Mike Love and Brian Wilson Wrote 1 of The Beach Boys’ Biggest Hit Songs in 15 Minutes
While they took very different approaches to songwriting, The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson and Mike Love gave the world many classic rock songs. For example, Love said he and Brian wrote one of the band’s No. 1 hit songs in a mere 15 minutes. Love revealed he thought of the title for the song before he composed anything.
Mike Love said he and Brian Wilson had different impacts on The Beach Boys
Fans often associate Wilson with The Beach Boys’ more experimental side. Meanwhile, fans often associate Love with their more commercial and mainstream offerings. During a 2013 interview with The Guardian, Dave Simpson asked Love if he actually was responsible for The Beach Boys’ sun-and-fun philosophy.
“That was my part, in the lyrics, the concept and the hooks,” Love said. “Nobody structures harmonies and chord progressions and melodies better than Brian, but I was blessed to have him as first cousin, and we have a special chemistry together.”
Brian Wilson and Mike Love have conflicting memories of how they created this Beach Boys song
Simpson asked Love if his contributions to The Beach Boys’ songs were underappreciated. “Well, I wrote with Brian,” Love recalled. “So many of those hits.” For example, Love co-wrote “California Girls,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” and “Little Saint Nick” with Wilson.
“For instance, ‘Do It Again’ – which went to No. 1 in England,” Love added. “I came back from a surfing trip with some high school buddies and said: ‘Hey Brian, I just went to the beach and the waves and the girls were great. We’ve got to do a song called ‘Do It Again.'”
Love said he and Wilson disagree on how “Do It Again” came together. “He remembers it being at my house,” Love said. “I remember it as being at his house. He starts pounding at the piano, I was summoning up the words and we got a chorus together, which was basically a bunch of doo-wop inspired harmonies. We created that whole song in 15 minutes.”
Hot the world reacted to the song
According to The Official Charts Company, “Do It Again” topped the United Kingdom, staying on the charts for 14 weeks. It was The Beach Boys’ only No. 1 hit in the U.K., with the exception of “Good Vibrations.” The latter song stayed on the charts for 13 weeks, making “Do It Again” the band’s longest-charting No. 1 hit.
“Do It Again” was much less popular in the United States. The track peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for 10 weeks. Compared to classic Beach Boys songs like “Kokomo,” “I Get Around,” and “Help Me, Rhonda” that topped the charts, “Do It Again” became a modest hit for the band in their home country. “Do It Again” wasn’t The Beach Boys’ biggest hit in the U.S. — but it came together in a remarkably short time.
