The Beach Boys’ Kokomo was a very big hit and is also somewhat isolating. The Beach Boys is a rock band from California. Some fans look ‘Kokomo’ as a classic song whereas others see it as a step backwards from the experimental songs of band. They treat it as an insult of the band leader Brian Wilson’s artistry.
The band always makes most of the songs based on old music. Wilson who is the leader of the band had nothing to do with the creation. He agreed that he never ever heard the song until it came on his radio.
What happened to Brian Wilson? Why he didn’t heard the song?
The members of the band along with Dennis Wilson said that, ‘Brian Wilson is the Beach Boys. He is the band. We are his fucking messengers. He is all of it. We’re nothing. He’s everything.’
Around 1980s, Wilson has schizoaffective disorder and it was hard for him to suffer. He was under the surveillance of Dr. Landy. He charges very high fees forcing Wilson to sell some of his rights of songs. He also has control over who can meet Wilson. Landy said Wilson could only work with the other Beach Boys if Landy could get a co-writing credit on the songs which Wilson wrote.
Mike Love, member of Beach Boy didn’t like this proposal at all. He collaborated with producer Terrence Melcher and others to produce the song. Due to this, Wilson is not aware about this song, ‘Kokomo’.
Kokomo was written by Love, Melcher and Phillips. The song is all about vacation in a tropical paradise called Kokomo.
As per The Wall Street Journal, Wilson hasn’t heard the song until it played on his radio. He didn’t even know that it was a song by Beach Boys. He was in complete surprise when someone told him that it was a Beach Boys song.