After spending an entire month looking back at the 80’s, I realized one thing. I need more. Luckily, a couple of fellow music fans on Twitter came up with the brilliant idea to highlight #30DaysOf80sMovieSongs during the month of April. I couldn’t resist at the opportunity to keep going, to keep listening, and to keep celebrating the decade that has meant more to me than any other from a musical standpoint. Each day I’m playing a different soundtrack favorite on the Mental Jukebox.
Movie: Cocktail
Sometimes we come across songs that exhibit characteristics that are core to a band’s persona, while other songs are complete departures. “Kokomo” is somewhere in between those two ends of the spectrum. The most obvious Beach Boy traits in the song are the song’s theme and its vocal approach. Thematically it lived right in the band’s sweet spot. It’s a song about escapism and good times. On the vocal front, it features those beautiful, wide-spanning harmonies that the band is well known for. And that’s pretty much where the Beach Boy qualities end.
“Kokomo” is, in many ways, the antithesis of Beach Boy musicality. It’s not written by Brian Wilson, or by any other band member for that matter. In fact, Brian Wilson doesn’t even appear on the recording in any shape or form – no vocals, no instrumentation, not even the role of producer. While “Kokomo” was being conceived, Wilson was focused on a solo project, and by some accounts it seemed like the band pushed ahead with the project without waiting for his schedule to free up. It might be one of the lesser heralded songs from The Beach Boys fanbase, but the song soared up the charts and isn’t as detestable as you might expect. Look, if I had to choose between “Kokomo” and Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville”, I’ll choose “Kokomo" every single time.
“We'll put out to sea, and we'll perfect our chemistry.”