Atypical roads that lead to Beach Boys fandom

[monicker]

We all know the usual suspects that lead relative new comers to the boys: Elephant 6, High Llamas, Weezer, Paul MacCartney, whatever new stuff from the last few years that Pitchfork and the likes are aggrandizing, etc. etc. I don’t have the mental energy to cite more names. You know them already.

But i’m really curious to know if anyone here got into the Beach Boys the way i did, which was through Mr. Bungle. It was July/August of 1999 and California was just coming out and it was actually being covered by the media and reviewed a lot. Well, relatively a lot. Well, okay, not that much. But compared to Disco Volante, it seemed like a lot (for obvious reasons). I was voraciously going through every single review i could get my hands on, because i was silly like that, and without fail, every single one mentioned the Beach Boys, and specifically, Pet Sounds and Smile. So after many occurrences of this, i decided i had to see what this was all about. So i went to the record shop in town and picked up a copy of Pet Sounds. Remember that? Remember when you’d be curious about an album so you’d just walk into a shop and purchase it, and you had no idea what to expect? And you had to have enough faith in it because you were spending your money on it. And then if it was terrible you were bitter about your purchase for like a whole week, and you ate sh i tty, frozen burritos for the next week to make up the loss.

Anyway...anyone else here arrive at the BB through MB? Or some other unlikely avenue? I’ve been curious about this for years. For no good reason, really.

[drbeachboy]

I arrived at The Beach Boys the old-fasihioned way; AM radio & 45 RPM records.

[ghost]

I came to the Beach Boys right at the end of California Girls as they chant GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS YEAH I DIG THE GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS. I had visual aid. 

[SMiLE Brian]

Mine was through watching American graffiti and picking up sunflower and today in a bargain bin at the CD store.

[Jon Stebbins]

My older sister brought home the Surfin USA LP in '63...I was 5 and instantly addicted.

[Stegibo]

I watched Full House! lol

[37!ws]

I drowned myself in Beatles stuff for two years starting in 1987. I decided I needed to expand my horizons. I thought to myself, "Well, I never turn the Beach Boys off when they're on the radio unless it's 'I Get Around,' so I'll give 'em a try." Went to the library, checked out a few Beach Boys albums, and when I got home, I dropped the needle on Best of the Beach Boys Vol. 2 and was instantly hooked from the instant the harmonies of "Don't Worry, Baby" started.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Growing up in Hawthorne, The Beach Boys were gods, but as a punk-ass pre-teen I'd written them off as lame old farts.... Then I saw the Summer Dreams TV movie and have been hooked 24/7 ever since.

[hypehat]

20 Golden Greats, motherlovers. My parents had it, and Pet Sounds. After a while, I picked up that because the other CD was so rad, and well, that was it.

[monicker]

I don't see any of these as atypical. 

[hypehat]

Stebbins and Drbeachboys seem 'normal' - they just bought the records and fell in love!

[Chocolate Shake Man]

I don't see any of these as atypical. 

I was skydiving and was given headphones and a microphone so that I might connect with the head skydive trainer (Mitch) who was probably still on the plane just in case there were any problems. I was in mid-dive, enjoying the scenery, taking some dives through clouds, doing the pretend swim, and the rest of my usual repertoire, when I realized it was time to flate up the old 'chute (we divers just call them 'chutes). But, as luck would have it, I pulled the string and nothing happened. I snapped into action and immediately called Mitch. I said "come in Mitch, over." Mitch said, "receiving call, do you copy?" I said, "copy that received call, Mitch." And Mitch said, "10-4. All ready to prepare for your message." And I said, "Copy that." And he said, "OK, ready for your message now." And that's when I told Mitch that my 'chute wouldn't open. He started to give me 'structions but the radio abruptly cut out and suddenly I started receiving the transmission from a local radio station that was playing what I now know was "I Get Around". I was first impressed by the remarkable background instrumentation, but what really caught my attention was Brian's high falsetto on the chorus and the way it blended with the other voices. I thought, sure, the song is really just about cars and girls, but it speaks to what was in the 1960s a major cultural trend and more over, the chord structure was pretty advanced. Yep, you sure could say that I was a fan all right. Then I died.

[drbeachboy]

I don't see any of these as atypical. 

I was skydiving and was given headphones and a microphone so that I might connect with the head skydive trainer (Mitch) who was probably still on the plane just in case there were any problems. I was in mid-dive, enjoying the scenery, taking some dives through clouds, doing the pretend swim, and the rest of my usual repertoire, when I realized it was time to flate up the old 'chute (we divers just call them 'chutes). But, as luck would have it, I pulled the string and nothing happened. I snapped into action and immediately called Mitch. I said "come in Mitch, over." Mitch said, "receiving call, do you copy?" I said, "copy that received call, Mitch." And Mitch said, "10-4. All ready to prepare for your message." And I said, "Copy that." And he said, "OK, ready for your message now." And that's when I told Mitch that my 'chute wouldn't open. He started to give me 'structions but the radio abruptly cut out and suddenly I started receiving the transmission from a local radio station that was playing what I now know was "I Get Around". I was first impressed by the remarkable background instrumentation, but what really caught my attention was Brian's high falsetto on the chorus and the way it blended with the other voices. I thought, sure, the song is really just about cars and girls, but it speaks to what was in the 1960s a major cultural trend and more over, the chord structure was pretty advanced. Yep, you sure could say that I was a fan all right. Then I died.

Priceless, beautiful, can't get more Atypical than that.

[hypehat]

Sorry, drunken misunderstanding.

I actually got that copy of 20 Golden Greats when, after a lengthy legal battle, I divorced Elliot Gould and received one cut price record a month in lieu of alimony. The first was 20 Golden Greats. I have also got Bat Out Of Hell, Rumours, the entire Phil Collins discography and a Throbbing Gristle EP. But none touched me so much as that first Beach Boys best of....

[Jon Stebbins]

I think being 5 yrs old and already aware of them as a "current" phenomena is fairly atypical. Having teenage sisters in my house swooning over them gave me an awareness of the fan worship element at a very impressionable stage. I don't really know anybody that was exposed to them quite the same way, although i'm sure there are thousands, although maybe not influenced to the point of writing books and obsessing over minute details of their music.

[SMiLE Brian]

I think being 5 yrs old and already aware of them as a "current" phenomena is fairly atypical. Having teenage sisters in my house swooning over them gave me an awareness of the fan worship element at a very impressionable stage. I don't really know anybody that was exposed to them quite the same way, although i'm sure there are thousands, although maybe not influenced to the point of writing books and obsessing over minute details of their music.

What i would give to be alive as a fan buying the LPs during the band's heyday ...

[Chris Brown]

I think being 5 yrs old and already aware of them as a "current" phenomena is fairly atypical. Having teenage sisters in my house swooning over them gave me an awareness of the fan worship element at a very impressionable stage. I don't really know anybody that was exposed to them quite the same way, although i'm sure there are thousands, although maybe not influenced to the point of writing books and obsessing over minute details of their music.

What i would give to be alive as a fan buying the LPs during the band's heyday ...

No kidding - even though I discovered their music in mostly chronological order anyways, being along for the ride in "real time" would have been quite the trip.

[monicker]

He started to give me 'structions but the radio abruptly cut out and suddenly I started receiving the transmission from a local radio station that was playing what I now know was "I Get Around". I was first impressed by the remarkable background instrumentation, but what really caught my attention was Brian's high falsetto on the chorus and the way it blended with the other voices. I thought, sure, the song is really just about cars and girls, but it speaks to what was in the 1960s a major cultural trend and more over, the chord structure was pretty advanced. Yep, you sure could say that I was a fan all right. Then I died.

What about the foreground instrumentation?

Also: was this before or after you were an "anarchist?"

[Ed Roach]

No kidding - even though I discovered their music in mostly chronological order anyways, being along for the ride in "real time" would have been quite the trip.

I was among the lucky ones to make that "real time" 'chronological trip', before getting super lucky & traveling the country with them!  My cousin popped 409 on his new hi-fi for me, back near the end of '62, and my life hasn't been the same since.  When I heard Shut Down a couple of months later, I thought I'd died & gone to heaven - although I couldn't understand why a gear-head group like this had 'beach' in their name...
Little Deuce Coupe came along right with summer, and a friend tipped me off to the unheard flipsides; my dumb ass finally understood their name!  From that point on, it was almost as if Brian, practically ten years older than me, was growing up hand-in-hand with me.  The day I first asked a girl to go steady we walked past a record store and I eyed Pet Sounds...  Couldn't imagine growing up without them! 

[drbeachboy]

Hey Ed, what is your take on what happened to The Beach Boys success here in the U.S. In the late 60's? Brian seemed to still have the pulse of what was happening musically, yet they were tossed off as being irrelevant. Was it just their name? What really went down in your opinion? Thanks!

[Runaways]

listened my greatest hits volume 1 as a kid.  didn't listen to em for real till a couple years post BWPS when i got pet sounds. 

[bossaroo]

i don't think any other band led me to the Beach Boys.

used to rock out with my pals and play air guitar to choice tracks on 'Endless Summer'... this was like 3rd or 4th grade, early 80s. "Catch A Wave" was probably my favorite. the Sunkist 'Good Vibrations' commercial was popular at the time, and my Dad purchased the Medley 45 around this time too.

"Getcha Back" came out in '84 or so. I liked it a lot.
"Wipeout" came out in '87. It was kinda funny and pretty catchy.
"Kokomo" came out in '88. Didn't do anything for me, but the line about a "tropical contact high" made me chuckle.

I was getting pretty into the Grateful Dead in the late 80s, and came across the Fillmore '71 show with the BBs. pretty cool aside from Bruce's geeky MC work.

aside from the James Watt scandal, that was my entire exposure to the boys until I bought a Pet Sounds CD in 1998. I read 'Heroes & Villains', bought the GV Boxset, and just went all-out from there. It was great timing, as Brian was just coming out with new music again and the Brian Wilson Band was coming into being.

[SMiLE Brian]

I think being 5 yrs old and already aware of them as a "current" phenomena is fairly atypical. Having teenage sisters in my house swooning over them gave me an awareness of the fan worship element at a very impressionable stage. I don't really know anybody that was exposed to them quite the same way, although i'm sure there are thousands, although maybe not influenced to the point of writing books and obsessing over minute details of their music.

What i would give to be alive as a fan buying the LPs during the band's heyday ...

No kidding - even though I discovered their music in mostly chronological order anyways, being along for the ride in "real time" would have been quite the trip.

Breaking down the Holland trip and Brian's breakdown real time would have been interesting. Also hearing their singles on the radio would have been awesome instead of never hearing them ever on the radio.

[Cliff1000uk]

Great question and enjoying everyone's different memories of first hearing them.
For me, it was 1987, aged 9 and brought up with The Beatles, Moody Blues, ELO and War of the Worlds.
My school had a show where each class year would do a different decade and mine got the sixties. Well, there was a medley in the middle where 4 kids where in suits and mop top wigs were followed by some poor kid dressed as a hippie (you probably had to be there!)
Well, right after, 4 kids came out on surfboards (actually ironing boards) and on came this guitar riff.....followed by this line about having an ocean.....and then the other voices came in. To say I was spellbound before the chorus is an understatement.
As soon as I got home, I went through my parents record collection, chucking Neil Diamond over my left shoulder and Herman's Hermits over my right until I found the Greatest Hits of the Beach Boys.
Now, things became a bit confusing.
I could put a name to the face of The Beatles and Moodies, even Dave Clarke 5 and The Animals but looking at these 5 guys in white suits, 3 with beards,  I didn't have a clue who was who.
I know, I'll check the credits.BIG mistake. So, there's a Dyke Parks, a Love, an Asher and this Wilson guy does alot as well so, let's have the short blond one at the front as Wilson (all frontman stand at the front), the guy next to him with the tie can be Dyke Parks, the one at the end looks like an Asher and the cleanshaven one looks like a Love so the other one (Mike!).....well, I'm sure he does something!!

So, now I'd put names to faces (and being quite pleased with myself by doing so!), let's put the record on.....Sloop, Cali Girls, Barbara Ann, I Get Around....hold on, I know all of these from the radio. By the end of Side 2, it was flipped back over again

I then got Endless Summer (as it had Surfin' USA on it) and devoured The Heroes and Villains book in one day as I learnt more and more (including that I was more than a little way off with the names!), I then started saving to buy all the albums-I had Pet Sounds when I was 11, hated it at first, appreciated it at 14, loved it by 16.

So-sorry for the meandering tale but I think a 9 year old at a school concert watching his classmates on ironing boards counts as an atypical introduction to this great band!

[theCOD]

My brother bought me a BB greatest hits comp as a joke for my birthday. At the time I wouldn't listen to anything without distorted guitars and screaming, so I thought it was funny but a waste of money. Later I discovered Faith No More, which lead me to Ween, and then to Mr. Bungle. I loved Air-Conditioned Nightmare and that inspired me to give that BB album a spin. It was pretty cool but still seemed like a novelty to me, the only exception being Heroes and Villains. I wondered if they had more songs like that, and that's when I discovered Smiley Smile and they became my favorite band.