The Beach Boys popularity from 68-72

[phirnis]

Performers hating on their fans is by no means a rare occurrence. GG Allin made it a point to do whatever he wished to himself AND his audience. Suicide made their reputation by assaulting their audiences with noise and then verbally berating them; in some cases frontman Alan Vega got into brawls with the audience. Throbbing Gristle were also known to hate their audiences as well. Marilyn Manson was known to threaten to beat up fans who came onstage. I'd say spitting on a fan is pretty tame.

People went to see GG Allin and they perfectly knew what to expect, in fact I think they would've been disappointed if he didn't do what he was known for. That's the difference I think.

[Jason]

That's also true. Suicide and Throbbing Gristle are a better example of an audience's unexpected reaction to their music. Try and find the Suicide 23 Minutes Over Brussels flexi (now commonly on CD); they opened for Elvis Costello and 30 seconds into their set they were being booed mercilessly. The show ended with Alan Vega fighting with the crowd after insulting them left and right. Elvis Costello then played for 20 minutes as retaliation and then the crowd rioted.

[SMiLE Brian]

All this talk about bands vs. the audience makes think about the beach boys dealing with fans. I think of Brian's really tame incident where he told the audience to cool it with the screaming during God Only Knows at the Lei'd in Hawaii show.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Who was it that shot a machine gun loaded with blanks into the audience?

[hypehat]

That's also true. Suicide and Throbbing Gristle are a better example of an audience's unexpected reaction to their music. Try and find the Suicide 23 Minutes Over Brussels flexi (now commonly on CD); they opened for Elvis Costello and 30 seconds into their set they were being booed mercilessly. The show ended with Alan Vega fighting with the crowd after insulting them left and right. Elvis Costello then played for 20 minutes as retaliation and then the crowd rioted.

Oh man, 23 Minutes Over Brussels is something else.

[Jason]

Oh yeah...Suicide are among the most underrated live bands. You really don't know what kind of Suicide you'll see/hear. Sometimes Alan's in a "good mood" and sometimes he's absolutely on the edge. Especially in 1978 when they would play their tune Harlem...cold open with nothing but Alan screaming at the top of his lungs.

[shelter]

That's also true. Suicide and Throbbing Gristle are a better example of an audience's unexpected reaction to their music. Try and find the Suicide 23 Minutes Over Brussels flexi (now commonly on CD); they opened for Elvis Costello and 30 seconds into their set they were being booed mercilessly. The show ended with Alan Vega fighting with the crowd after insulting them left and right. Elvis Costello then played for 20 minutes as retaliation and then the crowd rioted.

I've got a bootleg dvd of a Nirvana show in Argentina. Kurt's pissed off because the audience booed the opening band off stage, so he gets his revenge by playing the intro to 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' several times throughout the set, but never actually playing the song, and by throwing in several feedback jams. The audience didn't deserve better, so I thought that was really cool.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Oh yeah...Suicide are among the most underrated live bands. You really don't know what kind of Suicide you'll see/hear. Sometimes Alan's in a "good mood" and sometimes he's absolutely on the edge. Especially in 1978 when they would play their tune Harlem...cold open with nothing but Alan screaming at the top of his lungs.

I'm listening to Lookin down the Coast right now, and when I read this, I was thinking of Alan Jardine  =^*^=

[OBLiO]

After the Vietnam War was over, and the troops came home, there was a great resurgence, and partly, because they felt they could finally relax and have some Fun, Fun Fun!   

I saw a documentary on George Lucas' impact on American culture. American Graffiti came out in '73. Curious if you remember that movie having that kind of impact for you guys.

[Roger Ryan]

After the Vietnam War was over, and the troops came home, there was a great resurgence, and partly, because they felt they could finally relax and have some Fun, Fun Fun!   

I saw a documentary on George Lucas' impact on American culture. American Graffiti came out in '73. Curious if you remember that movie having that kind of impact for you guys.

The thing about AMERICAN GRAFFITI is that it was intended to be nostalgic for an era merely a decade earlier, but what must have seemed like a lifetime in those years. The film is about the last moments before massive changes occur in American culture. When you learn at the end that one of the main characters was later killed in Vietnam, seconds before "All Summer Long" plays under the end credits, the idyllic romance the film has set up is destroyed. GRAFFITI (along with HAPPY DAYS and GREASE) were huge parts of America's retro love of all things 50s (even though GRAFFITI takes place in '62) and I believe that environment really helped make ENDLESS SUMMER a huge seller.

By the way, I love how Paul LeMat's character in GRAFFITI views the Beach Boys (at that point, the new up-and-coming band) as inauthentic since he is old enough to have loved Buddy Holly a few years earlier and has interest in moving on in his life.