November 5, 1988
For decades, Southern California’s Beach Boys sang about endless summer days and nights, but they also experienced seemingly endless years without a #1 hit single – until this day in 1988.
Kokomo, a song from the hit movie Cocktail, starring Tom Cruise, ended a then-record 1,139 weeks of Billboard Hot 100 charts without a record at the top from the “Boys of Summer.”
The surprisingly long drought began on December 17, 1966 when the band from Hawthorne, a city just south of downtown L.A., had their last chart-topper, Good Vibrations, knocked off the top rung on Billboard.
More coming up about ‘Good Vibrations’ including a rare TRUE STEREO mix of the record!
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The Cocktail soundtrack album contains some other well-known songs, including the hit Don’t Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerran and Little Richard‘s rock’n’roll classic Tutti Frutti (also the B-side of the ‘Kokomo’ single).
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[Note] Some audio song files may not play on smartphones, tablets or connected devices. A laptop, desktop PC or Mac may be required for optimal enjoyment.
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KOKOMO
The Beach Boys
[1988]
Released on July 18, 1988, ‘Kokomo’ was written by a team of pop music stalwarts – Beach Boy Mike Love, singer Scott McKenzie (San Francisco), record producer Terry Melcher (the son of actress Doris Day who worked with The Byrds, Paul Revere & The Raiders and others) and the founder of the The Mama’s And The Papa’s, John Phillips.
Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson had not been associated with the band for years and was not involved with the record, but original members Love and Brian’s brother Carl Wilson share the song’s lead vocals to give you that “tropical contact high.”
https://youtu.be/APx4G6juLBE
Despite only one week at #1 on the Top 100, the record was the only Beach Boys’ single to become a 2-million copies seller.
The 62nd record by the Beach Boys to chart, ‘Kokomo’ was also their penultimate.
The title track of the album that also contains ‘Kokomo’ was their final single to make the Hot 100. 1989’s single Still Cruisin’ peaked at #93.
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BONUS STUFF!
In 1966, a thirteen Beach Boys studio album called ‘SMiLE’ was to be the followup to their masterpiece, Pet Sounds, but group leader and songwriting genius Brian Wilson abandoned the project between 1966 and 1967 – and jettisoned many of intended tracks for the album.
The intended ‘SMiLE’ album artwork
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But Capitol Records finally released a truncated incarnation of the long-delayed Beach Boys album in 1967, calling it Smiley Smile. The shortened record featured only some of the original recordings (in mono) from the intended ‘SMiLE’ album, including ‘Good Vibrations.’
Then in 2012, the label re-issued ‘Smiley Smile’ on CD, adding new stereo mixes to the original mono tracks, including Good Vibrations in true stereo for the first time.
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GOOD VIBRATIONS
The Beach Boys
(True Stereo Version)
[1966]
First released as a single on October 10, 1966, ‘Good Vibrations’ spent just one week at #1 on Billboard’s chart ending on December 10th, replacing the “one-hit-wonders” New Vaudeville Band and Winchester Cathedral.
And in a chart anomaly, that single re-claimed the top spot from the Beach Boys for 2 more weeks.
https://youtu.be/KiwHAUOr7wQ
The Beach Boys had two singles hit #1 on Billboard prior to GV – I Get Around (1964) and Help Me, Rhonda (1965). Both remained at the top for two weeks, with the former selling a million copies.
‘Good Vibrations’ is ranked at #6 on Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
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[Notes] A couple of ambitious projects have been undertaken to re-create the lost ‘SMile’ album from the mid-60’s.
In 2004, as a solo artist, Brian Wilson re-interpreted the sessions for concert performances, then recorded and released a followup studio album called Brian Wilson Presents Smile.
But he qualified the work, stating that the arrangements significantly differed from how he initially envisioned ‘Smile.’
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Then in 2011, using Wilson’s original track listing and notes as its template to repicate the sound of the incomplete 1966 original album, The Smile Sessions was released on vinyl LP and CD – and high accolades followed.
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Songs Source: The Music Vault of HouseoftheHits, Inc.
Billboard® Chart Data: Joel Whitburn’s Record Research (eBook Editions)
Record Sleeve & Label Graphics: Courtesy of 45cat
