"
Kokomo" is a song written by
John PhillipsJohn Edmund Andrew Phillips , was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Known as Papa John, Phillips was a member and leader of the singing group The Mamas & the Papas...
,
Scott McKenzieScott McKenzie is an American singer, best known for his 1967 hit single and generational anthem, "San Francisco ".-Life and career:...
,
Mike LoveMichael Edward "Mike" Love is an American singer/songwriter with The Beach Boys. He formed the band along with his cousins Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, and their friend Al Jardine.-Role in The Beach Boys:...
and
Terry MelcherTerry Melcher was an American musician and record producer.-Early life:Melcher was born Terry Jorden in New York City to trombonist Al Jorden and his wife, singer/actress Doris Day. Day was only 19 years old when she gave birth to Terry. Before Melcher's birth, Day was planning to leave the...
and recorded by
The Beach BoysThe Beach Boys are an American rock band. Formed in 1961, the group gained popularity for its close vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a Southern California youth culture of cars, surfing, and romance...
in 1988. It was released as a single in 1988 at
Elektra RecordsElektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009.-Beginnings:...
and became a No. 1 Hit in the United States and Australia. The single was released to coincide with the release of the Tom Cruise movie
CocktailCocktail is a film released by Touchstone Pictures in 1988. It stars Tom Cruise as a talented and ambitious bartender who aspires to working in business and finds love while working at a bar in Jamaica.-Plot:...
, and its subsequent soundtrack.
Although there is a small city in Indiana called Kokomo, most Americans know of Kokomo as the former name of an island in Jamaica that is now known as Sandals Cay.
"
Kokomo" is a song written by
John PhillipsJohn Edmund Andrew Phillips , was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Known as Papa John, Phillips was a member and leader of the singing group The Mamas & the Papas...
,
Scott McKenzieScott McKenzie is an American singer, best known for his 1967 hit single and generational anthem, "San Francisco ".-Life and career:...
,
Mike LoveMichael Edward "Mike" Love is an American singer/songwriter with The Beach Boys. He formed the band along with his cousins Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, and their friend Al Jardine.-Role in The Beach Boys:...
and
Terry MelcherTerry Melcher was an American musician and record producer.-Early life:Melcher was born Terry Jorden in New York City to trombonist Al Jorden and his wife, singer/actress Doris Day. Day was only 19 years old when she gave birth to Terry. Before Melcher's birth, Day was planning to leave the...
and recorded by
The Beach BoysThe Beach Boys are an American rock band. Formed in 1961, the group gained popularity for its close vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a Southern California youth culture of cars, surfing, and romance...
in 1988. It was released as a single in 1988 at
Elektra RecordsElektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009.-Beginnings:...
and became a No. 1 Hit in the United States and Australia. The single was released to coincide with the release of the Tom Cruise movie
CocktailCocktail is a film released by Touchstone Pictures in 1988. It stars Tom Cruise as a talented and ambitious bartender who aspires to working in business and finds love while working at a bar in Jamaica.-Plot:...
, and its subsequent soundtrack.
Composition and recording
Although there is a small city in Indiana called Kokomo, most Americans know of Kokomo as the former name of an island in Jamaica that is now known as Sandals Cay. The song also mentions many places in and around the
CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts...
, including
ArubaAruba is a -long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Falcón State, Venezuela. Together with Bonaire and Curaçao, it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles.An...
,
JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width, amounting to 11,100 km
2. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harboring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
,
BermudaBermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, it is situated around 1,770 kilometres northeast of Miami, Florida, and 1,350 kilometres south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada...
, Bahama(s),
Key LargoKey Largo is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and, at long, the largest of the Keys. It is also the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the Keys connected by U.S. Highway 1...
,
MontegoMontego Bay is the capital of St. James Parish and the second largest city in Jamaica by area and the third by population ....
,
MartiniqueMartinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . It is an overseas department of France. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados. As with the other overseas departments, Martinique is also one of the twenty-six regions of...
,
MontserratMontserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. It measures approximately 16 km long and 11 km wide, giving of coastline...
, and
Port-au-PrincePort-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti.The city of Port-au-Prince faces the Gulf of Gonâve, at . The bay on which the city lies, which acts as a natural harbor, has sustained economic activity since the civilizations of the Arawaks...
(
HaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Creole- and French-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago...
).
In addition to the Beach Boys' signature layered-singing style, the song's instrumentation makes heavy use of steel drums.
In the original version, lead vocals were performed by
Mike LoveMichael Edward "Mike" Love is an American singer/songwriter with The Beach Boys. He formed the band along with his cousins Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, and their friend Al Jardine.-Role in The Beach Boys:...
and
Carl WilsonCarl Dean Wilson was an American rock and roll singer and guitarist, best known as a founding member, lead guitarist and sometime lead vocalist of The Beach Boys. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.-Beach Boys career:Wilson played the Chuck Berry-esque guitar parts on...
. The harmonies include
Al JardineAlan Charles "Al" Jardine is a founding member of top-selling American music group The Beach Boys, their occasional lead vocalist, and one of their guitarists. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.-Early Biography:Jardine's family moved from Ohio to San Francisco,...
and
Bruce JohnstonBruce Arthur Johnston is a member of The Beach Boys and a Grammy Award-winning songwriter, remembered especially for composing "I Write the Songs." Johnston was not one of the original members of the band...
. The only active Beach Boys member not involved with the recording was
Brian WilsonBrian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the rock group The Beach Boys...
, who, according to his autobiography, was given short notice of the recording session and unable to attend. He was, however, included in concert recordings of the song, including a live concert filmed for the television show
Full HouseFull House is an American television sitcom that ran from September 22, 1987 to May 23, 1995 on ABC. Set in San Francisco, California, it chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner who, after the death of his wife in a car accident caused by a drunk driver, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and...
(episode 028). The 2008
A&E NetworkA&E is a cable and satellite television network with headquarters in Manhattan and offices in Stamford, Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, and London. A&E stands for Arts & Entertainment, which, for many years, was in the channel's full title...
Biography on Brian Wilson stated that Mike Love would "brag" about having a #1 hit without Wilson's help.
Despite being recorded in 1988, the song is often played on
oldiesOldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on a period 15 to 55 years before the present day.In the 1980s and 1990s, "oldies" meant the 15 years from the birth of rock n roll to the beginning of the singer-songwriter era of the early 1970s, or about 1955 to 1972.In...
playlistIn its most general form, a playlist is simply a list of songs. The term has several specialized meanings in the realms of radio broadcasting and personal computers....
s, simply because it has the "style of an oldie" and was recorded by a band known for their 1960s success.
Release
The "Kokomo" single backed with "
Tutti Frutti"Tutti Frutti" is a song by Little Richard, which became his first hit record in 1955. With its opening cry of "A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom!" and its hard-driving sound and wild lyrics, it became not only a model for many future Little Richard songs, but also one of the models for Rock and...
" by
Little RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and recording artist, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s...
was first released through Elektra Records in July 1988. It peaked at the #1 position on the
Billboard charts on November 5, 1988 after knocking out "
A Groovy Kind of Love"A Groovy Kind of Love" is a pop song written by Toni Wine and Carole Bayer Sager for the Screen Gems music publishing company. It is heavily based on the Rondo movement of Sonatina in G major, op. 36 no. 5 by Muzio Clementi...
" by
Phil CollinsPhilip David Charles "Phil" Collins LVO is an Academy Award-winning English singer-songwriter, drummer, keyboardist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for English progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
. This meant that it was The Beach Boys' first #1 hit in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
since "
Good Vibrations"Good Vibrations" is a pop single by The Beach Boys. The song was composed by and produced by Brian Wilson, with lyrics by Wilson and Mike Love....
" in 1966, making it the longest time span between two number one hits in America for a band (22 years). It is also their only #1 hit not written or produced by Brian Wilson. After spending just one week at the top of the charts, the single was knocked out of the number one spot by
The Escape ClubThe Escape Club was an English rock band based in London and formed in 1983. The band consisted of lead singer/rhythm guitarist Trevor Steel, guitarist John Holliday, bassist Johnnie Christo and drummer Milan Zekavica....
song "
Wild, Wild West"Wild, Wild West" is a song by The Escape Club from their similarly named debut album, Wild Wild West. The single hit the charts in late 1988 eventually reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of November 12, 1988....
". After being signed to
Capitol RecordsCapitol Records is a major United States-based record label owned by EMI and located in Los Angeles and New York City as part of Capitol Music Group...
following the success of the initial single, Capitol clearly tried to take advantage of the song's popularity by issuing the song in the United States for a second time. On the second occasion the song was released in July 1989 as the B-side of the "Still Cruisin'" single, which peaked at number 93 on the
Billboard chart. Capitol again re-issued the song just two months later as the B-side of the "Somewhere Near Japan" single, however on that occasion 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 "Cottonfields" 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 alternate releases
"Kokomo" was first released on an album in 1989 on the band's
Still Cruisin'Still Cruisin' is the twenty-third studio album by The Beach Boys, their thirty-fifth official album , and their last release of the 1980s...
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. Although Wilson did not perform on the original recording of the song, he did later contribute vocals to a Spanish-language version.
In 2006, Beach Boys member Mike Love recorded a critically panned Christmas remake of the song, titled "Santa's Going To Kokomo".
Music video
The video for Kokomo was filmed at the then-recently opened Grand Floridian Resort at Walt Disney World in Florida. The members of the Beach Boys in the video are:
Carl WilsonCarl Dean Wilson was an American rock and roll singer and guitarist, best known as a founding member, lead guitarist and sometime lead vocalist of The Beach Boys. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.-Beach Boys career:Wilson played the Chuck Berry-esque guitar parts on...
(playing guitar),
Al JardineAlan Charles "Al" Jardine is a founding member of top-selling American music group The Beach Boys, their occasional lead vocalist, and one of their guitarists. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.-Early Biography:Jardine's family moved from Ohio to San Francisco,...
(playing tamborine),
Bruce JohnstonBruce Arthur Johnston is a member of The Beach Boys and a Grammy Award-winning songwriter, remembered especially for composing "I Write the Songs." Johnston was not one of the original members of the band...
(playing bass guitar), and
Mike LoveMichael Edward "Mike" Love is an American singer/songwriter with The Beach Boys. He formed the band along with his cousins Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, and their friend Al Jardine.-Role in The Beach Boys:...
(playing saxophone). Actor and part time Beach Boys band member
John StamosJohn Phillip Stamos is an American actor best known for his work in television, especially as Uncle Jesse on the ABC sitcom Full House. Since the cancellation of that show in 1995, Stamos has appeared in numerous television films and series. From 2006 to 2009, Stamos had a starring role on the NBC...
can be seen playing the
congaThe conga is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent....
steel drums.
In popular culture
- A Norwegian
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
group, The Shiptare Boys, performed a parody of the song called "Kosovo"Kosovo" is a parody of the Beach Boys hit song "Kokomo". It was produced in 1999 by Seattle radio DJ Bob Rivers. The song harshly criticises US involvement in the Kosovo War:...
". It was originally done by Bob RiversBob Rivers is a well known American rock and roll radio on air personality in the Pacific Northwest as well as a prolific producer of parody songs, most famous for his Christmas song parodies....
.
- Similarly, the political satire group Capitol Steps
The Capitol Steps is an American political satire group. It has been performing since 1981, and has released approximately thirty albums consisting primarily of song parodies. Originally consisting exclusively of Congressional staffers performing around Washington, D.C., the troupe now primarily...
has also recorded a parody called "Kosovo".
- There was also a parody of the song referencing the characters of the anime
is animation originating in Japan. The world outside Japan regards anime as "Japanese animation". Anime originated about 1917.Anime, like manga , has a large audience in Japan and high recognition throughout the world...
Ranma 1/2.
- In the Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television sitcom, created by Seth MacFarlane, for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family which consists of Peter, Lois, Meg, Chris, Stewie, and their pet dog Brian...
episode, "The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou"The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou" is the eleventh episode of season five of Family Guy, which originally aired on February 18, 2007. After discovering Chris is being tormented by a bully, Peter goes to the bully's house to speak with him, but ends up beating him up...
," Stewie sings along to Kokomo while sunbathing in his sunbed.
- In the episode Office Spaceman, from the animated sitcom American Dad!
American Dad! is a satirical American animated series owned by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions and produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television....
, Roger the AlienRoger Smith is one of the main characters in the animated comedy series American Dad!. He is a space alien living with the Smith family. Roger is sarcastic, self-centered, surly and speaks in swish...
(in disguise and working at the CIA) says he needs to go to ArubaAruba is a -long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Falcón State, Venezuela. Together with Bonaire and Curaçao, it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles.An...
, JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width, amounting to 11,100 km
2. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harboring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, Key LargoKey Largo is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and, at long, the largest of the Keys. It is also the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the Keys connected by U.S. Highway 1...
, Montego-Vehicles:* Austin Montego, a car produced by Austin Rover and then the Rover Group, from 1984 to 1994. Also sold as the MG Montego and finally the Rover Montego after the rebranding of the company....
and "a place called Kokomo-Places:* Kokomo, Indiana, a city located in Howard County, Indiana, United States** Indiana University Kokomo* Kokomo, Mississippi, United States* Kokomo, Hawaii, United States - on the island of Maui...
" to follow leads on alien sightings. Deputy director of the CIA, Avery Bullock finishes the joke by saying "Book a flight, get there fast and then take it slow".
- The Muppets
The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson. Individually, a Muppet is one of the puppets made by Jim Henson or his company's workshop...
performed the song.
- In the How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an Emmy Award winning American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005. The show was created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays...
episode "Three Days of Snow"Three Days of Snow" is the 13th episode in the fourth season of the television series How I Met Your Mother. It originally aired on January 19, 2009.- Summary :...
," the song runs through Barney and Ted's Cocktail-like sequence while running the bar, and again in Barney's head during a telepathic conversation with Ted.
- In the Yes Dear episode, "Jimmy and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Boat," the song appears when Greg drives the boat.
- In a 2001 episode of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a weekly late-night sketch comedy and variety show filmed in New York City. It made its debut on October 11, 1975, under a slightly different title. The show features a regular cast of comedy actors, joined by a guest host and musical act...
, host Derek JeterDerek Sanderson Jeter is an American professional baseball player. He is a Major League Baseball shortstop who has played his entire career for the New York Yankees. He has served as the Yankees' team captain since 2003...
owned a taco restaurant in one skit, "Derek Jeter's Taco Hole," whose theme song was a parody of "Kokomo."
- In the Two Guys and a Girl
Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place is a sitcom created by Kenny Schwartz and Danny Jacobson. It ran on ABC for four seasons from 1998–2001.-Seasons 1 and 2:...
episode, "Two Guys and a Girl and a Vacation," the three main characters sing the song throughout the episode in celebration of their upcoming holiday.
- On an episode of Scrubs, Turk suggests Elliot and Keith honeymoon in Kokomo, but Elliot
Elliot Reid, M.D., is a fictional character played by Sarah Chalke in the American comedy-drama Scrubs.-Profile:Elliot is the on-and-off girlfriend and former fellow attending physician to series protagonist J.D. . The boundaries between friendship and romance have often been crossed throughout the...
shoots down his fantasy, telling him blankly "For the last time, there is no such place as 'Kokomo'!", to which Turk angrily responds, "Then *where* did The Beach Boys shoot the video, huh?!" (there is a Kokomo in Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi, and Texas)
- On the "Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which premiered on NBC on September 22, 1994. The series revolved around a group of friends in the area of Manhattan, New York City, who occasionally live together and share living expenses. The series was produced by...
" episode "The One Where Rachel Tells..." in season 8 when Monica and Chandler are leaving for their honeymoon at the Caribbeans, Chandler was singing the first line of "Kokomo" and Monica said "get it (the song) out your system while we are alone."
- Kokomo Island is a island at present day know as Sandals Cay
Recognition and criticisms
"Kokomo" appeared on VH1's "40 Most Awesomely Bad No. 1 Songs". However, it received a
Golden GlobeThe Golden Globe Awards are presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to recognize outstanding achievements in the entertainment industry, both domestic and foreign, and to focus wide public attention upon the best in motion pictures and television...
nomination for Best Original Song - Motion Picture in 1989. The song also ranked at #12 on
BlenderBlender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
magazine's list of the "50 Worst Songs Ever", while the music video was named the #3 worst video of 1988 on
MuchMoreMusicMuchMore is a Canadian English language cable television specialty channel owned by CTVglobemedia, based at 299 Queen Street West in Toronto, Ontario....
's
Back In...Back In... was a retrospective documentary series currently broadcasting on the Canadian music video channel MuchMoreMusic. The series also airs on Star! and some Citytv stations. 20 episodes have been broadcast, each profiled by a different year, going from 1980 to 1999. Each episode's title would...
'88.
Track listings
3" 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
- "Kokomo" — 3:34
- "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard — 2:23
- "Hippy Hippy Shake" by The Georgia Satellites — 1:45
Certifications
| Country |
Certification |
Date |
Sales certified |
| France |
Silver |
1989 |
200,000 |
| U.S. |
Platinum |
January 10, 1989 |
1,000,000 |
Chart positions
| Chart (1988-1989) |
Peak
position |
| Australian Singles Chart |
1 |
| Belgian Singles Chart |
19 |
| Canadian Singles Chart |
13 |
| Dutch Singles Chart |
6 |
| French SNEP Singles Chart |
6 |
| German Singles Chart |
7 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart |
5 |
| Swedish Singles Chart |
14 |
| Swiss Singles Chart |
8 |
| UK Singles Chart |
25 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks |
5 |
| U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 |
1 |
| End of year chart (1989) |
Position |
| Australian Singles Chart |
9 |
|-