Ian Lee interviews Mike Love

[Pretty Funky]

Recent events aside, a good listen.

http://talkradio.co.uk/funny/late-nights-iain-lee-bonus-podcast-mike-love-wednesday-september-7-1609083850

[Rocky Raccoon]

Does Iain mention us?

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I couldn't make it through the first couple of minutes...maybe a braver soul could do a transcript.

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

I couldn't make it through the first couple of minutes...maybe a braver soul could do a transcript.

I dropped off when he started in with his rubber stamp statement about the Wilsons and their drug and lifestyle issues. What an insidious bore.

[Lee Marshall]

I'm still alive.   

Maybe this Iain guy isn't so bad-ass after all. 

I mean I was EVER-so worried there...   

I guess we're safe.   

Unless we listen to his 'outerview'. 

What a weinie!!!   

[guitarfool2002]

If I wanted to catch an infomercial I'll watch this guy instead:

[guitarfool2002]

It took Mike about 6 words to shift "Forever" from Dennis to John Stamos' version.

[Emily]

I listened. It seemed to be very much the same as the other interviews ML has done the last few years. Maybe the mods can take the 24 pages from a thread about one of them and paste it in here? Save us all some time and aggravation.

[Emily]

If I wanted to catch an infomercial I'll watch this guy instead:

I had forgotten all about Amazing Discoveries!
 

[guitarfool2002]

I'm listening now while working on other stuff (and waiting for the chicken parm to get done in the oven...).

I wish it didn't feel as "canned" as it does. When Mike talks about his own family and about the lost sax, it feels like a real interview. I wish there were more of that, instead of the usual - for lack of a better term - stock replies and almost canned responses. I wish he'd go off script more and converse.

[guitarfool2002]

"Brian had a bad experience with LSD and decided he didn't want to finish it" - Mike on Smile.

[Juice Brohnston]

Decent interview. Didn't cover a lot of new ground but Lee kept it moving along and there were a couple of interesting tidbits.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I'm listening now while working on other stuff (and waiting for the chicken parm to get done in the oven...).

I wish it didn't feel as "canned" as it does. When Mike talks about his own family and about the lost sax, it feels like a real interview. I wish there were more of that, instead of the usual - for lack of a better term - stock replies and almost canned responses. I wish he'd go off script more and converse.

The whole thing was extremely scripted on both sides.

Airmail me some chicken parm, dudesy.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

"Brian had a bad experience with LSD and decided he didn't want to finish it" - Mike on Smile.

Yeah, when you got someone basically questioning your every move, it's hard to finish, LSD or not.

[guitarfool2002]

If I could overnight some, I would! Chicken parm, over tri-color rotini. My stomach had been growling since 5pm, just getting around to eating it now as usual.

The "interview" minus a few things like the lost sax, felt too canned, I have to say it again. Every time I tune into one of these, it feels like stock answers and canned replies to much the same topics. And if the topic is different, it usually takes about one line to get back on point, as in the case of a question about making Sunflower veering from Dennis' "Forever" to John Stamos and the mention of the name "Uncle Jesse". Similar things with the phrase "lifestyle choices", and the like. It's been done and heard and repeated often enough that we know it.

Quick point; Juice - What stood out as the interesting tidbits to you?

[Lee Marshall]

It was NEVER a good idea to 'do' acid with nincompoops.  It guaranteed a BAD 'trip'.  "You know I hate to be a downer"...  Too late Mike.  Brian should never have gotten high with Mike around.  Not even once.  Bad for a 'head'.  Bad for the head.  Good gawd!!!

Mike is not comfortable when it comes to public speaking or with interviews.  He is NOT at ease if there isn't a scripted foundation to what it is that he's presenting.  The ever-so-famous 'front man' just has NEVER had that certain 'ingredient' he has always needed.  He is not endowed with what is commonly known as 'the gift of the gab'.  Words roll off of his tongue like jagged stones.  Never good for a 'lyricist'.

[Juice Brohnston]

If I could overnight some, I would! Chicken parm, over tri-color rotini. My stomach had been growling since 5pm, just getting around to eating it now as usual.

The "interview" minus a few things like the lost sax, felt too canned, I have to say it again. Every time I tune into one of these, it feels like stock answers and canned replies to much the same topics. And if the topic is different, it usually takes about one line to get back on point, as in the case of a question about making Sunflower veering from Dennis' "Forever" to John Stamos and the mention of the name "Uncle Jesse". Similar things with the phrase "lifestyle choices", and the like. It's been done and heard and repeated often enough that we know it.

Quick point; Juice - What stood out as the interesting tidbits to you?

Well, two things that I can recall offhand. One was Iain's mentioning the unique vocal blend of the band and how it might be tied in to the fact that the band was made up of relatives...interesting to me because I had just watched a YouTube interview with Brian from 76 where he was talking about that same premise. Secondly Mike talking about Dennis being his introduction to TM and later Dennis asking Mike to meditate with him. A little deeper than the surface Q&A we get normally.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

In that case I'll give it another shot. ..I was really getting annoyed the first time

[HeyJude]

Mike often seems to need to hit the same talking points even when the question doesn't match. Reminds me of high school and college when someone would get asked a question they clearly didn't have the answer to, so they would instead start taking about something they *did* know about as quickly as possible.

"Talk about feminism or lack thereof in The Scarlet Letter"

"Well, that's a complicated question. I think a book that *does* delve deep into the issue of feminism is " Twilight"......

Mike did this awhile back in a radio/phone interview when asked about the C50 band. He wasn't asked about the controversy. It was literally like a "wasn't the reunion band great?" sort of question, and within a sentence or two he was taking about his current touring band even though that wasn't the question

[Juice Brohnston]

Mike often seems to need to hit the same talking points even when the question doesn't match. Reminds me of high school and college when someone would get asked a question they clearly didn't have the answer to, so they would instead start taking about something they *did* know about as quickly as possible.

"Talk about feminism or lack thereof in The Scarlet Letter"

"Well, that's a complicated question. I think a book that *does* delve deep into the issue of feminism is " Twilight"......

Mike did this awhile back in a radio/phone interview when asked about the C50 band. He wasn't asked about the controversy. It was literally like a "wasn't the reunion band great?" sort of question, and within a sentence or two he was taking about his current touring band even though that wasn't the question

He definitely has that move down...shifts 'Only With You' comment to 'All I Wanna Do'

[Ang Jones]

"Brian had a bad experience with LSD and decided he didn't want to finish it" - Mike on Smile.

I started to listen but couldn't bear it. Now I'm glad I didn't bother. How can an interviewer just let a comment like this one go unchallenged? - and I'm assuming he didn't challenge it. Iain Lee was full of scorn for those who post here but the majority of us have more integrity than that (especially now now that some of the Love apologists have departed for other MBs).

Edited to add that this shows Mike trying to cop out of any personal responsibility for what went wrong with SMiLE whilst YET AGAIN reminding us that Brian did drugs.

[Pretty Funky]

Lee goofed leaving the best question to close out. Any releases in the future, waffles, then cuts him off mid flow.

Fail.

[clack]

Mike doesn't give compelling interviews. If only I could think of another Beach Boy who isn't a great interview subject.

Nope. None come to mind.

[thorgil]

"Brian had a bad experience with LSD and decided he didn't want to finish it" - Mike on Smile.

Good old Mike... his mind is always on the music. A born artist.

[HeyJude]

There seem to be only a relatively small group of journalists and interviewers that can get a good interview out of any of the guys. I don't know how much of it is that the members are difficult interviews, how much is the members going on interview autopilot (like McCartney does with his same five stories), and how much of it is the interviewers either not doing their homework or asking those same questions that will get the same canned responses, and so on.

Howie Edelson gets good and substantive interviews out of these guys. A couple Rolling Stone guys writing longer pieces have gotten good stuff. It is possible.

Mike tours all year, and if you do a Google news search, you'll find a TON of articles from local papers in many of the towns his tour goes through, and nearly all of the articles look and feel exactly the same. They usually use the same stock photo of the Mike's band (currently the skeevy one with all of the guys at some train station trying to look like modern day mobsters or something), and the same questions (and answers) follow. Sometimes the questions are a little different and Mike still brings it back to the same answers. As I've often said, I'll cut Mike *some* slack, because similar to others of his status, he often gets asked the same super generic questions. He's not used to being asked who played the drums on "Solar System"; he's not used to being asked what he thinks of "Angel Come Home", etc.

So when the same questions are asked, I blame the interviewer too. But it's true, Mike will kind of dodge new/different questions and hit his same talking points. Sometimes maybe he has an agenda, other times he's just on autopilot I'm guessing.

From everything I've heard, if you can sit these guys down and do a substantive interview, almost all of them can give a good one. The most inconsistent and minefield-laden interview stories I've heard often come from stories of trying to interview Bruce.