"The Beach Boys Medley" by The Beach Boys

Song#:  0686
Date:  07/25/1981
Debut:  76
Peak:  12
Weeks:  18
Genre:  Pop



Pop Bits:  Riding the wave of the #1 Stars on 45 "Medley" and getting wind of Meco doing something similar with their songs ("Summer '81" by The Cantina Band, #81), Capital Records had Joe Palladino edit and stitch together snippets of actual Beach Boys songs from the 60s into a medley similar to Stars on 45 (minus the backing track beat). This resulting single hit the chart the same week as The Cantina Band's imitation medley of Beach Boys hits. The real deal was preferred and it took off leaving the Cantina Band in the dust. Although technically there was nothing new here from the Beach Boys (the group was in another period of not getting along), the wave of nostalgia the single brought pushed it near the Top 10. It would be only their fourth Top 20 single since "Good Vibrations" hit #1 in 1966 and their first in five years. The tune sparked renewed interest in the group and helped to introduce them to a younger generation.

ReduxReview:  Back then, I had very little love for The Beach Boys. I just wasn't into their doo-wop surf music and the only song I liked was "Good Vibrations." So having a medley of these songs certainly didn't pique my interest at all and I ignored this single like the plague. This was all before I discovered Pet Sounds, which has become one of my favorite albums of all-time. Although I love the crazy, inventive Brian Wilson era, I'm still not that keen on the early surfin' Boys songs (I do appreciate them much more now). This single was well-crafted, but I'd rather listen to the real hits than this. To me, it still plays more like an extended advertisement than a real single.

ReduxRating:  3/10

Trivia:  John Palladino was not necessarily famous to record buyers, but in the industry he was a legendary figure. He began a tenure with Capital Records in 1949 and went on to mix and engineer many classic recordings by artist like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Peggy Lee, and then later in the rock era with The Band and Steve Miller. He retired from the business in 1982 but not before doing another similar medley treatment that year with Beatles songs for "The Beatles Movie Medley," which oddly also peaked at #12.

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