The Beach Boys - That's Why God Made the Radio (2012)



Just about the last thing we ever expected to see was a new Beach Boys record that is really quite good. With all due respect to the 'Boys, after the Holland album they pretty much gave up trying to record new music, and they turned into an oldies band, which is where they've been for almost forty years (give or take a Kokomo along the way).

"That's Why God Made the Radio" was released in advance of the album of the same name which comes out tomorrow. This is not only a great sounding Beach Boys song, it's also crossed over from pop and hits radio to AAA stations like WXPN and the Loft channel on Sirius XM satellite radio, stations that rarely ever play the Beach Boys. Based on Brian Wilson's recent recording and performance activities, it's hard to tell how much of this is really the Beach Boys and how much is young musicians and singers who sound just like the Beach Boys at their best. Whatever the mix, we'll take it, it sounds great. Have a listen.




Photo courtesy of The Beach Boys

Tomorrow will be a very interesting New Release Tuesday, with all ears listening to find out if the rest of the album is as good as the single. We have a similar situation with Joe Walsh, who also releases his twenty year comeback album, Analog Man. The parallel is that Joe's album also comes on the heels of a great advance single, "Lucky That Way". If The Beach Boys' and Walsh's albums pan out, can Chicago be next?


That's Why God Made the Radio

The albums Surf's Up (1971) and Holland (1973) are widely considered the last golden age of The Beach Boys in terms of making new compelling and creative music. Both albums are masterpieces of the early seventies. Let's listen to one track from each, as we prepare for the potential next great Beach Boys record.

Listen to "Feel Flows" from Surf's Up



Surf's Up

Holland had lots of great songs but the "California Saga", including "Big Sur", "The Beaks of Eagles", and "California" is the album's centerpiece and being that it encompasses the history of California, ecology, and concludes with a classic Beach Boys pean to the ocean ("water, water, get yourself in the cool clear water"), this long track the last great Beach Boys composition. Listen and enjoy.




Holland

The Beach Boys' Website
The Beach Boys' Facebook




Comments

Charlie Ricci said…
I want to hear this badly. When I saw Brian Wilson live in 2005 at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts he stood behind his keyboard the entire evening but he didn't play a note. His voice his shot and Carl is long gone so I'm sure there is lots of studio assistance, especially on the high end harmonies. Let's just hope they wrote some mature songs.
6/05/2012
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering the Main Point, 1964 - 1981

Image
WXPN Most Memorable Musical Moment #5 Begining in 1964, The Main Point in Bryn Mawr provided the Philadelphia area with one of its most enjoyable venues for live music. Although it started as a folk based coffeehouse, all styles of music were presented over the years. Financial problems continually plagued the Main Point, and in spite of frequent benefit shows by artists who loved the place as much as the audience, the club finally closed in 1981. The following brief history is contained in an obituary of Jeanette O. Campbell, one of the founders and owners of the Main Point who died on October 22, 2006, written by Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer Sally A. Downey as reprinted on the Save Ardmore Coalition website. Jeanette Orndoff Campbell, 89, former owner of the Main Point, a music hall in Bryn Mawr where young talents including Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and James Taylor were introduced to local audiences, died of complications from hip surgery Oct. 22 at Stap...
Read more

Cream and Blind Faith at the Spectrum, Philadelphia, 1968 & 1969

Image
WXPN Most Memorable Musical Moment #3 (L-R) Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, & Eric Clapton I could not have foreseen it at the time, but looking back on a concert going history now entering it's fifth decade, my first three concerts were absolutely formative in the development of the music obsession that has driven life as we know it from that point forward. Attending a rock concert pre drivers license was no small feat, that I even got to these shows is the first indication that I knew I was onto something even if I couldn't quite explain it. I've already detailed my first concert (The Beatles at JFK Stadium) in my MMMM#1 . My second and third concerts took place at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, they were less than a year apart, and due to the fact that concerts never end at the time predicted, these concert experiences both ended with a very angry driver stuck waiting in the car outside the venue until the last encore had finished. I shot both concerts with the same starter...
Read more

And We Danced - Filming the Hooters Video, 7/27/85

Image
WXPN Most Memorable Musical Moment #4 "And We Danced" (picture sleeve above) was released in 1985 as the second single from the album, Nervous Night , the Hooters' major label debut for Columbia Records. Here's the video. The call went out to the Hooters' mailing list the last week of July 1985 that an audience with cars would be needed on the coming Saturday for a video shoot. Participants would report to the Exton Drive-In by late morning and be prepared to stay all day until after dark. This stage set, early in the day, was a warm-up for the crowd and probably a dry run for the production team for the night-time performance to be filmed later. The banner backdrop does not appear in the video. Some of the antique and custom cars that were on hand for the shoot. The production crew prepares the ticket booth for its shot. This is the film crew shooting the acoustic intro part of the song. The acoustic intro was shot twice, first with t...
Read more