Written by John Phillips, Scott McKenzie, Mike Love, and Terry Melcher, the song was released as a single in July 1988 by Elektra Records and became a number one hit in the US and Australia.

In addition to the fictional Kokomo, the song also makes references to many real Caribbean islands, including Aruba, Jamaica, Bahamas, Martinique, and Montserrat.

[3] "Kokomo" was recorded on March 22 and April 5–6, 1988 with production by Terry Melcher, who had previously produced the band's "Rock 'n' Roll to the Rescue" (1986) and "California Dreamin'" (1986).

In his 1991 memoir Wouldn't It Be Nice: My Own Story, Wilson claims he was unable to contribute to the song because he was committed to recording his first solo album and his bandmates deliberately did not inform him of the session date until it was too late.

[5] In 2011, NME ranked the video as the 17th worst of all time, commenting, "It was as if Mike Love had taken the 'Beach Boys' name straight out of Brian Wilson's hands and we were forced to watch footage of Tom Cruise mixing up Bloody Marys.

"Kokomo" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television in 1988, but lost to Phil Collins' "Two Hearts" (from the film Buster).

[8][9][better source needed] In a tie vote, "Two Hearts" and Carly Simon's "Let the River Run" from Working Girl beat "Kokomo" for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

To this day, it serves as a textbook cautionary tale of a once-beloved group poisoning its own legacy and goodwill by making smarmy '80s yuppie pablum.

In 1988, the Beach Boys performed "Kokomo" and other songs on the sixth episode of season two of the American television sitcom Full House.