Music / Still Cruisin'

Still Cruisin' is The Beach Boys' twenty-sixth album, released in 1989. It marked a brief return of the band on their first major label Capitol Records.

After the release of their self-titled album in 1985, The Beach Boys resumed touring without Brian Wilson who was working on his first solo album (as well as being under the control of his psychiatrist Eugene Landy). The only songs recorded by the band during that period were made for movie soundtracks (such as Troop Beverly Hills and Lethal Weapon 2) but one soundtrack song would bring them back to the spotlight: Kokomo. Composed for the movie Cocktail, the single unexpectedly topped the US charts, which was a fourth time for the band 21 years after ''Good Vibrations''. It's probably based on this song that The Beach Boys decided to get back in the studio and record an album comprised of movie soundtrack songs, an album which would ride on Kokomo's success.

While Still Cruisin' was a commercial success (again, thanks to Kokomo being its lead single), it was panned by critics. Major points of criticism were the album only having 3 recent songs which were composed for movies and the inclusion of three Beach Boys songs from the 60s, along with a recent 1987 collaboration with The Fat Boys ("Wipeout") in a desperate attempt to fulfill the album's concept (and also a desperate attempt at extending the album's length, because if you remove those 4 tracks, Still Cruisin' only lasts around 22 minutes). Production by Terry Melcher was also commented as making The Beach Boys "sound like a 60s cover band".

Such a critical backlash would lead this album (along with Summer in Paradise) to be completely ignored in 2001 when Capitol Records decided to reissue The Beach Boys' discography, making it out of print despite its Gold status. Still Cruisin' is also often forgotten when the band's history is discussed, with some biographies never mentioning it or other biographies citing it as a compilation (this could be because of the three 60s tracks).

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Tracklist:

Side One

1. "Still Cruisin'" (3:35)
2. "Somewhere Near Japan" (4:48)
3. "Island Girl" (3:49)
4. "In My Car" (3:21)
5. "Kokomo" (3:35)

Side Two

1. "Wipeout" (4:00)
2. "Make It Big" (3:08)
3. "I Get Around" (2:09)
4. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (2:22)
5. "California Girls" (2:35)

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Principal Members:

• Al Jardine
• Bruce Johnston
• Mike Love
• Brian Wilson
• Carl Wilson

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Still tropin' after all these years:

• Bang, Bang, BANG: Make It Big:
  You can be my little movie queen
  Right there on the silver screen
  (gunshot)
• Based on a True Story: Somewhere Near Japan is about how John Phillips' daughter Mackenzie was stuck in Guam during her honeymoon and tried to reach out his father for help.
• Car Song: The subtly titled In My Car.
• Cover Version: Wipeout (originally by The Surfaris).
• Damsel in Distress: Somewhere Near Japan:
  Late last night I got an S. O. S
  The fairy tale girl's in deep distress
• Double Entendre: Somewhere Near Japan mentions that a lost girl is "riding on some chinese junk". This could allude to the type of ship in question, or a drug like heroin.
• Fade Out: Only Wipeout doesn't end with a fade-out.
• Location Song: Somewhere Near Japan (which is actually the island of Guam, based on the song's backstory).
  • Kokomo as an island is an imaginary place (despite the existence of some locations named Kokomo in Hawaii and Indiana). However, there are many islands located near the caribbeans which are mentionned in the song's lyrics.
• One-Woman Song: Island Girl.
• One-Word Title: Kokomo.
• Pep-Talk Song: Make It Big:
  ''You can make it big
  ''You can make it bigger than life
  ''See your name spelled right
  ''Up on the bright lights (bright lights)
  ''Have a little faith in yourself
  ''In everything that you do
  ''I know you're gonna make it big if you want to
  ''If you really want to
  ''You can make it big
• Shout-Out: Make It Big:
  Catch a plane to Hollywood
  And right away
  You're best buddies with Johnny B. Goode
• Sinking Ship Scenario: Somewhere Near Japan:
  My engine's all burned out
  My crew has all bailed out
  (...)
  I think I'm sinking fast
  This call is probably my last
  I'm throwing out a life line
• Special Guest: The Fat Boys rap on a cover of The Surfaris' Wipeout.
• Steel Drums and Sunshine: Island Girl and Kokomo.
• Title Track: Still Cruisin' after all these (27) years !
• Vocal Tag Team: All tracks have co-leads, especially Somewhere Near Japan which has Mike, Carl, Al and Bruce on lead vocals.
• A Wild Rapper Appears!: The Fat Boys on Wipeout.