The next generation of BB fans...

[Banana]

I was born on January 14th, 1977 - the date on which the Love You LP was assembled.  My first real memory of the band was Kokomo.  As I grew into a full fledged music geek I was drawn in by the sophisticated mid-60's pop of Brian Wilson - specifically Pet Sounds and Smile.  I later got into the band's post-Smile period and before long I was a diehard.

I'm proud to say that my son - who is now 5-and-a-half - is showing his first real interest in the band!  I've tried to expose him to popular music his entire life and about two months ago he had his first real musical "kick" which was for the Beatles - but I kept playing the BB for him and he soon started to ask for them on a regular basis.  He now spends a lot of his iPad time (which is limited) to watching various BB clips on YouTube.  He can recite all of the members of the band.  He knows that Dennis and Carl have passed away.  He knows what a theremin is.  His favorite BB is Al Jardine (which I'm sure would make Al smile)! 

I hope my passion for the band catches on with him (he once attended a Brian Wilson concert in utero).

On an even funnier note - his 3-year-old sister keeps saying her favorite BB is "Mike Glove"!

[petsoundsnola]

I was born on January 14th, 1977 - the date on which the Love You LP was assembled.  My first real memory of the band was Kokomo.  As I grew into a full fledged music geek I was drawn in by the sophisticated mid-60's pop of Brian Wilson - specifically Pet Sounds and Smile.  I later got into the band's post-Smile period and before long I was a diehard.

I'm proud to say that my son - who is now 5-and-a-half - is showing his first real interest in the band!  I've tried to expose him to popular music his entire life and about two months ago he had his first real musical "kick" which was for the Beatles - but I kept playing the BB for him and he soon started to ask for them on a regular basis.  He now spends a lot of his iPad time (which is limited) to watching various BB clips on YouTube.  He can recite all of the members of the band.  He knows that Dennis and Carl have passed away.  He knows what a theremin is.  His favorite BB is Al Jardine (which I'm sure would make Al smile)! 

I hope my passion for the band catches on with him (he once attended a Brian Wilson concert in utero).

On an even funnier note - his 3-year-old sister keeps saying her favorite BB is "Mike Glove"!

Great post.  I was born in 1972, during the band's time in Holland.  My now 14 year-old daughter also attended a BB concert in utero in July 2000 (with Uncle Jesse in attendance).

My attempts to convert my kids into fans have been fairly successful.  My daughter has a "Beach Boys Station" on Pandora and saw Love and Mercy with me and my wife.  She also requested "God Only Knows" as her special song to take to a leadership camp a few weeks ago.

My 9-year old son is pretty much indifferent, although he has told me that "California Girls" is his favorite BB song and asks me to turn it up when I play it in the car.

So I would say that my indoctrination efforts have been fairly well-received.  I hope that laying this musical foundation will open them up to further exploring the Beach Boys on their own in the future.

[The Shift]

My six-year-old Sierra came to see The Beach Boys at the Royal Albert Hall last month and loved it (she slept for maybe 45 mins; woke up for the encore).

She's been indoctrinated since she was born. Heroes & Villains is one if her favourite tunes; both she and three-year-old brother Jack as for "Daddy's music" from time to time. Sadly Sierra's now showing signs of liking Radio 1 so she might be entering a different phase. Still, as I've mentioned before, a while ago she asked:
"Daddy, can we go to see The Beach Boys?"
"Well, one day but I think you'd find the music a bit too loud at the moment…"
"No silly, not a concert, AT THEIR HOUSE!"

The thread title made me realise that while she might have been fortunate enough to see The Beach Boys once in her young life, she is - her brother certainly is - a member of the generation that will grow up with only the recorded music to enjoy. By the time they're both old enough to go to concerts themselves, The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson won't be around; they certainly won't be performing, if they're still with us.

Aye, they'll grow up and have their own musical heroes (but by comparison those heroes will be sh*t, I just sense it.)

Thinks… maybe I should get them both tickets for a Brian Wilson UK gig next year…



Think on this too: when they look through some of the threads on this board to research their parents' musical heroes, they'll wonder how the hell some of this generations hardcore fans seemed to hate the band so much. I do wonder…

[petsoundsnola]

My six-year-old Sierra came to see The Beach boys at the Royal Albert Hall last month and loved it (she slept for maybe 45 mins;'woke up for the encore).

She's been indoctrinated since she was born. Heroes & Villains is one if her favourite tunes; both she and three-year-old brother Nack as for "Daddy's music" from time to time. Sadly Sierra's now showing signs of liking Radio 1 so she might be entering a different phase. Still, as I've mentioned before, a while ago she asked:
"Daddy, can we go to see The Beach Boys?"
"Well, one day but I think you'd find the music a bit too loud at the moment…"
"No silly, not a concert, AT THEIR HOUSE!"

The thread title made me realise that while she might have been fortunate enough to see The Beach Boys once in her young life, she is - her brother certainly is - a member of the generation that will grow up with only the recorded music to enjoy. By the time they're both old enough to go to concerts themselves, The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson won't be around; they certainly won't be performing, if they're still with us.

Thinks… maybe I should get them both tickets for a Brian Wilson UK gig next year…

Good comment about seeing them while you can.   I forgot to mention that we took my daughter to see a free BB concert back in February in a suburb of New Orleans.  I think that is what really sparked her interest in setting up the Pandora station and asking to see Love and Mercy with my wife and I.

[phirnis]

Mike Glove is one of my favorite group members too.

[undercover-m]

That's amazing!  That's so cute that he even has a favorite band member. Parenting at its finest. Maybe he'll show an interest in playing music, too.
Apparently I showed "no enthusiasm" in my piano lessons when I was younger, and now I'm trying to compensate by taking a summer music course at my college. I'm mad at my former self .

And good job limiting his iPad time... it's sort of terrifying to see kids in elementary and middle schools with smartphones. I used to use a CD walkman, thankyouverymuch.

[CarlTheVoice]

I was born in 1985 and brought up on a lot of 60s/70s artists - The Beach Boys being my Mum's favourite and Led Zeppelin/Jimi being my Dad's. I spent most of my childhood pretending to be a Beatle (I'm a woman...) and I guess being exposed to such great music at an early age set a high standard for my musical tastes now.

It took until 2005ish to get me fully hooked onto the Beach Boys but I haven't looked back since and the fact that I check this board regularly shows my admiration of them isn't just like 'everyone else's'. Here I can chat with like-minded people! I tend to be one of the younger members of the audience when I go and see Brian/Mike and Bruce but I don't care - in fact I should think the band appreciate it!

I have a 19 month old boy who spent much of my pregnancy listening to the BB and in particular Time To Get Alone! For the first few months the song even stopped him crying when he got upset, I am not joking! It still soothes him. I want to make sure he is exposed to their music but then it's up to him if he wants to explore their whole catalogue. For now I'm happy with him trying to join in with the harmonies on Surf's Up - something that nearly made me cry whilst driving, it was such a lovely moment!

Long live the BB music!

[petsoundsnola]

Deleted.

[petsoundsnola]

I played the Imagination album a lot after my daughter was born, and always got a little teary-eyed when "Dream Angel" came on - I played it a lot when she was little.

I also liked to play "I Wanna Pick You Up" for her when she was a baby - the lyrics fit so well.

[Coda Hall]

I'm probably the youngest one on Smiley Smile, as I first actually got to know the BB from An American Family in 2012, you know, cause VH1 was playing it like crazy then, because of the reunion. Growing up, I liked I Get Around and WIBN, but that was all I knew. I know people sh*t on AAF, but w/o it, I never would have discovered my love for harmony and the the BB.

[Matt H]

I was born in 76, all 3 of my kids love the Beach Boys.  When we were at the Cincinnati Reds game a few weeks ago, my 4.5 year old asked me when Brian Wilson was going to bat.    That made me laugh.

[CarlTheVoice]

Coda Hall, I don't think it matters how you discovered there was more to the BB than meets the eye! Who cares if it was a cheesy album, inacccurate book or bad film, if it brings the music into your life then that's great!

[Coda Hall]

Coda Hall, I don't think it matters how you discovered there was more to the BB than meets the eye! Who cares if it was a cheesy album, inacccurate book or bad film, if it brings the music into your life then that's great!

Most definitely!

[Loaf]

My young son loves Why Do Fools Fall in Love, Surfin USA, Amusement Parks USA and Barbara Ann.

Whenever we're in the car he asks for one of these songs, and we have to play it over and over and over again

He also, like Banana's son, knows that 2 of the band are dead. He knows that Dennis hit his head on a boat and drowned and that Carl had bad chromosomes.

[Fall Breaks]

This morning, my two-year-old and I watched a Youtube clip of Brian singing GOK from a couple of nights ago. "That's Brian", I said and pointed. "Beach Boys!" she exclaimed happily.

[mikeddonn]

My 6 year old loves "Runaway Dancer" and liked to sing "Catch a Wave" and "Surfin USA" which she learned courtesy of my Beach Boys cookie jar!

She always wonders why I have bought another Beach Boys lp and can recognise young or old Brian Wilson in pictures!

She went to the Beach Boys in uterine in 2008 in Edinburgh.

My one year old seems musical so hopefully she'll get into the Beach Boys too.

[SamMcK]

I'm 21, and my girlfriend is 19. She's American and i'm British but we share a hell of a lot of things in common, one of those is listening to The Beach Boys/Brian Wilson. We both saw Love & Mercy 3 days ago and thought it was one of the best bio pics we've ever seen.

[NickandthePassions]

Born in 1997, and I've introduced Brian to all of my close friends -- they fell in love with Brian and the BB's music.

[KDS]

I was born in 1980, and really didn't get into the Beach Boys until about nine years ago, and didn't become an avid fan until impulsively buying a lawn ticket to one of the C50 shows in 2012.

After I met the girl who I'm marrying this fall, I got her into the Beach Boys.  She's a kindergarten teacher, and she plays BB songs for her students, who like to dance around to the songs.