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Author Topic: Brian Wilson on 'Kokomo'  (Read 13421 times)
joe_blow
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« Reply #25 on: August 24, 2015, 09:52:23 AM »

I regret it, too.

I've always had a soft spot for "Kokomo."  And I really, really wish Brian had been on the track in some form, whether it be instrumentally, vocally or both.


Now, I'm not 'up-to-the-minute' and devotedly detail-oriented with the Beach Boys in the same manner I am with the Beatles (so I may be mis-remembering this), but I seem to recall some disagreement over the reason why Brian wasn't there (as in, Wilson claiming he was never asked, with the BB guys steadfastly saying they did everything they could to reach him).

But regardless of the reasons why, sometimes when Brian discusses the session, I get the feeling he still hurts a little over not having been there.

Both.

Brian was still under Landy's care at the time.  If you wanted to get in touch with Brian, you had to do it through Landy, and even then Landy didn't always pass the message.
Yet Brian sang on the Spanish version. It has been a futile effort here on my part to find out how Landy allowed his participation on that version if he blocked Brian's involvement the English-sung recording.
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« Reply #26 on: August 24, 2015, 10:33:59 AM »

wasn't KOKOMO produced by Terry Melcher?  Maybe therein lies the reason, at least in part, Brian didn't participate (certainly didn't seek it out).  Even if Brian & Terry were, or at least had been friends years earlier.  Landy's statement (if implied) "Brian Wilson produces Beach Boys records"

And nobody makes similar complaints Brian ain't on I CAN HEAR MUSIC - which was produced by his own brother and recorded in his own home studio
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« Reply #27 on: August 24, 2015, 12:24:48 PM »

Before "Kokomo" came out, the Beach Boys were about as popular as a mosquito up your nose.  I remember just about everyone and their mother loving this damn song when it came out, including myself.  "Kokomo" may not be a masterpiece, but it revived the Beach Boys popularity... even if it was for a short period of time.  Hell, they even recorded a Spanish version of it, which Brian was present for.
The Beach Boys weren't exactly missing from the pop landscape before Kokomo; Getcha Back had been a medium size hit, California Dreamin' did well on the AC charts, and they always seemed to be on tv in the 80's - DC concerts, sitcoms, ET, hard to miss them.
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« Reply #28 on: August 24, 2015, 12:54:46 PM »

Before "Kokomo" came out, the Beach Boys were about as popular as a mosquito up your nose.  I remember just about everyone and their mother loving this damn song when it came out, including myself.  "Kokomo" may not be a masterpiece, but it revived the Beach Boys popularity... even if it was for a short period of time.  Hell, they even recorded a Spanish version of it, which Brian was present for.
The Beach Boys weren't exactly missing from the pop landscape before Kokomo; Getcha Back had been a medium size hit, California Dreamin' did well on the AC charts, and they always seemed to be on tv in the 80's - DC concerts, sitcoms, ET, hard to miss them.

True, they had commanded the oldies circuit, but no one was expecting another #1 from them. 
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« Reply #29 on: August 24, 2015, 01:14:38 PM »

I regret it, too.

I've always had a soft spot for "Kokomo."  And I really, really wish Brian had been on the track in some form, whether it be instrumentally, vocally or both.


Now, I'm not 'up-to-the-minute' and devotedly detail-oriented with the Beach Boys in the same manner I am with the Beatles (so I may be mis-remembering this), but I seem to recall some disagreement over the reason why Brian wasn't there (as in, Wilson claiming he was never asked, with the BB guys steadfastly saying they did everything they could to reach him).

But regardless of the reasons why, sometimes when Brian discusses the session, I get the feeling he still hurts a little over not having been there.

I have been trying to figure that out too.  The only thing I can think of is that Kokomo was a smash, so then Landy wanted him to be a part of it, and the Spanish version was a way he could do it.

Both.

Brian was still under Landy's care at the time.  If you wanted to get in touch with Brian, you had to do it through Landy, and even then Landy didn't always pass the message.
Yet Brian sang on the Spanish version. It has been a futile effort here on my part to find out how Landy allowed his participation on that version if he blocked Brian's involvement the English-sung recording.
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« Reply #30 on: August 24, 2015, 02:29:09 PM »

Brian's a fan of the song no doubt. As it's been stated already seen in interview, he was gutted he didn't attend the recording.
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« Reply #31 on: August 24, 2015, 02:55:50 PM »

I get a feeling that Landy saw the Beach Boys as a dead entity at the time and was trying to keep Brian away from them as much as possible, thinking he could more easily make Brian an established star on his own.  Once "Kokomo" became a hit, Landy probably realized he made a big mistake, hence Brian's more active involvement with the group in 1989.
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« Reply #32 on: August 24, 2015, 08:41:08 PM »

Before "Kokomo" came out, the Beach Boys were about as popular as a mosquito up your nose.  I remember just about everyone and their mother loving this damn song when it came out, including myself.  "Kokomo" may not be a masterpiece, but it revived the Beach Boys popularity... even if it was for a short period of time.  Hell, they even recorded a Spanish version of it, which Brian was present for.
The Beach Boys weren't exactly missing from the pop landscape before Kokomo; Getcha Back had been a medium size hit, California Dreamin' did well on the AC charts, and they always seemed to be on tv in the 80's - DC concerts, sitcoms, ET, hard to miss them.

Plus "Wipieout" with The Fat Boys was a big radio/MTV hit the previous summer. Now THAT was great - maybe not the rap parts, but hearing Brian's multi-tracked vocals singing what had to be his own arrangement all over the airwaves!
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« Reply #33 on: August 24, 2015, 09:00:23 PM »

Brian has to be the only Beach Boy on that recording. I don't hear anyone else (besides the Fat Boys, of course).
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« Reply #34 on: August 24, 2015, 10:54:37 PM »

Before "Kokomo" came out, the Beach Boys were about as popular as a mosquito up your nose.  I remember just about everyone and their mother loving this damn song when it came out, including myself.  "Kokomo" may not be a masterpiece, but it revived the Beach Boys popularity... even if it was for a short period of time.  Hell, they even recorded a Spanish version of it, which Brian was present for.
The Beach Boys weren't exactly missing from the pop landscape before Kokomo; Getcha Back had been a medium size hit, California Dreamin' did well on the AC charts, and they always seemed to be on tv in the 80's - DC concerts, sitcoms, ET, hard to miss them.

Plus "Wipieout" with The Fat Boys was a big radio/MTV hit the previous summer. Now THAT was great - maybe not the rap parts, but hearing Brian's multi-tracked vocals singing what had to be his own arrangement all over the airwaves!
Yup - the  Beach Boys were far from dead pre-Kokomo, even if a lot of the die hards were not thrilled with their direction at the time. It was still exciting to hear a new BB's track on the radio, whether it was Rock 'N' Roll to the Rescue, Getcha Back, It's Gettin' Late, Wipe Out, whatever. Oh, to experience that again. The only place I hear recent songs by the guys now is in the grocery aisle.
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« Reply #35 on: August 25, 2015, 02:08:37 AM »

Brian was clearly singing along with it onstage at the C50 show in Sydney...

Cheers,
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« Reply #36 on: August 25, 2015, 03:12:11 AM »

When I first heard "Kokomo" on one of a pair of 1989 cassette tape comps (now a single CD: http://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Hits-Album-89/master/238177) it just made me feel old. ("So they're still around!")

Maybe it didn't help that the tape was wowing somewhat. It's all fallen into place since then (and i do mean all!) and I`m quite comfortable with it now.

Indeed, I'm always glad to hear "Kokomo" in the "grocery aisle"----particularly when Carl kicks in. ;=)
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« Reply #37 on: August 25, 2015, 03:20:50 AM »

Brian has to be the only Beach Boy on that recording. I don't hear anyone else (besides the Fat Boys, of course).
The one time I played the near infinite wave II version on the 12", I thought I could hear Bruce coming through in the mix - but that could have been a side affect of real time damage to my cerebral cortex. 
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« Reply #38 on: August 25, 2015, 05:36:04 AM »

I'm not a big Kokomo fan, but I don't hate it. It really fit the decade it came from, it's catchy and memorable. I never saw the movie Cocktail, and I bet a lot of people haven't.. the song is more popular than the movie it came from.
Not really. Tom Cruise was a huge star in the 80s & the BBs song clip features scenes from that movie. Not without reason. Kokomo is liked by many but I think I read that the movie was a big success meaning lots of people had seen it, the 80s youth & whatnot. Even here in Russia, it gets several re-runs a year on TV. In the U.S. it may be showing too.
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« Reply #39 on: August 25, 2015, 05:51:21 AM »

Cocktail was a huge success at the time, but I'm not sure how well the movie has aged. 

It does still air on basic cable from time to time, but you don't see it nearly as often as other movies from that time period. 

Other than the Mission Impossible franchise, Tom Cruise's star has fallen a lot in the US over the past decade. 
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« Reply #40 on: August 25, 2015, 06:06:50 AM »

The song didn't age well either. It sounds very dated. Cool vocs but so what?

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Other than the Mission Impossible franchise, Tom Cruise's star has fallen a lot in the US over the past decade.
It happens with many actors. Every actor has a film-2 that made them name in a big way so that people identify them with. For Tom, it's Mission Impossible.
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« Reply #41 on: August 25, 2015, 06:13:59 AM »

Cocktail was a huge success at the time, but I'm not sure how well the movie has aged.

It might have been a hit at the box office, but it was completely panned by critics. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1004420-cocktail/

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« Reply #42 on: August 25, 2015, 06:16:20 AM »

It doesn't matter what critics said. We are talking success here. The hit factor.
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« Reply #43 on: August 25, 2015, 06:22:50 AM »

Tom Cruise was a big name long before Mission: Impossible. Risky Business and Top Gun made him huge.
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« Reply #44 on: August 25, 2015, 06:55:16 AM »

Tom Cruise was a big name long before Mission: Impossible. Risky Business and Top Gun made him huge.

You're right.  Cruise was a huge name in the 80s.  But in the last decade or so, the only movies he's in that seem to be successful are the MI movies. 

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« Reply #45 on: August 25, 2015, 07:15:34 AM »

I did say it too that Tom Cruise was huge in the 80s. And again, it is usual thing for actors to fade away with each decade going by. Like, every other actor that's been in a movie business for several decades is mostly known for their early work. Hence making sequels of MI & it being successful.
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« Reply #46 on: August 25, 2015, 07:30:41 AM »

We covered the numbers behind the Cocktail soundtrack and the film itself in another thread recently. It was a huge summer-into-fall cash-cow of a film, and did great at the box office. The soundtrack itself by the end of 1988 had spun off two #1 singles, "Dont Worry Be Happy" and "Kokomo", and was the first soundtrack to spin off two #1's since Prince's "Purple Rain". I think the box office by the end of 1988 was around 80 million, and the sales of the soundtrack were multiple-platinum. It was a commercial success, as a film and with the soundtrack.

One point not to forget about Tom Cruise was that he was also coming off of both critical and commercial success with the film "The Color Of Money", the "sequel" to "The Hustler" that had Paul Newman returning to the screen as Fast Eddie Felson for the first time in three decades. That film was both a critical and commercial success too and helped put Cruise's stock even higher in the market as a "serious" actor after Top Gun.
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« Reply #47 on: August 25, 2015, 07:40:46 AM »

I've read that discussion, the points about Kokomo clip featuring the scenes with Tom Cruise are taken from there. I agree with those who say that success of the song is driven by the movie. In the same thread, smb said that John Phillips' version of it is worse in compare to the BBs. Not really sure how it related to the BBs hit v. hit film soundtrack debates.
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« Reply #48 on: August 25, 2015, 07:50:02 AM »



I'm amazed sometimes at how many might disagree about the film driving the song, maybe it's a bad memory thing or something because if you go back and look at every release of the song Kokomo from the time the movie was in the theaters, the sleeve or cover art has Tom Cruise as the bartender character from the film. And it's on Elektra, which the Beach Boys were not signed to but who released the soundtrack. Every release from the records to the tapes to the CD-singles to the official sheet music had Tom Cruise on the cover.
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« Reply #49 on: August 25, 2015, 08:10:13 AM »



I'm amazed sometimes at how many might disagree about the film driving the song, maybe it's a bad memory thing or something because if you go back and look at every release of the song Kokomo from the time the movie was in the theaters, the sleeve or cover art has Tom Cruise as the bartender character from the film. And it's on Elektra, which the Beach Boys were not signed to but who released the soundtrack. Every release from the records to the tapes to the CD-singles to the official sheet music had Tom Cruise on the cover.

Have the BBs and The Cruiser ever hung out? Were they ever buddies?

IMO, Cruise never was better than as TJ Mackey in PT Anderson's Magnolia - just one film after Boogie Nights which featured God Only Knows.

And let's not forget Good Vibrations was heavily featured in 2001's Vanilla Sky.
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