Released: June 10, 1985

Songwriter: Al Jardine Brian Wilson

Producer: Steve Levine

[Verse 1]
If everybody in the U.S.A
Could come with us to Californ-i-a
We could take them to a place out west
Where the good sun shines everyday
Now there's a touch of Californ-i-a
In everyone who's ever been this way
And when your telephone begins to ring
And the operator comes on the line

[Chorus]
California calling
I'll be there right away
There's some beautiful women
Going to find me one
To show me how to ride the ultimate wave

[Verse 2]
Now I've joined the surfing nation and so
I'll take a permanent vacation and go
To the golden shores of 'Frisco Bay
I'll ride them all the way to Malibu
And I'll take you boogie boarding with me
Because when we're surfing it's so great to be free
And when you're on a California beach
You might even find them windsurfing too

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
In the fifties it was "Hey Daddy O"
Then came the surfers and the Hodads you know
We had our woodies and our custom cars
And when we drove around we knew we were bad
My baby listens to my car radio
And when we're cruising lets the whole world know
And when our favorite surfing song comes on
We always let them know it's "Totally Rad!"

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
California calling
She's still on the line
There's a beautiful woman
Going to show me how
To ride them at the county line

[Chorus]

The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys are one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time and the first American pop band to reach the 50-year milestone. Their vocal harmonies are among the most unmistakable and enduring of the rock and roll era.

Formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California, by Brian Wilson, his two brothers Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love, and classmate Al Jardine, the group’s first single “Surfin'” got them signed to Capitol Records and they quickly became one of the most popular and successful artists of the surf music craze of the 1960s. From 1962 to 1966, The Beach Boys scored over twenty top 40 hits in the US including the chart-toppers “I Get Around”, “Help Me Rhonda” & “Good Vibrations” along with the top 5’s “Surfin USA”, “Fun, Fun, Fun”, “California Girls”, “Barbara Ann” & “Sloop John B”. Several of the band’s singles also found top 40 success in Canada, Australia, Sweden and the UK. In 1965, de facto leader Brian Wilson suffered a mental breakdown due to the stress of writing, producing & touring combined with substance abuse issues, causing him to step down and stop traveling with the band on tour.

Inspired by producer Phil Spector and The Beatles' Rubber Soul, Brian focused on studio work, determined to keep the group relevant as the surf music scene was fading with their 1966 album Pet Sounds. Despite tension between members in the studio about this new direction, lack of faith from the record label, mixed reviews, and comparatively lukewarm reception initially in the US, the album still found massive success in the UK and earned accolades from fellow artists including The Beatles, who acknowledged that the album was their inspiration to further push the boundaries of pop music with their landmark album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Eventually Pet Sounds would be acknowledged as one of the greatest albums ever recorded by several media outlets like The Times, Mojo Magazine, The Guardian, VH1, BBC and Rolling Stone.