A Suggestion For Brother/BRI On The Box Set

[guitarfool2002]

Maybe something like this is in the works, maybe it's been suggested, who knows.

I'd like to propose an idea, a far-fetched one. If BRI reads this board or at least gets the word from around here, here it goes:

Release and promote "Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again" as a single to coincide with the box set. Target radio stations like WXPN who will play it from the box anyway, market it at little cost online as a new release of an unheard, unreleased Dennis Wilson track, get all the buzz and hype started among those people who may not know anything about it.

If releasing the song on the box set is the biggest carrot being dangled in front of the consumers to get them to buy the box set, maybe such an idea wouldn't make sense. If it's about introducing a song which very few have heard and which would be worthy of more exposure outside the most rabid Beach Boys fan circles, what better way than to push it as the single to play off the box set?

Stranger things have happened. I doubt this would happen, but it's worth a long-shot.

[runnersdialzero]

You rarely see box sets promoted with singles or samplers anymore, which I don't understand. Strange people, record company types.

[guitarfool2002]

I remember there was a Doors outtake from LA Woman released online that got a lot of buzz going, and at this point I think it may have been from the LA Woman box that never got released anyway!

Yeah, definitely an odd lot, those record company types.

I think getting WIBNTLA into the hands of some key radio stations and websites that music fans read regularly would be worth trying.

I'm against releasing a sampler for the sole reason I know Kokomo would somehow be on it. 

[smile-holland]

Stranger things have happened. I doubt this would happen, but it's worth a long-shot.

They do. I remember thaty when in the mid 90ies the Dutch Only "The Dutch Singles Collection" CD was released, especially for the occasion they re-released "Tears In The Morning / It's About Time" as a CD-single as well (for those that didn't know: at the time "Tears... " went to # 6 in the Dutch charts).

[The Shift]

I like the idea… and would love to see it get a physical release twinned with another track or two.

Let's call it an EP – which other tracks should be on there?

[shelter]

You rarely see box sets promoted with singles or samplers anymore, which I don't understand. Strange people, record company types.

The Pet Sounds Sessions and The Smile Sessions were each promoted with a vinyl single.

[petzounds29]

  Maybe pair it with an unreleased song that DID NOT make it onto the box-theirs plenty to chose from

[The Shift]

  Maybe pair it with an unreleased song that DID NOT make it onto the box-theirs plenty to chose from

Ah, but then some would moan that they're being FORCED to buy it to pick up another track.

I think the choice should be limited to what's on the box and informed by the need for the single to 1) sell in droves, 2) tempt others to buy the box, and 3) spread the word about a great band.

My offering:

1) WIBNTLA
2) Soulful Old Man Sunshine
3) Only With You (Live, extended tag)
4) Help Me Rhonda (Live, Dennis lead vocal)

[Alan Smith]

  Maybe pair it with an unreleased song that DID NOT make it onto the box-theirs plenty to chose from

Ah, but then some would moan that they're being FORCED to buy it to pick up another track.

I think the choice should be limited to what's on the box and informed by the need for the single to 1) sell in droves, 2) tempt others to buy the box, and 3) spread the word about a great band.

My offering:

1) WIBNTLA
2) Soulful Old Man Sunshine
3) Only With You (Live, extended tag)
4) Help Me Rhonda (Live, Dennis lead vocal)

Hmmm...I'd rather be forced to buy some additional material than be forced to again indulge my completist side and buy a brace of duplicates 

I really like your choices and philosophy; but I'd go Everybody wants to live just Once as track 2 (all on a 45rpm EP of course)

[Freddie French-Pounce]

As long as it's Vinyl, I'll buy it.

[The Shift]

  Maybe pair it with an unreleased song that DID NOT make it onto the box-theirs plenty to chose from

Ah, but then some would moan that they're being FORCED to buy it to pick up another track.

I think the choice should be limited to what's on the box and informed by the need for the single to 1) sell in droves, 2) tempt others to buy the box, and 3) spread the word about a great band.

My offering:

1) WIBNTLA
2) Soulful Old Man Sunshine
3) Only With You (Live, extended tag)
4) Help Me Rhonda (Live, Dennis lead vocal)

Hmmm...I'd rather be forced to buy some additional material than be forced to again indulge my completist side and buy a brace of duplicates 

I really like your choices and philosophy; but I'd go Everybody wants to live just Once as track 2 (all on a 45rpm EP of course)

Aha… yes, I seem to have taken it for granted that completists will buy it without grumbling!  .

Perhaps there should be a fifth, hidden track?  The scraping of chairs in an echoey studio, embarrassed coughs, and a nasal voice muttering "… and what the f*ck is this 'over and over the crow cries' you expect me to sing, eh, Parks?"

[Howie Edelson]

As someone who works in radio I'll tell you the truth: none of it matters. Promoting any "single" on Classic Rock or Oldies radio is for naught. MAYBE some station will play one of these long-buried gems, but in actuality, they won't. Maybe a smaller station with less restrictive playlists, maybe. The fact remains that if an Oldies station does choose a track, it'll be a live version of one of the hits. That said, the stereo remixes will be snapped up by Oldies programers that still care enough about the band to upgrade every time Linett & Boyd issue a new stereo mix. (Hearing the stereo "Dance, Dance, Dance" blast out of a car speaker was a thrilling thing while speeding through the mountains of Colorado.)

But the bottom line is, radio is needed for the jocks TALKING about the product -- not actually spinning it. It's the airtime devoted to talking about PACIFIC OCEAN BLUE/BAMBU and THE SMILE SESSIONS that sells copies. A promo "Heroes And Villains"? Radio didn't play it in '67 -- why would they play it now? Playing "Album Tag Song" or "Barnyard" is going to confuse and turn off way more people than it's going to attract. Promo discs never worked as a marketing tool. It's the old school version of Record Store Day. How many people are stuck with 15 copies of a "When We Was Fab" promo that they'll never play or be able to sell???

The way to move units of Beach Boys product is having more guys like me who write and produce for radio -- or any medium -- and simply treat the Beach Boys' projects exactly the same as they would The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, The Eagles, and CSN.

[The Shift]

Oh well…   

[guitarfool2002]

I was thinking of those stations like WXPN based out of Philly, affiliated with NPR and therefore not commercial, and home to programs which are aired nationwide such as "World Cafe" and others. The chances of any commercial format playing anything like this are, I agree, slim to none, especially "Oldies" formats whose playlists have degenerated so much in even the past ten years that I'm actually saddened by it.

World Cafe is one glaring example of an open format which introduces a lot of music and musicians to a fairly discerning audience who would be more likely to hear some "box set" material, then go out and buy the box. At least more likely than who I believe many oldies PD's assume are their listeners waiting by the phone to call and win a prize pack to the local amusement park when they hear Crocodile Rock between 3 and 4 in the afternoon. 

'XPN and its various incarnations in different markets does play very deep cuts and their audience does buy product and spread the word if something hits their ear. I first heard "Thats Why God Made The Radio" spun as a single on XPN during a Sunday afternoon drive, and they regularly spin deeper Beach Boys cuts.

That's only one station, I know, but even getting some buzz onto something like "World Cafe" which gets syndicated in a way around the country and streamed online would be closer to the kind of audience who would jump on a new release of a vault track like WIBNTLA.

And consider if the track itself were thought of "like" a single, and delivered to Rolling Stone's website, Mojo, Uncut, NME...all the usual outlets where the folks reading it would welcome such a rarity and beyond that, latch onto a song of such high quality, and spread the word.

I also love the idea of a vinyl single pressing, like the "Record Store Day" limited edition releases. Perfect outlet for the audience who would be into it. And the precedent is already there with how BRI pressed a 78rpm disc a few years ago which, by all accounts, was well-received and created that kind of niche-market buzz around the Beach Boys that items like the box set need.

Commercial radio? I agree, total long-shot most likely never gonna happen. "Underground" marketing, online streaming through rollingstone.com and the rest, developing a buzz? 21st century marketing at its best.

And the folks who seek out those outlets and those sites, like RS streaming that Doors studio outtake recently, are the ones who will carry the band's legacy forward another 50 years.

[pixletwin]

I think setting up a vinyl single release is a great idea. One that really should have been done a couple months ago on RSD.

[guitarfool2002]

Along with getting it to those websites and music mags I mentioned above, it would target the kind of audience who would be more likely to be into this kind of box set than the people who would buy it for the "greatest hits" factor.

There are so many potential customers out there who bigger record companies don't seem to realize exist, and customers who don't respond to marketing strategies dating back to the 90's.

Example: Imagine if the timing of the release were a little different, and a campaign were set up in and around Austin during South By Southwest...the buzz created around a "limited edition" pressing of a single like WIBNTLA could be massive. And those people, apart from the usual corporate sharks walking around, actively buy vinyl and buy unique music like Dennis' track, often on word-of-mouth and items read online. It's a totally different mindset from the fans who would book tickets for an oldies cruise.

[Howie Edelson]

Guitarfool, you're right.

Along the lines of World Cafe, are "indie" stations with a lot of pull like WFUV here in NYC. The time has also come for Linett & Boyd to go out and discuss in detail the work on these listener-friendly outlets. There are incredible stories about the original sessions, where they found the track, what they did to see the track to completion, etc. All of that is a brilliant marketing tool and brings it to a far higher level than Bruce Johnston "breaking down" the Wilson-Love dynamic for us. It keeps it interesting, new and top drawer -- and about as far away from a Hawaiian shirt as possible. The Beach Boys themselves can't really talk about this with any great historical insight.

And the back story on these projects are incredible -- I mean, a dude reads a newspaper story about Jon Stebbins and has had in his possession BB's master tapes, which through Stebbins eventually gets sold to Capitol, which enables Linett & Boyd to create a true stereo mix of "Don't Worry Baby" and discover the intro to "Why Do Fools Fall In Love." Linett & Boyd discovering the WILD HONEY version of "Surf's Up' -- all of that stuff is perfect for the World Cafe's and quality, intelligent weekend radio programming. THAT sells copies.  This box set should be marketed to The New York Times Magazine crowd.

[The Shift]

Guitarfool, you're right.

Along the lines of World Cafe, are "indie" stations with a lot of pull like WFUV here in NYC. The time has also come for Linett & Boyd to go out and discuss in detail the work on these listener-friendly outlets. There are incredible stories about the original sessions, where they found the track, what they did to see the track to completion, etc. All of that is a brilliant marketing tool and brings it to a far higher level than Bruce Johnston "breaking down" the Wilson-Love dynamic for us. It keeps it interesting, new and top drawer -- and about as far away from a Hawaiian shirt as possible. The Beach Boys themselves can't really talk about this with any great historical insight.

And the back story on these projects are incredible -- I mean, a dude reads a newspaper story about Jon Stebbins and has had in his possession BB's master tapes, which through Stebbins eventually gets sold to Capitol, which enables Linett & Boyd to create a true stereo mix of "Don't Worry Baby" and discover the intro to "Why Do Fools Fall In Love." Linett & Boyd discovering the WILD HONEY version of "Surf's Up' -- all of that stuff is perfect for the World Cafe's and quality, intelligent weekend radio programming. THAT sells copies.  This box set should be marketed to The New York Times Magazine crowd.

Those are the kinds of stories that should go down very well in mags like Record Collector, Uncut and Mojo here in the UK as well.

The latter two titles might need band involvement alongside to justify any lengthy feature to themselves, but what you're describing, Howie, would be of far more interest than another tale of "how we recorded take after take of God Only Knows", "how cousin Brian has dog ears" and "Beach Boys bury the hatchet (for one day) to promote new box set on the roof of Capitol Tower…".

[guitarfool2002]

Guitarfool, you're right.

Along the lines of World Cafe, are "indie" stations with a lot of pull like WFUV here in NYC. The time has also come for Linett & Boyd to go out and discuss in detail the work on these listener-friendly outlets. There are incredible stories about the original sessions, where they found the track, what they did to see the track to completion, etc. All of that is a brilliant marketing tool and brings it to a far higher level than Bruce Johnston "breaking down" the Wilson-Love dynamic for us. It keeps it interesting, new and top drawer -- and about as far away from a Hawaiian shirt as possible. The Beach Boys themselves can't really talk about this with any great historical insight.

And the back story on these projects are incredible -- I mean, a dude reads a newspaper story about Jon Stebbins and has had in his possession BB's master tapes, which through Stebbins eventually gets sold to Capitol, which enables Linett & Boyd to create a true stereo mix of "Don't Worry Baby" and discover the intro to "Why Do Fools Fall In Love." Linett & Boyd discovering the WILD HONEY version of "Surf's Up' -- all of that stuff is perfect for the World Cafe's and quality, intelligent weekend radio programming. THAT sells copies.  This box set should be marketed to The New York Times Magazine crowd.

Great stuff, Howie! There is a much larger market out there willing to buy among those people who still like to listen to the radio, apart from subscription and satellite services, but who left commercial radio looking for a different kind of programming and more detailed information about the artists. I think the indie stations like those we mentioned pull in a lot more in the way of listeners willing to buy box sets and rare or unusual material than many would assume. Some consider it a niche market, I think failing to realize that exact niche are the people buying vinyl releases and box sets which commercial radio may not want to program.

And I am one who absolutely loves hearing something like a World Cafe interview with an archivist when they go into the little details about how they found tracks, how they made it all happen, what they heard, etc. It's absolutely fascinating to hear and read those backstories, and often times it makes me want to actually buy the item and listen for myself.

You're 100% on the mark that The Beach Boys' own backstories on how some of these songs were found and prepared for a release like this can be as interesting and sometimes as compelling as hearing the final result, and outside of the BB's fan universe, they're not public knowledge...yet.  

How cool would it even be to have a listening booth or even a Q&A session at industry conventions like AES or NAMM, and fan-heavy events like SXSW? I'd argue they'd reach more of the audience who would buy a deluxe box set and sell more units to those folks. They're the people who find stories like the one you mentioned about Jon Stebbins with the master tapes lost for 45 years fascinating...it reads like a novel!

[Howie Edelson]

I agree. I think there should be a serious Beach Boys presence at SXSW. Historians, authors, musicians -- similar to what took place during the Big Star chat a few years back with many of the band's key players. A while back I was helping organize an intelligent BB convention in which I wanted to do exactly that. I would've moderated. Unfortunately, the money to do so wasn't there and it slowly devolved into a Dean Torrence gig and I had no interest in that. But a BB presence at SXSW would go a long way. The group's main focus when dealing with its legacy is rectifying the fact that they missed the boat on FM radio. They were actually making headway with last year's tour -- Billboard, Rolling Stone -- every credible major outlet was covering them like a Classic Rock act. The powers that be can still capitalize on that.

[guitarfool2002]

The time is right for the kind of events you mentioned, and it's sad to read how that one BB's event didn't happen. There are those indie stations and a general buzz around and audience for record buying habits which seem to have developed in the past 5 years or so. And a lot of that is based around younger people in their 20's and 30's who seem to be really excited about buying vinyl and building collections based more on the history of the artists than the ways a major label would market the music. And they actively seek out information on those artists, which in the case of a band like The Beach Boys could be a terrific marketing tool if they choose to go after that market.

I think some of it came to be in the early 90's - I was around the same age as a lot of those musicians who I'd see in interviews name-checking Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys, Smile, Pet Sounds, etc, and I seriously believe a lot of that word being spread is what brought about a lot of what we have seen in the way of attention, praise, and "new" archival releases in the years since. Those people who may have read a Billy Corgan interview in a magazine in 1993 where he talked about Smile, or who saw the IJWMFTT documentary when it was playing small theaters and being reviewed in fanzines before it caught on, are the same ones who have bought all of the deluxe editions and have spread the word about music which was either underground or niche for years.

That was totally different from the way the Beach Boys were thought of and continued to be marketed as an "oldies" act, and it's not like denying that appeal or that part of the history to say there are *other ways* and *other fan bases* out there who want this kind of music for totally different reasons than I think even those in the band will accept.

2012: Questlove from the Roots tweeting to his fans about how great the Smile box is for sampling...totally different market, and how many new fans (those who follow SXSW and the like)  bought it after he praised it? Sad also to see such wide media coverage in Rolling Stone and the like devolve into yet another inter-personal soap opera with the band.

It's that new audience who buys the Record Store Day vinyls which can carry this music forward another 50 years or more, with different tastes and buying habits. Unfortunately I think old habits are hard to break, and what made money for the past 30 years will be the safe bet at least for the near future where the band's interests in marketing product to fans are concerned.