Search - Various Artists :: Summer Beach Party

Well inentioned but narrow, weak collection of an intriguing

Michael B. Marshall | 08/13/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"While the prior reviews are well written and helpful, they contain some errors that any potential buyer of this CD should be aware of.



First, there is much, much more to the musical legacy of the "Beach Party genre" than small number of pieces in this collection. The majority of the material contained on this CD is from the seven American International Pictures (AIP) productions made between August 1963 and April 1966 (Beach Party, Muscle Beach Party, Bikini Beach, Pajama Party, Beach Blanket Bingo, How To Stuff A Wild Bikini and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini). However, during that period over two dozen "clones" of these films were made by competing studios, many containing music that in terms of quality far exceeded the AIP productions (not all studios treated their musical interludes as "ephemera.")



Secondly, there were indeed numerous full original soundtrack albums released back in the 1960s for many of these films, some of the better ones including Wild On The Beach (released by RCA in 1964), Surf Party (by MGM in 1964), Get Yourself a College Girl (also by MGM in 1964), A Swingin' Summer (by Hanna Barbera Records in 1965), Out of Sight (by Decca in 1966) and Wild, Wild Winter (also by Decca in 1966). Among the artists who appeared in those films and whose numbers are on the soundtrack LPS -- and whose pieces are not included on the Varese CD collection -- are Sonny and Cher, the Righteous Brothers, The Dave Clark Five, The Animals, The Turtles, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Freddie and the Dreamers, Lesley Gore and Dick and Dee Dee.



Third, not everything on this CD is "available for the first time." The Dick Dale number was released as a single by Capitol in late 1963. The film cast rendition of "Bikini Beach" and the Exciter's "Gotcha You Where I Want You" are both on Candy Johnson's 1964 "Bikini Beach" Canjo LP. The "wide stereo" version of Annette's title piece for "Pajama Party" is identical to the one released on the Buena Vista stereo version of "Annette's Pajama Party" LP forty-two years ago.



And fourth, neither Jan and Dean nor the Astronauts ever appeared in or were involved in any way with the AIP productions. Their pieces on this CD are from Beach Party clones (Columbia's 1963 and 1964 productions of "Surf Party" and "Ride The Wild Surf").



Those observations aside, what are the high and low points of what you get in the Varese collection?



Well, to put it bluntly a handful of treasures (as previously observed, the original film version of Loren's "It Only Hurts When I Cry" from Beach Blanket Bingo, as well as the second Pyramids number from Bikini Beach and the Beach Boys title number from the Universal clone "Girls On The Beach") mixed in with a lot of throw-away filler: everything from Muscle Beach Party (the weakest musically of any of the seven AIP films), Avalon's two forgettable numbers from Beach Party and the title piece from Dr. Goldfoot & The Bikini Machine being among the most notable wastes of space on this CD.



Unfortunately, the producers of this album seem to have had a limited appreciation of the range of music in the Beach party genre, for they focused on trying to cover almost every AIP film (irrespective of music quality) to the exclusion of all the other great pop in the contemporary clones. In addition, they -- for unknown reasons -- skipped over some of the best material in the AIP movies. Specifically, here are the "crown jewels" of the Beach Party genre that should be included in any good collection:



- Annette's classic pop love ballads from the AIP series. Specifically, "Treat Him Nicely" and "Promise Me Anything" from Beach Party, and her duet with Tommy Kirk in "There has to Be A Reason" from Pajama Party. For good measure, I'd also throw in "The Perfect Boy," Annette's upbeat moral ballad from "How To Stuff A Wild Bikini" (That song arguably being the best piece she did in the entire series).



- The Righteous Brother's screaming performance of "Justine" from A Swingin' Summer (why the rather bland Rip Chords number from this film was included by Varese is beyond me!)



- Dick and Dee's wonderful piece ("Heartbeats") from Wild, Wild Winter. The Jay and the Americans performance of "Two Of A Kind" at the end of the film also warrants a mention. Frankly, the soundtrack of this film is so good (probably the best of any Beach Party clone) I'd also include the orchestrated main title piece as well as the pounding, wall-of-soundish number (amusingly titled "Our Loves' Gonna Snowball") performed by the somewhat obscure -- but still glorious -- Jackie and Gayle duo on the beach early in the film.



- The tough version of "Round and Round" performed by the Animals at the end of Get Yourself a College Girl. Despite the silly scipt, Eric Burdon manages to grimace through this whole number in his classic swarmy form.



- The bouncy "Never Comin' Back" from Surf Party (a fantastic "were finally at the beach" number) sung by Jackie DeShannon, Patricia Morrow and Lory Patrick.



- Little Richard -- in his textbook out-of-control form -- pounding out "Scuba Party" early on in Catalina Caper, a 1967 production that was the last curtain call for the genre, the final movie that most film historians categorize as falling into the "Beach Party" category.



- And for good measure, the strange mix of The Supremes and the beach, in the form of "Beach Ball," the pulsing title piece they perform live in the 1964 Paramount film of the same name.



Ah, a collection containing these numbers would not only transport one back to the mid 60s - it would dramatically raise your appreciation of the Hollywood pop legacy of that period!"

What You Need To Know

Cary E. Mansfield | Studio City, CA USA | 07/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just in time for the summer season is the first release ever to collect songs from the beloved beach party films of the '60s. The core "Beach Party" films featured Frankie Avalon and Annette singing and acting, along with some of the biggest recording artists of the day (The Beach Boys, Dick Dale, The Kingsmen, Jan & Dean, Nancy Sinatra, Donna Loren), yet there never was any official soundtrack albums issued for the films. These musical numbers made the "Beach Party" films the full-length music videos of their day. Six songs are appearing for the first time anywhere."

Beach Music Bingo

D. Haupert | Elgin, IL USA | 11/04/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are a fan of the Beach movies from the 60's, then you can not afford to miss this wonderful cd featuring Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Dick Dale, Donna Loren, Nancy Sinatra and many more. There is a good diverse sampling of songs from these movies. This is DEFINITELY beach music at its best!

If you remember characters with names such as Frankie, Dee Dee, Big Drag, Eric Von Zipper, Candy and Deadhead, you are NOT going to want to miss this cd.

I will admit that there are some good songs missing from this cd. But if you buy THE VERY BEST OF DONNA LOREN on cd as a companion piece to this one, you will have most of the best music from the AIP Beach movies.

What are you waiting for? Buy this cd before Eric Von Zipper comes over and hits you with the Himalayan suspenders trick."