Monday, June 18, 2012

Beach Boys - Voice Your Choice

The city of Hawthorne, California is more famous for being the home of The Beach Boys than the Western Museum of Flight. The group consisted of three Wilson brothers: Brian, Carl and Dennis, and also included cousin Mike Love and Al Jardine. Glen Campbell joined the group briefly in 1964 until Bruce Johnston became a permanent member in April 1965.

In high school they were known variously as Kenny & The Cadets, Carl & The Passions, then The Pendletones. Their first record, Surfin, on the tiny Candix label, is worth about $250 today if you can find a copy. In 1962, they signed with Capitol Records in Hollywood, California and they ignited the surf-rock craze. Their popularity has never really waned throughout all the years and they continue performing today. The Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and received a Lifetme Achivement Award at the Grammy's in 2001. And this summer they're back together, all original surviving members including Brian Wilson, and are celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Beach Boys with a major tour.

Throughout their career they charted 60 singles on the Billboard chart, and incredibly their second to last song to hit the charts, Kokomo from the movie Cocktail, became one of their biggest songs ever, reaching #1 and selling in excess of Platinum. Eighteen hits landed in the Top Ten, with two of them reaching Gold and one Platinum status; but all have become classics.

This week on Treasure Island Oldies, as we celebrate our 16th Annual Summer Beach Party, we spotlight two Beach Boys songs on Voice Your Choice: All Summer Long and Catch A Wave. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice Page. We'll play the winning song in the third segment of the show.