Bad beach boys interviews

[carl r]

I thought this a nice negative thread for a Monday, my personal nomination is the Mike Douglas Show from '69

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sobVMqnElOI&feature=related

Bad clothes, and they seem to be aiming to pull the grandmothers of America (apart from Dennis).
Cold War rhetoric clashing badly with the prevalent ideological flux of the time.
And if they didn't like communism, why go there, a year after the Soviets crushed the reformists?

Brian elsewhere and Dennis says nothing... and, sorry,  no brain between the lot of them.

(This just refers to the interview. Breakaway and Celebrate are great songs and I am privileged to hear them)


My second nomination is the Brian Wilson interview from the early 90s when a woman pulls Brian apart about his daughters - deeply uncomfortable entertainment.

[Eric Aniversario]

I actually liked that interview, and I especially enjoyed that lady singing "Pennies From Heaven" or whatever it's called and dancing with Dennis!  I tried to look up info on the lady, but couldn't find anything.  Does anyone know anything about her?

[melissalynn]

I actually liked that interview, and I especially enjoyed that lady singing "Pennies From Heaven" or whatever it's called and dancing with Dennis!  I tried to look up info on the lady, but couldn't find anything.  Does anyone know anything about her?

I've also tried looking her up, with no success. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places...
and I agree, I think it's an interesting interview! I've always enjoyed it.

[carl r]

Sorry for dissing everyone's favourite interview. The bad thing about this interview is that the questions aren't stupid, but the band come across as extremely naff, especially as Bruce does so much of the talking.

[melissalynn]

Don't be sorry, that's the beauty about opinions. Everyone's is different.

I can see how you'd see that about the interview. I just don't include it on my list of 'worst interviews' because I guess I've seen so many that are worse than that one. I'll try to find examples...because I know there are several that pop into my head.

[Pretty Funky]

I actually liked that interview, and I especially enjoyed that lady singing "Pennies From Heaven" or whatever it's called and dancing with Dennis!  I tried to look up info on the lady, but couldn't find anything.  Does anyone know anything about her?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaye_Stevens

Carl on drums? Backing track I guess but first time I've seen it.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I actually find it kind of cool that they go against the grain of their day in 1968. I don't know if they realised that they were out of sink with the Marxist hippies or not.

Why do they have to be like everybody else to be cool? They might be out of sink, but they are just being themselves, which to me is cool. 

[MBE]

Actually I think they come off as fairly normal guys there.

[Smilin Ed H]

Hippies: Marxist?   

[carl r]

All good fun. These are the clean-cut, baby-faced Beach Boys dressed in white that were an anachronism in 1968, and at that time "normal" wasn't a good or normal place to be! Brian with his wider social circle knew this, and when Dennis got laughed at in London for his stripy shirt, he knew it too.

Of course in a couple of years it had all gone denim, beards and eco-warrior - and songs about tits and masseurs. So which was the real Beach Boys?

The answer seems to be that they were as rock'n'roll as anyone at the time, but were badly advised - still thinking that the early 60s pop market existed.

Without Brian and Dennis contributing, they didn't really have much to say either. I like Carl Wilson but I think he was the George Harrison-type who needs dynamic people around him.

I'm with the "marxist hippies" on this one - their music was great but they tragically came across as a bit of a joke. (Which unfortunately repeated itself as farce in the 80s)

[MBE]

I understand your points but (and actually this is 1969) they never came off as fake in this era whcih they did in the 80's .I think because they didn't try to be cool they were cool. Ok the white suits may look corny in a way, but it gave them a distinct look. Good point about Carl and George never put that together but it rings true, even though George had a better solo career.  If you don't mind another Beatles reference, I think that their interviews of the period (particularly John and Yoko's) are far more dated or tied to their era. What I mean by the Beach Boys seeming like regular guys is that in 1969 most people looked and acted more like them then the other rock groups of the day. At least if my parents yearbooks is anything to go bythe average middle class white kid was actually far more likely to resemble Al Jardine then Jerry Garcia. One thing about Brian you mentioned, he kind of stayed the same through the whole thing. He was hip but like the other Beach Boys he seems kind of unto himself. I mean he liked bowling shoes and white tee shirts more then anything found in swinging London.

Back to your original post subject watch any interview from the 80's or early ninties and they come off far worse. Especally when they were on a show like Solid Gold.

[Quincy]

The lady is Kay Stevens..she was in the movie The Interns in 1962..and guested on all the shows in that time period

[Smilin Ed H]

Of course, by the 80s, their music mostly was a farce!

[Pretty Funky]

The lady is Kay Stevens..she was in the movie The Interns in 1962..and guested on all the shows in that time period

Thats Kaye with the e.

Refer my Wiki link page 1.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

Hippies: Marxist?   

Ok, maybe that's a bit harsh. Socialist thinkers. The BBs are probably more pro American capitolists.

[Amy B.]

How many rock and roll groups wore matching outfits in the late 60s? Motown groups did, but not rock and roll groups, at least not the cool ones.  The BBs didn't stop wearing matching outfits until...when? 1969? 1970?

Anyway, everyone seems to know by now that the Beatles' suits were not the real Beatles. They were cooler than that and wore leather before that. But not everyone seems to know that the striped shirts were not the real Beach Boys. They were pretty all-American before that anyway.

But back to interviews...the BBs were never terrific in interviews. Even though they seemed to have a sense of humor, it never quite translated in interviews the way it did with the Beatles, did it? They didn't have that same charisma. Oddly, Brian is sometimes the most entertaining in interviews because of the weird things he says.  I think the worst
interview was the one with Joan Lunden where Dennis was drunk or high, and Brian saved that one with his "Be My Baby" response.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I think that for the most part, the Beach Boys problem in the 60s was their stage presence. Mike was a fairly strong front man, and Dennis was as natural and charismatic as the Beatles. But Brian, Carl and Al were quite boring to watch on stage. Dave Marks might have become a good performer in a few more years had he stayed with the group. Better then Bruce anyway.

In the late 60s, Mike, of all people was the first BB to not where the matching suit, when he covered it with a white robe!! I really like his woredrobe and long beard from 69-72.

[Aegir]

When the Beach Boys were in their Pendleton phase, they actually got BEAT UP by the more conservative people for looking like such punks with their long hair (yes, their hair, especially Dennis and Dave's, by 1961 standards was long) and surfer shirts.

And the last time the Beach Boys wore matching outfits (besides tuxedos) was probably New Year's Eve 1974: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdWRudndTNE&feature=related

[MBE]

Uniforms were still worn by pop groups into 68-69. I think the Beatles said it best in 1963 that the leather was old hat and they wanted something different anyhow. What John said angerly later is another story. Besides by 1965 the Beatles stage were was pretty hip. The Beach Boys stripped shirts gave them a good American look that set them apart. Sorry but I think the Beach Boys were very hip then because they didn't try to be. Some of the attempts in 1971 were more forced, but even then they kept their locker room humor when interviewed. The Beatles had a lot of personal charisma, they were a great group musically but it's the way they were presented and how their personalities that made them so much bigger then many other great groups. Even the Stones didn't have as clearly defined personas.

[Eric Aniversario]

I actually liked that interview, and I especially enjoyed that lady singing "Pennies From Heaven" or whatever it's called and dancing with Dennis!  I tried to look up info on the lady, but couldn't find anything.  Does anyone know anything about her?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaye_Stevens

Thanks!!  I couldn't find any info on her because I didn't spell her name with the "e" on the end.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

When the Beach Boys were in their Pendleton phase, they actually got BEAT UP by the more conservative people for looking like such punks with their long hair (yes, their hair, especially Dennis and Dave's, by 1961 standards was long) and surfer shirts.

And the last time the Beach Boys wore matching outfits (besides tuxedos) was probably New Year's Eve 1974: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdWRudndTNE&feature=related

That is very interesting that they went back to uniforms after 5 years. Wasn't Jack Rieley the one who told them to stop the uniform look. Maybe they reverted to them after he was fired.

Having said that, I love those suits. I want one!

[Smilin Ed H]

I just wasn't convinced that many other groups or hippies were socialist thinkers!.  I don't object to the term Marxist, but weren't they just trying to get laid.   

[carl r]

Good point, I would say generally and vaguely  anti-authority would be a better description. Meanwhile, the Beach Boys were nice, normal boys. Well...

[Smilin Ed H]

Odd, sisn't it, that out of all of them, Mike was the one who affected the hippie trappings the most.

[tpesky]

I think the NYE concert 74 was just a one off with the same outfits to look formal. Don't recall ever seeing/hearing about them with matching outfits ever during this time