The 1980s resurrected many artist careers of yesteryear - Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Smokey Robinson. The Beach Boys caught a second wave and found themselves sitting on top of the world ;-) and the Billboard Hot 100 with their song Kokomo. Written for the Tom Cruise cinematic masterpiece Cocktail (1988), Kokomo is a tropical ditty and an advertisement for the fictional island, which is somewhere off the Florida Keys. The song reached #1 on November 5, 1988, knocking Phil Collins' A Groovy Kind of Love out of the top spot. Unfortunately not even Rhonda could help them ;-) during award season. Carly Simon's Let The River Run from Working Girl (1988) won The Globe Globe for Best Original Song and Collins got his revenge at the Grammy Awards when Two Hearts won Best Song Written for a Movie. And don't even get me started on the The Academy Award nomination snub. This would not be the last time The Beach Boys contributed their harmonious vocals to film. Two years later, they recorded the title track for the John Ritter film Problem Child (1990). While the song is quite catchy, it got lost in The Bermuda Triangle ;-)
The video for Kokomo was filmed at the newly built Grand Floridian Resort at Walt Disney World. The Beach Boys were the very first guests and also served as guinea pigs for their soon-to-opened restaurants. The boys perform for a bunch of vacationers on the beach, some more scantily clad than others. John Stamos, Full House (1987-1995) star and occasional percussionist for the band, makes an appearance, mugging for the camera every chance he gets. The video was shot in just two takes due to impending weather.
Location: The Beach
Address: 4401 Floridian Way, Lake Buena Vista, FL Disney's Grand Floridan Resort
The Grand Floridian is modeled after the Hotel del Coronado, which is located in San Diego. The Victorian resort is eloquently decorated and has over 850 rooms. My family and I stayed here in 1994, though at the time I was way more interested in Splash and Space Mountain. The Grand Floridian is one of three resorts to be on Disney's monorail line...
Location Visited: March 2020
Related Location:
Cocktail (1988)
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