Summer in Paradise

> *Clip of The Beach Boys - "Kokomo"*
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**Todd:** *[sighs, then sings...]* *Aruba, Jamaica*...

> **Mike Love:** Off the Florida Keys
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**Todd (VO):** Oh, "Kokomo".

**Todd:** What do we do with you?

**Todd (VO):** In 1988, The Beach Boys were long past their prime.

> *Montage clips of Beach Boys performances*
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Though one of the greatest bands of the '60s, they had faded out from the charts under the wave of changing social trends and the mental breakdown of their leader, sensitive pop genius, Brian Wilson. Brian's cousin, frontman Mike Love, winds up taking the reigns of the band. They keep making records through the '70s and '80s with and without Brian at various points, but they only rarely attain even middling success and mostly become a fixture of the nostalgia circuit.

**Todd:** Until "Kokomo".

> *Clip of "Kokomo"*
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> **The Beach Boys:** Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take ya...
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**Todd (VO):** A one-off soundtrack single appended to *[brief clip from...]* the mediocre Tom Cruise movie *Cocktail*, it becomes an out-of-nowhere smash hit and launches The Beach Boys back into the limelight.

**Todd:** Despite its continuing popularity, it remains the most polarizing song in their catalogue.

**Todd (VO):** To some, it is a breezy, enduring '80s classic by one of the best rock groups in history.

**Todd:** To others…*[screenshot of article: "The truth behind that annoying hit song 'Kokomo'"]* it is the sellout-est of sellout garbage, *[screenshot of article: ‘The Worst Song Ever Made’, with text ‘“Kokomo” by the Beach Boys’ highlighted]* a great band hollowed out into a soulless plastic shell...

> *Video for "Kokomo"*
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**Todd (VO):** ...reduced to soundtracking the baby boomers’…

**Todd:** …sad, paunchy middle-age.

> **The Beach Boys:** Way down in Kokomo
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> Aruba…
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**Todd (VO):** Personally, I cannot hate “Kokomo”. It was one of the first songs I loved as a child, I can sing every word.

**Todd:** It’s probably not a convincing argument to the haters, but wherever you stand on it, there is something that everyone agrees on. It is *not* the worst thing The Beach Boys ever made.

> *Video for The Beach Boys - “Still Cruisin’”*
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**Todd (VO):** The Beach Boys quickly slapped together an album, *[album cover for* Still Cruisin’*]* mostly of soundtrack singles they’d already released. It wasn’t very good, but it went platinum off the strength of “Kokomo”. A humongous triumph for Mike Love, *[clip of interview with Brian and Eugene Landy]* as Brian had little involvement, still being under the abusive conservatorship of his therapist, Eugene Landy. *[clip of Mike Love interview]* Mike had always been overshadowed by Brian, so this was finally his moment.

**Todd:** And the next one would be even better.

> *Clip of Brian Wilson interview*
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**Todd (VO):** Because as Brian slowly disentangled his legal affairs, *[Beach Boys live clip]* this would be the first Beach Boys album with no Brian whatsoever. *[image of...]* This would be entirely the product of Mike Love and producer Terry Melcher, the team that made “Kokomo”. *[another clip interview with...]* It would be, in Mike Love’s own words, the quintessential soundtrack of summer. It would establish Mike Love as not just one of Brian’s collaborators but a hit-making force in his own right.

**Todd:** It... is one of the worst goddamn things I’ve ever heard!

> *Clip of The Beach Boys - “Summer of Love”*
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> **Mike Love:** People all around the world in every nation
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> Like to get together for some excitation
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**Todd (VO):** The Beach Boys gave creative control to Mike Love, and the result was 1992’s *Summer in Paradise*, the unquestionable low point of the Stamos years. *[screenshot of reviews on the album’s Wikipedia page, all of which are 1 star]* A humongous critical and commercial bomb, it quite possibly murdered the entire boomer music revival craze just on its own.

**Todd:** Mike Love may have wanted it to feel like an endless summer beach party...

**Todd (VO):** ...but if it evoked anything beachy it was a rotting whale carcass that washed ashore.

> **The Beach Boys:** Hey now
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> **Mike:** Well it’s a love thing
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People, it is *so bad*.

**Todd:** The Beach Boys wipe out. This is Trainwreckords.

> *Trainwreckords intro, followed by album cover for*Summer in Paradise
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> *Clip of live Beach Boys performance - “California Girls”*
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> **The Beach Boys:**I wish they all could be California girls
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**Todd (VO):**Mike Love. History’s greatest monster.

**Todd:**Maybe that’s overselling it, but there is no denying that he has one of the *worst* reputations of music. *[screenshot of Mike Love article on Wikipedia with zoomed-in quote: “…is often regarded as a malign figure in the group’s history”]* So much so, that it’s in the first paragraph of his Wikipedia entry.

> *Clip of The Beach Boys’ Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony*
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> **Mike Love:**I know Mick Jagger won’t be here tonight. […] He’s always been chicken shit to get on stage with The Beach Boys.
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> *Clip of Mike Love interview*
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**Todd (VO):**Tales of Mike Love’s petty dickery and shameless pandering could fill this entire video. He has unequivocally been cast by history as the villain of The Beach Boys.

**Todd:**That band’s story also features *[images of...]* Brian’s abusive father, Murray, his abusive psychiatrist Dr. Landy, and *Charles fucking Manson*, and yet somehow Mike Love towers above them all.

> *Clip of Brian Wilson interview*
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> **Brian Wilson:**I don’t like Mike Love, at all.
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> *Montage clips of live performances*
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**Todd (VO):**There are some accounts that defend Mike, especially the ones commissioned by Mike himself. It is true that he co-wrote some of the band’s biggest and best songs, he did help make Brian’s artsy experiments accessible to a wide audience, he’s credited as the fun and good time spirit of the band, and it was under his stewardship that they became one of the most reliable touring acts around, and where they gained the title “America’s Band”. But to the public at large, he will only ever be a commercial hack, a stifling impediment to Brian’s creativity, and a *[shot of Noisey article: “Mike Love Is Kind of An..."]* giant, gaping asshole.

> *Clip of Mike Love interview*
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> **Mike:**I am very much a ladies’ man, I admit to that. Life in prison as a ladies’ man.
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(NOTE: Todd shows this clip several more times throughout the review)

> *Clip of Brian Wilson interview*
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> **Brian:**I don’t like Mike Love, at all.
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**Todd:**But, he wrote “Kokomo”. And Brian was MIA. So, it was Mike’s record.

**Todd (VO):**What happens when you give creative control to the band member that is the least talented, the least ambitious creatively, and by some distance the least likable as a human being?

**Todd:**Let’s find out. Here’sthe first single.

> *Video for “Hot Fun in the Summertime” starts*
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> **The Beach Boys:**Hot fun in the summertime
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**Todd (VO):**This is a cover of Sly and the Family Stone’s *[shows brief video clip of]* 1969 hit “Hot Fun in the Summertime”.

> *Clip of Sly and the Family Stone - "Hot Fun in the Summertime"*
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> **Rose Stone:**I cloud nine when I want to
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It’s a very warm, lighthearted, relaxing song, and *[clip of The Beach Boys - "Hot Fun in the Summertime"]* I’m not gonna tell you The Beach Boys do a great version of it, but it is honestly the best song on the album…

> **Mike Love & Carl Wilson:**We can go where we wanna go
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**Todd (VO):**Yet did very little commercially for the band. See, if I had to guess, I’d bet The Beach Boys were hoping to keep exploiting one of the most powerful forces known to man...

**Todd:**...boomer nostalgia.

> *Clip of Billy Idol - "We Didn't Start the Fire"*
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> **Billy Joel:** Harry Truman, Doris Day…
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**Todd (VO):**Yeah, the '80s were *extremely* good *[clips of The Rolling Stones - "Harlem Shuffle"...]* to the '60s. *[...Aretha Franklin - "Freeway of Love"...]* Pretty much everyone who was big *[...George Harrison - "Got My Mind Set On You"...]* in the '60s was still around and had a hit, *[...James Brown - "Living in America"...]* including some who had been *[John Fogerty - "The Old Man Down the Road"...]* inactive for more than a decade, *[...The Grateful Dead - "Touch of Grey"...]* some who’d never had a pop hit at all, *[...and Roy Orbison - "You Got It"]* some who were dead.

**Todd:**No other decade has been that kind to its veteran acts, *certainly* not the '90s.

> *Video for “Hot Fun in the Summertime”*
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**Todd (VO):**We were *sick* of that shit by 1992. *[clip of Cher - “Believe”]* There werea couple comebacks, but for the most part, late career hits were hard to come by.

**Todd:**Besides, nostalgia is for *two* decades ago, not three.

> *Clip from*Wayne’s World
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**Todd (VO):**We were bringing back the '70s by that point.

**Todd:**So, you couldblame its failure on changing trends. But it’s easier to point out the obvious, which is that the production sounds like ass.

> *Video for “Hot Fun in the Summertime”*
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**Todd (VO):** Yes, the song’s a proven hit, and the singing and harmonies are good as ever, but the drums are way too loud, everything sounds synthetic and fake in a way you don’t want from The Beach Boys. For a song about summer, all the warmth has been sucked out of it.

**Todd:**It sounds very mechanical. This was one of the first albums made on *[screenshot of monitor showing...]* Pro Tools, but I doubt the program is to blame. I think this was just yet another example of *[image of older man staring at computer, confused]* Boomers not understanding technology.

**Todd (VO):**Also, what is this video?! You guys are *fifty*. Knock that shit off.

> *Clip of Mike Love interview*
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> **Mike:**I am very much a ladies’ man, I admit to that. Life in prison as a ladies’ man.
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**Todd:**But that’s the first song. Let’s check out the second. *[shot of tracklist of* Summer in Paradise *with Track 2, “Surfin”, circled in red...]* It is also a cover. In fact, it’s a remake of *[...and single cover for “Surfin” 45]* the very first Beach Boys song, “Surfin’”

> *Audio for original version of “Surfin” plays over clip of '60s concert footage*
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> **The Beach Boys:**Surfin’ is the only life
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> The only way for me
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> Now surf, surf with me
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**Todd (VO):** It was a first attempt. It was not a hit. It's… primitive.

**Todd:** If you’re gonna modernize one of your songs, that one makes perfect sense. So, let’s see what they did with it.

> *Audio for "Surfin'" (*Summer in Paradise *version) plays over "Hot Fun in the Summertime" music video*
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*Todd can only stare in shock*

> **The Beach Boys:**Surfin’ is the only life
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> The only way for me
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> Now surf
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**Todd:** Okay, so uh...

**Todd (VO):** I guess their idea for modernizing "Surfin’" for the '90s was...

**Todd:** ...“Let’s make it sound as much as possible [*clip of intro from...*] like the *90210* theme”.

**Todd (VO):** This is *infinitely* more dated than the “Surfin” doo-wop of the original. Like you can pinpoint the exact year this was made.

**Todd:** Right down to the “I’m Too Sexy” drums.

> *Clips from “Surfin’” and "I'm Too Sexy" are intercut with each other*
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**Todd:** Actually, I don’t know if *90210* was the right comparison. I'm... I’m actually struggling to figure out what TV show theme this reminds me of. *[screenshot of post from Todd’s Facebook page]* I asked my friends on Facebook, and one suggestion I got was… *[screenshot of Facebook comment, reading “It’s not like*Baywatch*… but it’s a LITTLE like*Baywatch*.”]* the *Baywatch*theme. Hmm. About that…

> *Clip of The Beach Boys - “Summer of Love”*
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> **The Beach Boys:** I can’t wait till summer cause it’s gonna be a summer of love
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> Hey now
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> **Mike:** Well, it’s a love thing
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**Todd:** Let’s get to *this* disaster.

**Todd (VO):**This is song number three on the album, “Summer of Love”.

> **Mike:** Girls are always ready for a summer of love
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> Goin’ out and lookin’ for love (Girls are always ready)
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**Todd:** This is so offensive, I don’t even know where to start.

> **Mike:** But doing it with you would be so very cool
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**Todd (VO):** Okay, so part of the reason everyone hates Mike Love is that he’s *[image of Mike Love standing next to Ronald and Nancy Reagan]* a known Republican.

**Todd:** However, let it not be said that he cannot reach across the aisle.

> *Clip of RRHOF Ceremony*
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**Todd (VO):** The only real public stance he’s ever taken was in the mid '80s, *[clip of Tipper Gore interview]* when he was the only rocker to support Tipper Gore’s censorship campaign*.* A true bipartisan douche.

**Todd:**I bring it up *[clip of Prince performance]*because I guess he thought music in the '80s was getting too dirty. But no Madonna or Prince song...

> *Video for "Summer of Love"*
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**Todd (VO):** ...has made me feel grosser than listening to 50-year old Mike Love rap about *bikini babes*.

**Todd:**Like, The Beach Boys became unpopular in the late '60s 'cause...

> *Clip of live performance of “California Girls”*
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**Todd (VO):**...when the hippie movement took hold, The Beach Boys started looking like a bunch of preppy douchebags.

> **Mike:**I dig a French bikini on…
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Now Mike *was*, in fact, a preppy douchebag, and you can hear it in his lyrics. But in context, it sounds like innocent fun.

**Todd:**Possibly because he wasn’t a *creepy old man*!

> *Clip of “Summer of Love”*
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> **Mike:** But we could get together if you come on back
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**Todd:** You do realize you’re not 22 anymore, Mike! You’re not even *42!*

**Todd (VO):**No one wants to see you ruin the sight of all these beautiful women with your dirty old man stink!

> *Clip of Mike Love interview*
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> **Mike:**I am very much a ladies’ man, I admit to that. Life in prison as a ladies’ man.
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> *Video for “Summer of Love”*
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> **Mike:** Why don’t you let me take you on a love vacation
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Watching him try to be seductive at that age is...

> *Snippet of...*
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**Todd (VO):**Wait, was that a goddamn record scratch on a Beach Boys song?!

*Todd groans in disgust*

So, I know what you’re asking. “What’s with the music video, with the *Baywatch* credits over it and everything?”

**Todd:** Well, this video was...inexplicably shot and aired as...

> *Clip from* Baywatch
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**Todd (VO)** ...part of an actual *Baywatch* episode... from 1995, three years after the album crashed and sank like the Titanic. Now you’d think even *Mike Love* would have the sense to let this fucking piece of shit die by that point.

**Todd:** Well, this song’s story is crazy enough to be its *own* episode.

> *Video for Bart Simpson – “Do the Bartman”*
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**Todd (VO):** First off, it began life as a sequel to “Do the Bartman", but Fox eventually rejected Mike Love’s track after the initial *[shows images of Bart Simpson comic books]* *Simpsons* merch-bonanza gave way to...

**Todd:** ...good taste.

> *Video for “Summer of Love”*
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**Todd (VO):** At that point, Mike took over rapping duties himself. And even though this album flopped like a dead flounder, a year later, “Summer of Love” wound up on *[album cover for...]* the *Baywatch* soundtrack, probably because it name checks...

**Todd:** ...*Baywatch* directly.

> **Mike:** California dreamin’, Baywatchin’ everyday
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**Todd (VO):** Yes, under Mike Love’s tenure, The Beach Boys, one of the greatest bands in history, became *[clip of live performance from David Hasselhoff on ABC]* artists on the same level as David Hasselhoff.

**Todd:** Also, there’s a *whole*lot of self-references.

> **Mike:** Like to get together for some excitation
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**Todd (VO):** Excitations, “Surfin’ U.S.A”...

> **Mike:** Surfin’ U.S.A.
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A whole ton of these late stage Beach Boys songs are just them reliving their glory days rather than *actually* coming up with something new.

**Todd:** Who do they think they are, Disney?

**Todd (VO):** Also, Brian had rejoined the band by that point, which means we get the pleasure of watching melancholic Brian Wilson humiliate himself by busting a groove to Mike Love’s sing-speak rap.

**Todd:** *[sighs]* The best thing I can say about it is this.

> *Video of The Fat Boys ft. The Beach Boys - “Wipeout”*
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**Todd (VO):** It’s only the second-worst of the three Beach Boys rap songs I’ve heard.

**Todd:** This band.

> *Clip of live performance of The Beach Boys - “Under the Boardwalk”*
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**Todd (VO):** Now that we’ve gotten through the brutal opening stretch, I can tell you that the bulk of the album is made up of two things. *[image of*Summer in Paradise *album cover with the following text...] #*1. Shit covers.

> **Carl:** Under the boardwalk
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More than half of *Summer in Paradise*is remakes of their old songs or old doo-wop standards.

**Todd:** Bad enough that these songs had been remade with Richard Marx production under them…

**Todd (VO):** …but they had the fucking temerity to rewrite a lot of the lyrics!

> **Mike:** When the moon is out, and it’s finally coolin’ down
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Most people would tell you that “Under the Boardwalk” was already perfect, but it needed that Mike Love touch, I guess.

> *Video for The Shangri-La’s - "Remember (Walking in the Sand)"*
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**Todd (VO):** The worst cover is of The Shangri Las’ “Remember (Walking in the Sand)”. The original is really great. It’s a... It's a very early '60s, over-the-top teen melodrama.

**Todd:** The Beach Boys version sounds like this:

> *Audio for The Beach Boys - Remember (Walking in the Sand) plays over concert footage*
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> **Mike:** Remember
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> Remember
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*Todd just shrugs*

> *Snippet of saxophone solo*
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**Todd (VO):** A weird prog rock organ, and then a big sexy sax solo. I’d give it credit for weirdness, except it’s underpinned by the same ugly drum machine and the same *dead*vocals.

**Todd:** So that’s one part of the album. *[image of*Summer in Paradise *album cover with the following text...]* #2. Shit Kokomos.

> *Montage clips of concert footage*
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**Todd (VO):** Mike Love once infamously told Brian Wilson, “Don’t fuck with the formula”. And...

**Todd:** ...so, he has not.

**Todd (VO):** He tries to recreate the magic of “Kokomo” some four or five times during this record.

**Todd:** The most blatant is “Island Fever”.

> *Live performance of “Island Fever”*
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> **Carl:** Do you ever get the feelin’ that you got to get away
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**Todd (VO):** It opens with the same Casio percussion, then the same unaccompanied vocals, and then the same processed tropical instruments.

> **Carl:** I got it bad I got the island fever
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> (Ooh, I’ve got it bad) I’ve got it bad...
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**Todd:** Yeah, this sucks.

**Todd (VO):** You might hate “Kokomo”, but none of these knockoff “Kokomos” are any good to hate. Neither this nor any of the other fake “Kokomos” comes *close* to recapturing the real magic.

**Todd:** I mean, a lyric like, “Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama”? That’s lightning in a bottle. You don’t write something like that more than once.

> *Clip of*Pet Sounds *documentary*
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**Todd (VO):** Now, there is a *wealth* of information about the recording of *Pet Sounds*, the Beach Boys’ masterpiece.

**Todd:** It will not surprise you to note that that is *not* true of *Summer in Paradise*.

> *Montage clips of live performances*
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**Todd (VO):** I’ve scoured all the available info, and despite The Beach Boys being one of the biggest rock bands in history, I found very little. Apparently, personality conflicts led to founding member Al Jardine being fired and then re-hired during production, which may explain why everyone sounds so miserable, but that’s all I know.

**Todd:** I even bought Mike Love’s bitter insufferable memoir *[Todd holds book up to the camera]*, but, uh, he is clearly ashamed of the record because despite it being his baby, he barely mentions it a single time.

> *Brief clip of live performance*
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**Todd (VO):** The one song he *does* mention is the one song that stayed in the Beach Boys’ setlist. That’s the title track, “Summer in Paradise”.

**Todd:** Mike mentions it when he’s talking about his politics, which he’s evasive about, but he does want you to believe…

**Todd (VO):** ...that he’s not some far-right shithead, and as evidence, he brings up a cause he says he’s very passionate about....

**Todd:** ...environmentalism.

> *Clip of The Beach Boys on*Baywatch *performing “Summer in Paradise”*
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**Todd (VO):** It’s the message of the song; it’s also the message of the *Baywatch* episode they were in where they perform it.

> **Bruce Johnston:** It’s called “Summer in Paradise”, and it deals with what happened to the environment, and how we need to take special care of what we once took for granted.
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Okay, fine, an environmental song. I can do that.

**Todd:** Nice change of pace. Let’s hear it.

> *Audio for "Summer in Paradise" plays over more '60s live performances*
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> **Bruce:** Way back when well, our master plan
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> Was having fun fun fun as America’s Band
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> We came out rockin’ with Rhonda and Barbara Ann
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**Todd (VO):** Okay.

**Todd:** This “environmental song” appears to be just you milking the legend of The Beach Boys *even more!*

**Todd (VO):** I mean, it does get to all the “save the Earth” shit after that, but I’m just amazed that we had to sit through *four bars* of The Beach Boys self-cannibalizing *[brief clip of logger cutting down tree plays]*yet a-fucking-gain before we got there.

> **Bruce:** Like everyone from California to Kokomo
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Even when it’s about the Earth, it’s about The Beach Boys. By which, I mean Mike Love’s ego. Of course.

**Todd:** *[sarcastically]*But come on, people!

> *Brief montage of live performance and environmental clips*
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**Todd (VO):** If we don’t save the Earth, where else is Mike Love gonna drink wine coolers and creepily ogle 20-year olds?

**Todd:** I’m kidding. Mike Love doesn’t drink.

**Todd (VO):** So that’s pretty much the album, except for the final track. *[image of tracklist of* Summer in Paradise *with Track 12, “Forever”, circled in red]* It is yet another remake of an old Beach Boys song,. That song is “Forever”.

> *Clip of live performance of The Beach Boys - "Forever"*
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A really pretty and fairly beloved deep cut by The Beach Boys’ drummer, Dennis Wilson, widely regarded as his best.

> **Dennis Wilson:** If every word I said
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> Could make you laugh
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> I’d talk forever
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**Todd (VO):** Dennis died in 1983, so...someone else will have to take lead vocal duty on this one.

**Todd:** Let’s give it a listen.

> *Video for The Beach Boys – “Forever” (Summer in Paradise version) showing...wait for it...*
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**Todd:***[sighs and pulls hair in frustration]* Okay.

> *Clip from Beach Boys live performance*
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> **Mike:** I want to introduce our part time, substitute, once-in-a-while, when he’s got nothin’ better to do in the summer...
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**Todd:** In the early '80s, Beach Boys touring guitarist, Jeff Foskett, became friends with a *[clip from*Full House*]* young, up-and-coming actor named John Stamos. Stamos, a Beach Boys superfan, used that connection to meet Mike Love. The two of them quickly became fast friends, and Stamos began occasionally touring with them as their drummer in 1985. *[image of Stamos and Mike Love together]* They are just kindred spirits in that…

**Todd:** ...I’ve heard you wouldn’t want to get too close to Stamos either, so I’ll leave it at that.

**Todd (VO):** The two of them have a perfectly symbiotic friendship. Through Mike Love, Stamos found an avenue to live out his rock star fantasies, *[brief clip from* Full House *episode* “Beach Boy Bingo”*]* and as his star continued to rise, Mike Love gained a key ally in keeping the band visible to a younger audience.

**Todd:** This is all to say that John Stamos is *barely* a Beach Boy.

**Todd (VO):** He’s a Beach Boy as much as *[image of...]* Spike Lee is a New York Knick.

> *Live footage of Stamos performing with The Beach Boys*
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He’s a mascot, at best.

**Todd:** *Charles Manson* had more creative input in the band than he’s ever had.

**Todd (VO):**He tours with them sometimes when he’s not busy with his actual job, but he has never performed on a Beach Boys record. Except...

**Todd:**…for this.

> *Video for Jesse and the Rippers - “Forever”*
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> **John Stamos:** If every word I said
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> Could make you laugh
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> I’d talk forever (Together my love)
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**Todd:** Let me say this right now. This is *not* a Beach Boys song.

> **John:** Together my love
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**Todd (VO):** It is included on a Beach Boys album, it was written and originally performed by The Beach Boys, Stamos is accompanied by The Beach Boys in it, but it is *not* a Beach Boys song.

**Todd:** It is a vanity project by a pretty boy TV actor...

**Todd (VO):** ...and it *clearly* was not intended for this album because it sounds like trash in a completely different way than the rest of the album sounds like trash!

**Todd:** In fact, I *know* it wasn’t intended for this album because it debuted three months before its release on an episode of *Full House*!

> *Clips from the*Full House *episodes* “The Wedding (Pt. 2)” *and* “Captain Video”
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**Todd (VO):** You may remember that Uncle Jesse sang this song at his wedding, but this is from a later episode where it becomes Jesse and the Rippers’ first single. And the plot of the episode is that Uncle Jesse has to stop the record company from turning it into a *rap song*.

> *Clip from* “Captain Video”
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> **Jesse (John Stamos):** If every single word I said is gonna make you laugh
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> If every song I sing to you could fill your heart with joy
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> Yo, I’ll hang
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> (How long?) Forever
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This is not only a sitcom plot, it’s a *[clip of "Forever"]* stealth way to make this Bryan Adams-y power ballad seem like the respectful version by comparison. This being on the album was clearly just a thank you to Stamos for the TV appearances by letting him think he’s now a real Beach Boy. No, *[still from* Full House *of ...]* this is a performance from Jesse and the Rippers, and don’t you forget it.

**Todd:** So that’s the album.

> *Video for “Summer of Love”*
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**Todd (VO):** The fallout from this was bad. It didn’t chart. Actual sales data is hard to find, but it definitely sold less than 100,000 copies.

**Todd:** According to some sources, it sold *[shows image of “Summer in Paradise” Wikipedia article, circling the phrase “fewer than 1,000 copies”]*less than *one thousand* copies.

**Todd (VO):** At least one company went out of business because it tanked so hard, and The Beach Boys didn’t record any new material for twenty years.

**Todd:** I can’t imagine you’d want to listen to it after seeing this video, but if you’re morbidly curious, you can head over to Spotify and...then *[screenshots of Spotify search, reading “No results found for ‘beach boys summer in paradise’”]* weep because it is not there. *[Todd scrolls through Spotify, displaying the album* Becoming The Beach Boys: The Dorinda Morgan Sessions*]* Spotify has every little scrap of studio outtake they recorded in 1963, but not this record. It’s never been available on streaming, *[shows image of* Summer in Paradise *CD]* and unlike nearly every other Beach Boys CD, it was never reissued. That’s why, if you want a copy, you can *[screenshot of Amazon item “Summer in Paradise -The Beach Boys]* order one on Amazon for the low, low price of *[image zooms in on price: “$99.99”]* one hundred dollars.

> *Video for “Hot Fun in the Summertime”*
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**Todd (VO):** Thankfully, people have uploaded it onto YouTube for everyone to hear. Thank you very much, bootleggers. Now completionists can listen for themselves and realize there are better uses of their money.

**Todd:** But if there’s one silver lining about this album, it’s this...possibly apocryphal quote from Mike, who *[screenshot of* Summer in Paradise *article with highlighted quote...]* according to Wikipedia, said that this album was “an important exercise in continuity and unity”. I don’t know about unity, but continuity certainly.

> *Video for “Hot Fun in the Summertime”*
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**Todd (VO):** This album came out thirty years into their career, *[clip of 2012 live performance]* and almost thirty years have passed since. And in that entire, almost sixty year span, *[image of Mike Love giving thumbs up with Donald Trump]* Mike Love has never not been a dick.

**Todd:** That’s some continuity. *[gives peace sign]* Aloha, surfer dudes.

*Gets up and leaves*

> *Clip of "Summer of Love"*
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> **Mike:** Hey now! Well, it’s a love thing
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*Ending music: Todd plays "Summer of Love" on piano*

***THE END***

***"Summer in Paradise" is owned by Brother Records***

***This Video is owned by me***

***THANK YOU TO THE LOYAL PATRONS!***