This question has to be asked

[sidewinder572]

First a disclaimer. The following question has nothing to do with his opinions on Pet Sounds and SMiLE. It has to do with this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc4uwpR3zEw

The question is,

Is Mike Love the most uncool rock star ever in music?

[buddhahat]

Is Mike Love the most uncool rock star ever in music?

Yes.

His early stage performances never fail to make me cringe. When you compare his stage persona to that of an early 60s Jagger or the Mop Tops you realise what a collossal gulf in charisma there was between Mike Love and the frontmen he was competing against. If only Dennis could've fronted that band!!

[Dancing Bear]

Hey, this is one of the GOOD Mike performances! Someone else summed the Beach Boys and made me LOL: "They got it all: Balding, fat, mad, funny-shaped heads".  

Dennis indeed looked cooler than all the rest combined and I wish he were alive and releasing his 15th solo album, but with him as a frontman the band wouldn't have gone anywhere. Evidences: Miss America, Do You Wanna Dance and In the Back of My Mind. The fans often ask if the tracks in which Mike had a cold are sung by Dennis. Nuff said.

PS: even if he didn't have the most commercial voice, I wish every pre-Friends album had at least one Dennis' lead vocal. The Beach Boys palette was incredible.

[sidewinder572]

notice in the footage how he puts the mic down in order to "get down with his bad self"

[Rocker]

Is Mike Love the most uncool rock star ever in music?

Yes.

His early stage performances never fail to make me cringe. When you compare his stage persona to that of an early 60s Jagger or the Mop Tops you realise what a collossal gulf in charisma there was between Mike Love and the frontmen he was competing against. If only Dennis could've fronted that band!!

I agree but at the same time we have to rememebr that this kind of "good, clean fun" that Mike represented was what their music and upbringing was all about at that time, so in that way Mike was probably the perfect frontman for the Beach Boys, not for Rock'n'Roll. I think he was good and even great in the "It's ok"-TV-special and also did an unbelievable Mick Jagger in '75 (probably before that too). It's funny that after the 70s, he's gone back to the same moves he used in the 60s and still does them now.

[Sheriff John Stone]

That "uncool" guy wrote some of the coolest lyrics to what might be the greatest "fast" song (I Get Around) in the Beach Boys' catalogue.

[NHC]

Great. Yet another pointless exercise in criticizing Mike Love. This is so tiresome.  Sometimes I think I'm still reading the blueboard. As for Mick Jagger, also an irrelevant comparison.  Different style, different music, different personality, different aim, and  I'm not sure what makes his silly prancing around and off-key "singing" artistically superior to anything, anyway.  A friend of mine who has a led a band for the last 20 years told me one time, and I believe it, that the ones who criticize the most are the same ones who couldn't last a minute in the business if their lives depended in it.  It's like they wake up in the morning just itching to find something or someone else to ridicule. Get a life.  Mike Love is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and we're not. Time to accept it and move on. 

[Amy B.]

That "uncool" guy wrote some of the coolest lyrics to what might be the greatest "fast" song (I Get Around) in the Beach Boys' catalogue.

I thought Brian wrote most of those lyrics, with the exception of the "round, round, get around" part. I could be remembering wrong. Anyway, minor point.
I guess it's hard to know what to do with yourself when you aren't holding an instrument. Michael Stipe, to me, is an example of a cool frontman, but I think he's a natural mover. Nothing looks staged with him.

[the captain]

Mike Love is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ...

Thank god for that, or we wouldn't have the great footage of his ran--another fine moment captured for posterity.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Mike Love is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ...

Thank god for that, or we wouldn't have the great footage of his ran--another fine moment captured for posterity.

To me, that rant seals his fate as a cool front man.  It takes a man with very cool-front-man-sized balls to give the figurative bird to rock-and-roll's establishment at the very symbol of it's establishment.  Sort of like going to the Vatican to be installed as a Cardinal only to insult the pope...

[sidewinder572]

I have a life and my life is bashing Mike Love Goddammit.

jk

I asked a general question to get general opinions. If you feel that Mike Love is not "un-cool" then fine. I just saw that footage and it kind of made me cringe. I do not  blame ML for the collapse of the SMiLE project. That rests solely on Brian. I do however acknowledge that he did pour gasoline on the flame. I also fully acknowledge his vocal contributions to the group. I was just making a comment on his stage mannerisms and wanted to hear your opinions.

[NHC]

. I was just making a comment on his stage mannerisms and wanted to hear your opinions.

And you heard mine.  I have a tiny bit less problem with someone asking a question like this, even though I know where it's headed, than I do with the ones who immediately shout YES, like they've just been waiting for the chance, and then here we go again, with the same old stuff.

Yes, his RRHF rant was pretty silly. Luckily Bob Dylan was able to break the tension a bit with his "I'm glad he never got to me" line.

I've tried to have a better life than bashing people.  Seems that's a pretty poor way to live.

[Ebb and Flow]

It's hard to judge Mike's contribution to the band.  He was staggeringly influential in establishing the popularity of the group (Lead vocalist and co-writer on most songs), had a waning influence (Today, SD&SN, Pet Sounds) and became largely a hang-up and embarrassment (Whatever he did during Smile, TM Shaman Crap, Shiny Gold Vests, R&R HOF, the list goes on). 

Personally, I think the stage mannerisms in the video are more appropriate for the time and less of an embarrassment than the stuff with him wearing a robe with a foot long beard banging a tambourine.  Try explaining that to your friends. 

[Aegir]

Sure he's uncool, but he wasn't trying to be cool.. he's just goofing around, being an entertaining frontman.

[sidewinder572]

how do you know? what if he was trying to be cool?

[Andrew G. Doe]

First a disclaimer. The following question has nothing to do with his opinions on Pet Sounds and SMiLE. It has to do with this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc4uwpR3zEw

The question is,

Is Mike Love the most uncool rock star ever in music?

Not even close.

Two words - Cliff. Richard.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Yes, his RRHF rant was pretty silly. Luckily Bob Dylan was able to break the tension a bit with his "I'm glad he never got to me" line.

Bruce had the best line that day, when he went over to a table of industry bigshots (I think Ahmet Ertegun was one of them) and said "We're finished in this business, right ?"

Elton came a close second  by faking a hissy fit and bitching "why didn't he mention ME ?" 

[buddhahat]

Great. Yet another pointless exercise in criticizing Mike Love. This is so tiresome.  Sometimes I think I'm still reading the blueboard. As for Mick Jagger, also an irrelevant comparison.  Different style, different music, different personality, different aim, and  I'm not sure what makes his silly prancing around and off-key "singing" artistically superior to anything, anyway.  A friend of mine who has a led a band for the last 20 years told me one time, and I believe it, that the ones who criticize the most are the same ones who couldn't last a minute in the business if their lives depended in it.  It's like they wake up in the morning just itching to find something or someone else to ridicule. Get a life.  Mike Love is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and we're not. Time to accept it and move on. 

Hey man I'm sorry but I'm sure Mike Love can take my criticisms on the chin, seeing as he's in the rock n Roll Hall of Fame an all. And no need to diss jagger in your response - What would your friend from a band make of that, hey? I think we just all need to be a lot more respectful of these ageing rockstars because I suspect they're a pretty sensitive breed. Especially when it comes to their dance moves.

[John]

Personally, I think the stage mannerisms in the video are more appropriate for the time and less of an embarrassment than the stuff with him wearing a robe with a foot long beard banging a tambourine.  Try explaining that to your friends. 

I actually think that was the only time he looked like he fitted in with the band. He looked like a bit of a dork, sure, but that big beard suited his balding head, and it was a look that was all him - no-one else looked like that, it was of the time, and it was TM-based. It went a long way to establishing his own personal identity.

I don't really think Denny would have had the onstage charisma to front the band. He seems kinda wooden during the "Never Learn Not To Love" clip, and that was his big chance, really, being filmed during the era of the emerging frontmen.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I don't really think Denny would have had the onstage charisma to front the band. He seems kinda wooden during the "Never Learn Not To Love" clip, and that was his big chance, really, being filmed during the era of the emerging frontmen.

Good point, John. And that is why I hesitate to take shots at Mike's appearance and on stage persona.

There is this quote by Marilyn Wilson in the IJWMFTT documentary, that I can't get out of my head. She is talking about the guys questioning/doubting Brian's musical direction/leadership in the late 60's and she says, as if Brian was talking, "Hey, if you guys can do better, here, you do it."

To me, that quote can be used in a lot of areas within The Beach Boys. But with Mike Love's stage motions/dancing/MCing/patter with audience, etc.,  Mike could easily say to the other guys, "Hey, if any of you can do better, go ahead, YOU try it." It's one thing to croak out a song or two, or stand and dance on top of a piano, or wave to the crowd occasionally, or even just to say, "Thank you very, very, very, very, very much for coming tonight." But it does take some guts and imagination to do what Mike Love did/does. Carl, Dennis, and Al couldn't do it. And if you look at Brian's solo shows, he can't do it either. The FACT is, the overwhelming majority of fans at a Beach Boys' concert enjoy Mike Loves' schtick. Is that how you spell schtick?

[Exapno Mapcase]

No. It's S-H-I-T.

[Aegir]

Does anyone know if he still does the motions to "Fun, Fun, Fun" (ie the whipping during the "chariot race" line, turning on the imaginary radio, acting like a bird during "wild goose chase")? That would just be hillarious to see, especially because Mike's facial hair as of late makes him look like a mean old man.

[Eric Aniversario]

Does anyone know if he still does the motions to "Fun, Fun, Fun" (ie the whipping during the "chariot race" line, turning on the imaginary radio, acting like a bird during "wild goose chase")? That would just be hillarious to see, especially because Mike's facial hair as of late makes him look like a mean old man.

I'm not sure about all those gestures (because Fun Fun Fun is usually the last song, and my mind is on other things at that point...like where the backstage entrance is...do I have all my stuff, etc.) but I'm pretty sure that he still does the thing where he picks up the mic stand and pretends he's driving it.  I do remember seeing the whipping as late as the mid 90's, although the gesture was not nearly as exaggerated.

[endofposts]

Would anyone care to discuss Brian's odd hand gestures in his stage act?  It must be a family trait.  Or maybe Brian's moves are proof that imitation is not always the sincerest form of flattery.  To Brian's credit, at least he doesn't tell sometimes-odd long stories before songs; he keeps his sometimes-odd comments short.

[Amy B.]

Would anyone care to discuss Brian's odd hand gestures in his stage act?  It must be a family trait.  Or maybe Brian's moves are proof that imitation is not always the sincerest form of flattery.  To Brian's credit, at least he doesn't tell sometimes-odd long stories before songs; he keeps his sometimes-odd comments short.

I guess I always look at Brian's gestures differently because of his history of stage fright and just generally not wanting to be there. It's like he's doing it to relax himself, whereas Mike does it to entertain or look cool. Or maybe both of them do it because they're not playing instruments and they don't know what else to do.