Music Chart Fan

I haven't commented much on your posts or blog entries in your time here, but for what it's worth, I've appreciated reading your methodical and regular reviews of episodes. You probably take a significantly different approach to watching the show and analyzing it than I do, and because of that, your episode reviews have often highlighted elements and angles that I would have missed or wouldn't have considered otherwise. So, as your episode reviews are ending, I just wanted to let you know that I've enjoyed seeing your thoughts on episodes and how they've compared to (and differed from) mine.

Interestingly, despite its critical stature, this album wasn't a total smash hit in the United States at the time. It had a lower peak and shorter chart life than many of The Beach Boys' previous albums, topping out at #10 on Billboard's Top LP's chart in July 1966. Still, that's not to take away from the great songs here, four of which became Top 40 hits.

The biggest hit from this album was Sloop John B, which peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 in May 1966. I remember hearing this song in particular a lot in my younger years, which I think is because it was on one of the mix CDs in the car. The subject matter of the lyrics is unusual - I recall not really knowing what the lyrics meant all those times I heard the song when I was younger. Besides the vocals, I like the complex backing instrumentation - the constantly moving guitar lines, the bells, the prominent bass line, and the flute parts.

Caroline, No was actually the first single from the album to chart, credited only to Brian Wilson, but Sloop John B hit the charts a week later and quickly overtook it, leaving it to peak at #32 on the Hot 100. I'm not as familiar with this song, since it wasn't that big a hit and wasn't on the Greatest Hits, Volume 1 - 20 Good Vibrations CD I listened to a lot. This seems like a bit of a strange choice for a single; it's pretty low-key, and doesn't seem especially catchy or instantly memorable. It's not a bad song, but as an isolated Beach Boys single, it isn't one of my favorites.

The next A-side from the album was Wouldn't It Be Nice, which peaked at #8 on the Hot 100 in September 1966. Like you mentioned, I enjoy the harp-like lines in the intro and bridge, and the backing combination of accordion and bass in the rest of the song. The lyrics and vocals, like many great Beach Boys songs, are both bittersweet and uplifting.

God Only Knows was the B-side of Wouldn't It Be Nice, and just made the Top 40 in its own right, peaking at #39 on the Hot 100. (Incidentally, this would be the last Beach Boys B-side to make the Hot 100.) I like the prominent French Horn parts; it's an instrument not often heard in pop songs, and I remember liking it even more considering that it's the instrument I played in band. And of course, the other backing instruments and interlocking vocal lines add to the song's greatness.

I've also happened to hear a couple of other tracks from the album, one of which is You Still Believe In Me. The melodic line in the beginning of the song and repeated in the extended fade-out really sticks in my mind, as does the little riff between phrases in the verses. I like the clarinets in the song also (although they seem a little out of tune in places), partly because again it's unusual to hear them in a pop song. The layers of vocals in the outro are also enjoyable. Finally, the bicycle bell and horn are kind of random, but they do somehow become integrated into the song.

The other track I've heard from the album is I Just Wasn't Made For These Times. It's another good song. Other than the vocals, there are a lot of other instrumental parts to listen for - harpsichord, timpani, clarinets, flute, theremin, etc.

This album, along with the #1 single Good Vibrations, seemed to mark the end of the "golden years" of popularity for The Beach Boys. After Good Vibrations, the Top 40 hits became smaller and farther between before drying up in 1969 and only appearing occasionally thereafter. The Beach Boys would only hit the Top 10 two more times in their career, both apparently with significant marketing help: once in 1976 with Rock And Roll Music peaking at #5, and finally in 1988 with the #1 hit Kokomo. So I suppose this would be a good place in The Beach Boys discography to stop, since it's at (or close to) the end of a chapter in their career.

I've read that this album isn't quite as good as the previous couple of albums, particularly in that it contains more "filler" covers and novelty/silly songs. Still, it has two absolute classic Beach Boys singles, and three other eventual B-sides that are good to great.

The first classic big hit is Help Me, Rhonda, which peaked at #1 on the Hot 100 for two weeks in May/June 1965. Not much to say, another great hit single by The Beach Boys.

The other classic big hit is California Girls, which peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 for two weeks in August/September 1965. I especially like how the lyrics and the vocal melodies are celebratory, yet also slightly bittersweet.

By the way, if you want to know which singles held California Girls down to #3 on the Hot 100, they were: I Got You Babe by Sonny & Cher, Help! by The Beatles, and Like A Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan. You can decide whether those singles were more worthy than California Girls to hold the #1 and #2 spots in those two weeks.

Also, it's unfortunate that we now (sometimes) have to specify which California Girls we're referring to, i.e., The Beach Boys song and not the Katy Perry song, not to mention David Lee Roth's cover, which also peaked at #3 on the Hot 100, but in 1985.

One of the B-sides on this album is Let Him Run Wild, which was the flip side of California Girls. It's a great song, with the vibraphone, guitar lines, vocal parts, and lyrics all contributing to the song's powerful effect.

Next, Girl Don't Tell Me became the B-side of the later Barbara Ann single. The instrumentation is fairly sparse - mostly acoustic guitar, with a little soft celeste, a few electric guitar lines, and no backing vocals. But it's a good song; it's easy to sing along with, and the repeated syllables in the verses help make it a little more memorable.

Finally, You're So Good To Me became the B-side of the still-later Sloop John B single. I agree with your assessment of the song - not bad, but a little harsh and trite.

This album is prime Beach Boys material, with several outstanding songs. All in all, six songs from this album were released on singles in one way or another, including 3 A-sides.

When I Grow Up (To Be A Man) was the earliest of the singles on this album, peaking at #9 on the Hot 100 in October 1964. This song isn't quite as familiar to me, not having been on the original Beach Boys compilation I listened to, nor played on the oldies stations. The instrumentation (harpsichord, harmonica, etc.), the harmony vocals sometimes being slightly off, and the anxious lyrics add up to a single that's a departure from the familiar upbeat and uptempo Beach Boys style. I like the counting off of the years as they pass by; it's a clever way to show how their youth is slipping away.

She Knows Me Too Well was the B-side of When I Grow Up (To Be A Man), and it managed to bubble under the Hot 100, peaking at #101. It's another beautiful melancholy ballad.

The next single off this album was Dance, Dance, Dance, which peaked at #8 in December 1964. It's another typically fun and catchy typical Beach Boys single. I don't mind the sleigh bells - if anything, I think it's the tambourine that might grate a little. The B-side of this single was The Warmth Of The Sun, which was already covered two albums back.

The third and final A-side on this album was Do You Wanna Dance?, which peaked at #12 in April 1965. It might be a cover, but I heard this version first, and so many times afterward, that this is the definitive version of the song in my mind. Incidentally, I really like Johnny Rivers's version of the song, too, even as he makes it into almost the opposite of the Beach Boys' take - a slow, beautiful ballad with muted guitar, angelic female backing voices, and high background strings.

Please Let Me Wonder was the B-side of Do You Wanna Dance?, and it peaked at a respectable (though perhaps still a little disappointing) #52 in its own right. This would be the last Beach Boys B-side to chart until 10 months and 7 singles later with God Only Knows. This is an outstanding song that indeed can be listened to over and over again.

Kiss Me, Baby is the last song of this album that was released on a single; it became the B-side of the later single Help Me, Rhonda. It didn't chart, but is yet another great ballad.

One thing that can be learned from all of this is that the Beach Boys' singles from their prime period were a great value at the time, even above and beyond the A-sides. The B-sides, far from being throwaways, were great songs in their own right, even as they gradually (and unfortunately) peaked lower on the charts and stopped charting altogether.

All in all, 5 songs from this album were released on singles, including 3 A-sides. Surfin' Safari is a pretty good song, and the other familiar singles here (Surfin', 409) are okay - not as good as later singles, but that's not unexpected.

The Beach Boys' first charting single, which got this whole thing started, was Surfin', which peaked at #75 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1962.

The Beach Boys' first big hit and classic, Surfin' Safari, peaked at #14 in October 1962. It also just made the Billboard Year-End Top Songs of 1962, at #100 (although that's because part of its chart run was cut off in the calculations).

The B-side of Surfin' Safari was 409, the first in a string of Beach Boys single sides about cars, driving, etc. It peaked at #76 in the single week it spent on the Hot 100 (although it bubbled under for a few weeks before and after).

Ten Little Indians, like you mentioned, was the cringe-worthy follow-up single to Surfin' Safari. It peaked at #49 in January 1963, and would be the only Beach Boys A-side after Surfin' Safari not to make the Top 40 (or Top 10, or that matter) for nearly 2 years. The B-side of that single was County Fair, which (as you might expect) didn't chart.

I don't have much to say here, since I'm not familiar with the songs here other than the two songs which were released as a single.

Obviously the big hit here (and a pretty good song) is Surfin' U.S.A., which peaked at #3 in May 1963. It was such a big hit that, in the Billboard Year-End Top 100 of 1963 published at the time, it was the #1 song of the year, beating out all the other hits that peaked at #1 and #2 that year. (The list that Billboard now uses was recalculated using a different formula so that the biggest hit of the year would be a song that peaked at #1.)

Shut Down was the B-side of Surfin' U.S.A. and peaked at #23, making it The Beach Boys' first Top 40 B-side (with more to come). Despite its relatively low peak, it rode the charts long enough to squeak onto the Year-End Top 100 of 1963 along with the A-side.

This album has a greater proportion of pretty good songs with which I'm familiar, including 3 songs which were released on singles.

Obviously, the big hit (and a great, beautiful song) was Surfer Girl, which peaked at #7 on the Hot 100 in September 1963.

The B-side of Surfer Girl was Little Deuce Coupe, which peaked surprisingly high at #15, making it The Beach Boys' highest-peaking B-side and their second B-side to make the Top 40.

Finally, In My Room, another pretty ballad, was the B-side of the later #6 single Be True To Your School, and it also made the Top 40, peaking at #23.

Catch A Wave is a song that I remember hearing on The Greatest Hits Volume 1: 20 Good Vibrations, which was my first exposure to The Beach Boys. It was remade by Jan & Dean into Sidewalk Surfin', which would peak at #25 as a single in late 1964, but I think The Beach Boys' original is the superior song.

I like The Surfer Moon, also, especially the pizzicato line in the intro and outro, which is both catchy and kind of funny in how it sounds like stereotypical muzak (not that that's necessarily a bad thing).

I don't have too much to say about this one. The only familiar song here that wasn't previously released is Be True To Your School, which peaked at #6 on the Hot 100 in December 1963 in its more familiar (and superior) single version. It's an okay song, not quite as good as other Beach Boys singles of the time.

This is another album with some pretty good songs, at least the four that I'm familiar with. Accordingly, those four songs were released on singles in one way or another.

Fun, Fun, Fun was the big hit from the album, peaking at #5 in March 1964, during a time when The Beatles had lots of singles released and were dominating the Hot 100. The week that it peaked at #5, The Beatles held 3 of the 4 positions above it!

The B-side of Fun, Fun, Fun was Why Do Fools Fall In Love, which managed to bubble under at #120.

Don't Worry Baby was the B-side of the later #1 hit I Get Around, and peaked at a respectable #24 in its own right, adding to the list of popular and successful Beach Boys B-sides.

The Warmth Of The Sun was the B-side of the even later #8 single Dance, Dance, Dance. It didn't chart, but it's still a good song.

I just happened to see "The Beach Boys" under the "Recent Blog Entries", and I had to check these reviews out, especially since I haven't seen many fellow forum members who listen to a lot of pop/rock music from the '60s-'80s, like I do. I'm a fan of The Beach Boys, though, as with every artist I listen to, I mostly know and listen to their hit singles. They are one of the rare groups in my music library for which I do have a fair number of their more famous album tracks, B-sides, etc.

I agree that there are a lot of great songs here. I have seven of the songs on this album (including the requisite singles and others which I read were classics): I Get Around, All Summer Long, Hushabye, Little Honda, Wendy, Girls On The Beach, and Don't Back Down.

I Get Around managed to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in July 1964, in the midst of the British invasion, taking advantage of a lull in Beatles singles just before A Hard Day's Night came out.

Four other songs on this LP were released as a "4-By The Beach Boys" EP: Wendy, Little Honda, Don't Back Down, and Hushabye. Of these, Wendy peaked at #44 in November 1964, while Little Honda only peaked at #65, probably because it was competing with The Hondells' cover version of it, which was released as a single first and peaked at #9.

Just out of curiosity, is your next review going to be The Beach Boys' Christmas Album? It is technically a studio album, and the next one chronologically after All Summer Long.

I'm not sure what purpose you have in asking this question; consequently, I'm not sure what criteria I should use in evaluating the different entries. I liked reading entry #2 about dissecting the show the most, because that is the topic I personally relate the most to. Entry #2 made me think a little bit about why I enjoy and spend time doing logical/scientific analysis of shows I watch, like this one.

I didn't personally relate as much to the other entries: I have never watched/followed any previous generation (entry #1), I have not really come across "outsider" bronies (entry #3), and I don't make or pay any particular attention to fan art, music, etc. (entry #4). I'm not sure if I am unique in the fandom for not having done these things, so my personal experience may not be representative of a general fan (if that's what you were looking for).

If anything, I can relate to entry #3 a little bit in that I have seen my fair share of (in my opinion) shallow topics and posts on this forum, whereas I usually try to post only when I have something witty or thought-provoking to say. However, I have realized that not everyone will want to be intellectual all the time on a forum that they visit for fun in their free time. I also try never to put anyone down or "lecture" them because of perceived shallowness.

Hey, I happened to see this post in the sidebar and decided to read it. I only joined the forums here relatively recently (last August), but I am one of those who likes to analyze each episode. I tend to focus more on one-time inaccuracies, irrational actions, and intra-episode continuity - perhaps more of the nitpicking side of analysis.

I have never really been a big TV watcher, but I (over)analyze almost everything I do watch on TV. For example, my family and I analyzed the Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra series as we watched them, including things like what "bending" actually means and more efficient ways to kill people using bending as well as more nitpicking things in each individual episode. I agree that it is most enjoyable to analyze shows that strive to have internal realism, logic and continuity, as opposed to cartoons that throw these things out the window regularly because of laziness or for the sake of cheap laughs.

In Sleepless of Ponyville, one person couldn't like it as much as the others mainly because he considered dreams and nightmares to be a very private matter, and he didn't appreciate how Luna got involved in Scootaloo's nightmares. (A rather refreshing point, which I disagree with, but a pretty good point nonetheless.)

I'm not sure if this quote was referring to me specifically, but I am at least one of the people who said this. Really, the privacy and abuse of power concerns didn't occur to me as I was watching the episode, but more when I saw people's reactions to Luna's power here on the forums. I have been making an effort over the past months to learn about libertarianism and atheism, and people saying things to the effect of "I love Luna even more now that she has this awesome power and is looking out for everyone" kind of reminded me of both government propaganda - "hand your freedoms/rights over to the government; you can trust it to protect you and look out for you" - and the religious notion that a super-powerful being is watching over everyone and cares so much about every individual that it will intervene personally in individual's lives. I will admit that that is just my somewhat antagonistic view based on what I have learned from these philosophies. If you haven't seen already, I have written a little more in-depth about my issues with Luna's power on the  S03:E06 - Sleepless in Ponyville topic.

One of the main reasons, if not the main reason, that I joined the forums here was to find fellow watchers with whom to analyze the episodes and discuss these things which I am trying to learn about. It seems that I haven't yet come across too many people willing to go in-depth on these topics, but hopefully I can continue to find such people here on the forums.