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"Darlin'" by The Beach Boys

D

DToTheJ

Walk of Fame Participant
By any chance, is there an uptick of stations playing this song after the recent Big Bang Theory "earworm" episode?
 
DToTheJ said:
By any chance, is there an uptick of stations playing this song after the recent Big Bang Theory "earworm" episode?
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Since most '60s music is gone from classic hits playlists, I wouldn't think there'd be any increase in exposure for this largely forgotten (but excellent) Beach Boys non-chart topper. I don't think it was on the playlists of too many oldies stations even 20 years ago, when the format could still attract advertisers.

Also, the impact of a song's exposure on a hit network sitcom is far less than it used to be, simply because far fewer viewers are watching the show. The "Big Bang Theory" audience pales in comparison to, say, the audience that watched Billy Vera and the Beaters perform "At This Moment" on "Family Ties," launching that song into chart success. Way more choices now, more eyeballs looking elsewhere.
 
CTListener said:
Since most '60s music is gone from classic hits playlists, I wouldn't think there'd be any increase in exposure for this largely forgotten (but excellent) Beach Boys non-chart topper. I don't think it was on the playlists of too many oldies stations even 20 years ago, when the format could still attract advertisers.
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I'm a pretty big Beach Boys fan but couldn't remember this song until I actually listened to it on YouTube. I think you are correct it is largely forgotten. I do faintly remember it but don't ever remember hearing it on the radio - ever.
 
landtuna said:


I'm a pretty big Beach Boys fan but couldn't remember this song until I actually listened to it on YouTube. I think you are correct it is largely forgotten. I do faintly remember it but don't ever remember hearing it on the radio - ever.
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I remember it as a current when I was a kid, and as an oldie, since WDRC-FM Hartford used to play it in the '90s before the '60s music started to disappear. DRC was a pretty interesting oldies station for a while, going quite deep on a lot of acts, Beach Boys included. "Warmth of the Sun" and "Be True to Your School" would also get airplay.
 
CTListener said:
I remember it as a current when I was a kid, and as an oldie, since WDRC-FM Hartford used to play it in the '90s before the '60s music started to disappear. DRC was a pretty interesting oldies station for a while, going quite deep on a lot of acts, Beach Boys included. "Warmth of the Sun" and "Be True to Your School" would also get airplay.
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Living on the west coast, "Darlin'" was played semi-regularly for years, as an Oldie. The Beach Boys had several good songs that didn't chart very well but you could say the same thing about The Beatles, for instance.
 
FYI Brian has been doing this song and a few others from this period in his current tour. Thankfully, he doesn't attempt the vocal. The lead was originally done by Carl Wilson, who generally took the more soulful songs. When he died in 98, a lot of his songs got shelved. Brian is touring with a huge band that features a lot of great young singers who can deliver his complicated songs with a lot of the original feeling. Brian's opening the show with Heroes & Villains, which might also qualify as a forgotten classic. Al Jardine is with him, so they do Help Me Rhonda. Blondie Chaplin takes the lead on "Wild Honey." If you like that late 60s Beach Boys, the current tour might be one to see.
 
TheBigA said:
FYI Brian has been doing this song and a few others from this period in his current tour. Thankfully, he doesn't attempt the vocal. The lead was originally done by Carl Wilson, who generally took the more soulful songs. When he died in 98, a lot of his songs got shelved. Brian is touring with a huge band that features a lot of great young singers who can deliver his complicated songs with a lot of the original feeling. Brian's opening the show with Heroes & Villains, which might also qualify as a forgotten classic. Al Jardine is with him, so they do Help Me Rhonda. Blondie Chaplin takes the lead on "Wild Honey." If you like that late 60s Beach Boys, the current tour might be one to see.
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Love "Heroes and Villains" and "Darlin'." And you can add 1973's "Sail On Sailor" to the list. (How long has it been since you heard THAT on the radio?) I wouldn't pay a cent to hear what's left of the Beach Boys try to recreate the girls/surf/cars/high school sound of their early years, but a show featuring nothing but "Pet Sounds" and later (except, of course, for the despised "Kokomo") would be one I'd be very interested in.
 
TheBigA said:
Of course with Blondie in Brian's band, they do that one every night on his current tour.
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I didn't know that Blondie Chaplin sang lead on that song until fairly recently. I'd always thought it was Carl Wilson.
 
From what I've read, Carl gave it a shot after Dennis failed, but they agreed Blondie was the best.
 
TheBigA said:
FYI Brian has been doing this song and a few others from this period in his current tour. Thankfully, he doesn't attempt the vocal. The lead was originally done by Carl Wilson, who generally took the more soulful songs. When he died in 98, a lot of his songs got shelved. Brian is touring with a huge band that features a lot of great young singers who can deliver his complicated songs with a lot of the original feeling. Brian's opening the show with Heroes & Villains, which might also qualify as a forgotten classic. Al Jardine is with him, so they do Help Me Rhonda. Blondie Chaplin takes the lead on "Wild Honey." If you like that late 60s Beach Boys, the current tour might be one to see.
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"Wild Honey" seems to be the weakest of the Beach Boys singles and somehow, out of time.
 
I like the Beach Boys as well. One of my favorite songs is a lost 80s hit by them Getcha Back. It came out in the summer of '85 and and hit the top 40 peaking at number 26. It had the 60s Beach Boy sound.
 
CTListener said:
Since most '60s music is gone from classic hits playlists, I wouldn't think there'd be any increase in exposure for this largely forgotten (but excellent) Beach Boys non-chart topper. I don't think it was on the playlists of too many oldies stations even 20 years ago, when the format could still attract advertisers.]

"Darlin" maybe wasn't a "chart topper" but it did make the Top 20 (#19). "God Only Knows" was a much lower ranked song (#39), and not a very good one, but it seemed to get more airplay than it deserved.
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TheFonz said:
CTListener said:
Since most '60s music is gone from classic hits playlists, I wouldn't think there'd be any increase in exposure for this largely forgotten (but excellent) Beach Boys non-chart topper. I don't think it was on the playlists of too many oldies stations even 20 years ago, when the format could still attract advertisers.]

"Darlin" maybe wasn't a "chart topper" but it did make the Top 20 (#19). "God Only Knows" was a much lower ranked song (#39), and not a very good one, but it seemed to get more airplay than it deserved.
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"God Only Knows" was the B side of "Wouldn't It Be Nice," which hit No. 8, so it was getting airplay at the same time, and selling lots of 45s. And I happen to think it's one of their best pre-"Pet Sounds" songs, but of course all musical taste is personal.

Also, there apparently was some resistance to playing a secular song with "God" in the lyrics at radio stations in conservative areas of the country, so that would have limited its airplay somewhat.
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TheFonz said:
"Darlin" maybe wasn't a "chart topper" but it did make the Top 20 (#19). "God Only Knows" was a much lower ranked song (#39), and not a very good one, but it seemed to get more airplay than it deserved.
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As I've often said, chart position is more a reflection of the promotion team than the quality of the song. Brian was writing far more complex music at this time than he did five years earlier. That made it less commercial. Plus there was a feeling at radio that the Beach Boys were has-beens by this time.
 
TheFonz said:
CTListener said:
Since most '60s music is gone from classic hits playlists, I wouldn't think there'd be any increase in exposure for this largely forgotten (but excellent) Beach Boys non-chart topper. I don't think it was on the playlists of too many oldies stations even 20 years ago, when the format could still attract advertisers.]

"Darlin" maybe wasn't a "chart topper" but it did make the Top 20 (#19). "God Only Knows" was a much lower ranked song (#39), and not a very good one, but it seemed to get more airplay than it deserved.
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Paul McCartney said that "God Only Knows" was the best song ever written!
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CTListener said:
"God Only Knows" was the B side of "Wouldn't It Be Nice," which hit No. 8, so it was getting airplay at the same time, and selling lots of 45s. And I happen to think it's one of their best pre-"Pet Sounds" songs, but of course all musical taste is personal.

Also, there apparently was some resistance to playing a secular song with "God" in the lyrics at radio stations in conservative areas of the country, so that would have limited its airplay somewhat.
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Just so people will know, this was on America's Best Music. I can't speak to whether it still is because I haven't heard the format since September.
 
semoochie said:
Living on the west coast, "Darlin'" was played semi-regularly for years, as an Oldie. The Beach Boys had several good songs that didn't chart very well but you could say the same thing about The Beatles, for instance.
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It was the second-highest charting of their singles (peaking at #2) at KHJ:

7/16/65 8 California Girls Beach Boys Capitol
11/17/65 26 The Little Girl I Once Knew Beach Boys Capitol
3/30/66 7 Sloop John B Beach Boys Capitol
8/17/66 9 God Only Knows Beach Boys Capitol
10/12/66 1 Good Vibrations Beach Boys Capitol
7/26/67 9 Heroes And Villains Beach Boys Brother
12/27/67 2 Darlin' Beach Boys Capitol
4/24/68 17 Friends Beach Boys Capitol
7/17/68 3 Do It Again Beach Boys Capitol
12/04/68 13 Bluebirds Over The Mountain Beach Boys Capitol
3/19/69 12 I Can Hear Music Beach Boys Capitol
2/25/70 25 Add Some Music To Your Day Beach Boys Reprise


Again, there's every reason to remember that those numbers mean nothing today and did not mean what we thought they meant (Inigo Montoya is alive, alive) then.
 
Their career went a lot longer in LA for obvious reasons. Maybe not so much in Philadelphia.

BTW I went over to YouTube and watched several old videos they have of Carl singing Darlin,' and it was interesting to see how many comments were written from people who had gone there specifically because of Big Bang Theory. Also interesting to see how the band slowed the song down as they got older. Tempo was a lot quicker in the 60s. Still, what a great singer Carl was...they lost a lot when they lost him.
 
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