Sunshine Pop a ’60s Soundtrack
Photo by Julianne Woodson
Influenced by the Beach Boys, sunshine pop performers gave popular music a light touch in the ’60s.
What Is Sunshine Pop?
“Sunshine pop” wasn’t even a thing in the ’60s. It wasn’t until the ’90s that rock journalists needed a name to account for the California-based mainstream pop style that featured lush harmonies, light orchestral arrangements, and “relentless good cheer.”
The stars of sunshine pop embodied the musical styles that influenced them: the Association and Spanky and Our Gang (baroque pop), the Lovin’ Spoonful, the Mamas & the Papas, the Seekers, and the Turtles (folk rock), Tommy James & the Shondells, the Grass Roots, the Young Rascals, and Paul Revere & the Raiders (psychedelic rock), and the 5th Dimension, the Monkees, and Sonny & Cher (Brill Building pop).
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys were perhaps the biggest influencer of sunshine pop though not always its peer. By the time the Beach Boys released the iconic Pet Sounds (1966), the band was in a class by itself.
Brian Wilson’s dalliance with Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound set the rules for pop music in the ’60s. Hits such as “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “God Only Knows,” and “Good Vibrations” favored soaring melodies and comforting themes that set them apart from the dissonance that characterized some prominent ’60s rock.
The Beatles
While the Beach Boys were blazing trails in the California sun, Brian Wilson kept a close eye on the Beatles. The Fab Four from Liverpool were crafting their own brand of pop perfection with songs like “Here, There and Everywhere” and “Good Day Sunshine,” from their 1966 album, Revolver. (Paul McCartney told Beach Boys biographer David Leaf that “God Only Knows” was his source of inspiration for “Here, There and Everywhere.”)
Here is a live version of “God Only Knows,” recorded in Knebworth, Hertfordshire, England on June 21, 1980, for the Beach Boys’ fourth live album, Good Timin’: Live at Knebworth, three minutes long, all original Beach Boys in tow, published by Mercury via YouTube:
By the mid-’60s, the Beatles and the Beach Boys were nipping at each other’s heels. Sunshine pop players were taking notice.
Battle of the Bands. Source: Ultimate Classic Rock
A Sixties Sunshine Pop Playlist
Listed, in no particular order, are 15 essential sunshine pop songs from the ’60s:
The Association, Cherish, 1966
Spanky and Our Gang, Lazy Day, 1967
The Grass Roots, Let’s Live for Today, 1967
The 5th Dimension, Up-Up and Away, 1967
The Turtles, Happy Together, 1967
The Lovin’ Spoonful, You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice, 1965
The Mamas & the Papas, California Dreamin’, 1965
Tommy James and the Shondells, Crystal Blue Persuasion, 1968
The Beach Boys, Good Vibrations, 1966
The Young Rascals, Groovin’, 1966
Paul Revere and the Raiders, Good Thing, 1966
Sly and the Family Stone, Sing a Simple Song, 1968
Neil Diamond, Sweet Caroline, 1969
The Cowsills, The Rain, the Park & Other Things, 1967
The Monkees, Daydream Believer, 1967
Bonus Round
’60s Hit Records
First, here are the top five hit singles from each year in the ’60s. Notice that sunshine pop songs took the number one position during its peak years in 1966 and 1967:
The Billboard Top 5 best-selling singles of each year during the sixties. Source: thepeoplehistory.com
The Mamas & the Papas
Second, a video of the Mamas & the Papas’ song, “Creeque Alley,” an autobiographical number that name-checks interactions between the Mamas & the Papas, the Lovin’ Spoonful, and the Byrds, lip-synched on the Ed Sullivan Show on June 11, 1967, three minutes long, published by the Ed Sullivan Show via YouTube:
Those were the days, my friend. Can you dig it?
