"Kokomo" is a great song

[Island Fever]

I wish everyone would get off Brian's sack long enough to admit that "Kokomo" is a classic pop song. You can pretend to hate on it all you want, but I have no shame in declaring my love for a worldwide smash, #1 hit.

Even Brian himself admitted it was a great song in Endless Harmony. He seemed to wish he could have been a part of it.

[Stegibo]

I like Kokomo too! It is the song that brought me into the Beach Boys World!

[rogerlancelot]

I really just don't get much of anything by the BB after (and possibly including) KTSA in 1980. I don't like the 85 album at all and can only handle Summer In Paradise if it's on in the background. "Kokomo" is an okay record and went to #1 for one week but it still sounds like 80's cheesy pop to me. And believe me, I am not a Brianista but I'll take his '88 album (at least certain songs like "Rio Grande", "Melt Away", "Baby Let Your Hair Grow Long" and "Let It Shine") over anything the BB's did as a creative unit after 1980. Except maybe "Chasin' The Sky" which is horribly overlooked.

[Pretty Funky]

For all its faults, it brought the band back to the attention of the public and showed them that a group of 40 somethings can still have a hit.

Without it would Mike and Bruce have the attendance they have? Who knows.

[Dancing Bear]

Not great. Good.

[runnersdialzero]

There's just something so appaulingly cheesy about it. The production is the biggest offender, obviously, but just the same - even the songwriting is incredibly cheesy, lyrics are incredibly cheesy, and Mike's vocal is somewhat offensive. Carl's part saves it from being a total loss.

That said, I don't hate it, although that could just be for nostalgia's sake.

But sorry, I'd never call it a "great song" or say I love it.

[Menace Wilson]

Carl's part saves it from being a total loss.

I agree.

[The Shift]

Carl's part saves it from being a total loss.

I agree.

Me too... trouble is that it was a good pop song, not a work of genius that we were still hoping and praying would come out of Camp BBs. And when they score with 'good', sans Brian, it reduces the chances of them every putting the effort into scoring with something 'great', with Brian. Take the point made in another thread that Brian being the be-all-and-end-all of the Beach Boys is part-Leaftopian thinking. But he's still -  even estranged all these years - the thing that made them tick.

[punkinhead]

I loved hearing Brian play it on piano in that one CBS doc. from the late 90s

[urbanite]

Kokomo soared while Brian's solo album tanked.

[XY]

Enjoy it everytime I hear it on the radio. Great song.

[rogerlancelot]

Kokomo soared while Brian's solo album tanked.

I know this. It troubles me but keep in mind that "Kokomo" was also featured in a hit Tom Cruise movie at the time whereas Brian's album wasn't promoted with a tour or even a single music video.

I don't hate "Kokomo". It is a "swell" tune. It's just not a "Rio Grande" slam.

[Smilin Ed H]

Not good, but okay - and successful.

[The Heartical Don]

It is a great hit. It deserved the hit status. Everytime I hear it in a supermarket, I feel good.

It is not Cabinessence, nor Good Vibrations or God Only Knows.

But there are many, many sh*t hits. This is a good hit.

[Nicko]

A good song and a deserved hit. Not a masterpiece but Carl's vocals are excellent, the lyrics are better than a lot of songs the band recorded and it is very catchy. Obviously being the soundtrack to Cocktail helped a lot in getting it to number one but the song's own merits played a big part too.

Brian's album wasn't that much of a flop was it? 400,000 copies I recall reading. And despite the fact that it DID get a lot of promotion, I don't think it's a big surprise that it didn't sell any better. The production isn't very good and there isn't anything on the album that could have been a hit imo. Not a massive hit anyway. I do think it's a pretty good album but, like most of the stuff that Brian did after pulling back, not that commercial.

[MBE]

I really just don't get much of anything by the BB after (and possibly including) KTSA in 1980. I don't like the 85 album at all and can only handle Summer In Paradise if it's on in the background. "Kokomo" is an okay record and went to #1 for one week but it still sounds like 80's cheesy pop to me. And believe me, I am not a Brianista but I'll take his '88 album (at least certain songs like "Rio Grande", "Melt Away", "Baby Let Your Hair Grow Long" and "Let It Shine") over anything the BB's did as a creative unit after 1980.

Look I love all the Beach Boys, I think 90 percent of Sweet Insanity is worse then it but I agree strongly with the above. It's not the Beach Boys worst song but they have between 150-200 songs that I like better. They are just so poorly represented here.

[shelter]

It is a great hit. It deserved the hit status. Everytime I hear it in a supermarket, I feel good.

It is not Cabinessence, nor Good Vibrations or God Only Knows.

But there are many, many merda hits. This is a good hit.

Pretty much sums it up for me.

[absinthe_boy]

It is a great hit. It deserved the hit status. Everytime I hear it in a supermarket, I feel good.

It is not Cabinessence, nor Good Vibrations or God Only Knows.

But there are many, many merda hits. This is a good hit.

It was helped by the fact that it was used in a very successful movie.

But it really isn't bad, as pop songs go. It sounds and feels quite  a bit like the Beach Boys...you feel good and think about sunny places when you hear it.

Sure, examine it and it's no Good Vibrations....its a few steps back...but it really isn't bad.

Mike should be proud of it....but I wish he didn't always have to shout "Hey Kokomo proves I can do it without Brian".

[Andrew G. Doe]

Mike's contribution to the song was limited - he came up with the "Aruba, Jamaica" riff. The rest of the song was written summer 1984 by Papa John & Scott Mackenzie

[Roger Ryan]

Mike's contribution to the song was limited - he came up with the "Aruba, Jamaica" riff. The rest of the song was written summer 1984 by Papa John & Scott Mackenzie

Given that, Mike's contribution would be slightly less than "Good Vibrations"? It's not that the Beach Boys were having a hit without Brian as much as they had a hit performing a John Phillips' song produced by Terry Melcher.

[The infamous Baldwin Organ]

I was born in the mid-80's, and when I was growing up I knew Kokomo, but didn't know it was by the Beach Boys.

I had heard of the name The Beach Boys, but didn't connect the two until I decided to give the Beach Boys music a shot. It was kind of like, "Oh hey, I know that song."

At least for me, the "Aruba, Jamaica" riff AGD mentioned was by far the most memorable part of the song; until recently, I probably wouldn't have recognized the rest of the song! haha

For people my age, I think you could argue that it is the most well known (I didn't say best!) Beach Boys song. (I'm in the US).

[Andrew G. Doe]

It's a guilty pleasure. There, I've said it. 

My take is that a lot of the malice directed at "Kokomo" stemmed (and still does) from the fact that they, and not Brian, had the hit.

[Synth Wash]

I haven't seen that clip of Brian playing piano Kokomo, but I would bet that a new version with a production that's lighter on the cheese would cause the song to be taken more seriously. The sax solo especially screams 80's cheese. I like that melody though, and I can't think of another instrument that might replace it.

[oldsurferdude]

I haven't seen that clip of Brian playing piano Kokomo, but I would bet that a new version with a production that's lighter on the cheese would cause the song to be taken more seriously. The sax solo especially screams 80's cheese. I like that melody though, and I can't think of another instrument that might replace it.

try a kazoo

[Cam Mott]

It's a guilty pleasure. There, I've said it. 

My take is that a lot of the malice directed at "Kokomo" stemmed (and still does) from the fact that they, and not Brian, had the hit.

I agree all around, pal-o-mine.