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Author Topic: The BB fanbase's reaction to Kokomo's success at the time in 1988  (Read 16112 times)
CenturyDeprived
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« on: December 12, 2014, 08:03:46 PM »

In re-reading the great book, "50 Sides to the BBs", I came to wonder what longtime BB fans thought (at the time, in 1988) when Kokomo hit number 1?
I'm sure Mike Love was most happiest and most surprised of all, but how much of a trip was it to be a big BB fan for many years, and to see the band having a #1 at that late date?
Were the hardcore BB fans losing their sh*t out of being happy for the Boys having a massive success like that? Or was the attitude more happy for the band, but wishing it was for a more introspective and "worthy" song? And when did the backlash start?

Personally, I totally dig Kokomo, cheesy as it is. It's sort of not really a BB song in how it sounds, even though it technically most certainly is. For me, it's really not cringeworthy, it's just plain fun - one of Mike's best vocals (I love his laid back vocal sound on this, similar to his parts on From There to Back Again - he should have sung far more in this voice), and Carl totally elevates it by miles - had Brian been on it (and he most certainly is missed on it), I wonder how BB history (or the song itself, for that matter) would have played out differently...
« Last Edit: December 12, 2014, 08:05:06 PM by CenturyDeprived » Logged
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« Reply #1 on: December 12, 2014, 08:33:10 PM »

I wasn't a BB fan (or alive, for that matter) when Kokomo came out, but I can't imagine that anyone was particularly thrilled about it. I mean, it pretty much epitomizes everything wrong with Mike at that point in time, and as far as their really big hits go, it's really about the bottom of the barrel (even if it does have a bit of a cheesy, infectious quality to it that I actually kind of like). When I think about it, I can hardly fathom how it became a hit at all; no one I've ever met has had anything positive about it. I guess the late 80s were a pretty strange time!
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« Reply #2 on: December 12, 2014, 08:56:40 PM »

I was ok with it but was pretty disappointed when word got out that Brian was invited to play on it and didn't, couldn't, wasn't told etc. Who knows where the blame lies? Its water under the bridge, but the fact was it was another lost opportunity in Beach Boy history.
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« Reply #3 on: December 12, 2014, 09:48:22 PM »

I remember the first time I heard "Kokomo". It was on some TV show broadcast at Walt Disney World. I had no idea it was their new single or from a movie soundtrack. I thought it might be among the worst Beach Boys' songs I ever heard; I was sad. It started to get radio airplay and I still didn't like it. Then, gradually people who knew I was a Beach Boys' fan kept telling me how much they liked it, and MTV started to play it. I gave it another chance and right around the time it was No. 1 and it started to grow on me. That was probably my peak of liking it.

I think I was more happy that the band was back in the spotlight than actually liking the reason why. I remember thinking, "Please follow this up with something good. You're getting another chance. Don't blow it...again." Well, we know what happened. I acknowledge now that it's a good song, Mike and Carl sing it well, but it never became one of my favorites. When I made BB greatest hits comps - tapes and CD's - if the comp was for a friend, I included "Kokomo". If the comp was for me, I excluded it.

In the few interviews that I've seen Brian comment on "Kokomo", I got the impression that he wishes he was on the record, more because of its success than its musical merits. We know how Mike Love feels about it...
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« Reply #4 on: December 12, 2014, 10:51:38 PM »

As a fan of 16 or 17 years at that time I was thrilled to pieces. I got so many comments from friends and acquaintances who knew of my fandom. All very positive. Kokomo is a radio friendly song and plainly the general public lapped it up.

I ran into Mike in December that year and he kept asking me how Kokomo was doing in New Zealand and Australia. 
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« Reply #5 on: December 12, 2014, 11:32:04 PM »

I had been a fan for about 8 years at that point, and always listened to hear their new songs on the radio, so I was thrilled - but surprised - when it went to #1. This song just kind of snuck out, in fact I bought the 45 probably the week it was released, then nothing seemed to happen for the first month or so, all the attention was on Brian and his solo album. Then "Kokomo" slowly started climbing the charts. I wasn't surprised that Brian wasn't on it, he was kind of estranged from the band at that point. I was surprised that Brian's album didn't do better.
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« Reply #6 on: December 13, 2014, 02:36:16 AM »

I was 18 when Kokomo came out and I'd only been a "hardcore"-ish type since I was twelve, so not as much mileage as many here.

However, I recall being disgusted, revolted and disenfranchised BB-speaking, by Kokomo, a reaction further worsened by it's association with a Tom Cruise puff piece.  I walked away and did not come back when  until the '91 twofers came out.

I was seriously disturbed by the amount of people (at the Melbourne, AU C50 gig) who shook their heads, giggled and went WTF? to Brian's routine during Sail On Sailor, but got up and danced like merry fools to Koko, BJ's beckoning aside...
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« Reply #7 on: December 13, 2014, 03:54:08 AM »

I was pleased as punch.  I had NO idea that the Beach Boys were going to release a new song.  I was walking along Yonge St. in Toronto and I heard this song on the speakers over the front door of 'some' store and I immediately recognized the sound.  [or at least I thought I did]  I stopped, stood and listened and said to myself..."That's Carl.  Those are the Beach Boys.  There's Mike.  It's gotta be them.  NOBODY else sounds like that.  I LIKE that song."

At that time I was working at an 'oldies' station so I wasn't paying attention to what was brand-spankin' new.  THAT one got my attention in a New York second.  "My band is back on the radio with a new song?  Excellent."

I never did 'get' the disdain for Kokomo.  It created positive attention for the group.  It gave them exposure to a whole NEW set of fans and it reaffirmed that the Beach Boys were pretty darned great at what they did/do.  Then it went to # 1.  The general public had voted. Cool Guy

Subsequently I purchased a copy of the John Phillips version.  What Mike and the boys did to it MADE it.  Otherwise?  Eh!!!  Not so much. Roll Eyes

--------------------------------------------

By the way...just because Brian wasn't a part of it didn't bother me.  I was plenty used to the Beach Boys doing things w/o Brian.  That was par for the course by then.  Considering that...I think they did pretty well.  Make that extremely well. Cool
« Last Edit: December 13, 2014, 03:59:35 AM by Add Some » Logged

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« Reply #8 on: December 13, 2014, 06:13:34 AM »

I liked it the minute that I heard it. It was great to hear the Beach Boys on the radio again. To watch it climb up the charts was fun. Something I hadn't done in quite a while, especially as it made it's way to the top. While I never liked Mike's super nasal vocals from the mid-70s onward, Carl's vocals on the chorus and the band vocals throughout the song are just terrific. As someone else posted, everyone I knew were coming up to me talk about the group and song. Most everyone at the time liked it. It was/is a catchy little ditty and was lightening in a bottle.
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Thou Art In Hawthorne,
Harmonied Be Thy name
Your Kingdom Come,
Your Steak Well Done,
On Stage As It Is In Studio,
Give Us This Day, Our Shortenin' Bread
And Forgive Us Our Bootlegs,
As We Also Have Forgiven Our Wife And Managers,
And Lead Us Not Into Kokomo,
But Deliver Us From Mike Love.
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« Reply #9 on: December 13, 2014, 06:51:36 AM »

I wasn't a hardcore Beach Boys fan yet when it came out, so I didn't notice it at all. I think I heard it first consciously when I bought the GV box set in about 1995/6, and it didn't sound familiar to me, even though I do remember having seen the Cocktail movie at the cinema. Somehow I can't get into the tune.

Two years ago I was playing BB tunes to the guitar at a friend's birthday, and one of the women actually asked me if I could play "Kokomo". (I couldn't.) Another one then asked: "That's by the Beach Boys?!?" Obviously they knew the song better than I did. Cheesy
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« Reply #10 on: December 13, 2014, 07:10:59 AM »

I was in high school and had been trying to convince the hippies and freaks (the only people who had an'open mind' back then) that the bb were amazing artists, way out there and willing to push musical boudaries....
whoops, here comes kokomo, crapping all over my story!
I was NOT into it.
bw's solo album was way better and i was happy to hear brian had nothing to do with krapamo!
i kinda like it now though!
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« Reply #11 on: December 13, 2014, 07:47:00 AM »

I was in high school and had been trying to convince the hippies and freaks (the only people who had an'open mind' back then) that the bb were amazing artists, way out there and willing to push musical boudaries....
whoops, here comes kokomo, crapping all over my story!
I was NOT into it.
bw's solo album was way better and i was happy to hear brian had nothing to do with krapamo!
i kinda like it now though!

Wasn't a fan, not a fan, of this one by the Boys. Not a fan of Brian's solo album either. The group was not in my wheelhouse then.

Many people agreed with me on Brian's solo album but most everyone disagreed with me on Kokomo and it was a big success, loved by many, and one of the group's iconic hits in that rarefied air of #1.
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« Reply #12 on: December 13, 2014, 08:10:45 AM »

I was 12 and not yet what you'd call a Beach Boys fan, with my familiarity limited to Endless Summer, a copy of which my parents owned (and to which I listened a lot in my youth). Oh, and I was very familiar with DLR's version of "California Girls," if that counts, and I think it should because it's really telling of where my head was in the mid-to-late '80s. Van Halen. Poison. Motley Crue. Whitesnake. Guns 'n' Roses. I could go on, but if you don't get the point by now, well, a few dozen other bands' names won't help you.

So I saw the video--which was how my generation heard music in those days--and thought, "This is the Beach Boys? They look nothing like the guys on that record my parents have. They're old. And gross. And fat. Why is he wearing a cap? What's Uncle Jesse doing here? I wonder if there are boobs in that movie... Why isn't there a guitar solo?" For the next 8 years or so, while my taste in music quickly and radically changed (thank goodness), my entire concept of the Beach Boys was stained by 12-year-old-me's seeing and hearing of "Kokomo." I even "heard" the music I had known and liked earlier through that visual and aural lens, cheesing up those earlier works in a sleight of mind.

Now? I think it's fine. Definitely catchy. Nowhere near my favorites, but I have nothing against it, really. It doesn't matter much to me. (The video is still atrocious. Why wasn't Tawny Kittaen rollicking on a car? That's how you make an '80s video, damnit.)
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« Reply #13 on: December 13, 2014, 08:42:28 AM »

I had kind of lost track of the Beach Boys by the time Roth's remake of Cali Girls and Kokomo came along. I knew that Brian wasn't with the group, but didn't know why. I knew Dennis was gone, and frankly wasn't expecting to ever hear anything new from them.

When Roth's version of Cali Girls became a hit, I had some heated words with some teens who said his cover was better than the original. "Are you nuts! No one is better than the original. Besides, that's Carl Wilson doing those harmonies!" As outraged as I was about that, I was actually glad they were getting some recognition and airplay through another artist.

The first time I heard Kokomo on the radio, I had the top  down on the car. The tropical vibe and the Beach Boys harmonies were perfect for crusin' on a summer day, and more importantly, the Beach Boys were back on the charts! For that reason, I've always liked Kokomo.

It's not a masterpiece. It didn't inspire or influence the direction of pop music.  It's  just a fun, catchy pop song that people still like to sing along to, today.  And on a sunny afternoon with the top down on the car, that's enough.
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« Reply #14 on: December 13, 2014, 09:14:31 AM »

When Kokomo came first came out, I wasn't quite a BBs fan yet.  The seeds had been planted over the years, and I was starting to take note of some of their older songs thanks to movies like Good Morning Vietnam.  I liked Kokomo, and the fact that it was playing everywhere reinforced my interest in it.  My first wife was a huge fan of it, so to me it was cool that there was yet another thing we had in common.  Even my old school, classical music loving, rock hating father liked Kokomo!  He said it reminded him of a particular song from the 50s that he liked. 

Today, for me, Kokomo is ok....not a great song, but not terrible.  I think the fact that it was wayyyy overplayed in these parts kinda ruined it for me. 

I like Still Crusin' much better!  It's a bit schlocky, and that 80s production is a bit cringe-worthy, but it's a catchy song.  In my book, that should have been the hit....but then I'd probably be burned out on that one!

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« Reply #15 on: December 13, 2014, 09:40:58 AM »

Not a target of the topic of this thread. I wasn't a fan by then. But it turned me into one. I was 12, I loved the sound of those voices, and I thought it was kind of heroic that these guys were still going seemingly strong.
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« Reply #16 on: December 13, 2014, 10:03:20 AM »

Guilty pleasure. Is there such a thing as a 'bad' #1 ?

Apparently the band asked Brian to take part, but the invite never got past Landy's in tray.
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« Reply #17 on: December 13, 2014, 10:09:48 AM »

Guilty pleasure. Is there such a thing as a 'bad' #1 ?

Apparently the band asked Brian to take part, but the invite never got past Landy's in tray.

Surely if Brian had known, and gotten involved, Landy would have made his own presence known in the sessions.  I wonder how that would have gone!
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« Reply #18 on: December 13, 2014, 10:10:58 AM »

Guilty pleasure.
Two words that ought never be used together, if you ask me. (Which you didn't.)

Is there such a thing as a 'bad' #1 ?
Let me introduce you to the year 1990. I think we can all agree the answer is yes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Hot_100_number-one_singles_of_1990
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« Reply #19 on: December 13, 2014, 10:12:48 AM »

I was pleased as punch.  I had NO idea that the Beach Boys were going to release a new song.  I was walking along Yonge St. in Toronto and I heard this song on the speakers over the front door of 'some' store and I immediately recognized the sound.  [or at least I thought I did]  I stopped, stood and listened and said to myself..."That's Carl.  Those are the Beach Boys.  There's Mike.  It's gotta be them.  NOBODY else sounds like that.  I LIKE that song."

At that time I was working at an 'oldies' station so I wasn't paying attention to what was brand-spankin' new.  THAT one got my attention in a New York second.  "My band is back on the radio with a new song?  Excellent."

I never did 'get' the disdain for Kokomo.  It created positive attention for the group.  It gave them exposure to a whole NEW set of fans and it reaffirmed that the Beach Boys were pretty darned great at what they did/do.  Then it went to # 1.  The general public had voted. Cool Guy

Subsequently I purchased a copy of the John Phillips version.  What Mike and the boys did to it MADE it.  Otherwise?  Eh!!!  Not so much. Roll Eyes

--------------------------------------------

By the way...just because Brian wasn't a part of it didn't bother me.  I was plenty used to the Beach Boys doing things w/o Brian.  That was par for the course by then.  Considering that...I think they did pretty well.  Make that extremely well. Cool
Pleased as punch! Yes! Came out on a great day in July of 1988! And, really took off with the Cocktail movie, but the frosting on the cake was when one of my Pre-K (4 year olds) kids came into my class singing it! As this little girl was singing the rest of the kids joined in! And the happiest teacher on the planet!  LOL

This little girl was a BB "convert" from Full House! This is why I just love Stamos - because the music came right into my classroom!  And I was able to find "easy" sheet music,  written in a key recommended, for their young voices.  And it was exactly the correct tempo for them learn to skip to. (A motor skill they needed to master.)

The absolute coolest! Jackpot!
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« Reply #20 on: December 13, 2014, 10:23:12 AM »

If BW had been involved, he probably would have had a hand in arranging the harmonies. Frankly, that would have made the song better from my point of view, because the one thing the song really lacks is the classic Beach Boys harmony blend.

Otherwise, yes it's cheesy. But it's undeniably a hit song. It just sounds like one. And it's a credit to both Mike and Terry that they didn't overthink or overwork it. There's a bit of the novelty record to it, which means it doesn't necessarily lend itself to hundreds of listens, but that's okay.
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« Reply #21 on: December 13, 2014, 10:27:15 AM »

Guilty pleasure.
Two words that ought never be used together, if you ask me. (Which you didn't.)

Is there such a thing as a 'bad' #1 ?
Let me introduce you to the year 1990. I think we can all agree the answer is yes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Hot_100_number-one_singles_of_1990
Keeping in mind how anemic music was at that time, it's not wholly surprising it somehow did well on the charts. A fan from the beginning, I chose to shut it out, even at  the supermarket who drove it into the ground.  Roll Eyes
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« Reply #22 on: December 13, 2014, 10:30:54 AM »

If BW had been involved, he probably would have had a hand in arranging the harmonies. Frankly, that would have made the song better from my point of view, because the one thing the song really lacks is the classic Beach Boys harmony blend.

Otherwise, yes it's cheesy. But it's undeniably a hit song. It just sounds like one. And it's a credit to both Mike and Terry that they didn't overthink or overwork it. There's a bit of the novelty record to it, which means it doesn't necessarily lend itself to hundreds of listens, but that's okay.
Well, Andrew gave you the one word answer to the reason why. Landy.  It is not as though there were not four formidable composer/lyricists in John Phillips, Scott McKenzie, Terry Melcher and Mike Love.  Hit makers - all.

On EH, it is abundantly clear from Brian's own mouth that he would have participated had he known.  And we can reasonably infer that it was the hand of the not-so-good doc.  

Cheesy? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
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« Reply #23 on: December 13, 2014, 10:59:37 AM »

This has been discussed before but does no one but me remember Bruce saying they were fooling around with the song and then Carl got involved and changed things around and knocked into the shape it is? I can not find it on the 'net and I'm wondering if it wasn't on the British or Male Ego message board. If I didn't dream it.
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« Reply #24 on: December 13, 2014, 11:14:10 AM »

I was in high school and had been trying to convince the hippies and freaks (the only people who had an'open mind' back then) that the bb were amazing artists, way out there and willing to push musical boudaries....
whoops, here comes kokomo, crapping all over my story!
I was NOT into it.
bw's solo album was way better and i was happy to hear brian had nothing to do with krapamo!
i kinda like it now though!
You do understand that the only reason for no Brian was due to Landy, right? Landy made sure Brian was a part of the Spanish version, though. Did your hippie and freak friends love Wipe Out? Brian is all over that gem. I wasn't even aware that hippies existed in the late-80s. We'll always have freaks no matter what the era. Wink
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Oh Brian
Thou Art In Hawthorne,
Harmonied Be Thy name
Your Kingdom Come,
Your Steak Well Done,
On Stage As It Is In Studio,
Give Us This Day, Our Shortenin' Bread
And Forgive Us Our Bootlegs,
As We Also Have Forgiven Our Wife And Managers,
And Lead Us Not Into Kokomo,
But Deliver Us From Mike Love.
Amen.  ---hypehat
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