BBs joke in Up the Creek + alternate Chasin the Sky

[CenturyDeprived]

Finally got around to watching this "classic" 80s comedy that The BBs have a song on the soundtrack of.
It's streaming on Amazon Prime in case anybody is interested.

For nerdy 1980s completists of this band, there are at least two or three long scenes in the film which play the instrumental backing track of this song in the background, although it occurs during dialogue so you can't really listen to it all that closely.
But it's news to me that the instrumental version was ever released (even if only in this fashion), probably because it such an obscure song and obscure film.

Also, interestingly, there's a scripted BBs joke "Bleach Boys" in the film.  Makes me wonder if that was in the script before or after this band got attached to the film.

Also I wonder how that placement happened, since it seems to pre-date the Terry Melcher Music Placement era.
Maybe getting a song on the soundtrack of this film, even though it wasn't a hit, got the band interested in doing more of it in the future. Maybe we owe it to this film for Kokomo eventually even getting made.

[doc smiley]

Up The Creek was an attempt to recreate the success of "Animal House" again using some of the same cast. Works more or less, good popcorn movie.

[Awesoman]

Never saw the film, but I actually enjoy the song "Chasin' The Sky".  It's nothing remarkable, but Carl delivers a fantastic vocal and the vocal arrangements in general are decent.  Wish they'd include this song on any forthcoming rarities projects, assuming they have the publishing rights to the song.

[HeyJude]

"Chasin' the Sky" is probably one of the best "forgotten" non-album songs, certainly of the 80s. It very much sounds like what it is, which is the Beach Boys singing a song written by outsider writers. But it sounds punchier than what they had been doing in the previous few years, Carl's lead is great, and the band does some great vocals.

The mastering on the currently available versions are a little shrill; a remaster at least if not a remix might be nice.

I gather BRI does not likely own this particular track; I recall Carl being asked in an interview about what the track wasn't on "Still Cruisin'." Even though the song was five years old by that time, that collection seemed like a good fit for a lost soundtrack song like that.

I'm not sure if CBS had the rights to the song by 1989, but I would imagine it was tied up in a right issue that dictated it wasn't on "Still Cruisin'". From a 1989 Carl interview:


LK: Why didn't you include songs like "Chasin' The Sky", which also were on film soundtracks?

Carl: No, that's CBS material, and they have the right to it a few more years. A new Caribou compilation album may come out soon.

[CenturyDeprived]

"Chasin' the Sky" is probably one of the best "forgotten" non-album songs, certainly of the 80s. It very much sounds like what it is, which is the Beach Boys singing a song written by outsider writers. But it sounds punchier than what they had been doing in the previous few years, Carl's lead is great, and the band does some great vocals.

The mastering on the currently available versions are a little shrill; a remaster at least if not a remix might be nice.

I gather BRI does not likely own this particular track; I recall Carl being asked in an interview about what the track wasn't on "Still Cruisin'." Even though the song was five years old by that time, that collection seemed like a good fit for a lost soundtrack song like that.

I'm not sure if CBS had the rights to the song by 1989, but I would imagine it was tied up in a right issue that dictated it wasn't on "Still Cruisin'". From a 1989 Carl interview:


LK: Why didn't you include songs like "Chasin' The Sky", which also were on film soundtracks?

Carl: No, that's CBS material, and they have the right to it a few more years. A new Caribou compilation album may come out soon.

One thing I find really odd about Chasin' The Sky as it pertains to the Up The Creek liner notes:



It states "The Beach Boys are managed by Tom Hulett for Management 3" and on the following line, it states "Carl Wilson is managed by Jerry Schilling for Jerry Schilling Management".

Being that this is not a "Carl Wilson" song, but instead is a song listed as a "Beach Boys" song, I'm unclear as to why the solo artist "Carl Wilson" has management listed on the album's liner notes. One thing I'll say about the song, it sounds like it'd fit at home on a hypothetical 3rd Carl Wilson solo album from that era. Maybe this was intended to be a Carl solo track, but then got BBs vocals added to it and then it was marketed as a "BBs" song for the soundtrack?

The whole thing is just pretty odd. Imagine if there was a new "BBs" song on a soundtrack in 1981 with lead vocals by Mike, and the liners stated the BBs' management info along with separate management info for Mike Love, Solo Artist. Just weird!

[Lonely Summer]

"Chasin' the Sky" is probably one of the best "forgotten" non-album songs, certainly of the 80s. It very much sounds like what it is, which is the Beach Boys singing a song written by outsider writers. But it sounds punchier than what they had been doing in the previous few years, Carl's lead is great, and the band does some great vocals.

The mastering on the currently available versions are a little shrill; a remaster at least if not a remix might be nice.

I gather BRI does not likely own this particular track; I recall Carl being asked in an interview about what the track wasn't on "Still Cruisin'." Even though the song was five years old by that time, that collection seemed like a good fit for a lost soundtrack song like that.

I'm not sure if CBS had the rights to the song by 1989, but I would imagine it was tied up in a right issue that dictated it wasn't on "Still Cruisin'". From a 1989 Carl interview:


LK: Why didn't you include songs like "Chasin' The Sky", which also were on film soundtracks?

Carl: No, that's CBS material, and they have the right to it a few more years. A new Caribou compilation album may come out soon.

One thing I find really odd about Chasin' The Sky as it pertains to the Up The Creek liner notes:



It states "The Beach Boys are managed by Tom Hulett for Management 3" and on the following line, it states "Carl Wilson is managed by Jerry Schilling for Jerry Schilling Management".

Being that this is not a "Carl Wilson" song, but instead is a song listed as a "Beach Boys" song, I'm unclear as to why the solo artist "Carl Wilson" has management listed on the album's liner notes. One thing I'll say about the song, it sounds like it'd fit at home on a hypothetical 3rd Carl Wilson solo album from that era. Maybe this was intended to be a Carl solo track, but then got BBs vocals added to it and then it was marketed as a "BBs" song for the soundtrack?

The whole thing is just pretty odd. Imagine if there was a new "BBs" song on a soundtrack in 1981 with lead vocals by Mike, and the liners stated the BBs' management info along with separate management info for Mike Love, Solo Artist. Just weird!

IIRC, Carl had retained Schilling as his personal manager at that time, separate from the Beach Boys. There was a photo in Billboard, summer of 83, of the two of them signing the paperwork together.
And it wouldn't surprise me if the song began as a Carl solo. It was the first BB track released after Dennis' death, so I was very eager to hear it. Apparently, I was the only one!