New Mike Love interview

[Chocolate Shake Man]

You're right. If anyone deserves a little credit, it's the guy who announced at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that he was better than everyone.

Except of course, for Muhammad Ali. Solaimalaima.

[ghost]

Ron just came in this thread and kicked every ass in it.  

[Autotune]

Interviews like this aren't aimed at us hardcore fans, so it's ok for Mike to tell his songwriting stories and claim his credit.

And he's right about the Smile suff. In fact, it's amazing that he has the ability to sum up like that his idea.

BTW, he's sounding terrific live these days. Give me anyday a new BW rocker with a ML lead! Cut it with half-assed pseudo artistic statements. Let these guys do it like it's 1961.

[ghost]

BTW, he's sounding terrific live these days. Give me anyday a new BW rocker with a ML lead! Cut it with half-assed pseudo artistic statements. Let these guys do it like it's 1967 on the Wild Honey album - ala HERE COMES THE NIGHT.

Fix'd.

[Autotune]

BTW, he's sounding terrific live these days. Give me anyday a new BW rocker with a ML lead! Cut it with half-assed pseudo artistic statements. Let these guys do it like it's 1967 on the Wild Honey album - ala HERE COMES THE NIGHT.

Fix'd.

...or let Brian round-up a Mike Love original like Let the Wind Blow

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I try to give Mike a chance. I really do. But he just irritates me. Seems like every interview includes the following:
-Mike came up with "I'm picking up good vibrations," which is a crucial part of the song.
-And Mike also wrote [insert at least three more titles here]
-Mike co-wrote Kokomo [usually he'll mention it was #1] without Brian
-Mike hates drugs because look what they did to the Wilsons...Intentionally or not, this expression of love ends up sounding passive aggressive... "Dennis was all messed up on drugs" [no mention of Dennis' accomplishments]

In fact, it all comes off as very passive aggressive. He's trying to defend himself, but he never comes off in a very good light. I just can't imagine he'd be easy to hang around with for very long.

I don't see what the problem is! Mike comes right out and says he's an outspoken person who calls people out. He aint' hiding this. Either deal with it or don't.

Mike knows damn well the Myke haters will hate him no matter who he saves from falling off a 5 story balcony and nothing he can do can change it. They'll just go fishing for anything to back up their hatred and run with it.

All this does is cause Mike to be even more outspoken and to hang into his opinions. Yet he still manages to be polite, composed and complimentary to Brian.

And we may not like to dwell on it, but Dennis DID go to an early grave due to his addictions. The subject was drugs and Mike was speaking of the toll they took on his band.

And c'mon: Mike can't talk about the words he wrote to so many earth smashingly awesome songs??? How many interviews does Brian do where all they talk about are all the great songs he wrote, and on and on and on!?

Let Mike be Mike.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Mike knows damn well the Myke haters will hate him no matter who he saves from falling off a 5 story balcony and nothing he can do can change it.

Whoa! When did that happen?

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Go talk to David Marks.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

I think I would call that fishing more than anything else.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

It was just a little point I was making. A positive point at that.

Call it whatever you damn well like.

[oldsurferdude]

Yeah, poor Myke Luhv. This crumb is the saddest bag of insecurity in music. Give it up, man. Quit braggin'. Get a little humility goin' on. In the next interview, try humbling yourself and tell the world how Gosh Darn lucky you were to have a cousin named Brian Wilson bc if you didn't you'd be a sanitation engineer.  

Don't go near my bald spot
Its gettin' kinda big-
The way its fallin' out
I'll have to find a wig.
 

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Oh no, OSD! Are we getting the pun ball rolling again???  

"Propecia n soap'll make what's under this hat a mess"
"So let's avoid a psycho-follicle-aftermath"
"Beginning with Oldsurferdude, beginning with me-eeeeeee
                                                                                eeeeeeeeeeeee"
                                                                                                

[oldsurferdude]

...and I didn't say GOSH DARN!

[Mikie]

You left out part of the interview in your manic attempt to paint Mike as an butthole.  He mentioned the song writing credits because he mentioned the lawsuit.

I left out a whole lot about Mike. Mike has already been painted as a butthole many times over from different directions. One more opinion is not going to make any difference here. I don't hate Mike by any means. He's got to be congratulated on 50 years of spreading the word of Brian. Any negative feelings that people have for him is his own fault. A good example of this is the R & R Hall of Fame speech.

The interviewer asked Brian, "How is your relationship with Brian?" And Mike immediately refers to the past and his lawsuit about the song credits. That was what, way back in 1992 - 19 years ago! What's that got to do with his relationship with Brian now? He could have said he talked/saw Brian recently and they had dinner or recorded together or maybe talked reunion - why dredge up negative stuff from the past? He didn't mention the fact that back in '05 the court threw out his lawsuit against Brian and the Daily Mail. But why did Mike even go there? Again? Is that the first thing that came to his mind? He still wants to be recognized for the lyrics he wrote to the songs. He still mentions the lyrics he wrote for songs during Beach Boys concerts!


From a recent interview:

How do you react to the continued attention paid to "Smile"?

ML: What's left of "Smile" is a shell. It would have been a great record but he [Brian] just didn't have the will or the ability to finish it. See, a lot of the Brian bullsh*t rests around that album and it's nothing, it's just fragments. Who wants to hear about Brian's mental problems anyway? Sweet Insanity. A whole album of Brian's madness that no one wants to release and still everyone says he's a genius! I make "Kokomo", it goes to number one in the charts and I'm still the dumb, know-nothing, talentless Mike Love.

NOW you know why Mike side-stepped the question concerning SMiLE. It still fries him to talk about it.

A guy from this board e-mailed me today. He has an interview with Mike Love in a couple of days and asked me what I would like to ask Mike. Any ideas from the board members here that I can pass on?  

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Why do we all sit around assuming Mike is supposed to be completely sane and reasonable?

Let's remember he IS related to The Wilsons by blood!

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

and the primary reasons so many bands break-up and have lingering anger that boils over on occasion (sometimes into absolute violence) is over songwriting credits, royalties, interlopers, general $$$ B.S!

Why is Mike supposed to be immune to such things/feelings?

I mean, we KNOW he was screwed out of songwriting credits!!

[Amy B.]

I try to give Mike a chance. I really do. But he just irritates me. Seems like every interview includes the following:
-Mike came up with "I'm picking up good vibrations," which is a crucial part of the song.
-And Mike also wrote [insert at least three more titles here]
-Mike co-wrote Kokomo [usually he'll mention it was #1] without Brian
-Mike hates drugs because look what they did to the Wilsons...Intentionally or not, this expression of love ends up sounding passive aggressive... "Dennis was all messed up on drugs" [no mention of Dennis' accomplishments]

In fact, it all comes off as very passive aggressive. He's trying to defend himself, but he never comes off in a very good light. I just can't imagine he'd be easy to hang around with for very long.

Amy maybe you missed the part where the guy asked him why he's painted as the ass, and he explained because in the 60's he wasn't taking drugs like the boys were, and he hated seeing it ruin their lives.  Sounds perfectly logical to me.

He's a touring band.  It's an interview about a concert.  You dont' think maybe he'd mention the things he did, so people will come see the show?  He went out of his way, over and over again, to talk about how great Brian is. 

As I say, I want to like him, but he comes off this way in every interview. Yes, his reputation is that he's an ass. That's not only because of David Leaf. That's also because of things MIKE has said. When you go around saying, "I did this" and "I did that" over and over, you look bitter and defensive.  I can understand where he's coming from. It seems like he feels he didn't get enough credit, and he's right. I'm not a Mike hater. He just irritates me, that's all, and I can see why a lot of people groan when they read his interviews. I do. And he'd better praise Brian, if he's expecting to be praised himself. So I expect nothing less.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Brian talks himself up too!

Only difference is the interviewers goad him on!

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Brian talks himself up too!

Only difference is the interviewers goad him on!

Yes. But that difference is crucial.

[BillA]

Carl's drug taking is mentioned again here, as he was my fave BB I'd like to know to what extent it affected his performances etc and whether he was a druggie from early on as Brian seems to have been. It's easy to think Carl was the 'clean and sensible' one of the group.

Carl was clearly smoking pot, taking LSD, hash, nitrous etc by 1967.

Wow, didn't realise it was all that by 67! It does surprise me.

iI had always thought that Carl didn't have a drug problem (as opposed to using) iuntil 1977-78.

[Amy B.]

Carl's drug taking is mentioned again here, as he was my fave BB I'd like to know to what extent it affected his performances etc and whether he was a druggie from early on as Brian seems to have been. It's easy to think Carl was the 'clean and sensible' one of the group.

Carl was clearly smoking pot, taking LSD, hash, nitrous etc by 1967.

Wow, didn't realise it was all that by 67! It does surprise me.

iI had always thought that Carl didn't have a drug problem (as opposed to using) iuntil 1977-78.

There's a difference between taking drugs recreationally by choice and having a drug problem. McCartney tried LSD and cocaine and smoked lots of pot, but I wouldn't say he had a drug problem. It sounds like Carl's problems did start much later.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Brian talks himself up too!

Only difference is the interviewers goad him on!

Yes. But that difference is crucial.

Really?

[BillA]

Some questions I would like to ask Mike Love:

Name some songs that you think have been overlooked (what songs would knock the casual fan off their feet if they heard them for the first time)?

What do you think each member brought to the band?

What do you miss most about Dennis and Carl?

What do you tthink of 'Love You', 'Wild Honey', 'Friends' and 'Smiley Smile'.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Brian talks himself up too!

Only difference is the interviewers goad him on!

Yes. But that difference is crucial.

Really?

Of course. There is a difference between someone asking you to talk about your work, and you bringing it up on your own. That's elementary.

[SMiLE Brian]

You left out part of the interview in your manic attempt to paint Mike as an butthole.  He mentioned the song writing credits because he mentioned the lawsuit.

I left out a whole lot about Mike. Mike has already been painted as a butthole many times over from different directions. One more opinion is not going to make any difference here. I don't hate Mike by any means. He's got to be congratulated on 50 years of spreading the word of Brian. Any negative feelings that people have for him is his own fault. A good example of this is the R & R Hall of Fame speech.

The interviewer asked Brian, "How is your relationship with Brian?" And Mike immediately refers to the past and his lawsuit about the song credits. That was what, way back in 1992 - 19 years ago! What's that got to do with his relationship with Brian now? He could have said he talked/saw Brian recently and they had dinner or recorded together or maybe talked reunion - why dredge up negative stuff from the past? He didn't mention the lawsuit back in '05 where the court threw out his lawsuit against Brian and the Daily Mail. But why did Mike even go there? Again? Is that the first thing that came to his mind? He still wants to be recognized for the lyrics he wrote to the songs. He still mentions the lyrics he wrote for songs during Beach Boys concerts!


From a recent interview:

How do you react to the continued attention paid to "Smile"?

ML: What's left of "Smile" is a shell. It would have been a great record but he [Brian] just didn't have the will or the ability to finish it. See, a lot of the Brian bullsh*t rests around that album and it's nothing, it's just fragments. Who wants to hear about Brian's mental problems anyway? Sweet Insanity. A whole album of Brian's madness that no one wants to release and still everyone says he's a genius! I make "Kokomo", it goes to number one in the charts and I'm still the dumb, know-nothing, talentless Mike Love.

NOW you know why Mike side-stepped the question concerning SMiLE. It still fries him to talk about it.

A guy from this board e-mailed me today. He has an interview with Mike Love in a couple of days and asked me what I would like to ask Mike. Any ideas from the board members here that I can pass on?  

He should just listen to the box without his bias and see how the SMiLE box contains beautiful material that is not just "snipits" I don't even think he has listened to BWPS. Comparing SMiLE to Sweet Insanity is just is nasty and uncalled for. Mike just can't seem to let grudges go, hell he probably would still yell at Tony Asher or Van Dyke Parks for taking his lyricist role all those years ago. Mike shouldn't even use Kokomo as an example of a hit song without Brian, the song was written mostly by Papa John Phillips.