Q: How did the Beach Boys song “Kokomo” get its name?
A: This innocuous tune from the soundtrack for the Tom Cruise vehicle Cocktail ruled the airwaves in 1988. It was allegedly about an imaginary Caribbean island, and its writers thought the name “Kokomo” made it sound mysterious and lyrical. Yes, they knew about Kokomo, Indiana—birthplace of the first mechanical corn picker—but didn’t seem to care. In fact, no one did. The song became the Beach Boys’ first No. 1 single since “Good Vibrations” in spite of the fact that critics loathed it and Brian Wilson, the heart and soul of the group, had almost nothing to do with the project and refused to speak of it. The city of Kokomo never piggybacked off the tune with a festival or a monument, but many in warmer climes have tried to steal the song’s thunder. Aside from Kokomo Beach on the island of Curaçao, you can find countless Kokomo beach bars in Florida.
