Beach Boys Solo Survivor #2 Winner: Bruce Johnston's I Write The Songs

[alf wiedersehen]

I vote for this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lxGstAel7c

[Dudd]

A vote against "Pipeline" is a vote for genocide.

[Phoenix]

I Write the Songs

His crowning achievement!

[If Mars had life on it...]

I heard Phish is going to cover Going Public in its entirety at their next Halloween show.   

[joshferrell]

Deidre

[Cabinessenceking]

The Beach Boys have many shitty songs. As solo members they also have plenty of crappy ones. However, when bound together as an album one can always hear at least one good tune and perhaps the feeling of  the album overall may instill some emotion, even though the songs on their own are lacking. This is often the case with albums like MIU and KTSA.

Going Public is not like this though. Imo it lacks any charm or quality of any form, shape or note. It is lifeless. Bereft of life it lies in suspended animation and any additional time I spend listening to this  record is as wasteful as that time I gave my stiff-frozen bunny rabbit CPR as a 12 year old.

[rogerlancelot]

I really kind of liked Bruce when I first got into the BB. "Tears In The Morning" still floors me but then I'm a sucker for waltzes. Then I found this album in MP3 format some 15 years ago and I could only make it to the disco version of "Deidre" before I deleted the files and vowed never to listen to it again. I would say that Bruce and Mike easily have the worst god-awful solo albums of the band. There are many moments where Bruce came in and helped the BB out with favorable outcomes but I am so glad he's too lazy to write another album of his own. May the song "She Believes In Love Again" choke on it's own vomit.

[SMiLE Brian]

*cue Bruce showing up at your door to pistol-whip you*

[Eric Aniversario]

Deirdre

[rogerlancelot]

*cue Bruce showing up at your door to pistol-whip you*

I'll draw the bath and get the bubbles ready.

[mikeyj]

I Write the Songs

[feelsflow]

...and we sang God Bless America...  Oh, wait, wrong album, and the one he decided not to re-do... yet.

I listened to all the finalists this morning - "Deirdre" is the best written, but doesn't hold a candle to the Sunflower version.  So no.

"I Write the Songs" - I've heard him do it better than this live.  Even Bruce says (in the September 1990 Record Collector interview) that it was perfect for Barry.  Again, out.

Yes, in 1977 Bruce was going for this:

My vote goes to:

"Pipeline"  best heard in the 12" Disco Single Mix by Curt Becher.  Produced by Gary Usher (trying on those platforms for the first time - hey, it was the 70's).

This was a Hit in the New York clubs.  The Seagulls just Rock it to the Top!

http://youtu.be/6pnqkvRDlo8

[Cabinessenceking]

The question really comes down to when will we see the the release of "The Going Public Sessions"

[baseball95]

I write the songs

[pixletwin]

Welcome back, one and all, to the second thread of the Beach Boys Solo Survivor. I can tell this is a thread for the Survivor DIEHARDS! 

The Solo Survivors are going to tackle the main solo albums of members of the Beach Boys. This will not include solo albums released prior to membership in the Beach Boys. This will also not include works done by members who were participating in different groups (ie David Marks in The Moon or The Marksmen) nor will it include "Best Of" albums or rehash albums (ie Summertime Cruisin' by Mike Love and Bruce Johnston will not be included. This also means we will not be including Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE or I Just Wasn't Made For These Times.) Lastly, we will not be including EP's or Unreleased Albums.

Some of the Solo Survivor albums may be hard to come across. Smilers are encouraged to locate legal copies of the solo albums. I expect these rounds to go quicker with less voting than normal. No big deal.

So without further ado...

Going Public is Beach Boys member Bruce Johnston's third and final solo album, and the only one recorded after becoming a member of the band. It was released in 1977 under Columbia Records. Bruce proves to the world what Beach Boys fans have known from the get-go: namely, he hasn't a rock 'n' roll bone in his body.

So apparently this is the most hated album in entire Beach Boys Oeuvre. 

Not everbody loves Deirdre (2)
Not enough people love disco-funk. (4)

With 9 votes, the obvious winner...

I Write the Songs

Round#1 - Won't Somebody Dance with Me July 18
Round#2 - Rendezvous July 21
Round#3 - Thank You Baby July 23
Round#4 - Don't Be Scared July 25
Round#5 - Disney Girls July 29
Round#6 - Rock and Roll Survivor July 31
Round#7 - Deidre August 3
Round#7 - Pipeline August 3
 
Glad this round is over.

 

[bluesno1fann]

I'm pretty sure Pipeline got 5 votes instead of 4. In any case, I suppose IWTS is a worthy winner.

[bluesno1fann]

I'm pretty sure Pipeline got 5 votes instead of 4.

I counted 4. And yes, "...the Songs" is a well-deserved win.

I counted one from myself, one from Fall Breaks, one from Bubbly, one from The Primitive Jarhead, and one from Feelsflow.

[pixletwin]

I either didn't click bubbly's link or I didn't count Primitive's vote since it wasn't explicitly stated by a quick eye counting votes. I don't recall.

Pipeline lost.  By a wide margin. Move on.

[bluesno1fann]

I either didn't click bubbly's link or I didn't count Primitive's vote since it wasn't explicitly stated by a quick eye counting votes. I don't recall.

Pipeline lost.  By a wide margin. Move on.

I'm guessing you didn't enjoy the album, since you first heard it when starting this round.

[Eric Aniversario]

There is not really a whole lot to like about this album. It's interesting, I got the Japanese import in the mail during a really rainy spell, so it reminds me of gloomy weather and the smell of rain.

[Fall Breaks]

There is not really a whole lot to like about this album. It's interesting, I got the Japanese import in the mail during a really rainy spell, so it reminds me of gloomy weather and the smell of rain.

Is it the other way round as well? That bad weather reminds you of GP? I imagine being reminded of GP for an entire autumn. *shudder* 

[pixletwin]

I either didn't click bubbly's link or I didn't count Primitive's vote since it wasn't explicitly stated by a quick eye counting votes. I don't recall.

Pipeline lost.  By a wide margin. Move on.

I'm guessing you didn't enjoy the album, since you first heard it when starting this round.

I found it dire listening, at best.

[zachrwolfe]

‍

[Niko]

If everyone had seen the Pipeline video ft. "Bruce Johnston and his Sweater of Pure Sex" it would have won.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lxGstAel7c

Just look at that face 

[Smilin Ed H]

I would've gone for Disney Girls, though it's not as good as the BB or the Whistle Test versions (or when I've seen him live); I don't like this version of Deidre (and of his songs on Sunflower, I prefer Tears...). I guess I Write is my second favourite track. Would've been nice to hear a BB version on, say, MIU, perhaps with the Double Rock Baptist Choir as well. Could've replaced any number of tracks. Quite like Thank You Baby.