Is it time to reappraise 15 Big Ones?

[adamghost]

I'm that guy.  I get that you hate "Honkin'" but that's not really the point.  I hate "You Light Up My Life" but that was one of the biggest singles in 1977 IIRC.  What song would have made a better single from LOVE YOU?  (Not what song do you like better...it's not the same thing)

Mind, my overall point was that there were no real viable potential singles on LOVE YOU, without at least a remix and partial rerecording, period.  What I was saying was of the limited options, I think that was the best one in terms of getting some radio airplay.  But I'm not at all surprised it tanked, with or without Warners' support.

Come to think of it, the best argument to support that statement is that "Peggy Sue", from the even more lame-duck MIU ALBUM, managed to get up into the 50s on Billboard.  If bad promotion were the only factor in "Honkin's" failure, you could expect "Peggy Sue" to have met the same fate.

I vehemently disagree with the guy who said that "Honkin' Down The Highway" was their best shot as a single. Even the earlier version that Hinsche sang wasn't any better. Even the remake by Al last year (WHY?) wasn't any better than the original. He sang it 50 feet in front of me live last month and that didn't do anything for me. The song was very sophmoric and embarrassing, and I couldn't see myself justifying it to friends and relatives if I played it for them. Radio airplay? I never heard it on the radio. Ever. Bought the single when it came out just to complete the collection - I've never played it. I skip over it when I play the album (very seldom). The single didn't chart. Plus, it was backed with Solar System. Gaaaaawwwwwd! Are you shiitin' me? Only way you're gonna get that on the radio, especially in 1977, is to front some big time payola under the table to the DJ. If I were a DJ, I wouldn't play it, even though I'm one of the hugest Beach Boys fans on the West Coast!

You want to know what I really think about "Honkin' Down The Gosh Darn Highway"?

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Honkin would have been a great single with the drum intro and it being a pretty infectious tune all-around.

Maybe they could've mixed it differently, I dunno to make it more "hit" like, but overall it was prime stuff for at least a shot at it!

For some reason I think Mona would've been a great single too! It's produced rather well and to my ears seems like a fully fleshed out track. I mean, we're talking good catchy songs when it comes to the LOVE YOU album.

[Custom Machine]

Mona would also be my choice as the best potential single from Love You.  Infectious tune and great lead vocal from Dennis.

As far as promotion is concerned, I still have the poster that Warner Bros sent out to record stores advertising the album.  But picture a WB promo guy walking into a radio station attempting to get airplay.  In addition to his job of promoting specific singles or album tracks, he's gotta think very seriously about his credibility down the road.  In 1977 (or any other year, for that matter), if he walks into a radio station raving about something like Honkin Down the (Gosh Darn) Highway most radio station music directors and/or program directors would have not only passed on the song, but would also have made a mental note not to trust the guy's credibility in the future. 

And, as far as the Love You album is concerned, in the album inner sleeve, the other BBs basically apologized for the album by saying they support and love Brian in his attempt to create new material.  It's like they were saying, "Yeah, we know this album contains a lot of hoarse vocals and quirky lyrics, but we are supporting Brian in his endeavor to get back into producing new material." 

Back to Honkin Down the Highway.  Yes, it's basically a rather lame song, but I've always loved the lines, "Taking one little inch at a time now, 'Til we're feelin' fine now, I guess I've got a way with girls."

[adamghost]

Astute post from Custom Machine, I'd say.

OK, I'd buy "Mona" as a single.  It's too bad it never changes, though.  If it had a "B" section it'd make more sense to me.  But I could imagine it on the radio...once or twice.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I get it but still, this was THE BEACH BOYS! They'd always been goofy and had enough goofy hits for no one to be shocked!

Look at what other songs were big hits in 1977:

Car Wash!

Aint Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)

I'm Your Boogie Man!

I mean, wasn't Kung Fu Fighting a big hit too?

Plenty of silliness to go around.

[adamghost]

It's not the stupid factor alone...it's the production values plus being in sync with what was going on at the time.  All of those songs were disco-related to greater or lesser degrees.  Which begs an interesting question...if "Here Comes The Night" came out in 1977, would it have been a bigger hit?

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I think it would have been a bigger hit if not a BIG hit!

People were herding into football stadiums and burning disco records by the time HCTN 79 was released, right?

[c-man]

15 songs, 15th anniversary, along with it being an Olympic year. I have no problem with that at all. It was also the United States Bicentennial year too. My problem with the cover is the awful pictures used on the front cover. Dennis' pic is the only decent one of the five. Brian's was the worst with his greasy hair. Maybe, the front shot should have them as U.S. patriots such as Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, with Brian & Mike as the Adams cousins; John and Samuel.

great idea!
Obviously, not a lot of thought was put into the cover.
But at least it included some liner notes about who played on what track...that's a treat in itself

Yeah...that "treat" is what sent my poor 14-year old mind over the edge, and precipitated a lifetime of minutae revelling.  So thanks, guys, thanks a lot.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Hey, be thankful they only did it for that ONE album!!!! 

[punkinhead]

15 songs, 15th anniversary, along with it being an Olympic year. I have no problem with that at all. It was also the United States Bicentennial year too. My problem with the cover is the awful pictures used on the front cover. Dennis' pic is the only decent one of the five. Brian's was the worst with his greasy hair. Maybe, the front shot should have them as U.S. patriots such as Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, with Brian & Mike as the Adams cousins; John and Samuel.

great idea!
Obviously, not a lot of thought was put into the cover.
But at least it included some liner notes about who played on what track...that's a treat in itself

Yeah...that "treat" is what sent my poor 14-year old mind over the edge, and precipitated a lifetime of minutae revelling.  So thanks, guys, thanks a lot.

i have no idea what that means

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

He means the detailed liner notes in 15 BIG ONES lead him to this very message board!!!!!!!!

[punkinhead]

He means the detailed liner notes in 15 BIG ONES lead him to this very message board!!!!!!!!

gotcha

[The Heartical Don]

As for hit singles: I think neither Honkin' nor Mona were fit to rise to the top. The main problem with Honkin' is that the chorus sounds so... gasping for breath, tired even. Is it the massive cigarette consumption at the time? Don't know.

Mona is too simple. Really. Only we diehards adore it for its essence. Other people may even laugh at the silly lyrics with all that repetition. True, the very same people will like rhyming like 'Disco In Frisco' or 'Action And Satisfaction'. But: combined with the samey melody line and the lack of a bridge... no.

[Mr. Cohen]

Brian wanted "Roller Skating Child" to be the single at the time, and I have to say, it would've been their best choice. That song is fun, fun, fun!

[c-man]

He means the detailed liner notes in 15 BIG ONES lead him to this very message board!!!!!!!!

gotcha

...and oh, so much more than that...it's become my lifetime's obsession to find out as much detail about the personnel on every record they ever made and every concert tour they ever played as is humanly possible...they started it, and I feel like I have to finish it...

[The Heartical Don]

He means the detailed liner notes in 15 BIG ONES lead him to this very message board!!!!!!!!

gotcha

...and oh, so much more than that...it's become my lifetime's obsession to find out as much detail about the personnel on every record they ever made and every concert tour they ever played as is humanly possible...they started it, and I feel like I have to finish it...

Don't worry. Scientists recently discovered a method to reverse the physical ageing process in mice.

[drbeachboy]

Brian wanted "Roller Skating Child" to be the single at the time, and I have to say, it would've been their best choice. That song is fun, fun, fun!

That one always seemed to be the obvious choice to me too. Roller skating was really in vogue at that time. I skated at least once a week and Roller Skating Child was always in rotation at every rink I visited.

Edit: It is also Mike's best lead vocal from that period. Not overly nasal.

[Mr. Cohen]

Amen! To those that say that Love You sounds like a collection of demos, I point them to "Roller Skating Child". It has tons of interesting touches in terms of production. There's those hand claps going through the whole song; the tack piano low in the mix; the forward-thinking, club ready use of the snare drum; plus, some great interplay between the synth bass and Carl's electric guitar. 

The album is full of things like that. Take, for example, the second verse of "I Wanna Pick You Up". Out of nowhere, Brian starts playing a brilliant counter-melody under Dennis' lines on a synth, which continues through Brian's lines. And you know he probably did that on the spot! Just amazing. But then there's some people who think Brian had lost a lot of his talent at this point. Even some die hard Beach Boys fans (I think one poster here compared Love You to someone recovering from a traumatic brain injury).

On songs like "Airplane" and "I'll Bet He's Nice", the way he puts together all of of those little instrumental elements together is pretty impressive.  Like, on "Airplane", you have those prominent synth chords, which are matched with all these different 2-4 notes drum patterns and brought together with a couple of cool snyth bass parts. It's like watching a child put together a puzzle, and I mean that in the best way possible. Subtly, low in the mix, you'll hear a guitar peek in and out of the mix. On top off all that, there's a yearning vocal, a few harmonies, and we would remiss to ignore the structural greatness of some of the chord changes.

Love You... I love you.

[phirnis]

Dada, couldn't agree more on the musical merits of Love You! That beautiful synth line in the second verse of "I Wanna Pick You Up" is so good it can make a grown man weep. Also, it sounds just like it was lifted straight off Switched-On Bach. Very impressive.

[Myk Luhv]

It's still unfortunate he chose Denny to sing "I Wanna Pick You Up" though. It just sounds so creepy...

[Alex]

I think Love You was just a couple years too early...had it been released in 79/80, the BBs could've beat the Buggles, the Human League, Depeche Mode, Flock of Seagulls, etc. at their own game.

[drbeachboy]

It's still unfortunate he chose Denny to sing "I Wanna Pick You Up" though. It just sounds so creepy...

Though I don't think it sounds creepy at all, could anybody else except Dennis or Brian get away with singing a tune like that? It needed that husky, manly voice singing as a contrast to the lyric. And Love You was definitely a few years ahead of its time. I fell in love with it on first listen back in 1977. It's in my top 5 Beach Boys albums, for sure.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I agree. I think Dennis has the charm to pull it off whereas with Mike or Brian singing it would've been even more creepy.

Also, with Love You, they'd already reached their creepy high water mark earlier in the album with Roller Skating Child, so Dennis being mildly creepy later goes down a whole lot easier.

[drbeachboy]

Also, with Love You, they'd already reached their creepy high water mark earlier in the album with Roller Skating Child...

How is this song creepy? Because a 35 year old Brian wrote a teenage love song?

[Myk Luhv]

I'm going to go out on a limb and figure the reason "Roller Skating Child" is creepy is because Brian, a 35-year-old man, is singing about fucking a teenager. I don't think The Beach Boys do the whole "unreliable narrator" thing either...

Also, what makes Denny singing "I Wanna Pick You Up" creepy is the fact that he sounds like he just ate two fistfuls of ashes beforehand. At the same time, however, I'm not sure who could sing it and make it sound less creepy. It's obviously not meant to be a creepy song and the lyrics and music are quite cute. Maybe Bruce? He sings inoffensive pablum so this song would be right up his alley!