Still Cruisin' and Summer In Paradise rerelease?

[NateRuvin]

Okay, it's pretty well known that Still Crusin' and SIP are pretty weak albums. Well, weak is an understatement, they're awful. However, as an avid Beach Boys fan I always have wished for those two albums to be in my digital collection. What are the odds that Capitol will digitally release these albums?  They could release those two albums and do an official release of Adult/Child. They could handle it like they did for SMiLE and maybe call it "The Adult/Child Sessions". Anyway, I just feel there is a lot of music that deserve to be made avaliable for us BB fans, to listen to digitally.

[Mike's Beard]

I would not call Still Cruisin' awful by any stretch of the imagination. Of the new material 3 are gems and 3 are ok. Even the dreaded SIP has some fairly good stuff scattered throughout, a twofer release of the 2 albums with remastered sound (something Still Crusin' desperately needs) would be great.

[Douchepool]

Capitol did digitally release Still Cruisin'. Summer in Paradise would have to be licensed to them and I don't think that's ever going to happen.

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

Why would Capitol want to waste their time and resources with such dreadful, inferior material that those two duds have to offer? "Who's gonna listen to that sh*t?"   I believe Capitol wants to SELL product, not store it in a warehouse.

[phirnis]

Still Cruisin' is a nice album. I like all the new songs except maybe for In My Car. Kokomo and Somewhere Near Japan are two of their strongest post-Love You songs.

[mikeddonn]

Still Cruisin' CD can be bought cheaply on ebay.  SIP can be picked up now and again for a good price.  I would love to have that one on vinyl!

[Douchepool]

Still Cruisin' CD can be bought cheaply on ebay.  SIP can be picked up now and again for a good price.  I would love to have that one on vinyl!

It was released on vinyl in South Korea.

[Rocky Raccoon]

Maybe once the copyright faces expiration in 2043. 

[Douchepool]

Maybe once the copyright faces expiration in 2043. 

Prepare for the six-disc Summer in Paradise sessions. The first four discs will consist of the band and Melcher trying to figure out how the beta version of Pro-Tools works.

[SMiLE Brian]

 

[Custom Machine]

Summer in Paradise is the only BB album I don't have on vinyl, so I'd love to see it rereleased on vinyl, preferably using the UK version, rather than the original US version, but I'll happily take either version on vinyl. And yeah, it does have some very good songs on it, in addition to some absolute clunkers, the worst being the remake of Surfin' and the highly embarrassing Summer of Love.

Anybody know the story of how many labels declined to release Summer in Paradise before it was decided to release it in the US under the Brother Entertainment label, distributed by Navarre, although it was released by EMI in the UK? And who made the wise decision to shorten some of the tracks on the UK version, as well as substitute the superior AC Mix of Forever, as well as an alternate version of Under the Boardwalk? Was that EMI, or did someone at BRI make that decision?  Also of interest is the fact that the UK version was released 9 months after the US version.

[mikeddonn]

Still Cruisin' CD can be bought cheaply on ebay.  SIP can be picked up now and again for a good price.  I would love to have that one on vinyl!

It was released on vinyl in South Korea.

Yip, and it's extremely rare and expensive hence the reason I'd prefer a vinyl re-issue rather than cd to complete my vinyl collection.  The artwork was also cool and would look great as a gatefold vinyl cover, with bigger poster included!  I have both cd versions.

[CenturyDeprived]

Still Cruisin' CD can be bought cheaply on ebay.  SIP can be picked up now and again for a good price.  I would love to have that one on vinyl!

It was released on vinyl in South Korea.

Yip, and it's extremely rare and expensive hence the reason I'd prefer a vinyl re-issue rather than cd to complete my vinyl collection.  The artwork was also cool and would look great as a gatefold vinyl cover, with bigger poster included!  I have both cd versions.

Was South Korea simply a market which catered to obsolete legacy formats, where people were still purchasing vinyl in a non-hipster way at that time, because technology was simply behind the times?

I just wonder if South Korea happen to be a place where other obscure albums were uniquely sold on vinyl at the time, or if it was somehow a unique circumstance for this particular album.

[donald]

gotta say SNJ is a fav of the late catalogue and I was disappointed that it hasn't made it to a major comp set.   I think it's up there with anything from the late 70's on: lyrics, vocals, music........And yes I am aware of the John Phillips/drug connection.     I gotta think those lyrics resonated with the band members themselves......I think that shows thru in the delivery of the song.     give me chills.........

[Nicko1234]

I think that Still Cruisin`, like the rest of the group`s catalogue, deserves to be released with bonus tracks at some point (but I`m not holding my breath). It could be quite an interesting colection if they were able to include the likes of:

Kokomo (Spanish version)
Make it Big (Movie mix)
Somewhere Near Japan (Single edit)
Rock and Roll to the Rescue
Lady Liberty
Happy Endings
Livin` Doll etc.

Alternatively, I`ve said before that if they were looking to release an alternative to the Best of comps then a Beach Boys at the Movies CD could contain enough hits to appeal to the general fans and enough obscurities to suck in the hardcore.

[Moon Dawg]

I think that Still Cruisin`, like the rest of the group`s catalogue, deserves to be released with bonus tracks at some point (but I`m not holding my breath). It could be quite an interesting colection if they were able to include the likes of:

Kokomo (Spanish version)
Make it Big (Movie mix)
Somewhere Near Japan (Single edit)
Rock and Roll to the Rescue
Lady Liberty
Happy Endings
Livin` Doll etc.

Alternatively, I`ve said before that if they were looking to release an alternative to the Best of comps then a Beach Boys at the Movies CD could contain enough hits to appeal to the general fans and enough obscurities to suck in the hardcore.

 Yes, I'd like to fix STILL CRUISIN' by dropping the three oldies and adding some things along these lines, including "California Dreamin" and "The Spirit of Rock & Roll". It wouldn't be a bad album.

[Awesoman]

I think that Still Cruisin`, like the rest of the group`s catalogue, deserves to be released with bonus tracks at some point (but I`m not holding my breath). It could be quite an interesting colection if they were able to include the likes of:

Kokomo (Spanish version)
Make it Big (Movie mix)
Somewhere Near Japan (Single edit)
Rock and Roll to the Rescue
Lady Liberty
Happy Endings
Livin` Doll etc.

Alternatively, I`ve said before that if they were looking to release an alternative to the Best of comps then a Beach Boys at the Movies CD could contain enough hits to appeal to the general fans and enough obscurities to suck in the hardcore.

Don't forget "Problem Child"!  "Nyah nyeh na-nyah nyah!"

[startBBtoday]

I legitimately like Somewhere Near Japan, Make It Big, Still Surfin' and Lahaina Aloha. And I wouldn't say Slow Summer Dancin', Strange Things Happen, Summer In Paradise, Forever, Still Crusin', Island Girl, In My Car or Kokomo are terrible.

Wipe Out is a guilty pleasure of mine too.

[job]

Okay, it's pretty well known that Still Crusin' and SIP are pretty weak albums. Well, weak is an understatement, they're awful.

They are NOT awful...

I have them both in digital format...in fact I have both the US & UK versions of SIP in digital format.

[KDS]

I think that Still Cruisin`, like the rest of the group`s catalogue, deserves to be released with bonus tracks at some point (but I`m not holding my breath). It could be quite an interesting colection if they were able to include the likes of:

Kokomo (Spanish version)
Make it Big (Movie mix)
Somewhere Near Japan (Single edit)
Rock and Roll to the Rescue
Lady Liberty
Happy Endings
Livin` Doll etc.

Alternatively, I`ve said before that if they were looking to release an alternative to the Best of comps then a Beach Boys at the Movies CD could contain enough hits to appeal to the general fans and enough obscurities to suck in the hardcore.

 Yes, I'd like to fix STILL CRUISIN' by dropping the three oldies and adding some things along these lines, including "California Dreamin" and "The Spirit of Rock & Roll". It wouldn't be a bad album.

I always thought the label was doing a disservice to the newer songs by including three classic tracks from the 60s.  I think that's why Still Cruisin has a bad reputation.  If they had included more tracks from that era, you'd essentially have had a late 80s version of 20/20.  

[HeyJude]

Mike made a few interesting comments about "Still Cruisin'" in his infamous 1992 Goldmine interview:


But the problem with a major is that just as recently as the Still Cruisin' album, the same week that we went to radio with a song called "Somewhere Near Japan," which was getting really good airplay, Capitol Records went to CHR radio stations with eight singles. That was just one label in the same week. They'd also just done a deal with Duran Duran. They had paid a lot of money for Duran Duran, whereas we did an album of half new and half older songs. The theme of that album was to have been songs that have been in movies. It was basically a repackage.

But then in got watered down with politics, meaning Brian's Dr. Landy forcing a song called "In My Car," which was never in a movie, and a song by Jardine, which ultimately ended up on the album, called "Island Girl," which was never in a movie either. So to me the concept was a little bit diluted there politically.

So what happened in this instance was I was not happy that the album was half repackage and half politics. What happens when you do things politically just to accommodate the fact that if you're in a group and you divide it by five members, and you got two songs each, it may be a nice thing to do but everybody has their own point of view that isn't taken into consideration objectively.

On the one hand, he agrees with many fans that the album was diluted a bit. But he feels it was diluted by the "non movie" songs, like Brian's and Al's songs. But then, at the same time, he seems to trumpet "Somewhere Near Japan" a bit, even though it was also one of the "non movie" songs (perhaps not coincidentally, one *he* co-wrote).

He doesn't seem to include himself in any of the criticism, but it is interesting that he did note that the album came across as sort of half-baked and a bit schizophrenic. It was indeed about "half repackage" and "half politics." It just sounds like he may have been more into a firm decision to go with "repackage", essentially a "Beach Boys Greatest Movie Songs", more than "politics" even if the "politics" at least resulted in more *new* music.

[HeyJude]

As for "Summer in Paradise", I would imagine BRI could quietly stick that thing on iTunes (etc.). Some pretty low-key, indie stuff ends up on iTunes these days ("Santa's Goin' to Kokomo"). They would probably sell several hundred digital copies of the album at least, with zero overhead. Free money. Uncle Jessie is on it too. Kind of surprised they haven't done that.

The UK version isn't particular better than the US. "Strange Things Happen" was chopped down quite a bit on the UK version. True, the end does just ramble on and on like it needs a shorter fade-out. But if the "UK version" were released, we'd be missing little things like that.

Ideally, some label would just license the rights to "Still Cruisin'" and "Summer in Paradise" and put the thing out on CD, with the UK "alternate" tracks. Again, free money. They wouldn't even have to do a bunch of sonic magic on it. "SIP" sounds like crapola due to the way it was recorded, extremely harsh, tinny, early digital (the '85 album sounds like a warm analog meadow in comparison).

[kermit27]

Still Cruisin' CD can be bought cheaply on ebay.  SIP can be picked up now and again for a good price.  I would love to have that one on vinyl!

It was released on vinyl in South Korea.

Yip, and it's extremely rare and expensive hence the reason I'd prefer a vinyl re-issue rather than cd to complete my vinyl collection.  The artwork was also cool and would look great as a gatefold vinyl cover, with bigger poster included!  I have both cd versions.

Was South Korea simply a market which catered to obsolete legacy formats, where people were still purchasing vinyl in a non-hipster way at that time, because technology was simply behind the times?

I just wonder if South Korea happen to be a place where other obscure albums were uniquely sold on vinyl at the time, or if it was somehow a unique circumstance for this particular album.

Yes, South Korea had a lot of exclusive vinyl releases in the 1990s because it still sold there.  I have a couple of South Korean releases because that is the only market in which some albums were released on vinyl.

[Joel Goldenberg]

Regarding Adult/Child, I could see that being a part of a Love You Deluxe Edition album, along with several other songs of the period (Sherry She Needs Me, You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin', Lazy Lizzie  , etc) and better sounding Love You demos.

[37!ws]

Thing is, hit or flop, popular or not popular, I can't imagine Capitol reissuing Still Cruisin', simply because it's half-compilation. Also, I'm wondering if there might be some licensing issues with, say, "Wipe Out."

What would be better would be to release something else that includes the new Beach Boys songs (for 1989, that is), "Rock and Roll To The Rescue," "Chasin' The Sky" (assuming they can get clearance for that one), "Crocodile Rock" (ditto), "Howdy From Maui," etc. And I would argue to KEEP "Wouldn't It Be Nice" because it's a version you can't get anywhere else.