"Kokomo" is a song written by John Phillips, Scott McKenzie, Mike Love, and Terry Melcher and recorded by American rock band the Beach Boys. Its lyrics describe two lovers taking a trip to a relaxing place on Kokomo, an invented idea of an island off the Florida Keys. It was released as a single on July 18, 1988 by Elektra Records and became a No. 1 Hit in the United States, Japan, and Australia (where it topped for about two months). The single was released to coincide with the release of Roger Donaldson's film Cocktail and its subsequent soundtrack.

It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television in 1988, but lost to Phil Collins' "Two Hearts" (from the film Buster).[2] "Two Hearts" and Carly Simon's "Let the River Run" from Working Girl jointly beat it for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

Composition and recording [ edit ]

The song was written by John Phillips and Scott McKenzie in Virginia Beach in 1988 and recorded and produced shortly after by Phillips, as a duet between McKenzie and Denny Doherty of the Mamas and the Papas. That version remained unreleased until 2010, when it appeared on a posthumous album of John Phillips' songs called Many Mamas, Many Papas, most of which were originally recorded in the 1980s for a reconstituted touring version of the Mamas and the Papas, featuring himself, Doherty, daughter Mackenzie Phillips and Spanky McFarlane of Spanky and Our Gang.

When the Beach Boys were commissioned to produce a theme song for Cocktail, producer Terry Melcher contacted his old friend, Phillips, and asked if he had any songs that might be suitable. "Kokomo" was one of the songs Phillips sent Melcher. Another was "Somewhere Near Japan" (aka "Fairytale Girl"), which would also be recorded by the Beach Boys for their Still Cruisin' album.

Although Phillips had taken vacations in the Caribbean several times on the island of Mustique, which was owned by his friend Colin Tennant, "Kokomo" itself is fictional. Although there are several places named Kokomo—including Kokomo, Indiana; Kokomo, Arkansas; and Kokomo, Hawaii—the song describes a fictional Kokomo as a place "off the Florida Keys."[3] The name was later used by resorts in Sandals Cay, Jamaica, Fiji,[4] and Grassy Key, Florida. The song also mentions many island locales: in order of their appearance in the song, Aruba, Jamaica, Bermuda, Bahama(s), Key Largo, Montego (Bay), Martinique, Montserrat, and Port-au-Prince (with the first six places mentioned in the chorus).

In addition to the Beach Boys' signature layered-singing style, the song's instrumentation makes heavy use of steel drums. According to the "Kokomo" track sheet information supplied by engineer Keith Wechsler, the steel drums were played by musicians named Vince, Milton, and Mike (but not Mike Love). Wechsler also says that there is a percussionist by the name of Chili Charles who played percussion in the introduction of the song. Van Dyke Parks, a multi-instrumentalist who served as lyricist for the band's aborted album SMiLE, played accordion, while session veteran Jim Keltner played drums.[5] Other players are Jeff Foskett (acoustic guitar), Rod Clark (bass), Joel Peskin (alto saxophone) and Ry Cooder (electric slide guitar).

On the Beach Boys demo of "Kokomo", lead vocals were performed by Mike Love and Terry Melcher. The demo harmonies include Terry Melcher, Bruce Johnston, Mike Love, and Jeff Foskett. At Disney Films' request, the "Kokomo" demo was "upgraded" to a master recording, thus requiring members of the Beach Boys to re-record the demo vocals, except for Mike Love's lead.

The final recorded and released "Kokomo" background vocals are sung by Carl Wilson, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston, and Al Jardine. Terry Melcher's and Jeff Foskett's background vocals (on the demo) were erased and replaced by Carl Wilson's and Al Jardine's background vocals. The final released "Kokomo" lead vocals are sung by Mike Love and Carl Wilson. The only active Beach Boys member not involved with the recording was Brian Wilson, who was given short notice of the recording session and not permitted by his doctor to attend.[citation needed] He would later appear as a backing vocalist on a Spanish version of the song and also appears on live recordings of the song, including a live concert filmed for the television show Full House (episode 028) and the 2013 live album Live – The 50th Anniversary Tour.

Mike Love and Terry Melcher's major contribution to the song was a re-write of Phillips and McKenzie's existing chorus and the addition of the "Aruba, Jamaica…" lines. The Beach Boys version of the song also retained the melody of the Phillips and Mackenzie original. All four shared co-writing credits on the song.

There were previous songs referencing a Kokomo, including "Kokomo Blues" (1928) by Kokomo Arnold, "Kokomo (I Love You So)" (1955) recorded by Gene & Eunice, "Kokomo (I Love You So)" (1955) recorded by Perry Como, and "Kokomo me Baby" (1959) by Mississippi Fred McDowell, but these are believed to be in reference to Kokomo, Indiana. The 1979 song "Kokomo", written by Lowell George and recorded by Little Feat, does not reference Kokomo as a place.

Release [ edit ]

The "Kokomo" single backed with "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard was first released through Elektra Records in July 1988. It peaked at the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 5, 1988, replacing "A Groovy Kind of Love" by Phil Collins. Thus it became The Beach Boys' first #1 hit in the United States since "Good Vibrations" in 1966, marking the longest time span between two number-one hits in America for any band (22 years). It is also their only #1 hit not written or produced by Brian Wilson. Coincidentally, the original version of "A Groovy Kind of Love" by The Mindbenders replaced the Beach Boys' song "Sloop John B" at the #5 position in May 1966. The single spent only one week at the top of the Hot 100, and was replaced by The Escape Club song "Wild, Wild West". After being signed to Capitol Records following the success of the initial single, Capitol issued the song in the United States for a second time. The song was re-released in July 1989 as the B-side of the "Still Cruisin'" single, which peaked at number 93 on the Hot 100. Capitol re-issued the song a third time, just two months later, as the B-side of the "Somewhere Near Japan" single, but the single failed to chart.

In the United Kingdom, the single was first issued by Elektra in October 1988. The single peaked at number 25 on the charts. After Capitol had signed the band, as they had in the U.S., they released the single for the second time as the B-side of the "Still Cruisin'" single. However it failed to make any impact on the charts. In Australia the single became the band's third number one hit in Australia after "Do It Again" in 1968 and "Cotton Fields" in 1970. In New Zealand the single peaked at the number 5 position. In the Dutch singles chart, the single peaked at the number 6 position. The song also peaked at number 19 in Belgium and at number 7 in Germany.

Album and alternative releases [ edit ]

"Kokomo" was first released on a Beach Boys album in 1989 on the band's Still Cruisin' album. The band had been given a one-off album contract by their former label Capitol Records after the song became a number 1 hit in both the United States and Australia.

Music video [ edit ]

The video for "Kokomo" was filmed at the then-recently opened Grand Floridian Resort at Walt Disney World in Florida. The resort had not opened when the video was shot and the band were their first guests. The staff of the hotel practiced their menu on the band by trying out recipes and drinks. The crowd on the fake beach contained college cheerleaders from University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It took less than two hours to shoot the video because it threatened to rain.[citation needed] The members of the Beach Boys in the video are: Carl Wilson (playing guitar), Al Jardine (playing tambourine), Bruce Johnston (playing bass guitar), and Mike Love (saxophone). Actor and occasional Beach Boys live guest John Stamos can be seen playing the conga, bongos and steel drum. Brian Wilson was not featured and "Kokomo" represents the only promotional video the Beach Boys produced in the 1980s without him.[citation needed] In addition, this video features clips from the movie Cocktail.

Recognition and criticisms [ edit ]

"Kokomo" has received mixed reviews. In 1989, the song received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song – Motion Picture in 1989. Conversely, it has been included in lists of poorly received songs, such as VH1's "40 Most Awesomely Bad No. 1 Songs" and Blender magazine's list of the "50 Worst Songs Ever".[6]

Legacy [ edit ]

In popular culture [ edit ]

The Beach Boys guest star in Season 2 Episode 6 of Full House. They perform "Kokomo" in their house and in the live concert, in which the Full House cast helped sing "Barbara Ann".

Track listings [ edit ]

3" CD single

"Kokomo" – 3:34 "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard – 2:23 "Hippy Hippy Shake" by The Georgia Satellites – 1:45

7" single

"Kokomo" – 3:34 "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard – 2:23

12" maxi

Certifications [ edit ]

Country Certification Date Sales certified France[7] Silver 1989 200,000 U.S.[8] Platinum January 10, 1989 1,000,000

Chart history [ edit ]