Mike Love: 'There are a lot of fallacies about me'

[Doo Dah]

"I was hoping to get together with Brian on [2012's] That's Why God Made the Radio, but a guy who was involved in the production of that album engineered it otherwise."

Cat's pretty much out of the bag on that one, then.

[AUTO TUNE]

MEeeeeeeeowwwww   

[alf wiedersehen]

My favorite comment:

"My sister had five goldfish once and I got her to name them after the Beach Boys. But then one of them had fin rot and gave it to the others. Except Mike. That fish lived forever. Figures..."

[Rocky Raccoon]

"I was hoping to get together with Brian on [2012's] That's Why God Made the Radio, but a guy who was involved in the production of that album engineered it otherwise."

Cat's pretty much out of the bag on that one, then.

This just makes me sad about the phoniness of the reunion though.  All of those comments about how great it was to be together, creating the illusion that it was all "fun, fun, fun" like the PBS special, all for show. 

[Doo Dah]

Probably my only legitimate beef with Dr. Love over the years was during Mike's lawsuit connected with the Beach Boy record in the Sunday UK newspaper (around the time of the BWPS release). The feel good story of a musical resurrection just seemed to get stomped on when Mike erroneously filed that lawsuit. And it got thrown out with prejudice, so it's all good - but at the time I really hated the dude's guts, in a visceral manner.

But all this is that, and time marches on. Quick to anger, quick to forgive is a good motto.

About the 'people with no lives' comment, I gotta say that music is like religion to me. Explaining your spiritual connection and obsession with something as fleeting as music, is impossible. It stands to reason that the deeper you go, the louder the opinion. And so it is. All this is that.

And BRAVO on news of a book. Hope it happens. We will no doubt find fault with several of the excerpts, but think of what it will add to the ever evolving history of this great band. And think of what it will add to message board invectives from sea to shining sea!

[drbeachboy]

"I was hoping to get together with Brian on [2012's] That's Why God Made the Radio, but a guy who was involved in the production of that album engineered it otherwise."

Cat's pretty much out of the bag on that one, then.

This just makes me sad about the phoniness of the reunion though.  All of those comments about how great it was to be together, creating the illusion that it was all "fun, fun, fun" like the PBS special, all for show.  

Just because he had a few issues during the reunion doesn't mean he didn't enjoy it on the whole. Nothing phony there that I see.

[drbeachboy]

Probably my only legitimate beef with Dr. Love over the years was during Mike's lawsuit connected with the Beach Boy record in the Sunday UK newspaper (around the time of the BWPS release). The feel good story of a musical resurrection just seemed to get stomped on when Mike erroneously filed that lawsuit. And it got thrown out with prejudice, so it's all good - but at the time I really hated the dude's guts, in a visceral manner.

But all this is that, and time marches on. Quick to anger, quick to forgive is a good motto.

About the 'people with no lives' comment, I gotta say that music is like religion to me. Explaining your spiritual connection and obsession with something as fleeting as music, is impossible. It stands to reason that the deeper you go, the louder the opinion. And so it is. All this is that.

And BRAVO on news of a book. Hope it happens. We will no doubt find fault with several of the excerpts, but think of what it will add to the ever evolving history of this great band. And think of what it will add to message board invectives from sea to shining sea!

It's one thing to have an interest and talk music, but it is quite another thing to start sites hating on someone, music or not.

[lee]

The only thing I found lame about the interview is that constant reminder of being voted #1 in a reader's poll 47 years ago and the constant, this song was #1 in year blah blah. We get it. Almost 50 years ago you had #1 hits but what are you doing now?

Regardless if you like Mike or not, that book would be damn entertaining.

[Bicyclerider]

Well his dissatisfaction with Brian having Joe Thomas as his collaborater certainly explains his comments about a future Beach Boys album after the reunion was over - he'll only consider it if it's  a Brian- Mike writing team all the way, all songs.  And I can't see Brian ever doing that. 

[Paulos]

Cool and funny interview, it looks like we may be getting some solo stuff released by Mike and also a book! I hope it's titled Mike Love Like A Man, although I will have to sue him if it is.

[urbanite]

Not a bad interview.  Why didn't Mike write some songs with Brian when they were on tour last year?  They had lots of time.

He does 160 concerts a year?  I think AGD knows something about the accuracy of that comment.

[clack]

With Carl [Wilson], he'd been smoking since he was 13 or 14 and contracted lung cancer. That was a bummer.

Mike fancies himself a wordsmith, but the best word he can come up with to describe Carl's death -- his cousin, his bandmate of 37 years --  is "bummer"? Bummer?

[JohnMill]

I don't think the interview is that bad and gave us some good information.  It seems that Mike Love is still interested in writing with Brian Wilson and I at least would not be opposed to the two cousins at least trying to reform their partnership sometime in the future.  The problem is realistically I wonder if Mike realizes that why writing with Brian in 2013 might not be feasible.

Mike Love is still in his "whatever will be will be" mode which is pretty much what I expected.  He again doesn't address the issue that according to Brian Wilson and Al Jardine they were willing to go forward with the C50 and instead makes it sound like Brian was gung-ho to get off the road go back into the studio which doesn't necessarily mesh with the Wilson/Jardine version of the story.  So again he is trying to put the best face on things but on another level is ignoring the elephant in the room.  

A Mike Love solo album to me at least would be an interesting venture.  I would probably view it in the same way I do most of Brian's solo albums which is under the header of "wait and see".  If it did find any success or even any positive reviews it might go a long way to silencing those "gas station" fans anyhow, perhaps permanently.

[Custom Machine]

Nice to see Mike is finally getting a book together. Love him or hate him, the man has got a story to tell.

Yes, and Stebbins should be the person to write it.

[JohnMill]

Not a bad interview.  Why didn't Mike write some songs with Brian when they were on tour last year?  They had lots of time.

We don't know that for sure.  There were reports that Brian Wilson had his own bus and pretty much kept to himself and his entourage during the tour.  I made this point last week but in my opinion Mike Love didn't just wake up one cool autumn morning and decide to stomp the C50.  I'm almost 100% positive that at least once during the tour that Love made an attempt to voice his issues and complaints with the appropriate parties and was either not given an audience to air his concerns or his concerns were ignored.  In short, I don't think that the boys last year were going out for burgers and shakes a great deal of the time after the shows.  Maybe I'm wrong but I just don't see the situation arising for Mike and Brian to collaborate much on new material while they were touring last year.  Heck taking The Beach Boys out of it for a moment, there are a lot of artists who make it a hard and fast rule not to write while touring because they don't view it as the best environment to foster creativity.  

[Jason]

With Carl [Wilson], he'd been smoking since he was 13 or 14 and contracted lung cancer. That was a bummer.

Mike fancies himself a wordsmith, but the best word he can come up with to describe Carl's death -- his cousin, his bandmate of 37 years --  is "bummer"? Bummer?

Did it ever occur to you that it's probably not something he likes talking about?

[Pretty Funky]

That aside, both Brian and Mike still use phrases and words as if they were teenagers. Brian was 'bummed' at the end of the C50 etc, so IMO neither have advanced much in 50 years.

As much as it may hurt Mike, it is unlikely he will write a song many will want to hear.

[seltaeb1012002]

That aside, both Brian and Mike still use phrases and words as if they were teenagers. Brian was 'bummed' at the end of the C50 etc, so IMO neither have advanced much in 50 years.

As much as it may hurt Mike, it is unlikely he will write a song many will want to hear.

I wonder what kind of lyrics Mike would've penned for "From There To Back Again"...

[grillo]

Man, I hope his book is ten thousand pages long! The Mike Love Perspective is amazing!

[Disney Boy (1985)]

With Carl [Wilson], he'd been smoking since he was 13 or 14 and contracted lung cancer. That was a bummer.

Mike fancies himself a wordsmith, but the best word he can come up with to describe Carl's death -- his cousin, his bandmate of 37 years --  is "bummer"? Bummer?

Did it ever occur to you that it's probably not something he likes talking about?

Could've been worse. He could've said 'it's a drag'.

[clack]

With Carl [Wilson], he'd been smoking since he was 13 or 14 and contracted lung cancer. That was a bummer.

Mike fancies himself a wordsmith, but the best word he can come up with to describe Carl's death -- his cousin, his bandmate of 37 years --  is "bummer"? Bummer?

Did it ever occur to you that it's probably not something he likes talking about?

Why is calling Carl's death "a bummer" easier on Mike's feelings than calling it, for instance, "heartbreaking"?

I'm not saying that Mike didn't feel Carl's death keenly -- what I am saying is that after 15 years Mike, the Beach Boys word man,  should have come up with a less crass way of discussing what is, arguably, the key event in Mike's professional life.

[Wirestone]

For someone who is a genuinely smart dude, I am surprised that Mike doesn't put two and two together on this. The reason "a guy" involved in the album's production kept Mike away from writing with Brian is because Brian didn't want to write (much) with Mike. It's a perfectly consistent pattern shown over forty-plus years with the eldest Wilson: He uses other people (both shady and non) to shield him from people and situations he doesn't want to deal with. When he was done with Joe Thomas the last time, he tried to have his band fire him, and then had Melinda sue him. I'm sure that Brian is genuinely manipulated from time to time, but in this case it seems pretty clear that he had a largely pre-existing group of songs (and song concepts) he wanted the Beach Boys to record. He did not want to hash out an album with Mike as an equal creative collaborator.

[Shady]

Interesting interview. Great to hear he's writing a book.

Sadly, any views the public has of Mike are entirely his own fault. He quite simply doesn't do himself justice.

That said, I'm listening to "all summer long" right now and I love Mike with all my heart.

[Wirestone]

I'm also glad that Mike wants to get his music out. It deserves to be heard, and is often better than his contributions to latter-day BB records.

[SMiLE Brian]

Why the hell does Mike want to force himself on BW's music, the two just don't work together anymore.

[Shady]

Why the hell does Mike want to force himself on BW's music, the two just don't work together anymore.

I think they could could if Mike really tried.

I think Mike still has some artistic integrity left in him, he just needs to dig deep.

"Spring Vacation" and "Beaches in Mind" are somebody putting together lyrics in 10 minutes. I doubt those songs are all Mike has left.