How a Chance Radio Interview and Mischievous Daughter Helped Inspire One of The Beach Boys’ Biggest Hits

Most of us wouldn’t want a time when we got reprimanded by our parents immortalized in a song, but Shirley Johnson England didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she’s joked that she wants the hook from The Beach Boys’ “Fun, Fun, Fun” (“She had fun, fun, fun”) written on her tombstone when she dies. The song is about her, after all.

The Beach Boys’ 1964 pop hit tells the story of a girl who heads to a hamburger stand instead of going to the library, like she told her father she would. The girl in the song was driving her dad’s Thunderbird. But in the chorus, it’s revealed that the “daddy took the T-bird away.”

The song has all the makings of an early 60s surf pop hit. Classic cars, hanging out with friends, girls looking for fun. But it wasn’t just a creative fabrication. There actually was a Thunderbird, and Shirley Johnson England’s dad really did take it away.

How The Beach Boys Met the Future “Fun, Fun, Fun” Girl

Shirley Johnson England’s father, Howard Johnson, owned KNAK radio out of Salt Lake City, Utah, in the 1960s. The station’s general manager, Bill Hesterman, was close friends with The Beach Boys manager (and Brian, Dennis, and Carl’s dad), Murray Wilson. Through Hesterman, The Beach Boys developed a close professional relationship with KNAK, visiting the station often to give interviews and perform around Utah. Through her job as a part-time secretary at KNAK, England became acquainted with the California pop group.

“We all flirted with each other,” England recalled to Deseret News in 2005. “We talked all the time. They were very friendly, just fun and silly. They were kids.”

England was studying at the University of Utah at the time, where her father also worked. She often took his car, a Thunderbird, to campus so she could utilize his staff parking pass. Just like The Beach Boys would later recount in “Fun, Fun, Fun”, England told her dad she was going to campus to study one night and went off with her friends instead. When her father realized her fib, he took her Thunderbird privileges away.

Word got around the radio station about England being grounded from using her dad’s car. And eventually, The Beach Boys found out, too. While the band was traveling to the Salt Lake City airport to head back to California, Mike Love and Brian Wilson wrote “Fun, Fun, Fun” about the incident.

“They were a great group of guys,” England told Fox 59. “It was just a really fun association, as was working at that station.” Of the iconic Thunderbird, she added, “It was a nice ride.”

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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