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Post by Kapitan on Mar 28, 2022 11:32:44 GMT
The Beach Boys' first single of the '90s was taken from the 1989 album Still Cruisin. On January 11, the group released "Somewhere Near Japan," another single that had its origins with John Phillips, who wrote the song about his daughter's desperate phone call for drugs and money.
Mike Love, Terry Melcher, and Bruce Johnston contributed to the songwriting to bring it to the version we hear.
Love, Johnston, Carl Wilson, and Al Jardine all sang on the recording, but instrumentation was again provided mostly by Craig Fall and Keith Weschler, though Johnston added some keyboards. As was becoming routine, Brian Wilson appeared in the video but did not participate in the recording itself.
The B-side was Kokomo (again).
The song did not chart, unless one counts the Gavin Report Adult Contemporary charts, where it hit #34.
Please listen to, discuss, and rate "Somewhere Near Japan" (and "Kokomo").
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 28, 2022 12:07:14 GMT
Where would've The Beach Boys been in the late 1980's without John Phillips? "California Dreamin'", "Kokomo", and "Somewhere Near Japan". Why did they stop copping songs from him? I would've made him my new best friend!
"Somewhere Near Japan" is a good song. It didn't make the best single but it was a good song. I guess they obscured the lyrics. I mean, The Beach Boys couldn't sing a song about drugs (he says sarcastically). They really mastered that practice of alternating lead vocals within a song. They sounded good. I have criticized the Still Cruisin' album consistently (hey, it deserved it), but I have to give the guys credit for something - they tried different types of songs on that album. Car songs, yacht rock, rap, 80's pop, oldies. Who woulda thought a song like "Somewhere Near Japan" would appear on an album called Still Cruisin'?
As an aside, i didn't realize how much the group milked "Kokomo". On the "Still Cruisin'" and "Somewhere Near Japan" singles, I wonder how many listeners preferred the B-side. I get this mental picture of these teenagers grooving to "Kokomo" more than the A-sides. Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take ya...
Like I said, "Somewhere Near Japan" is a good song, maybe a better album track than a single. But, you know what? I'll give them credit for trying. In the past, they DIDN'T release superior songs as singles because maybe they didn't sound commercial, and the songs they chose to release bombed. I'm going to stretch to a 7, but just barely. I gave "Still Cruisin'" a 6 and "Somewhere Near Japan" is better than that song. It has more musical merit...I think.
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Post by kds on Mar 28, 2022 12:31:03 GMT
Thanks in part to the lack of a digital music presence, I think Somewhere Near Japan is becoming a bit of a lost Beach Boys gem.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 28, 2022 12:46:37 GMT
As an aside, i didn't realize how much the group milked "Kokomo". On the "Still Cruisin'" and "Somewhere Near Japan" singles, I wonder how many listeners preferred the B-side.
It's really in the running for the Susie Cincinnati Most Repeated Release Award, isn't it?
Something that occurred to me: do sales count toward its totals? In other words, if "Still Cruisin" sells 200k and "Somewhere Near Japan" sells 50k, do those totals count for the B-side, and thus add to the "Kokomo" sales totals (of more than a million)? Or are each release's results discrete?
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Post by kds on Mar 28, 2022 15:34:08 GMT
This was probably the first time in a little while I've actually listened to SNJ.
I think it's a solid song, although some of the vocal effects don't really land with me. There's not really much of a hook, so it's surprising it was used as a single.
Seven.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 28, 2022 18:24:13 GMT
I think "Somewhere Near Japan" is pretty good for the band at the time, which is to say it's pretty mediocre. Some good singing on a relatively anonymous sounding tune. I went with a 6.
The choice of "Kokomo" again is pretty funny.
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Post by lonelysummer on Mar 29, 2022 4:42:05 GMT
This was released in January 1990? I would have sworn it was more like October or November 1989 - not that I ever heard it on the radio, and I sure never came across a copy of the single. And with Still Cruisin' having a very short run on the charts, they certainly should have had a followup by Oct/Nov. So let's just say the Beach Boys going back to Capitol was a disaster - and how the beep did the album go gold? It's chart stats were similar to those for BB85 and BW88. The song itself is one of my favorites. If this had come out in December 1988 or January 1989, it would have been a top 40 hit. I like the way the lead vocal alternates between the guys; love the sound of the 12-string (McGuinn again? Or was he still in Rio?). I'll give this one an 8 or a 9. Knock off one point for the b-side.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 29, 2022 11:24:55 GMT
This was released in January 1990? I would have sworn it was more like October or November 1989 - not that I ever heard it on the radio, and I sure never came across a copy of the single. According to the wiki page for it, yes, January 11, 1990. AGD's site shows it as September 1989, though. Different release dates in different places, perhaps? No idea.
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Post by lonelysummer on Mar 29, 2022 19:10:39 GMT
This was released in January 1990? I would have sworn it was more like October or November 1989 - not that I ever heard it on the radio, and I sure never came across a copy of the single. According to the wiki page for it, yes, January 11, 1990. AGD's site shows it as September 1989, though. Different release dates in different places, perhaps? No idea. September seems too early. Still Cruisin' was August IIRC. Gonna have to go through those old Billboard magazines again.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 30, 2022 13:03:45 GMT
This is a cool mix. DJ L33 does good work on his YouTube channel:
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 4, 2022 11:23:46 GMT
Eight voters rated "Somewhere Near Japan" b/w "Kokomo" a 7.6.
I will update the ratings thread, and we'll proceed with our next SotW shortly. Thank you for participating.
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