Getcha Back

1985 single by the Beach Boys

"Getcha Back"

Single by the Beach Boys

from the album The Beach Boys

B-side

"Male Ego"

Released

May 8, 1985

Length

2:59

Label

Brother

Songwriter(s)

Mike Love, Terry Melcher

Producer(s)

Steve Levine

The Beach Boys singles chronology

"Come Go with Me"
(1981)

"Getcha Back"
(1985)

"It's Gettin' Late"
(1985)

"Getcha Back" is a song written by Mike Love and Terry Melcher for the American rock band the Beach Boys, on their 1985 album The Beach Boys. It was the band's first release since the drowning death of Dennis Wilson in 1983. The song peaked at number 26 nationally and number two on the Adult Contemporary chart.^[1]

Musically, the backing vocals resemble those from the 1959 hit "Hushabye" by the Mystics, which the Beach Boys had covered in 1964 for their All Summer Long album. Comparisons could also be made to Bruce Springsteen's 1980 hit "Hungry Heart", which Love later recorded a cover of for a tribute album. The AllMusic review by William Ruhlmann stated that "despite the production sheen provided by Steve Levine (of Culture Club fame), this is another competent but uninspired effort."^[2]

Reception

Cash Box said the song "so wonderously recalls [the Beach Boys'] earlier times and earlier sounds."^[3]

Music video

The music video, directed by Dominic Orlando, was filmed on location in Malibu and Venice, California. It featured a then-unknown Katherine Kelly Lang, who went on to play Brooke Logan on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.

Personnel

Credits sourced from Craig Slowinski, John Brode, Will Crerar and Joshilyn Hoisington.^[4]

The Beach Boys

Al Jardine - backing vocals
Bruce Johnston - backing vocals
Mike Love - lead and backing vocals
Brian Wilson - co-lead and backing vocals
Carl Wilson - backing vocals

Session musicians

John Alder - electric and acoustic guitars
Graham Broad - jingle stick, tambourine, castanets, maracas, bongos
Steve Grainger - baritone saxophone
Steve Levine - Fairlight CMI and LinnDrum programming, producer
Julian Lindsay - Kurzweil K250, PPG Wave 2.3, Yamaha DX1, bass guitar
Terry Melcher - backing vocals, Kurzweil K250

Chart positions

Chart (1985)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	81
Austria Media Control	8
Canada Top Singles	26
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary	4
European Airplay Top 50	22
Germany Media Control	12
UK Singles	97
US Billboard Hot 100	26
US Billboard Adult Contemporary	2
US Cash Box Top 100^[5]	25
US Cash Box Jukebox Programmer^[6]	20
US Gavin Report Top 40	17
US Gavin Report Adult Contemporary	1
US Radio & Records Contemporary Hit Radio	23
US Radio & Records Adult Contemporary	2

Cover versions

Mark McGrath, lead singer of the California rock band Sugar Ray, performed a cover of this song for the soundtrack of Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005). The Beach Boys version appears at the beginning, during the flashback of Herbie's racing career and adventures, during the opening credits.

Mike Love re-recorded the song for his 2017 solo album Unleash the Love. This version features altered lyrics and a new third verse, and features John Stamos on percussion.

References

^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 29.
^ Ruhlmann, William (2008). The Allmusic Review. Allmusic.
^ "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. May 25, 1985. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
^ Slowinski, Craig (Summer 2023). Beard, David (ed.). "The Beach Boys 1985". Endless Summer Quarterly Magazine. Vol. 36, no. 142. Charlotte, North Carolina.
^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, July 6, 1985
^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, July 6, 1985

The Beach Boys singles

1960s

1961	"Surfin'" / "Luau"
1962	"Surfin' Safari" / "409" "Ten Little Indians" / "County Fair"
1963	"Surfin' U.S.A." / "Shut Down" "Surfer Girl" / "Little Deuce Coupe" "Be True to Your School" / "In My Room" "Little Saint Nick" / "The Lord's Prayer"
1964	"Fun, Fun, Fun" / "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" "I Get Around" / "Don't Worry Baby" "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" / "She Knows Me Too Well" "Dance, Dance, Dance" / "The Warmth of the Sun" "The Man with All the Toys" / "Blue Christmas"
1965	"Do You Wanna Dance?" / "Please Let Me Wonder" "Help Me, Rhonda" / "Kiss Me, Baby" "California Girls"/ "Let Him Run Wild" "The Little Girl I Once Knew" / "There's No Other (Like My Baby)" "Barbara Ann" / "Girl Don't Tell Me"
1966	"Sloop John B" / "You're So Good to Me" "Wouldn't It Be Nice" / "God Only Knows" "Good Vibrations" / "Let's Go Away for Awhile"
1967	"Then I Kissed Her" / "Mountain of Love" "Heroes and Villains" / "You're Welcome" "Wild Honey" / "Wind Chimes" "Darlin'" / "Here Today"
1968	"Friends" / "Little Bird" "Do It Again" / "Wake the World" "Bluebirds over the Mountain" / "Never Learn Not to Love"
1969	"I Can Hear Music" / "All I Want to Do" "Break Away" / "Celebrate the News"

1970s

1970	"Add Some Music to Your Day" / "Susie Cincinnati" "Cottonfields" / "The Nearest Faraway Place" "Slip On Through" / "This Whole World" "Tears in the Morning" / "It's About Time"
1971	"Cool, Cool Water" / "Forever" "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (live) / "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (by Merry Clayton) "Long Promised Road" / "Deirdre" "Long Promised Road" / "'Til I Die" "Student Demonstration Time" / "Don't Go Near the Water" "Surf's Up" / "Don't Go Near the Water"
1972	"You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone" / "Cuddle Up" "Marcella" / "Hold On Dear Brother"
1973	"Sail On, Sailor" / "Only with You" "California Saga/California" / "Funky Pretty"
1974	"Surfin' U.S.A." / "The Warmth of the Sun" "Child of Winter (Christmas Song)" / "Susie Cincinnati"
1975	"Sail On, Sailor" / "Only with You"
1976	"Rock and Roll Music" / "T M Song" "It's O.K." / "Had to Phone Ya" "Everyone's in Love with You" / "Susie Cincinnati"
1977	"Honkin' Down the Highway" / "Solar System"
1978	"Peggy Sue" / "Hey Little Tomboy"
1979	"Here Comes the Night" / "Baby Blue" "Good Timin'" / "Love Surrounds Me" "Lady Lynda" / "Full Sail" "It's a Beautiful Day" / "Sumahama"

1980s

1980	"Goin' On" / "Endless Harmony" "Livin' with a Heartache" / "Santa Ana Winds"
1981	"The Beach Boys Medley" / "God Only Knows" "Come Go with Me" / "Don't Go Near the Water"
1985	"Getcha Back" / "Male Ego" "It's Gettin' Late" / "It's O.K." "She Believes in Love Again" / "It's Just a Matter of Time"
1986	"Rock 'n' Roll to the Rescue" / "Good Vibrations" (live) "California Dreamin'" / "Lady Liberty"
1987	"Happy Endings" (with Little Richard) / "California Girls" (live)
1988	"Kokomo" / "Tutti Frutti" (Little Richard)
1989	"Still Cruisin'" / "Kokomo"

1990s

1990	"Somewhere Near Japan" / "Kokomo" "Problem Child" / "Problem Child (Instrumental)"
1992	"Hot Fun in the Summertime" / "Summer of Love"
1996	"I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" / "Wouldn't It Be Nice" / "Here Today"

2010s

2011	"Good Vibrations" / "Heroes and Villains" "Don't Fight the Sea" / "Friends"
2012	"That's Why God Made the Radio" / "That's Why God Made the Radio" (instrumental) "Isn't It Time" / Live in Chicago