulted in a godawful song. Why they didn`t just start it from scratch is a mystery.

[Freddie French-Pounce]

Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my baby,
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I may stay out partyin' all night long,
But I'll be up just as soon as it's dawn,
'cause I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl

Early in the morning I'll be headin' out the door,
To where the waves are splashin' as they dance along the shore,
And after havin' caught a few lyin' in the sand,
We'll listen to the radio blast a rockin' band

Y'know I'm Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my baby,
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Where the sun is mellow and the waves are hot,
I'll be hangin' out, it gets me high [?]
'a just Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl

[Sax Solo clearly played by Mike Love]

Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my baby,
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
We might drive along the coast line, walk along the sand,
Strollin' in the moonlight with my baby at hand,
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl

[Lowbacca]

Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my baby,
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I may stay out partyin' all night long,
But I'll be up just as soon as it's gone,
'cause I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl

Early in the morning I'll be headin' out the door,
To where the waves are splashin' as they dance along the shore,
And after havin' caught a few lyin' in the sand,
We'll listen to the radio blast a rockin' band

Y'know I'm Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my baby,
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Where the sun is mellow and the waves are hot,
I'll be hangin' out, it gets me high [?]
'a just Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl

[Sax Solo clearly played by Mike Love]

Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my baby,
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
We might drive along the coast line, walk along the sand,
Strollin' in the moonlight with my baby at hand,
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl

The song is even 'better' when you're face to face with the 'lyrics'.

[Jukka]

You know, this song alone has convinced me that Mike is a pop genius on his own right, not just a very talented but lazy wordsmith who happened to be Brian Wilson's cousin.

[Lowbacca]

You know, this song alone has convinced me that Mike is a pop genius on his own right, not just a very talented but lazy wordsmith who happened to be Brian Wilson's cousin.

Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl

 

[oldsurferdude]

Pretty much rips off two songs, Heartache Tonight and Runaround Sue.

Ah, that hook sounded familiar but I just couldn't put my finger on it. Good work, Brains 

Wish I could take credit but another poster on a M/B thread pointed it out first.

Interesting Mike came up with the song the same year the Eagles had a hit with Heartache. Another case of "My Sweet Lord" oopsy..

I stand to be corrected because I haven't seen the credits for "Goin' To The Beach", but I thought Brian wrote most of the music/arrangements and Mike wrote the lyrics? Isn't that how they collaborated on Keepin' The Summer Alive?

Well, I think we can safely say Mike made the melody for the main part that sounds like "Heartache Tonight". He says something like "I'm walking from the beach one day and I though, 'goin' to the beach, goin' to the beach, God, it's so direct ya know?"

So yeah, we can blame Mike for that I'm pretty sure.

Another great hook from Dr. Love!

"Round round, get around, I get around..."

"Good night my baby, sleep tight my baby..."

"I'm pickin' up good vibrations..."

"Aruba, Jamaica, ooo I wanna take ya, Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama..."

"Goin' to the beach, goin' to the beach with my baby..."


What if they release "Goin' To The Beach" as a single - and it's a hit. And Mike wrote it! Not Brian.

Let's see-that comes to one hook every 10 years if my calculator's batteries are doing the job-and seeing that the last two suck, then we're down to one for every 16 years. A lame performance in all of hookdom if I ever saw one.

[Lowbacca]

Pretty much rips off two songs, Heartache Tonight and Runaround Sue.

Ah, that hook sounded familiar but I just couldn't put my finger on it. Good work, Brains 

Wish I could take credit but another poster on a M/B thread pointed it out first.

Interesting Mike came up with the song the same year the Eagles had a hit with Heartache. Another case of "My Sweet Lord" oopsy..

I stand to be corrected because I haven't seen the credits for "Goin' To The Beach", but I thought Brian wrote most of the music/arrangements and Mike wrote the lyrics? Isn't that how they collaborated on Keepin' The Summer Alive?

Well, I think we can safely say Mike made the melody for the main part that sounds like "Heartache Tonight". He says something like "I'm walking from the beach one day and I though, 'goin' to the beach, goin' to the beach, God, it's so direct ya know?"

So yeah, we can blame Mike for that I'm pretty sure.

Another great hook from Dr. Love!

"Round round, get around, I get around..."

"Good night my baby, sleep tight my baby..."

"I'm pickin' up good vibrations..."

"Aruba, Jamaica, ooo I wanna take ya, Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama..."

"Goin' to the beach, goin' to the beach with my baby..."


What if they release "Goin' To The Beach" as a single - and it's a hit. And Mike wrote it! Not Brian.

Let's see-that comes to one hook every 10 years if my calculator's batteries are doing the job-and seeing that the last two suck, then we're down to one for every 16 years. A lame performance in all of hookdom if I ever saw one.

Plus, it's not even clear how much of "Kokomo" Mike actually wrote. It might have been only a couple of lines and not even the "Aruba, Jamaica.." part.

[Freddie French-Pounce]

Okay maybe I wrote out the lyrics so I could slaughter it. If you don't know these by now I ain't gonna explain

Goin' To The Beach (Freddie): http://soundcloud.com/moar-freddie/goin-to-the-beach-freddie

However, that taught me how simple the song it. a second verse rather than the solo would have been preferable.

[Jukka]

You know, this song alone has convinced me that Mike is a pop genius on his own right, not just a very talented but lazy wordsmith who happened to be Brian Wilson's cousin.

Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl

 

Exactamundo, a great hook that should be glorified among the best of them! And hey, if the melody has been snatched from the Eagles, who cares? (SUSA, anyone?) Mike made it immeasurably better. Shoot them Eagles down, we're going to the beach here!

[Nicko1234]

Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my baby,
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I may stay out partyin' all night long,
But I'll be up just as soon as it's gone,
'cause I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl

Dawn?

[Freddie French-Pounce]

Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my baby,
Well I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl
Well I may stay out partyin' all night long,
But I'll be up just as soon as it's gone,
'cause I'll be Goin' to the beach, Goin' to the beach with my Girl

Dawn?

That makes more sense, thanks!

[Myk Luhv]

How a thread for a song like this has six pages is kind of baffling. To me, it's exemplary of "forgettable".

[gfac22]

How a thread for a song like this has six pages is kind of baffling. To me, it's exemplary of "forgettable".

I think it's just because it's something new, simple as that.  They could have released a newly discovered 1976 recording of Brian instructing Dennis how to properly fart into a microphone and there'd be at least 7 pages worth of people praising its brilliance, intentional misspellings of Mike's name and people bitching about how the C50 tour ended.

[Lowbacca]

How a thread for a song like this has six pages is kind of baffling. To me, it's exemplary of "forgettable".

I think it's just because it's something new, simple as that.  They could have released a newly discovered 1976 recording of Brian instructing Dennis how to properly fart into a microphone and there'd be at least 7 pages worth of people praising its brilliance, intentional misspellings of Mike's name and people bitching about how the C50 tour ended.

For a track of Dennis farting there would be a thread of ~1.000 pages before sundown. I'd be contributing merrily, as well.

[ontor pertawst]

Some would insist they were overdubbed. Desper would set us straight with a recollection of flatulent tape loops. Someone else would then mention that the M&B 2004-5 UK setlists had "quite a lot of deep cuts."

[Jukka]

^
So true it's not even funny anymore, except it is.

[punkinhead]

Personally I do think the hook is actually quite good. I know I said it before but I think sometime in the late 70s/early 80s the group should've released an album of somewhat dumb but catchy repetitive singalong tunes such as this one, "Mike Come Back to L.A.", "Calendar Girl", and so on. Of course they would've needed the Moog in order to fully realize that vision. It would have become a huge cult favorite I'm sure.

That's an awesome idea! I like it a lot! Kind of a Party! Album for the late 70s, 75% covers/25% originals:

Calendar Girl
Our Team
How's about a Liittle bit of your sweet lovin
Country Pie
Shortenin Bread
Here Comes the Night (sing-a-long edition)
Sunshine
Da Do Run Run
Surfer Suzie
School Days
Little Girl
Smokey Joes Cafe
Mike Come Back to LA
Goin to the Beach

[donald]

It is catchy and it's got decent production and it's the Beach Boys. But Mike's lyrics contain no word play in them at all as usual. Imagine if Mike wrote The Hollies song Bus Stop. See I think this is where the difference is.. Lyrics can be simple but the still need to be mildly stimulating..

Nicely put.   Also, the music of bus stop had chorus and verse, and some instrumental variety.  Both lacking on this GTTB thing.

[Sam_BFC]

I prefer and find more catchy the hook to 'Mike Come Back to LA'.

Should have done that for the boxed set.