An Album A Day #5: The Beach Boys ENDLESS SUMMER [1974]

When HERC was growing up, HERC SR. owned this album on vinyl and glorious 8-track tape.  When young HERC finally took the plunge and joined (<ahem> got permission to join) Columbia House Record & Tape Club, Endless Summer was one of his signing bonuses - it actually counted as TWO selections so you know the kid was serious about owning that album.  If you look closely, you'll see the album in the ad below:

Few people remember that when those shiny compact discs first appeared on record store shelves, they were packaged in environmentally unfriendly longboxes whose sole purpose seemed to fit the existing vinyl-sized shelves - retailers could fit two stacks of longboxed CDs side by side in the space formerly occupied by a stack of vinyl. Even fewer people remember that 8-track tapes sometimes came in longboxes, like the one below:

The 1974 singles collection was a not-so-subtle cash-in attempt by the Beach Boys former record label (Capitol) to milk a few more bucks from the group's fanbase whose numbers had been dwindling since "Good Vibrations" was a Number One song in 1966.  The nostalgia wave that the American Graffiti soundtrack, which featured "All Summer Long" as its final track, had created a year earlier probably contributed to the surprising sales success of Endless Summer as it stayed on the charts from 1974-1977, peaking at #1 and spinning off a Top 40 single ("Surfin' U.S.A." b/w "The Warmth Of The Sun").  Even more importantly, it introduced the trademark harmonies and idealistic California lifestyle of The Beach Boys songs to a whole new generation.  You can watch an original television commercial for Endless Summer HERE.

Sadly, the song in the video above, arguably their most well-known song and a personal favorite of HERC's, was not included on Endless Summer.  That was rectified when the album was issued on compact disc in 1987 - HERC bought it the day it came out because MRS. HERC is an even bigger Beach Boys fan than HERC so he puts the snizzag on each and every remaster, repackage and reissue they put out including those issued just last year to celebrate their 50th Anniversary.

Read Everybody's Dummy review of ENDLESS SUMMER.