What is The Beach Boys’ best-selling song?
The Beach Boys were the 1960s tour-de-force of American pop music, surfing through the scene before the Beatles took over with their invasion and commandeered a psychedelic storm. Back in the days when The Beach Boys ruled supreme, life was altogether a lot simpler, capturing a certain innocence to the all-American teenage dream that leaves them with the status of beloved pop goliaths.
Even still, it seemed that ‘Good Vibrations’ only got the band of brothers so far because their arguably most enduring vibey song, believe it or not, doesn’t top the list of their best-selling tunes. Admittedly, it does come close, but it has been pipped to the post by an unlikely track that flies listeners off on a tropical adventure of a lifetime.
Of course, as if the hint wasn’t obvious enough, that would be ‘Kokomo’, the Beach Boys’ somewhat novelty ode to faraway paradises. It beats out the likes of ‘Good Vibrations’ and even some of the band’s more profound anthems, such as ‘God Only Knows’, to being their best-selling song – and not just that, but it swamps them to the position.
The tune, opening with the seminal line “Aruba, Jamaica, ooh, I wanna take ya,” sits atop The Beach Boys’ discography league having sold over 2million digital song units, compared to the rest, which fall in behind with around 1.5million apiece. No doubt its status was boosted by its inclusion in the soundtrack for the Tom Cruise classic film Cocktail, making The Beach Boys’ trip abroad also extend to the silver screen.
Surprisingly, however, this doesn’t necessarily align with a stellar chart performance. Although it hit number one in America, Australia, Iceland, the UK, and a host of other countries, its initial popularity was more middle-of-the-road. It’s fair to say the road to ‘Kokomo’ domination was a bit of a slow burner.
Despite this, the sheer significance of the tune within The Beach Boys’ backstory is not lost on the fans who followed them from their 1960s heyday. Taken from the album Still Cruisin’, it was not until 1988 that ‘Kokomo’ hit the airwaves, some 20 years on from when they first hit the scene. Maybe because of this, and also perhaps of a lasting legacy to come, it became The Beach Boys’ first chart topper in all that period – but also their last. In this sense, the song was the last shot at the top, but it was the best way to go out on a high.
It may have been a commercial top dog, but it’s fair to say that ‘Kokomo’ was pretty much a critical clanger. It’s become synonymous with that negative reputation, but nonetheless, The Beach Boys can’t be cursing its name too much as it’s certainly raked them in the cash. Yes, it may be one of the cringiest songs and videos that’s ever existed in the musical canon, but now ‘Kokomo’ has been outed as everyone’s guilty pleasure, you can feel free to enjoy it in all its tropical glory.
