That's Why God Made The Radio by The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys are celebrating their fiftieth anniversary this summer. The tour will be making a stop on the shores of the Penobscot at The Waterfront Concert Series. I have seen the Boys back in the eighties a couple of times, they were actually my first concert, and with the prices a bit pricey we will not be attending.

Still The Beach Boys are an institution and the huge amount of publicity they are receiving right now is well deserved. Even as a person in his mid forties I have no recollection of The Beach Boys ever be anything more than a nostalgia act. Any band that included John Stamos on drums in any incarnation has to really stretch to call themselves cool.

In the 1960's however the Boys were more, they passed many of the tests to qualify as a true rock and roll band. The album Pet Sounds was the precursor to the Beatles Sgt. Pepper and the Beachers were considered as a progressive band. Brian Wilson created the album Smile as a response to Sgt. Pepper but his band rebelled, calling it too far out there. Finally released forty years later it does not seem that revolutionary to me, but in the moment it was.

In short The Beach Boys are a huge part of rock and roll history. The new single is nothing new. It is however a very good song, the harmonies and high notes are perfect. We can wonder what studio magic has been done to make this happen, these men are all pushing seventy after all. I prefer not to know or to think about it. What I do know is this song fits with their catalogue in a very nice way. Brian Wilson, ragged from years of drug abuse and mental issues, still is worth hearing. Listen to this song and you can imagine some Sixties Beach Movie Actors trying to sell you a Time Life Collection of Feel Good Songs from the Beach Music Era. The fact that a new song can make you feel that shows that Boys have not strayed too far from home.

This is a good thing.