New Mike Examiner interview

[Rocky Raccoon]

I've never understood where "Brianista" came from.  It doesn't really make sense.  It sounds like a combination of Brian and barista which just makes me think of Brian working behind the counter at Starbucks.

[Rocky Raccoon]

I think "Brianiac" would be more clever.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

I think "Brianiac" would be more clever.

I am having a lot of trouble pronouncing that, but it is amusing to read.

[the professor]

I feel impelled to point out that the only "acclaim" that Brian, Alan & David are currently "soaking up" is emanating from forums such as this (and of course The Bloo), more specifically from the Love-hating Brianista (current pejorative usage) contingent. No-one in the mainstream media has said anything one way or the other. For all we know, when push comes to shove they may suck royally.

I'd say the odds that they "suck royally" are very very very low. We will have Brian's band (with Brian), with the bonus of Al's voice and David's guitar and voice...should be an okay show.

  I do feel like the small dog in the cartoon following the heals of the big dog Jon Stebbins, but I am happy to play that role, if Jon permits. The overwhelming preference in that radio poll indicates a sentiment and perspective with which I agree.  I would accept free tickets to see M and B again, with low expectations, but I will eat old spaghetti for a month to see Brian, Al and Dave. Simply to see the three on guitar and bass together on stage is a thrill. In all that I have seen of the shows, live and on video, David Marks constitutes the purity of the reunion for me.  I would not go to see Al and Brian (have seen them already in Long Beach) without Dave. He has only one Wilson brother left to love and support and jam with. I will do all I can to be there and cheer.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Really, though, the term emerged in the pejorative sense because there was a very long and extensive campaign to promote Brian in the media that began in the late 90s. It began with a 1998 CD, the Wondermints tour in 1999, a special 2 hour A&E Biography episode, and then the Pet Sounds tour, and on and on and on. As a result, people started very seriously talking about Brian Wilson. He got a tremendous amount of press, and a larger following. Of course, you can't have something like that without their being an eventual blowback. And so you started getting inklings of it with people saying things like "You have to acknowledge that The Beach Boys were more than Brian Wilson." That, of course, makes sense. Now, though, the pendulum has swung very hard in the other direction to the extent that it is fashionable to hate on people who are specifically Brian Wilson fans. For that reason, the Blueboarders make easy targets, though granted, I have not seen what they've been writing in about seven years or so.

[Rocky Raccoon]

I still don't understand what that has to do with a barista.

[Wirestone]

Brianista was actually originally a positive term, and it's a portmanteau of Brian and "sandinista" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandinista_National_Liberation_Front). The joke. I guess, was that Brian's die-hard fans were as devoted as South American revolutionaries. Given the time frame of the reference, I'd guess it was coined in the 80s or (possibly) the 90s. Through use on the boards, it has become something of a pejorative.

[Mikie]

Just got an e-mail from Ticketmaster. It's a heads-up about a Mike & Bruce show in Lincoln (near Auburn) California at Thunder Valley Casino Resort on September 6.  That's about 6 months from now.  And 3 months from now on June 9, Saratoga, CA - The Mountain Winery.

Am I going to either one? Ef no, not unless somebody gives me 2 free tickets.

C'mon, where's the Northern Cal date for Brian, Al, and Dave this year..........I'll be there.

[SMiLE Brian]

M&B just love dragging the BBs name to those sleazy casinos. 

[drbeachboy]

I've never understood where "Brianista" came from.  It doesn't really make sense.  It sounds like a combination of Brian and barista which just makes me think of Brian working behind the counter at Starbucks.

It's a play on Sandinista. The group who ran Nicaragua and their followers.

[Rocky Raccoon]

M&B just love dragging the BBs name to those sleazy casinos. 

That's one of the things that really bothers me.  He wants to use the Beach Boys name, that's fine but they shouldn't be accepting gigs at such unsophisticated venues.

[drbeachboy]

M&B just love dragging the BBs name to those sleazy casinos.  

I saw the C50 Tour Beach Boys in a casino. There was nothing sleazy about it. Actually, it was very nice and had great sound.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

M&B just love dragging the BBs name to those sleazy casinos. 

The Bruce Boys need to play the Tomorrow-land stage at Disneyland! That I would go to

[SMiLE Brian]

M&B just love dragging the BBs name to those sleazy casinos. 

The Bruce Boys need to play the Tomorrow-land stage at Disneyland! That I would go to

I want Brian, Al, and David to crash the show.

[Jim V.]

Wow, Mike sure makes it sound like Brian rarely contributed anything to the band from '64 to 2013.

Absolutely. I'd LOVE somebody to defend the "Occasionally, during the last 45 years, he has gotten together with us to do things like the 15 Big Ones album" quote. It is just intellectually dishonest the way Mike talks. Yes, Brian didn't tour all that much, but apparently Mike also forgets stuff like Pet Sounds or the fact that even from 1964 to 2012, Brian wrote almost every one of their hits.

It doesn't personally bother me if Mike doesn't wanna work with the rest of them anymore. He has the right to do what he wants with whoever he wants. But he shouldn't be touring as The Beach Boys if he doesn't wanna work with The Beach Boys. And the onus is on Brian and Al too, if they wanna continue to let a guy who doesn't wanna work with them go out as The Beach Boys. It's a pathetic situation all around.

[Emdeeh]

I can speak with some authority on the emergence of the term "Brianista," having been present when the non-fan spouse of a BB fan first uttered it in the late '80s (in the U.S.*). Yes, it's a nod to "Sandinista," and originally meant someone who was such a diehard fan of Brian's that they were semi- to fully oblivous of the contributions of the other members of the Beach Boys to the group's success. The term percolated through various fans until someone posted it in a discussion on a long-gone message board, and it caught on, becoming more of a badge of pride for diehard Brian fans.

*"Brianista" may have also had an entirely separate birth and evolution in the U.K.

[AndrewHickey]

Rather, what I see here is people throwing around the term "Brianista" as a knee-jerk reaction because they really can't defend their own position. And it's applied to all sorts of positions - people who favour Smile and Pet Sounds over the early works, people who would prefer to see a Brian show over a Mike and Bruce show, people who like the way Brian looks in a picture even if though it was at a low point in his life. I don't particularly have much time for the belief that a person can do no wrong, but either way, the term is simply name-calling and as a result, it's puerile and always unnecessary.

I don't think that's the case. I've never been called a Brianista by anyone, and I'd *much* rather see Brian than Mike & Bruce, and I'd gladly trade in everything on the first five albums (except maybe Warmth Of The Sun and In My Room) for just one more song of the quality of Wonderful.

The term seems to me to be mostly (though not exclusively) used, on here at least, against those who won't let facts get in the way of bashing Mike Love

[drbeachboy]

Wow, Mike sure makes it sound like Brian rarely contributed anything to the band from '64 to 2013.

Absolutely. I'd LOVE somebody to defend the "Occasionally, during the last 45 years, he has gotten together with us to do things like the 15 Big Ones album" quote. It is just intellectually dishonest the way Mike talks. Yes, Brian didn't tour all that much, but apparently Mike also forgets stuff like Pet Sounds or the fact that even from 1964 to 2012, Brian wrote almost every one of their hits.

It doesn't personally bother me if Mike doesn't wanna work with the rest of them anymore. He has the right to do what he wants with whoever he wants. But he shouldn't be touring as The Beach Boys if he doesn't wanna work with The Beach Boys. And the onus is on Brian and Al too, if they wanna continue to let a guy who doesn't wanna work with them go out as The Beach Boys. It's a pathetic situation all around.

Mike didn't state it correctly, but I think he meant the summer of 76 tour following the 15 Big Ones release. Really, that whole Q& A with David revolved around touring.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

M&B just love dragging the BBs name to those sleazy casinos. 

The Bruce Boys need to play the Tomorrow-land stage at Disneyland! That I would go to

I want Brian, Al, and David to crash the show.

Yeah! They can stick Brian, Al, Dave on a float in the Main Street Electrical Parade to show M&B what's up 

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Wow, Mike sure makes it sound like Brian rarely contributed anything to the band from '64 to 2013.

Absolutely. I'd LOVE somebody to defend the "Occasionally, during the last 45 years, he has gotten together with us to do things like the 15 Big Ones album" quote. It is just intellectually dishonest the way Mike talks. Yes, Brian didn't tour all that much, but apparently Mike also forgets stuff like Pet Sounds or the fact that even from 1964 to 2012, Brian wrote almost every one of their hits.

It doesn't personally bother me if Mike doesn't wanna work with the rest of them anymore. He has the right to do what he wants with whoever he wants. But he shouldn't be touring as The Beach Boys if he doesn't wanna work with The Beach Boys. And the onus is on Brian and Al too, if they wanna continue to let a guy who doesn't wanna work with them go out as The Beach Boys. It's a pathetic situation all around.

I dunno man. Someone mentioned the term blowback earlier. It's like, you can't have stacks of books like Carlin's on the shelf talking about how post-Smile Brian didn't want to have anything to do with The Beach Boys and not liking them as people anymore and them being total assholes for wanting/wishing for him to contribute more and then turn around and bash Mike for basically saying the same thing, albeit in a kinder way.

[Rocky Raccoon]

I'm actually Brian hasn't done a show at a Disney park already, considering his last solo album.

[SMiLE Brian]

M&B just love dragging the BBs name to those sleazy casinos. 

The Bruce Boys need to play the Tomorrow-land stage at Disneyland! That I would go to

I want Brian, Al, and David to crash the show.

Yeah! They can stick Brian, Al, Dave on a float in the Main Street Electrical Parade to show M&B what's up 

I want Brian to yell at Bruce "I write the songs, bitch!"

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

And the great 2013 Beach Boys Rumble that follows would be legendary! 

[Andrew G. Doe]

I feel impelled to point out that the only "acclaim" that Brian, Alan & David are currently "soaking up" is emanating from forums such as this (and of course The Bloo), more specifically from the Love-hating Brianista (current pejorative usage) contingent. No-one in the mainstream media has said anything one way or the other. For all we know, when push comes to shove they may suck royally.

I'd say the odds that they "suck royally" are very very very low. We will have Brian's band (with Brian), with the bonus of Al's voice and David's guitar and voice...should be an okay show.

I agree - odds on it'll be, at worst, adequate... but I like to cover all the bases.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Brianista was actually originally a positive term, and it's a portmanteau of Brian and "sandinista" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandinista_National_Liberation_Front). The joke. I guess, was that Brian's die-hard fans were as devoted as South American revolutionaries. Given the time frame of the reference, I'd guess it was coined in the 80s or (possibly) the 90s. Through use on the boards, it has become something of a pejorative.

Dates back to the late seventies, at least in private conversations/correspondence, and if David Leaf didn't actually coign it, he sure as hell popularized it. Not sure exactly when it came to be applied to those who consider Brian incapable of doing anything wrong, but I'm guessing shortly after the Bloo came into being.