THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

74-Beach Boys-Do It Again.

1968-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 1.24. ‘Do It Again’ is about fondly reminiscing the past, and remembering things correctly as they were, which is ironic really, because Brian Wilson thinks the song was written at Mike Love’s house, and Love thinks it was written at Wilson’s house.

The Beach Boys (see also best songs 930 and 180) were formed in Hawthorne, California, United States, in 1961. The original lineup consisted of the brothers Brian, Dennis, (1944-1983) and Carl Wilson, (1946-1996) their cousin Mike Love, and their school friend Al Jardine. There have been three other band members come and go, they were David Marks, who joined in 1962, and stayed until 1963, but rejoined in 1997-1999, and then again between 2011-2012. Also Blondie Chaplin was a member between 1972-1973, and Ricky Fataar was a Beach Boy between 1972-1974. At the time of writing the bands official members are Brian Wilson, (see also best songs 811) Mike Love, Al Jardine, and Bruce Johnston, who joined the band in 1965. The Beach Boys discography includes 29 studio Albums released between 1962-2012, and 75 singles issued between 1961-2012. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, 29 of their singles have reached the top 40, with four making Number 1. While in the UK they have reached the top 40 on 25 occasions, and made the Number 1 spot twice. The Beach Boys are one of the worlds best selling artists, with sales in excess of 100 million records.

‘Do It Again’ was co-written by Brian Wilson, and Mike Love, with all six members of the Beach Boys at that time credited as the tracks producers. The song was released as a stand alone single, having not been part of the bands 14th studio Album ‘Friends,’ which had only been released two weeks earlier.

By 1968 the Beach Boys had moved away from their earlier 1960’s ‘Surf Music’ based material, and their record sales were in decline. Mike Love was inspired to write the songs lyrics after spending a day at the beach in which he had gone surfing with an old friend named Bill Jackson. Love has said,’I went to the beach with my friends and we went to the surfing spot down at a place called San Onofre, down near the Marine Corps base down south, and it was such a beautiful day and the waves were great. And then of course one of the great things about the beach is it attracts good looking girls. I came back, and we sat down at Brian’s piano, and we banged that song out in maybe 15 minutes, something like that. I had the concept and the lyrics in mind, and he just got a good groove going on the piano.’

‘Do It Again’ was initially recorded with the title ‘Rendezvous,’ but later changed. The songs melody was a return to the more commercial sound of the Beach Boys earlier output, as in recent years their music had become far more experimental, but for all that the song still failed to live up to expectations in America where it stalled at Number 20. In the UK it gave the Beach Boys their second Number 1 single, topping the chart for one week, with Mike Love commenting that it ‘Was unbelievable, It showed how many fans we had there, and how attractive the whole California lifestyle is.’

‘Well I’ve been thinking ’bout all the places we’ve surfed and danced and all the faces we’ve missed, so let’s get back together and do it again.’