This may not seem relevant to the topic of this thread as such,... but here goes anyway.

These past days I've enjoyed the new christmas album from Danish indie-pop & folk act Hymns from Nineveh and noticed that the guy behind the band singled out Gon Only Knows as the inspiration behind the production on the song 'Mariasangen' off the album. He basically says in a recent interview that he's always viewed GOK as a christmas song in spirit since it's inclusion in the final scene of Love Actually and that he therefore decided to use it as a sort of sonic inspiration for the sound and feel of this (quite good) song. I think it's very easy to hear the inspiration,... not in melody or vocals but in the way he's decided on instrumentation: https://youtu.be/pO-P41OjlSQ

All of this is extremely interesting - I'm tentatively positive.

An aspect of this hinted at in the articles is the 'brand' continuing after all these guys are gone - hopefully a loooong time into the future. But how would people feel about the Beach Boys touring in, say, 10-20-30-40 years from now without any original members on stage? Sort of like what has been going on for decades with the Drifters, the Glenn Miller Orchestra and similar log-gone acts. Personally, I wouldn't mind if it was pulled off in a tasteful manner but I'm sure there are many differing opinions about such a scenario.

Again, thank you for sharing these new songs. I really love them - and of course already cherish 'She's So Fine', 'Go Go Mario' and 'On the Beach' always having believed these to be Foskett originals. Glad to learn about the true origins of these great songs. Top-notch songwriting, Mike!

Please, keep them coming! We're all ears, :-)

Matt, thank you to both your father and you for sharing these wonderful recordings with us. They are really, really good and very well-written. As someone who has enjoyed Jeffrey Foskett's albums for years but never really bothered to check the writing credits assuming he wrote all the songs himself, I'm amazed to learn that your father basically provided Jeff with ready-made Beach Boys soundalike classics. What were some of my favorite Foskett songs turn out to simply be something Jeff re-recorded and put hos own vocals on, it would appear - and since I've always found his recordings a little too polished and synthetic, I prefer these original versions, which I didn't know existed. Again, thank you very much for sharing these and I have purchased the album via Bandcamp.

I for one would much prefer to hear more of Mike's original songs from this period - Beach Boys soundalikes or similarly inspired like the Spector-type song on the album on Bandcamp. There are so many Beach Boys cover versions floating around, ranging from pretty bad to excellent, but ORIGINAL songs done with a convincing Beach Boys sound like Mike's are more scarce, I think. So I'd much rather hear more of this than faithful re-creations of classic Beach Boys hits.

Speaking of Beach Boys soundalike songs, I'm a member of a Danish group, Surf School Dropouts, who dabbles in this as well: our two Beach Boys-inspired albums and some EPs are on Spotify and Bandcamp: https://surfschooldropouts.bandcamp.com

... unlike Mike, we've had the benefit of modern technology and recording possibilities at our disposal. With this in mind, and speaking from my experience writing songs with a Beach Boys feel, coming up with convincing harmonies and going for the Beach Boys sound when recording, I'm very impressed by the songs on Mike's Bandcamp profile. I hope you, Matt, will let your father know and that you will help him share more music with us. Preferably, more of his great originals.

There's still a wealth of unreleased and unfisnihed 60s productions by Spector languishing in his tape vault. Sony planned to issue a lot of those during a reissue campaign in the early 2010s which came to a halt - presumably due to differences between them and Spector. He's always been hard to deal with business-wise. The situation may be different and smoother now of course with his estate in charge of the catalog in the future.

I see that a pledge has been started online to release some of these rarities. If you love the wall of sound and would like to hear the combined efforts of all the talented musicians, singers, arrangers, songwriters etc that had a part of Spector's succes, I think you should sign this petition and help share the world. It would be a powerful statement to the Spector estate and Sony - that they need to get going compiling a box set orcompilations of this stuff.

Link to the pledge: http://chng.it/h2SHGXnCm9

Really looking forward to this. His voice has aged a little bit - as heard on this recording from 2015 - but singing live could be a whole other mater. We'll see. I'll cheer for them and no matter what it's really nice to have them pop up again.

New Radicals - Lost Stars (Gregg Alexander sung version recorded in the wake of the song's grammy nomination. Adam Levine sings it on the Begin Again soundtrack)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHJx_EI7bXs

Bumping this topic with the last post from 2014,.... because - belive it or not - Gregg Alexander reforms the New Radicals for one single day in order to play wednesday when Biden is sworn in. Who would have seen THAT coming? 

Will be interesting to see and hear the shape he and the band is in. No matter what, it'll be great to have them back, however briefly!

My band (Surf School Dropouts) has a x-mas EP out chock full of Beach Boys vibes. Hope you'll check it out!
https://open.spotify.com/album/29GrVz4Ji3JT0reCBz0xOR?si=iVVjtOnjRMiz1Kegp-GX8w

Lead-off track 'The Man in Red' is in a Little Saint Nick-vein and we sprinkled a bit of Smile-inspiration on to the final track, the instrumental 'Copenhagen Christmas',... also went for a Spector wall of sound-approach on 'Help Me Santa' and 'Another Christmas with You'

If you don't have Spotify the EP can be streamed / purchased off Bandcamp: https://surfschooldropouts.bandcamp.com/album/the-man-in-red-ep

Oh,... and lest I forgot, - super-cheesy video for 'The Man in Red': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8eNhmyF2zY

Bumping this thread since  'Sound of the Summer', a new song by Surf School Dropouts, fits into the discussion. Rodney Bingenheimer featured it in his most recent show. There's a name check for the Beach Boys in there as well; "Well, it's Brian and the guys singing harmony" during the short break near the end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14vWAe2iPbk

IF a box set is forthcoming, fingers crossed, I really, really, REALLY hope that some of those Stephen Desper mixes that he shared with us in those study videos will be part of it. I remember listening to a mix of Cool, Cool Water that blew my mind. (Only heard it once) It would be the perfect opportunity to get his versions out to a wider audience.

If anyone feels like hearing a christmas song with a heavy Beach Boys vibe, you can freely download & stream 'Help Me Santa' by the Surf School Dropouts here:

https://surfschooldropouts.bandcamp.com/track/help-me-santa-single

It's a song we wrote, recorded and put out years ago, but one where we were never truly satisfied with the mix. Fast forward 9 years and we've added new parts, remixed and remastered it and I think the outcome is so much better than the original version. Hope you'll take a listen! :-)

https://surfschooldropouts.bandcamp.com/track/help-me-santa-single

Nice to see these recordings coming out. I brought up the subject 6(!) years ago! 

Follow this link to an earlier thread to read Rick Henn's recollections about Snow:

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,15348.0.html

Bumping this Love You thread for the sake of making people aware of this fun little EP with a Love You-connection:

https://surfschooldropouts.bandcamp.com/album/surf-school-dropouts-love-you

"Surf School Dropouts pay homage to the iconic synth sounds of the classic 1977 'Love You' album by the Beach Boys. The EP features four Surf School Dropouts originals rearranged and partly re-recorded for a 'Love You' feel."

https://surfschooldropouts.bandcamp.com/

Montage made by isolated harmony vocals off second album, 'Second Nature': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr_j76JDuX8

Basically all songs off both albums by Danish group Surf School Dropouts; started out harmonizing Beach Boys songs, then evolved into writing original songs with a tip of the hat to Brian & the Boys...

Probyn Gregory guests with a mean surf guitar solo on the second album! (Coastline Cruisin')

https://surfschooldropouts.bandcamp.com/

I'd like to ask the original poster which songs come to mind when talking about Sunshine Pop? For one thing, as far as I know, the term was never used in the 60s but only added to certain type of songs later on among collectors.

Personally, I would normally use the term for the more bouncy and sunny harmony pop of the 60s; Good Vibrations, Wouldn't It Be Nice, Little Girl I Once Knew by the boys, 'Happy Together' by the Turtles, 'I Could be so Good to You' by Don & the Goodtimes, 'My World Fell Down' by Sagittarius, 'It Could be We're in Love' by the Cryan' Shames, 'Just my Style' by Gary Lewis & the Playboys, 'Happiness Is' by The Association etc.... you get the picture  ....and there are many examples to choose from. If that's the definition of sunshine pop we're talking about then I would argue that a lot of what made those songs work - good harmonies, great hooks, a bouncy, jubilent feel - lived on in bubblegum music and other sub-genres with rougher production values.

Some have much broader definitions of sunshine pop which is just fine. Everything is open to discussion. I know that some collectors include much more psychadelic stuff or music that's very close to be termed muzak or easy listening by others. The term 'soft pop' at the very least seems to be much broader.... And if THAT'S what we're discussing here, then, yes, as others have mentioned, you could point to a shitload of artists from the 70s and onwards who took their cue from the sunnier and softer sides of 60s pop,... the Carpenters, case in point. America could be another example.

Fun topic to discuss. Anyone interested in all this should check of Domenic Priore's and Brian Chidester's way cool book 'Pop Surf Culture' which came out in the late 00s. It is a great write-up on the Beach Boys and similar acts and how their harmony sound went into the melting pot with surf culture and the California way of life and gave way to an aesthetic that can be found popping up in lots of areas.

On Pinterest I compiled a mood board years ago with images and music videoes that could readily fit the sunshine pop and soft pop genres, however you'd go about discussing them. Some here might dig it: https://www.pinterest.dk/kwandk/california-montage

Stephen fills his book with more information than maybe is necessary and sometimes it comes off like an encyclopaedia.

I must mention as I feel he doesn't get the credit he deserves. He does actually interview the people and if he uses others people's interviews he fully credits them as his source. Much of his Inception book was used in James Murphy's book with virtually no credit as to how much of Stephen's work was actually in that book. I must stress that both books are must haves as there is plenty of information in James' book as well. There have been more recent books on PF Sloan, Bobby Fuller and Beach Party Movies. Stephen published his books on these subjects years before and again very little credit or none given to the work of Stephen used in those books.

This! As someone who has corresponded with Stephen through the years about his books and have ordered several of them in print form before he began selling them as PDFs, I have been really impressed by his work. He's always been receptive to input and easy-going to write with and the wealth of information in his books is astounding. All the info can be overwhelming, yes, but a reason for this is also that he takes pride in doublechecking sources and finding additional information that can either confirm or disprove some of the stories told to him.

I've worked professionally with music history myself in a museum context and oral history of the type Stephen has conducted is very, very tricky. More so than many people realise. You're often told a lot of stories that don't add up - not necesarrily out of malice but because the interviewees are so far removed from the events they're telling about or because they subconsciously allow their feelings of what they wish would have happened to skew their telling of what happened. So I really appreciate the fact that Stephen goes out of his way to get the facts straight - his fabolous book on PF Sloan has a lot of examples of that which makes it the much better read over Sloan's own rambling, weird autobiography that came out years later.

AGD, Jon Stebbins, Brad Elliott etc are usually mentioned as Beach Boys experts of note but I agree with others in this thread, - if you look at Stephen's body of work, his expertise and interviews are hard to macth.

I wholeheartedly recommend his books to others here! Dirt cheap when you think about al the info you get at the click of a button.

Has anyone brought up the fact that the official Beach Boys page on Facebook posted the video three hours ago? What to make of that? I don't really follow the page that closely, but.... did the same thing happen when Brian premiered videos for songs off No Pier Pressure or when Al released his album? Just curious...

Is it just me or does even Stamos seem totally sidelined by the heinous McGrath?  Watch at around 1:28 and you can almost see him thinking "Jesus, I'm not getting ANY screen time with this idiot jumping around".

I swear,... there are times in that video where it looks as if even STAMOS is embarresed by being in this travesty. And yeah, Mike finally succeeded in finding someone even more annoying than he is in the from of McGrath. I'll have nightmares tonight of his botoxed face screaming 'do it' at me!

Time to put on Sunshine Tomorrow again and forget all this ever happened...

As a longtime, die-hard Sloan fan, who cherish both his solo material and his songwriting for others with Steve Barri, I was incredibly dissapointed by his memoir.

So many stories in there are clearly inflated or made-up which really does a disservice to his story, - one that would easily have made for very interesting reading without all the embellishments. What a wasted opportunity.

If you want a more balanced look at his career - one that also dared to question his claims and often-told stories - you should seek out Stephen McParland's lenghty and loving tome 'Travelling Barefoot on a Rocky Road.' A much more satisfying read in my opinion...

For those who may have missed them the first time around;

Two interviews with Andy Paley, - among other things he talks a bit about his collaboration with Brian...

https://cuecastanets.wordpress.com/2015/02/05/andy-paley-interview/

https://cuecastanets.wordpress.com/2015/02/15/andy-paley-interview-part-ii/

It's a wonderful album which I find is only held Down a little bit by two or three songs that aren't that interesting. I agree about the mix - could have been better, punchier. But still, up to their usual high standards. Great band!

Here's a personal review posted on my blog:

https://cuecastanets.wordpress.com/2016/06/21/review-together/

Bumping this old topic as I've recently spoken with a very reliable source about this. The person in question claims that he has heard a version of 'Don't Hurt my Little Sister' with Darlene Love singing lead - not 'Things are Changing' but 'Don't Hurt my Little Sister.'

As far as I've understood, the recording my source heard featured Darlene during vocal takes and you can hear Brian in the studio chatting with her between takes. Apparently, at one point he asks her 'Is that a wig?' and then what the cost is. Upon hearing her response, naming some amount, he's said to answer 'Gee!' Very innocently and in typical Brian fashion.

Given the source, who I won't reveal but trust - it's someone in the know - I'm pretty sure that a Spector or Riopelle-produced recording of 'Don't Hurt my Little Sister' exists with somwhat direct involvement from Brian. Whether or not the track was fully produced I don't know but I would guess so if Darlene was brought in to lay down actual lead vocals. Based on previously leaked vocal session Spector tracks where you get to sort of be a fly on the wall, I'd say the backing track would have been completed, only lacking possible strings and back-up vocals.

Maybe there's a fully produced Spector version in the vaults that somehow didn't see release? Wouldn't be the first time that happened. Remember; Spector kept glorious tracks like 'This could be the Night' by the MFQ and 'Paradise' by the Ronettes in the can. Perhaps Riopelle dusted off the recording and produced new vocals for 'Things are Changing' using an existing Spector backing track? Or perhaps he just used a former track as a blueprint for his own backing track? Who knows?

I don't believe it will happen.  The guys don't even talk (again) anymore.  Mike has his way, Brian has his, and they are too stuck in their ways
and getting too old to compromise. Their focuses are too far apart once again.

Agreed. But it's such a shame.

As much as I enjoy the best parts of NPP, there was something really special about them singing together again. I think the best tracks of NPP could have been fantastic to hear in a Beach Boys setting on a follow-up album to That's Why God Made the Radio.

No chance in hell this performance wasn't doctered in some way!