‘Fun Fun Fun’: When The Beach Boys Captured The California Dream

Udiscovermusic ^ | February 3, 2025 | Richard Havers

[nickcarraway]

Fun, Fun, Fun (Stereo)

Beach Boys (Live at Knebworth 1980) - Fun, Fun, Fun

[Dr. Sivana]

Perhaps most surprising of all, given its popularity, is that “Fun Fun Fun” never made the UK chart.

The folks in the UK probably didn't identify with the lyrics. Most wouldn't even know what a T-Bird was. Many wouldn't know what an Indy 500 Race was.

[John Milner]

I think the inspiration was a banker’s daughter in Salt Lake City that they learned about while on tour.

Or something like that. I know it was SLC.

Kind of ironic how the article paints it as SoCal American Culture, when it’s more just American.

[dfwgator]

“And we’ll have fun with our guns until the lifeguard takes our ammo away”

[nickcarraway]

They don't have muscle cars in the U.K.?

They should know what a Roman chariot race is, since they were once part of the Roman Empire. (People from the U.S. had to hear about yellow matter custard.)

[Dilbert San Diego]

People probably think about other Beach Boys songs, which touch on surfing, and think all their songs are about the southern California teenage lifestyle of the ‘60s.

[dfwgator]

“We have a citation here for you sir under Section 936A of the California ‘Catch a Wave’ Statute.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RW8PFJTJJY

[Dr. Sivana]

They don't have muscle cars in the U.K.?

At the time the song was released, not really. The closest would be the Jaguars (those pop-up in those kinds of songs, though, notably "Dead Man's Curve")

Even the "fast" cars in England and continental Europe would not be known for displacement in the same way that muscle cars are. You have the colonialists and aristocrat cars (Rovers and Rolls Royce), but then you have Coopers and MGs and Lotus. No muscle cars. Lotuses were fast because they were light.

[dfwgator]

Keith Moon’s favorite band. Roger Daltrey later said that given the opportunity, Moon would have left to play for the California band even at the peak of The Who’s fame.

[MachIV]

XKE Jaguar

[MachIV]

“She’s real fine my 409...”

They probably didn’t have ‘62 Impala Super Sports with a 409, 4 speed, 2 Carter 4bls, and a positraction rear end either.

[MV=PY]

I can’t count the number of times I played this song in cover bands over the years.

Always a win with audiences!

Those were golden years in music creativity.

(All the modern songs seem like shallow rehashes.)

[Verginius Rufus]

John Belushi would be 76 years old now.

[plain talk]

Here’s a nice live rendition of the original band doing that song in 1964. Brian on bass and singing the high falsetto at the end. Back before Brian completely lost his sh#t.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brZfudD4vKA

[Adder]

They don’t have muscle cars in the U.K.?

No...they have Fiats...

[fidelis]

Kind of ironic how the article paints it as SoCal American Culture, when it’s more just American. The lyrics aren't particularly SoCal (people drive fast in cars all across the USA), but the sound is classic SoCal beach vibe-- like the Ventures, the Rivieras, Jan & Dean, the Surfaris, the Tradewinds, Ronny & the Daytonas, etc.

[Fledermaus]

I grew up in SO Cal during the 60s. Thus music was always playing on my AM transistor radio. Moved in 1971.

Later in life my wife and I moved to the Raleigh Durham NC area when I was hired as the GM of a large Sheraton. Everyone was talking about “Beach music “.

I thought they must like the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, etc.

It was Motown and they danced barefoot on sand.

[Fiji Hill]

The folks in the UK probably didn't identify with the lyrics. Most wouldn't even know what a T-Bird was. Many wouldn't know what an Indy 500 Race was.

Perhaps the problem was that T-Bird is a brand name. The British used to frown on brand names being mentioned in song lyrics. George Hamilton had to redo his 1956 hit "A Rose and a Baby Ruth" for release in England, singing instead, "A Rose and a Candy Bar." Similarly, to pass muster in the UK, Johnny Bond had to redo his 1960 hit "Hot Rod Lincoln" as " Hot Rod Jalopy" with no mention of any brand names of cars. He also described the hot rod race in question as starting in Southampton, England instead of San Pedro, Calif.

[Dr. Sivana]

Great point! Here is perplexity.ai with a very famous change for BBC:

The Kinks had to change the lyrics to their song "Lola" from "Coca-Cola" to "cherry cola" due to the BBC's policy against product placement136. The BBC banned the song because of the Coca-Cola reference13. Ray Davies flew from the U.S. to London to change the lyrics12.

Do note, however, that perplexity also lists the songs of the Beach Boys that made the Top 10 in the UK, and NONE were Surfing or Car songs.

"Barbara Ann"
"Sloop John B"
"God Only Knows"
"Good Vibrations"
"Then I Kissed Her"
"Heroes and Villains"
"Do It Again"
"I Can Hear Music"
"Break Away"

[Fiji Hill]

The Tradewinds sounded SoCal, but they were from Providence, RI on the right coast. In 1960 they waxed Mr. Lonely, later to be a fixture on the paylist of KWIZ, which blasted Oldies across SoCal from the Willowick Golf Course in Santa Ana and was my station of choice.

The Tradewinds' "New York's a Lonely Town" hit hard in SoCal. KRLA, one of LA's two rock blasters, had its own version of the song, which it played exclusively.