Still Cruisin'


Still Cruisin' is the 26th studio album by the Beach Boys, their thirty-fifth official album, and their last release of the 1980s. It is also the last album of new material released during a brief return to Capitol Records.
Released August 28, 1989, the album was panned by critics, with Allmusic referring to the band's sound by producer Terry Melcher as sounding "like a professional '60s cover band." Still Cruisin' was left out of Capitol's Beach Boys re-issue campaign in 2000 and 2001, along with their album Summer in Paradise.

Background

After "Kokomo" gave the Beach Boys their first number one hit in the US since 1966's "Good Vibrations", the band decided to put together an album of recent and classic songs. The classic songs included had been heard in recent films. The songs "Still Cruisin'", "Somewhere Near Japan" and "Island Girl" were recorded for the album by the touring Beach Boys band as well as studio musicians and producer Terry Melcher. Due to his ongoing relationship with Dr. Eugene Landy, Brian Wilson's lone contribution to this album was "In My Car", a song credited as being co-written by Landy and girlfriend Alexandra Morgan. However, as subsequent court actions have seen Landy's name removed from other period songs, such as those on Wilson's 1988 album, these credits may be negated. "Kokomo" was a recent single, as was "Wipe Out", a duet with American rap group the Fat Boys. "Make It Big" was recorded for the film Troop Beverly Hills, and the remaining three songs - "I Get Around", "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "California Girls" – were the "classic" recordings, ones from the group's earlier period, that had been used in recent films. The inclusion of these hits gave the album a more acceptable running time.
Mike Love said of the album: "The theme of that album was to have been songs that have been in movies. It was basically a repackage. But then it got watered down with politics, meaning Brian's Dr. Landy forcing a song called "In My Car," which was never in a movie, and a song by Jardine, which ultimately ended up on the album, called "Island Girl," which was never in a movie either. So to me the concept was a little bit diluted there politically."
Riding on the coattails of "Kokomo", Still Cruisin' went gold in the US and Austria and gave the Beach Boys their best chart showing since 1976. During Capitol's Beach Boys re-issue campaign in 2000 and 2001 however, Still Cruisin' was left behind and allowed to go out of print.

Promotional videos

Four music videos were produced for Still Cruisin':
;Side one
;Side two

Singles

Still Cruisin reached #46' in the U.S. during a chart stay of 22 weeks. It reached number 12 in Austria number 25 in Switzerland and number 43 in Sweden.

Personnel

Partial credits; credits exclude those for the 1960s songs.
;The Beach Boys
;Additional musicians
;Album
Chart Peak
Position
U.S. Billboard 200 Albums46
Australian Album Chart10
Dutch Album Chart92
German Album Chart26
UK Top 40 Album Chart78