Beach Ball

I'm a fan of the Frankie Avalon/Annette Funicello beach movies.  Silly B-pictures, perhaps, but a lot of fun.  The biggest problem, however, is aside from some guest appearances (such as Stevie Wonder, James Brown and The Kingsmen), the music is pretty weak.

For instance, here's the theme song to the first movie in the series, Beach Party:



It's not the song, really, it's the arrangement.  While better than most of the tunes the Beach Party series has to offer, it still lacks the power and spirit of good rock and roll.  The funny thing is, Annette Funicello, not particularly remembered as a rock star, had far superior arrangements on her albums.  Here's her doing the same song:



Now that's better.