The Beach Boys - "Still Cruisin'" (1989) and "Summer In Paradise" (1992)
As someone who began collecting out-of-print records in the early 1990's, I can easily remember a time when many Beach Boys albums were not commercially available, and seemed to be rarely discussed. Which albums were those? Well, nearly every proper album that the band recorded after 1969 was unavailable and largely forgotten during the '90's. That began to change in the year 2000, when Capitol Records issued a 2-on-1 CD containing the 1970 Sunflower album and the 1971 Surf's Up album on one disc. Similar 2-on-1 reissues followed during that same year, until all of the band's studio albums up to the self-titled Beach Boys from 1985 were available again. Since then, those albums have remained commercially available -- physically, digitally, or both -- and some of them (particularly the ones released during the early-'70's) have become more appreciated over time.
However, there are two Beach Boys albums that have been unavailable since the 1990's, and are not showing signs of being reissued any time soon. Those albums are Still Cruisin' (1989) and Summer In Paradise (1992).
First off, let me describe the events leading up to the release of Still Cruisin' in 1989. For 15 years before that, the Beach Boys were mainly regarded as a nostalgia act. But for one fleeting moment in the late '80's, the band unexpectedly became contemporary hitmakers once again. First, they collaborated with the Fat Boys on the #12 single "Wipeout!", a hip-hop cover of the Surfaris' 1962 surf instrumental. Singing the background vocals on (and appearing in the video for) that kitschy rap number apparently opened the door for the older Boys to achieve a high-profile comeback hit. The following year, the Beach Boys recorded a new original song titled "Kokomo", for the vapid 1988 Tom Cruise movie Cocktail, and that single went all the way to #1 -- a feat the band had last achieved 22 years earlier with "Good Vibrations" in 1966. "Kokomo" was co-written by Mike Love, John Phillips, Scott McKenzie, and producer Terry Melcher. It was recorded without the participation of Brian Wilson, who was working on his self-titled solo debut. "Kokomo" was a frothy Caribbean-flavored summer tune about traveling to a fictional tropical island. It's a song that some people -- especially critics -- now love to hate, but in truth, it's a fairly catchy and harmless late-'80's frivolity.
After those successes, more Beach Boys recordings were needed to keep them riding that wave, which seemed to be the intended purpose of the Still Cruisin' album. But, although it contained "Kokomo", "Wipe Out", and two other songs which were recorded for recent movie soundtracks as "Kokomo" was, this album failed to extend the band's comeback, and quickly relegated them back to "nostalgia act" status. Still Cruisin' came across less like a new studio project than like a misconceived compilation with some new tracks. In fact, it ends with three of the band's classic hits from the '60's -- "I Get Around", "Wouldn't It Be Nice", and "California Girls" -- the excuse for their inclusion being that they had also appeared on recent movie soundtracks. The new songs mainly sounded like slickly-produced updates of their famous '60's sounds. Three of those newer tracks ("Still Cruisin'", "Somewhere Near Japan", "Make It Big") are weak songs written by some of the authors of "Kokomo". Meanwhile, Alan Jardine's "Island Girl" (not the Elton John tune) comes across like an actual attempt to duplicate the Caribbean flavoring of "Kokomo", but the song was too flat to duplicate that hit's success. The most noteworthy of the new tracks was Brian Wilson's "In My Car" (co-written by Dr. Eugene Landy), though it was really no less expendable than the others. This disposable disc might have been more appropriately titled "Still Coasting".
And then came the truly embarrassing Summer In Paradise album from 1992. This album was mostly dominated by Mike Love, while Brian Wilson was nowhere to be heard. This album's best offerings ("Island Fever", "Strange Things Happen", "Lahaina Aloha") were vain attempts to clone "Kokomo", written by Love and producer Terry Melcher. Otherwise, the music of these "boys" was still hopelessly stuck in nostalgia mode, and the nostalgia had become even more ridiculous with age, to the point of self-parody. The album's title track name-checks some of the band's old hit songs while preaching about the environment. And, seriously: who did these guys think they were kidding at this point with a new song called "Still Surfin'"? They even went so far as to remake their first recorded song, "Surfin'" from 1961, in updated -- or, at least, '80's-style -- synth-rock fashion. The album is also loaded with terrible cover songs: Sly Stone's "Hot Fun In The Summertime" (bland), the Drifters' "Under The Boardwalk" (synthetic), a Carl Wilson-sung rendition of the Shangri-Las' girl-group song "Remember (Walking In The Sand)" (nonsensical in this setting), and the 1958 Danleers doo-wop hit "One Summer Night" (rendered here as a cheesy pop song, with added lyrics by Bruce Johnston). The smarmy pseudo-rap original "Summer Of Love" seems to hit a new low, until the very end of the album, when the Boys dare to remake the late Dennis Wilson's ballad "Forever", with lead vocals by...John Stamos. The Summer In Paradise album is a colossal mess...in its American version.
Confusingly enough, Summer In Paradise was issued in the U.K. the following year in a "Euro Version", with different packaging (ironically placing an American flag image on the front, unlike the U.S. cardboard Ecopack) and different mixes of many songs, resulting in a considerable improvement. The U.K. mixes of "Hot Fun In The Summertime" and "Under The Boardwalk" are easily livelier than the U.S. mixes -- with the Drifters' original bridge recorded for and added to the latter -- though they are still not necessarily good mixes. The remix of "Strange Things Happen" is about a minute-and-a-half shorter in length. In fact, the restructuring of some songs resulted in the full U.K. album's running time (41:15) being three minutes shorter than that of the U.S. version (44:10). At least two songs were rerecorded entirely, with changes in lyrics and instrumentation: "Island Fever" comes on stronger, with new Al Jardine vocal parts replacing some of Carl Wilson's; and the revamped title track has new accompaniment by Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, who adds 12-string guitar and sings one verse -- although the slightly changed lyrics are no less silly. And the Stamos-sung "Forever" is a notch more tolerable in its remixed form. When all is said and done, the Euro Version of Summer In Paradise is still not a good album by any stretch, but is slightly easier to digest than the U.S. version.
The Beach Boys "Still Cruisin'" (Capitol CDP 7 92639 2) 1989
Track Listing:
1. Still Cruisin' (from "Lethal Weapon 2")
2. Somewhere Near Japan
3. Island Girl
4. In My Car
5. Kokomo (from "Cocktail")
6. Wipeout (with The Fat Boys)
7. Make It Big (from "Troop Beverly Hills")
8. I Get Around (from "Good Morning Vietnam")
9. Wouldn't It Be Nice (from "The Big Chill")
10. California Girls (from "Soul Man")
The Beach Boys "Summer In Paradise" (U.S. version) (Brother Entertainment BBR 727-2) 1992
Track Listing:
1. Hot Fun In The Summertime (3:28)
2. Surfin' (3:44)
3. Summer Of Love (2:50)
4. Island Fever (3:26)
5. Still Surfin' (4:02)
6. Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night) (3:23)
7. Strange Things Happen (4:43)
8. Remember "Waking In The Sand" (3:29)
9. Lahaina Aloha (3:43)
10. Under The Boardwalk (4:06)
11. Summer In Paradise (3:51)
12. Forever (3:03)
The Beach Boys "Summer In Paradise" (U.K. version) (EMI 0777 7 81036 2 2) 1993
Track Listing:
1. Hot Fun In The Summertime (3:29)
2. Surfin' (3:45)
3. Summer Of Love (2:51)
4. Island Fever (3:10)
5. Still Surfin' (4:03)
6. Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night) (3:23)
7. Strange Things Happen (3:18)
8. Remember "Waking In The Sand" (3:05)
9. Lahaina Aloha (3:44)
10. Under The Boardwalk (3:30)
11. Summer In Paradise (3:28)
12. Forever (3:00)
However, there are two Beach Boys albums that have been unavailable since the 1990's, and are not showing signs of being reissued any time soon. Those albums are Still Cruisin' (1989) and Summer In Paradise (1992).
First off, let me describe the events leading up to the release of Still Cruisin' in 1989. For 15 years before that, the Beach Boys were mainly regarded as a nostalgia act. But for one fleeting moment in the late '80's, the band unexpectedly became contemporary hitmakers once again. First, they collaborated with the Fat Boys on the #12 single "Wipeout!", a hip-hop cover of the Surfaris' 1962 surf instrumental. Singing the background vocals on (and appearing in the video for) that kitschy rap number apparently opened the door for the older Boys to achieve a high-profile comeback hit. The following year, the Beach Boys recorded a new original song titled "Kokomo", for the vapid 1988 Tom Cruise movie Cocktail, and that single went all the way to #1 -- a feat the band had last achieved 22 years earlier with "Good Vibrations" in 1966. "Kokomo" was co-written by Mike Love, John Phillips, Scott McKenzie, and producer Terry Melcher. It was recorded without the participation of Brian Wilson, who was working on his self-titled solo debut. "Kokomo" was a frothy Caribbean-flavored summer tune about traveling to a fictional tropical island. It's a song that some people -- especially critics -- now love to hate, but in truth, it's a fairly catchy and harmless late-'80's frivolity.
After those successes, more Beach Boys recordings were needed to keep them riding that wave, which seemed to be the intended purpose of the Still Cruisin' album. But, although it contained "Kokomo", "Wipe Out", and two other songs which were recorded for recent movie soundtracks as "Kokomo" was, this album failed to extend the band's comeback, and quickly relegated them back to "nostalgia act" status. Still Cruisin' came across less like a new studio project than like a misconceived compilation with some new tracks. In fact, it ends with three of the band's classic hits from the '60's -- "I Get Around", "Wouldn't It Be Nice", and "California Girls" -- the excuse for their inclusion being that they had also appeared on recent movie soundtracks. The new songs mainly sounded like slickly-produced updates of their famous '60's sounds. Three of those newer tracks ("Still Cruisin'", "Somewhere Near Japan", "Make It Big") are weak songs written by some of the authors of "Kokomo". Meanwhile, Alan Jardine's "Island Girl" (not the Elton John tune) comes across like an actual attempt to duplicate the Caribbean flavoring of "Kokomo", but the song was too flat to duplicate that hit's success. The most noteworthy of the new tracks was Brian Wilson's "In My Car" (co-written by Dr. Eugene Landy), though it was really no less expendable than the others. This disposable disc might have been more appropriately titled "Still Coasting".
And then came the truly embarrassing Summer In Paradise album from 1992. This album was mostly dominated by Mike Love, while Brian Wilson was nowhere to be heard. This album's best offerings ("Island Fever", "Strange Things Happen", "Lahaina Aloha") were vain attempts to clone "Kokomo", written by Love and producer Terry Melcher. Otherwise, the music of these "boys" was still hopelessly stuck in nostalgia mode, and the nostalgia had become even more ridiculous with age, to the point of self-parody. The album's title track name-checks some of the band's old hit songs while preaching about the environment. And, seriously: who did these guys think they were kidding at this point with a new song called "Still Surfin'"? They even went so far as to remake their first recorded song, "Surfin'" from 1961, in updated -- or, at least, '80's-style -- synth-rock fashion. The album is also loaded with terrible cover songs: Sly Stone's "Hot Fun In The Summertime" (bland), the Drifters' "Under The Boardwalk" (synthetic), a Carl Wilson-sung rendition of the Shangri-Las' girl-group song "Remember (Walking In The Sand)" (nonsensical in this setting), and the 1958 Danleers doo-wop hit "One Summer Night" (rendered here as a cheesy pop song, with added lyrics by Bruce Johnston). The smarmy pseudo-rap original "Summer Of Love" seems to hit a new low, until the very end of the album, when the Boys dare to remake the late Dennis Wilson's ballad "Forever", with lead vocals by...John Stamos. The Summer In Paradise album is a colossal mess...in its American version.
Confusingly enough, Summer In Paradise was issued in the U.K. the following year in a "Euro Version", with different packaging (ironically placing an American flag image on the front, unlike the U.S. cardboard Ecopack) and different mixes of many songs, resulting in a considerable improvement. The U.K. mixes of "Hot Fun In The Summertime" and "Under The Boardwalk" are easily livelier than the U.S. mixes -- with the Drifters' original bridge recorded for and added to the latter -- though they are still not necessarily good mixes. The remix of "Strange Things Happen" is about a minute-and-a-half shorter in length. In fact, the restructuring of some songs resulted in the full U.K. album's running time (41:15) being three minutes shorter than that of the U.S. version (44:10). At least two songs were rerecorded entirely, with changes in lyrics and instrumentation: "Island Fever" comes on stronger, with new Al Jardine vocal parts replacing some of Carl Wilson's; and the revamped title track has new accompaniment by Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, who adds 12-string guitar and sings one verse -- although the slightly changed lyrics are no less silly. And the Stamos-sung "Forever" is a notch more tolerable in its remixed form. When all is said and done, the Euro Version of Summer In Paradise is still not a good album by any stretch, but is slightly easier to digest than the U.S. version.
The Beach Boys "Still Cruisin'" (Capitol CDP 7 92639 2) 1989
Track Listing:
1. Still Cruisin' (from "Lethal Weapon 2")
2. Somewhere Near Japan
3. Island Girl
4. In My Car
5. Kokomo (from "Cocktail")
6. Wipeout (with The Fat Boys)
7. Make It Big (from "Troop Beverly Hills")
8. I Get Around (from "Good Morning Vietnam")
9. Wouldn't It Be Nice (from "The Big Chill")
10. California Girls (from "Soul Man")
The Beach Boys "Summer In Paradise" (U.S. version) (Brother Entertainment BBR 727-2) 1992
Track Listing:
1. Hot Fun In The Summertime (3:28)
2. Surfin' (3:44)
3. Summer Of Love (2:50)
4. Island Fever (3:26)
5. Still Surfin' (4:02)
6. Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night) (3:23)
7. Strange Things Happen (4:43)
8. Remember "Waking In The Sand" (3:29)
9. Lahaina Aloha (3:43)
10. Under The Boardwalk (4:06)
11. Summer In Paradise (3:51)
12. Forever (3:03)
The Beach Boys "Summer In Paradise" (U.K. version) (EMI 0777 7 81036 2 2) 1993
Track Listing:
1. Hot Fun In The Summertime (3:29)
2. Surfin' (3:45)
3. Summer Of Love (2:51)
4. Island Fever (3:10)
5. Still Surfin' (4:03)
6. Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night) (3:23)
7. Strange Things Happen (3:18)
8. Remember "Waking In The Sand" (3:05)
9. Lahaina Aloha (3:44)
10. Under The Boardwalk (3:30)
11. Summer In Paradise (3:28)
12. Forever (3:00)
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