The Smiley Smile Message Board

The 4 singles chosen were Hot Fun, Forever, Summer of Love, and Boardwalk.  They couldn't have done a worse job choosing the singles.  If only the boys/record company had chosen ANY ONE OR TWO of any of the other 8 tracks as singles and promos to radio stations (radio was still huge in '92) the record would have had solid sales and radio airplay (especially the bolded):

"Surfin'"
"Island Fever"
"Still Surfin'"
"Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night)"
"Strange Things Happen"
"Remember (Walking in the Sand)"
"Lahaina Aloha"
"Summer in Paradise"

ESPECIALLY when you consider the general smarm that made up the Billboard Hot 100 for 1992: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1992

You have a point there, but "Surfin'" or "Slow Summer Dancin" would have been a worse choice than "Forever". "Forever" is a good song, and it seems Stamos has a big fanbase in the US.

"Lahaina Aloha" would have been a good single and the European version of "Summer In Paradise" (the song) too.

The sequencing is terrible too. It starts with the four worst songs of the album! And some of the worst recordings in the Beach Boys catalog too!

You know how Republicans and Libertarians always go on about the free market finding it's way and blah blah blah letting the market decide, as if it's some sentient force that inherently seeks out products of good value and dismisses shoddy tho well-marketed tripe?

Yeah, that. I'm gonna go full Mitt Romney on this and say all 100 of those singles are better than SIP. The market decided! Lo!

So get out your seats and jump around...
Jump around! Jump around! Jump around!
Jump up, jump up and get down....

I have to strongly disagree; I was a DJ in Adult Contemporary radio in the summer of 1992.  We gave Hot Fun in the Summertime considerable airplay and it peaked at 17 on the ACR Billboard chart.  It was, by far, the most commercial track on SIP and a damned fine choice as a single.  Island Fever and Lahaina Aloha were great songs, but in the vein of Still Cruisin' also a great track but, sadly, a failure on the charts (peaking at 93 on the Hot 100).  Still Surfin' might have been a hit in 1976.  Slow Summer Dancin' wouldn't have had a chance.  As for Summer in Paradise, good song but they never quite got the arrangement right on that one until the 1993 live version and by then it was too late.

The album may not have died a quiet death back in 1992 for all the right reasons, but production-wise/sonically, the album is a trainwreck. The album is so programmed and electronic and sterile-sounding, it makes the 1985 album sound like a warm, fuzzy, analog production by comparison.

The electronic drums are the worst, and everything sounds harsh and shrill. Not sure how much that had to do with recording the album with the early beta version of ProTools and whatnot.

I think 1992 just wasn't a time where the BB's would have had the industry cred and whatnot to pull off a massive hit album. Even if it had been an album full of Brian originals, it probably wouldn't have burned up the charts. The fact that the album had no Brian participation whatsoever and was a pretty weak album overall obviously didn't help either.

There are some good *compositions* and vocal performances on the album, including "Lahaina Aloha" and "Strange Things Happen." But they wouldn't have been hits either had they been pushed.

do you really not understand that the free market is just people voluntarily doing business (trading) with each other without an agency of force (the state) getting in the way?
Its not a thing in itself, but the combined actions of individuals.
i imagine nearly your entire life is spent in the free market,  unless you ask the state to intervene when deciding what album to purchase or who to date...
maybe i just dont get your hilarious joke?

So I've heard the UK SIP album version of "Summer In Paradise" which is an improvement over that of the US version.  What other changes were made to the UK version of the album and were they positive changes?

I guess Boardwalk would have been a good single. Hot fun was definitely not the right one. I met Mike in 1993 in Germany, Hotel Parkschloesschen, where he was guest (for free), an ayurveda hotel that just had opened (5 stars today !). I ran the German fanclub "California Saga" then. We talked for about 2-3 hours and had lunch there, he, his wife Jackie, a friend of mine and me. He seemed to be not really satisfied with the album and the promotion in Germany was a desaster. On the same evening McCartney was live in "Wetten dass" (a very prominent TV show then), and Mike didn´t know about it at all. He should have been there as well ! Instead of that he was in a 3rd class afternoon show the next day and was only asked about the old days. He struggled to keep the CD once briefly in the camera.

I know only one person who likes the CD.

<<I guess Boardwalk would have been a good single.>>
Wasn't it sent out as a single - or a promo?  I know they were pushing it in a German concert (Lorelei) I've got.

<< Hot fun was definitely not the right one. >>

I can't speak for Europe but in the U.S. Hot Fun was a genuine A.C. hit.

plop on 3 or 4 Brian Wilson songs (in an alt universe) which 3 or 4 would you have on it? from the early 90's..
1. water builds up (in place of slow summer nights and take it off and put it as a B-side or something)
2. Smart Girls (in place of surfin' and take off Summer of love completely) if they are going to do a rap type song then at least have this since it's at least creative.
3. the spirit of rock n roll (in place of walking in the sand)
4. Do you have any regrets (in place of Still surfin)

take off "under the boardwalk" (make it a B-side to the second single) keep "hot fun in the summertime" but move "Lahaina Aloha" as the opening track..keep "Forever" as the closing track..you'll lose a song making the tracklist one track shorter but who cares..

<< but who cares...>>

Perhaps the most significant post in this thread.

SIP is crap, there is no way those songs would have sold well in 1976 or 1992. Its a shell of a BBs album with more of the crass and cynical commercialism of MIU/KTSA.

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Hal, I think you have cracked the kokomo code! :thumbsup

Out of the entire 1992 Hot 100 schlock-fest, these are the only songs that are better than the 5 best songs on SIP:


6
"Tears in Heaven" Eric Clapton

7
"My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" En Vogue

14
"Black or White" Michael Jackson

17
"November Rain" Guns N' Roses

18
"Life Is a Highway" Tom Cochrane

19
"Remember the Time" Michael Jackson

20
"Finally" CeCe Peniston

21
"This Used to Be My Playground" Madonna

24
"Jump Around" House of Pain

25
"Diamonds and Pearls" Prince and The New Power Generation

26
"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" George Michael and Elton John

27
"Masterpiece" Atlantic Starr

32
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" Nirvana

34
"Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" Sophie B. Hawkins

39
"Bohemian Rhapsody" Queen

40
"Tennessee" Arrested Development

43
"The One" Elton John

44
"Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" P.M. Dawn

53
"All I Want" Toad the Wet Sprocket

57
"Mysterious Ways" U2

58
"Too Funky" George Michael

59
"How Do You Talk to an Angel" The Heights

60
"One" U2

62
"Hold on My Heart" Genesis

66
"In the Closet" Michael Jackson

67
"People Everyday" Arrested Development

68
"No Son of Mine" Genesis

71
"Friday I'm in Love" The Cure

72
"Everything About You" Ugly Kid Joe

93
"Free Your Mind" En Vogue

98
"Let's Get Rocked" Def Leppard

100
"I Can't Make You Love Me" Bonnie Raitt

Sadly, I don't think anything could have been a mainstream radio hit off of SIP. and this is coming from someone who loves this album. Hot Fun and Under The Boardwalk were moderate hits on the AC chart. I think another one that would have done well on the AC chart, and perhaps mainstream pop, if marketed correctly, was Island Fever. I agree that Summer of Love is probably the worst choice for a single in their entire recording career.

:pirate :h5 :happydance :woot :woot :thumbsup :brow...and I've heard it can cause hives.

As bad as Surfin' is on this album, has anyone else at all heard that they remixed (or were going to remix) Surfin' into "a dance song" in the late 90's/early 00's?  I swear I did not dream this...Mike and Bruce played Reading Municipal Stadium in 2001 I believe and the local radio station, Y-102 (102.5) was promoting the show.  They were playing some Beach Boys songs during the day, including Getcha Back which I hadn't heard on the radio in well over a decade at that point, and the DJ mentioned that they were going to play a "new" Beach Boys' song around 5PM that day and then clarified it and said that it was a dance remix of Surfin'.  My initial reaction was "Please don't" but although I was morbidly curious, I wasn't around a radio around that time and missed it.  I did make it to the show that night though.  Has anyone else heard about this?

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LOL...I didn't mean to leave that one on the list!

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Ya...I don't think it would have mattered much what they did with it.  AND I am way more WILLING to enjoy this album than most because usually there'll be something they do in almost EVERY song that makes it work even if only for seconds.  It's still magic to me.

But some TV guy taking a Dennis CLASSIC and harming it is not a good plan.  Trying to make Surfin' work again?   Whoever thought that was a good idea is a Bom Bom Dip Dip Di DIP.  No reordering of single releases was ever going to make this anything other than ... oh how can I best describe this album without being a Dip myself??? ... a very well packaged failure not worthy of a group with such an impressive history, legacy, pedigree and body of work.

I never, EVER wanted to see MY group...the sand-pail sailors...get turned into Sha Na Na.

I still don't.

I recall Bruce mentioning this on the BB Britain Board in the early 00's. He said that it would be in the style of Britney Spears, if I remember correctly.

 :lol

You know, the non-release of this sounds like the band's image avoided a bit of nuclear fallout there. My active imagination makes me think it would have made Here Comes the Night 1979 sound like Pet Sounds.

Bruce Johnston re-imagines Britney Spears. It'd really be a good way to salute NASCAR.

Properly this time. Sexily.

I'm gonna get really meta here with a remake suggestion that NEEDS to happen: Brian Wilson Reimagines Mike Love, Bruce Johnston, and David Marks of the Beach Boys Salute NASCAR.

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I've softened considerably on SIP in the last couple of years. Its main failings are less that it's terrible (although there are a couple of terrible moments -- why on earth was this group so fixated on rapping?) and more that it's just a bunch of songs with a pretty similar feel and tempo. Mike does his best, but Terry Melcher is no Brian Wilson -- for that matter, Terry is no Alan or Bruce or Carl. The decision to make the album mostly by those two guys really hurt.

But Mike comes up with some good things. Strange Things Happen and the title track work well, the covers aren't bad by BB standards, and there are nice moments in LA and Still Surfin. I just think ideology really affects the BBs sometimes -- I mean, MIU is a very Brian-dominated album, but given the circumstances of its creation, people have been dissing it for years. And likewise, because BW wasn't involved with SIP (and was shopping Sweet Insanity around at the time), I think the record got a lousy reputation.

Again, I'm not saying it's some glorious lost gem. But it's by no means unlistenable, which BW has arguably approached a time or two in his solo career.

As a fan, I can find more than a few things to enjoy on Summer In Paradise.  And that's all I care about.

I also feel that a little eighties/early nineties cheese is fun to drop on unsuspecting listeners.

The live version of SIP on MIC is the first time I've really liked anything from that album.  Other stuff on it is ok, but nothing from that album (aside from said live version) is in my library.

If you're going to go by the AC chart, though, Still Cruisin' was a big hit there, peaked at #5 or something.

I've definitely heard about the idea, but this is the first I've heard of it airing. Did anyone here listen to this radio show?

The EU mix of the song "Summer In Paradise" is probably my favorite Brianless BB track. I never got into "Kokomo", but I really like "Summer In Paradise" - and dislike the live version that several posters here are obviously fond of. That's the way it is, folks!

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Couple of passable songs - certainly no worse than Kokomo and Still Cruisin'. Great vocals from Al and Carl. A lot of drek, too.

The drums make this album unlistenable. And weak melodies.

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3miDV8HnElk

Hypehat summed up this album the best!:

Ok, so I have a half a bottle of wine in me and another to go after a steady day of drinking, and listening to Summer In Paradise seems like a fantastic idea right now. It's been so hard to live without it, so lets talk about it.

1) Hot Fun In The Summertime

DEAR JESUS THE SNARE. We will have to get used to this.
Also, "Whisperin'" Mike Love. I like to picture putting HOURS into these leads.
Carl telling me we can "Bum bum bum" is kinda flattering imo.
SAX SOLO. Those breaks make me flinch.
This thing is mixed so fucking terribly Carl's high notes vanish from the mix.
also, WHAT THE HELL IS CARL DOING. I guess given Beckley/Lamm/Wilson, it's safe to say that absolutely every vestige of Carl's taste had disappeared by this point. He might have even thought this was A GOOD IDEA.

2. Surfin'

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
f*** me, the vocals on this are absolutely terrrrrrrrrrible. NASAL DOMINATION. Carl being SHITE. Like, even his smack-addled late 70's performances have merit. This sucks.
Not to mention ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING ELSE ABOUT THIS.
new lyrics. NEW LYRICS
MORE OF THEM.
I'm in pain. There are ten more songs. WHY.

3. SUMMER OF LOVE.

Mike Love, I will come round your house and make my fist meditate up your arse for this.
CHRIST ON A BICYCLE THE DJ SCRATCHES.
My Grandma has better flow than MC "Whisperin" Love.
attached and back don't rhyme, you bald apple juice chuggin goon.

4. Island Fever

These verse appear to be words in the english language. But they make no sense.
The Beach Boys' hymn to sexually transmitted diseases?
"My baby caught it and I'm not quite sure how/she might have got it from her travel brochure?" - Denny lives?
My baby can't dance or sleep because IT BURNS.
KEYCHANGE
f*** synthesisers, btw.


5. Still Surfin'

What the hell is this.
WHAT THE HELL IS THIS.
The fact I've spent a lot of time editing other things during this song speaks volumes.
What the hell makes ANYONE think it's ok to drop mexican terms for women in verses. Mamacita and the like. f*** YOU, MIKE.

6. Slow Summer Dancin' (Unneccesary parentheses)

IN BOTH CORNERS, BRUCE JOHNSTON
DETAILING HOW HE'S GONNA MAKE SWEET, SWEET, SWEET LOVE TO GROUPIES.
Misheard "I'll treat my angel really nice" as "I'll treat my ANUS.....REALLY NICE!"
Al "The Songwriter" Jardine keeping up his fine, fine, tradition of contributing entirely original melodic and lyrical ideas to songs. HOW DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT
That sax break. NO.

7. Strange Things Happen.

Ok, this is the worst thing so far.

It's something to do with the combination of SLAMMIN' MIKE LOVE JAMS and Al "Well, that never happened before!" Jardine learning about sex in 1991.

OH MY GOD. This is so so so s oo soooooo awful. I am crying with laughter.

8. Remember (Walking In The Sand)

Carl, I do love you, but when Mary Weiss dies she's going to find you in heaven and BEAT SEVEN SHADES OF CRAP OUT OF YOU FOR THIS.

"Echoing" Mike Love is also particularly ridiculous.

THE SAX SOLOS. AHSHGSHDGFXBGDGXFNJDMKYI6


GUYS I'M LOSING THE WILL TO LIVE. I HATE THIS ALBUM.

9. Lahina Aloha

Tropical beats
meaningless title
SOOOOOLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
palm trees
paradise
"Whisperin" Love

the f*** is this DRIVEL. I FEEL LIKE I'M BEING VIOLATED WITH OFFENSIVE ITEMS CARVED OUT OF JELLY OR SOMETHING. OFFENSIVE SMOOTHNESS. It's some terrible oxymoron i wouldn't believe possible if it wasn't fucking me in my ears.
THE HELL.

THREE MORE TRACKS LEFT, YOU CAN DO IT.

10. Under The Boardwalk

MIke Love, you get the f*** away from my girl.
Carl, I'm sorry, but The Drifters are also going to beat the hell out of you up there too. Possibly Carole King as well. At least they'll be tired after beating mike love to shreds. And you, Al.
ANOTHER SAXOPHONE SOLO. mo'fos.

As an aside, guys, this is one of the most awful albums in terms of production, mixing and mastering I've ever heard. IT IS THIN AS HELL.

11. SUMMER IN PARADISE.

dig that jangly fauxbyrds guitar.
THOSE 'HARMONY' VOCALS ARE CRAP. BRIAN WOULD BEAT YOU DEAD IF HE WAS IN THAT SESSION.
I think these might be EVEN WORSE LYRICS than Strange Things Happen or MC LOVE in something else.
f***, IT'S JIM MCGUINN.
that explains the guitar.
YOU BITCH, MCGUINN.

This is shite. musically, aurally, it's balls. BALLLLLLS. BIG SWEATY, HAIRY, OOZING TESTICLES. I feel ill.

12. Stamorever.

I have no more bile. I just have wine. After the systematic and calculated raping of the entire spectrum of pop music through these twelve tracks, some arsehole covering a Dennis Wilson song pales in comparison. I mean, it even has woodblocks on it, which makes it more reverent of a 'classic' bb's sound than anything on this record yet.

SEE WHAT THIS RECORD HAS DONE TO ME. I AM DEFENDING STAMOS



and with one fucking horrible sounding fake midi chord on the keyboard, that's it. The worst record I ever heard.

The drums are pretty terrible throughout the album, except on the EU version of the title track.

OK so Smile B likes it. ;)

The 'highlight' being an attempt by a non Beach Boy...hitherto referred to as "some arsehole".

Obviously if you don't have SIP yet...best hurry out and grab a copy.  It may not be too late to ask Santa.

You might also ask for some wine.  Or a least grab a couple of bottles at the store.  It would seem this is the ingredient necessary to make the album 'work'. :lol

Excellent review.

I'm gonna go left field and say 'I like' this album.

it sounds way better on vinyl by the way... if you can find a copy

I know it's hated by what seems like 'everyone', but I think it's cool.....

kinda like 'love you', it's out of the ballpark......

RickB

There are some nice moments (I have both releases).  However, at the time it was 'weird' listening to it when I bought it upon it's release.  Mainly because of the lack of songwriting or production credits for Bruce, Alan, or Carl, but plenty of covers. Some great vocals though, nice guitar work on some tracks and yeah, Surfin' was enjoyable for me!

The ONLY great part of this mess (and I mean ONLY)  is the fact that Brian Wilson was not involved in any way, shape or form with this putrid, vomit inducing pile of excrement. It parallels the lovester's lack of taste such as the over abundance of jewelry on his hands, around his neck, the tacky stage costumes, the hats, feathers, sheets, robes, sandals, and other gimmicks, the cornfed, stupid humorless banter  to draw attention to HIM. The album is a success in speaking volumes of what Mike Love is all about which is just plain buffoonery with, unfortunately, the Beach Boys name all over it.

Finally someone making sense.  I have never been able to find a vinyl copy btw...I would love one tho.

Not many around.  Maybe they'll reissue it!  Would look cool with that artwork.  ;D

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Summer In Paradise will always be known as "that Beach Boys album that Brian Wilson wasn't on". And that's a shame, because it didn't have to happen that way, and it shouldn't have happened that way. Mike Love and Terry Melcher did their job well with their songwriting. They came up with five good to very good songs - "Lahaina Aloha", "Strange Things Happen", "Summer In Paradise", "Island Fever", and "Still Surfin". You had a nice Bruce Johnston effort and, in my opinion, a more than acceptable cover of "Forever" with one of Carl Wilson's greatest vocals...ever.

The only thing missing was three, four, or five Brian Wilson songs. And, the frustrating part was that he had 'em. It's too bad he was sitting on Sweet Insanity instead of being a Beach Boy. If you take the aforementioned seven songs, and add "Someone To Love", "The Spirit Of Rock And Roll", "Don't Let Her Know She's An Angel", "Make A Wish", and - take your pick - "Save The Day" or "Thank You", both with with different lyrics, you have a strong Beach Boys' album. Brian could no longer produce, so that was out of the question, but adding the fun/spark/rock & roll of his songs and his voice in the mix, Summer In Paradise would've been an entirely different album, assuming they were smart enough to eliminate the other weak tracks ("Summer Of Love", etc.) that did make the album in Brian's absence.

Everyone doesn't hate it. 

I never knew it was on vinyl.  I have the gatefold CD (US version.)

And as the Sheriff mentioned "Carl's vocals" and you can never go wrong with that!  ;)

as far as I know, it was only released in Korea on vinyl..........

genuine?.... not sure......mine looks pretty authentic to me.....

and I like it, artwork cover is great too!

RickB

 Good post. You managed to sum up everything that makes SIP a despicable album!

Man, this may be an unpopular opinion around here, but "Lahaina Aloha" is a guilty pleasure of mine. Carl's vocals alone totally redeem this track.

Your Magnum Opus, SB.  :woot :woot :woot :woot :woot :woot :woot :woot

Lahaina Aloha is my favorite. Carl is brilliant.  People seem to strongly object to the electronic production.  My take was that they were just "trying something new out" and it was experimentation, which they had done, via Brian for decades. 

But, I wonder if it was in a more "acoustic" analog-type and less digital, with real percussion, whether it might have been better received.  I'm not convinced the music is bad.  But, people object to the artificiality of the presentation.  (As I have objected to C50 autotune.) Hope I have not used the terms incorrectly and insulted the real sound experts, here.

But, a lot of "electro" style music was emerging at the time, and perhaps that was an influence. 

And, I still like Summer in Paradise, live, with its "activist" message.  ;)

Lahaina Aloha is the only song that I enjoy on the album. Like Kokomo, my enjoyment comes down to Carl's great vocal. The song itself reminds me more of a later day Jimmy Buffett style song than a Beach Boys song.

I agree with SMiLE Brian that the sound of the album is very thin.

yes "Lahaina Aloha" is the "Somewhere Near Japan" or the "Where I Belong" of the album, it sticks out like a sore thumb from the other songs on the album..and it makes you wonder why they couldn't do more songs like these.. I've heard that "Run don't walk" was written sometime around this time period somewhere, on here maybe? so take off slow dancing and replace it with "Run don't walk".. I believe it could be re figured to be a better album using songs by Brian and Carl that were in the can at the time..

Lahaina Aloha was essentially a rewrite of Jamaica Farewell, although a very good one (in fact it is one of my very favourite post-L.A. songs, solo material included).

Overall I don't think the overall sound of SiP was the product of experimentation but, quite on the opposite, an utterly clueless and desperate move in order to fit in with the times. The Fine Young Cannibals drum sound in Strange Things Happen is the giveaway.

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I am not commenting on the record at all, as I've never heard it - well, possibly on Mike Grant's show I may have heard a song or 2 not recognizing them and, admittedly not paying a lot of attention or turning them down if I really hated them.  All I can say is, that is the single most hilarious record review I've ever read.  If it is at all factual, it is far more worthy of my attention than the record.

I had a bias against SIP from the day I first saw it in the music store. I knew Brian was estranged from the band, so wasn't expecting him to be a part of it, but as my eyes scanned the tiles/writing credits on the back of the longbox, I did not see one song credited to C. Wilson or A. Jardine, and that fact alone made me hate the album. Didn't buy it until several years later when I found the cassette for a dollar in some used book store. Time has mellowed my feelings about SIP, but it's still the weakest studio album they did BY FAR. Mike and Terry take the Kokomo formula and beat it to death for 12 songs. There's not a "Somewhere Near Japan" or "Where I Belong" to redeem this turkey, although roughly half the songs I find tolerable. Anytime Carl sings, it lifts the quality of the album, but it's really a Mike Love solo album with the other guys' voices on it.

IMHO that's not a reason to not like it per se, as then you could go "Pet Sounds is a Brian Wilson solo album with the other guys' voices on it, so I don't like it" or "Love You is a Brian Wilson solo album with the other guys' voices on it, so I don't like it". Personally, while I love Pet Sounds, I'm not into Love You at all, though both are Brian albums. I think the songwriting on Love You is much better than on SIP, but to my ears and brain that album sounds even worse than the terrible drums of SIP.

What I mean to say is: I'd prefer a Mike-driven album with good songs to a Brian-driven album with mediocre songs, but given their respective talents, the former is pretty unlikely.

Except that it wasn't him, but Hypehat from a few years ago. So, applying the Pinder Rule, he should be barred for reposting profane comments.

Oh, stop playing mod, AGD. Start your own board if you have some power fantasies that need fulfilling or need to protect the sanctity of "Summer in Paradise." Maybe you can mount an eloquent defense of it in the footnotes of Mike's book. It's a funny review, sheesh!

Andrew - I'm thinking some of your nearest and dearest may have posted, or re-posted profanity here - even recently - so it's probably time for a little Holiday generosity, or you may be missing some of your favorite friends.  The mods have been pretty transparent about temporary bans here, and they are careful in dishing them out.  Cheers and enjoy your celebrations, knowing the Board is in good hands.

Now there'sa damn good idea!! :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup

Indeed, very funny, which is why I knew SB  didn't originate it.  ;D

I guess OSD and I aren't on AGD's Christmas list. ;)

He checked the list twice-we were immediately deleted for being naughty and not nice to the lovester. ;)

As ever, Debra speaks words of calm wisdom. I see I have permitted the puerile droolings of a couple of infantile pismires to cloud my otherwise sunny nature.

It is more than a little disappointing to see something referenced such as the "Pinder rule" which may have been a comment made in jest even if it doesn't feel that way. That comment has absolutely no basis in truth and fact nor does it reflect what was explained *in depth* both publicly on the board and in private conversations as to the reasons how and why things happened as they did.

How much more transparent would this need to have been in order to avoid having things like this appear on the board? It was explained, it was done, end of story. To suggest it was done for "reposting profane comments" after this was explained publicly and privately is irresponsible and not welcome.

This has to end here.

Exactly my point.  7 good/very good songs make a very good album.  Most releases by any artist cannot touch that.

Ah, yes, the name calling...wondered when we'd get around to that. This outing features a plethora of adjectives from the letter P. And which letter will we visit later today and tomorrow and the day after that and... :whatever

Going back OT... SIP isn't their shining moment. Few passable bits but those aside... best passed on.

Absolutely not their shiniest moment but definitely not best passed on.  This is coming from a 72-75 period fanatic.

Oh and weren't you supposed to be gone for the week?

Not saying you are wrong with your last sentence, but you could also say that every album from Surfin' Safari through Friends is really a Brian Wilson solo album with the other guys' voices on it. What always amazed me with this album is that, as good as Melcher was as a producer, that a much better job wasn't put into it. As poor as some of the songs are, better production could have helped a few of them.

Now Andrew, and I'm not being sarcastic, I think it would be interesting if you discussed SIP and that whole ordeal with Mike. It's a real Beach Boys album spearheaded by Mike, and I can't imagine he could get mad at you for bringing it up. But I think he has a bit to answer for as far as that album goes. I'd love to hear him mount a defense of the indefensible.

Yes, it would be really interesting to hear him talk about it in "Good Vibration." Riding high on all those post-Kokomo fumes, total power, no Cousin Brian to compete with, sidelined Al... what went wrong? Why didn't it work? Why isn't it in print? Does he blame himself? Terry Melcher? Protools? The cruel world for not being interested in his ecological concerns carefully woven into his majestic paean to summer itself?

All that positivity and yet it sank without a trace. He sounded so cocky about it on the Howard Stern Show. Would love to hear the Lovester talk about it more instead of brushing it under the carpet. Does he think it was ahead of its time, maybe? Would be interesting to know if he had another idea for it that he wasn't able to execute that would've REALLY pushed it over the top.

I recall reading on this board something to the effect that Bruce (I think?) said the production and release of the album was rushed and somewhat unfinished, in order to meet some deadline, either for the record label, or for touring purposes.

So basically, it's an unfinished, in-progress version of an album that got released anyway. And it sounds like it. Even though it's an unpopular opinion, I like some of Melcher's late 80s production sounds, like Somewhere Near Japan, but SIP sounds like a definite step down from there, and maybe it's because it wasn't properly finished. I can't imagine that it's entirely the fault of the brand-new-at-the-time Pro Tools production either. What is up with the drum sound on One Summer Night? Shriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilllllll.

I guess the UK version was an attempt to correct the unfinished-ness of it, though I question if Mike and Terry (presumably the only gatekeepers of quality control on SIP) were actually satisfied with the UK version, happily and contently thinking that this was finally the version they'd intended for release. I also wonder what yutz sold Mike on the idea to remake "Surfin'", to make "Summer of Love" at all, and to put those turds right at the top of the album. Not cool.

The real "Ginger or Maryann" question of the day is: "Summer of Love" or "Smart Girls"?

The part where Mike goes "it's a love thing" should answer that question.

So, anybody want to make a SIP mix that better fulfills Mike's vision for it? It'll be the new Smile! That slowed down a bit after all. Take your time. Hell, take a decade.

(Whisper... THE SUMMER IN PARADISE SESSIONS... a gorgeous 1 CD boxed set of shrill digital bliss!)

Currently I'm hither. From about 10am tomorrow I'll be yon.

I think its being one of the first albums - if not THE first - recorded with Pro-Tools didn't exactly help matters. Time to 'fess up - "Surfin' 92" is one of my guiltiest pleasures.

Any interest in getting Mike to comment on the record about Summer In Paradise? Or how about whatever happened to the planned followup titled Masterpiece (no, people, I am not making this up).

I have this odd feeling his book will act like the album didn't exist, except maybe for mentioning they did a song with super cool John Stamos. Otherwise, I expect him to travel from "Kokomo" to reuniting with Cousin Brian on Stars & Stripes pretty quickly.

Hard to think of an even guiltier pleasure than that! :-D Hm... Yoko Ono screaming in a bag? :)



Could be, I hope not!

Cool!!! that mean 'surfin 92' has a total of ....ummm 2 fans.
I loved it soon as I heard it! 
still love it.

RickB

Make it three.

Awe prairie sh*t, make it four. ;)

It up too five. I just love Ba ba Dip di dips as does my 7 year old.

What a pity, for once I thought I had read a interesting post by Smile Brian.  :)

Should've been perfectly clear by this^ that Smile Brian was not the originator of that review.

Personally, I think SiP is absolute dreck. And putting Brian tunes on that album wouldn't have helped it at all: The one saving grace that SiP has is that it is cohesive....it all flows perfectly because every song has thin production, relatively zero redeemable songwriting qualities. Put a gem like 'Don't Let Her Know She's An Angel' on there and it would stick out like a sore thumb....people would be left asking "Why didn't they just have Brian write the whole album?"

People, please.  The only thing that would have made this album sell better is if they hadn't recorded it at all.

:lol

I've always maintained that its a very well sung and produced album , but by Christ some of the material is awful ( not all ) and the drum sound is fucking shite (sorry)   

Best assessment that I have read here. :)

One of Carl Wilson's best albums vocally. "Remember (Walkin' In The Sand)", "Under The Boardwalk", "Surfin", "Hot Fun In The Summertime", his part in "Forever", and of course, "Lahaina Aloha". Top notch stuff. I don't see how some can dismiss the album just based on Carl's singing alone. But, everyone is entitled to their opinion...

I agree.
I don't know if there's another album (certainly not many) in the history of rock, where a musician of quite Carl's vocal caliber at this point in time (he got better with age, in my opinion) was singing on material so weak by comparison. It's a bizarre dichotomy.
That said, I still like 4-5 songs from the album, mainly due to the vocals.

I rarely hear anyone talk about "Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night)", but aside from the awful sounding snare (and it is AWFUL), I otherwise really like this song, cheesy as it is. Some really nice chord changes, I dig the reverb/echo effects as they are applied, and the vocals are swell. Top tier song (of the very few that would qualify as such) for this album. I wish we had more BB songs penned by Bruce.

"Masterpiece" was the album that was supposed to followup SIP - where the title track on SIP delved into ecological concerns, etc, " Masterpiece" was supposed to explore those ideas in more depth. I'm sure Mike thought SIP would sail straight to #1 all over the world - "well, if one Kokomo can sell millions, then 12 Kokomo's has gotta be even better!" Cause apparently that's what Mike learned from his cousin - take a great idea and beat it to death.

Tell me about it. So some of you find this garbage funny? It's a pile of drivel, with the use of profanity of a school kid level. No album deserves such review, it's very unprofessional, it isn't right at all. You should stay stable, w/out descending to the cheap style. Everyone who understands it will agree w/ me.

Okay, I've been dutifully shamed over thinking this was funny...head hanging low and having a blue, blue Christmas.  But can I still like Mark Twain's review of James Fenimore Cooper's work more than I like Cooper's work?  http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/projects/rissetto/offense.html
I mean, they've both been dead for a long, long time.  I confess, Mark Twain swore a lot, too - and his wife used to hijack his correspondence and edit it to remove those offensive words.  I guess I'm incorrigible, as I wish I could read the originals.  He dared to tell the truth during an ugly period of American history, and he got away with it through wit.  May I still have this, at least?  As I said, I haven't heard SIP.  I gave up when I heard disco "Here Comes the Night," so I may have missed some real gems. 

My gift to you! :lol
Merry Christmas Debbie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDnY5nlt-cg

God, almighty!  I had to shut the thing off, even with Carl singing.  Is that swearing?  And on Christmas...again, I am shamed, shamed, shamed...Oh dear, I accidentally started it up again, so I'm editing my post...and I am crying, I am laughing so hard...this is truly funny...How much does a person have to meditate to NOT laugh?  Okay, burn me as a witch...

You're right, Rab-my bad-I should have seen that. ::)  Great review Hypehat and thanks to Smile Brian for reposting it as I was serving time for awhile and probably missed it. Would a more fitting title for this trainwreck of an album be DOA? Just sayin'. ;)

:lol :lol :lol

Strangr Things Happen is pretty nifty.  Other than that.....um...well...

Thanks Billy...Maybe I need to listen to that one again?  You are always the voice of reason in a brutal world.  If you listened to it without laughing, maybe I'll try again...probably not today.  My doctor diagnosed me with Meniere's disease about 6 years ago.  They're pleased I really haven't lost any of my hearing at all with the tiniest, negligible effect on my lower register, but there is occasional tinnitus.  Another time, another place, given that problem.  My ears were ringing after a few minutes.

Sounds very familiar (pardon the pun). I'm having major issues eith my left ear. I already had partial hearing loss for years there but for the past week it's been completely gone until this morning.  Still hurts like hell but i can at least hear a little something besides ringing! It's part of the reason my band's album release has been delayed as i can't do the final mix. Don't know how Brian's been able to do what he's done all these years!

So sorry, Billy - not fun!  Good luck on the ringing going away and your mixing the album.  Hope you had a happy Holiday with family.

In the (edited) words of the great man himself - Mr. Clemens..."A work of art? It has no invention; it has no order, system, sequence, or result; it has no lifelikeness, no thrill, no stir, no seeming of reality; its characters are confusedly drawn, and by their acts and words they prove that they are not the sort of people the author claims that they are; its humor is pathetic; its pathos is funny; its conversations are -- oh! indescribable; its love-scenes odious; its English a crime against the language.

Counting these out, what is left is Art. I think we must all admit that."

Again, this is about J F Cooper's literary abilities, but use it where you wish...it's timeless...

Summer in Paradise is best enjoyed with the volume at zero, or after removing one's hearing aid battery...

What label is this on?  Again, I plead ignorance to you BB scholars - I honestly don't know.

Brother (of course), but the disc was distributed by Navarre Corp, Minneapolis, MI.

Thanks for your help.  Given that info, I Googled it, as I thought it was possibly tied to Kokomo and the related film and discovered SIP came out in '92.  I was a newlywed workaholic (55 hrs/wk) with a new pilot's license and was learning to sail my husband's boat at the same time - so I was completely out of the BB information loop then.  You fill in the educational gaps for me and I appreciate it.

let's get back to how cool the album is.......

the ARTWORK! alone is probably the best ever and the original packaging was so nifty.

and some talk about the drums, yeah i get that, in years to come, people will be 'sampling' that

using it on modern music......... and yes, the whole pro tools thing, the album may become recognized

as a new identity.......

OK OK....... i know I'm sticking up for this album......... and i will defend it!

I Love It!..... And No One is taking it from me!  >:D

Done and Said.

RickB

Ah, I just noticed at the top of this page that you're not across the SIP thing.

Which means you have lived a fortunate life, unlike those of us who have heard and own this whale-fronted Pandora's box. And  you still control the ability to keep your life SIP free.

Still Cruisin' was the Kokomo tie-in album (on Capitol) which had the big K and a clutch of new tracks (7), some had featured in films (including box office smashes like Troop Beverly Hills), and a couple of other singles.  

This album also featured I Get Around, Wouldn't It Be Nice and California Girls.  Which kinda blow the other tracks into oblivion.

Back to SIP, AGD's rundown (from '04 book) opens like this: "The absolute nadir of their recording career, SIP answers an oft-posed question - What would a Beach Boys album with absolutely no active Brian Wilson involvement sound like? Pointless, vapid and soulless is the reply".  (I 99.9% much agree with LAGD here, although imho Stars and Stripes is a close contender for the absolute nadir title)

Ironically, because SIP sold f**k-all copies, it has become slightly hard to find on CD, but dang near impossible to find on vinyl (pressed in Korea, go figure).

Anyway, you should listen to it just once - you never know, do ya?

 :lol  Hey Rick - love your stuff, man, but that artwork is balls!  We are talking Franklin Mint.

damn strait Alan! it is great!!!!!

RickB

That's the funniest thing I've ever read!!  :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

You need to get out more.

Nah, he is in awe of the comic genius of hypehat!

Take me out once in awhile Marky -- someplace fancy -- not that sh-thole you "frequent" that has clearly robbed you of joy and humor.  And maybe then I'd feel differently.  Till then, f-ck you -- cuz that's some funny sh-t homes.   :-D

anyways!  this is the only way you should be listening to the album  :o
(http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/vv121/rickenbacker2000/summer_zps4f9268d9.jpg)

RickB

Maybe Dr Love was alluding to the fact that in 2017 Brian will overdub his voice on to the above album and it will be remixed and released as a limited edition vinyl Beach Boys album!  Then my collection of vinyl albums would be complete.  ;D

hmm, yeah, perhaps I should do that again. It's the US version btw, not the UK version.

sure sounds better on the turntable than the cd, well it does for me.....

would be interesting just the same, to go back and 'remix' and remaster the album.....

maybe 'they' should sell us the multitracks so we can make our own mixes hehe...

maybe others who hate the album may find peace in the album by 'polishing this turd'...

RickB

Aww man I wish I had that...or could find it.  It would love to hear how much better the record sounds on my turntable. 

it may be Korean, but its still better than the 92' Cd version for sure on the ears...

RickB

A lot of us would love to have it to complete the set of Beach Boys vinyl! ;D

I really doubt it sounds better than the CD.

Still I'd like to have that rather than the CD!

If it was mastered differently, specifically for vinyl, it's entirely possible that it is an improvement. Maybe slightly, but I would think it could sound better. I wonder how many copies of vinyl were made and still exist.

Albums are almost never mastered differently for vinyl than CD barring some specific processing in the way of filters etc. that have to be applied because otherwise the vinyl would be unplayable. 99 times out of 100, if a CD master is limited/compressed into Hades, the vinyl master will be, too. The people behind these things just don't give enough of a f*** and often, if they do, it's in the name of $$$$$$ (i.e. "specifically remastered for vinyl! It also costs 40 dollars! Why couldn't we do this right the first time? Because f*** you, that's why!). Vinyl is not an accurate way of presenting the sounds that were recorded.

Anyway, I don't think SIP was THAT loud, was it? I remember opening a waveform from a song from the album once, God knows why, and saying, "Huh, this is pretty loud for 1992," but only in a relatively-loud-for-a-Beach-Boys-record sort of way, not "COOL IT'S AS LOUD AS THE LAST SLIPKNOT ALBUM" sort of way.

... not that it doesn't sound like total dicks to the bricks anyway, but y'know.

Yeah, it's not THAT loud.  Also, yes it is missing SOME depth, but the low-end comes thru pretty damn well in my BMW.

That's why it's perfect playback format for SIP. All the little flaws and inaccurate reproductions of sound via a vinyl LP lend a humanity and earthiness to the otherwise lifeless sterility as recorded. With Summer In Paradise you don't really want accurate reproduction.... 

You probably could have left out the word "accurate" and most people would agree with you.

 :lol

What do you all think would happen first? SIP being reissued (at any point in the future, in an official capacity) on vinyl, or the extended shave-your-legs version of Hey Little Tomboy seeing official release?

I'll take both gladly.

10$ on SIP being reissued on vinyl with Hey Little Tomboy as bonus track. ;D

1990s rap version of Hey Little Tomboy (featuring John Stamos). :listening

Yes. With Masterpiece (FINALLY) being issues as disc 2, all as part of a Summer In Paradise deluxe edition.

singing to one of those Full House girls?

None of the girls on that show were tomboys. GOD, do you even WATCH Full House?  ::)

I've decided...after really thinking about it since this thread began.  Summer In Paradise could have sold TONS better IF it has dropped all of the songs hitherto employed and had instead issued something completely different, timely, meaningful and worthwhile.  :hat

Sorry...but there just isn't enough input from ALL of the Beach Boys...and way too much from guests and those who really aren't composers or arrangers.  It's almost a solo albun.  WRONG move.  :o

Great album cover though.  8)

Everyone always says that. Am I the only one who thinks the album cover is tacky as hell and generic?

As for the topic at hand...no. You can't polish a turd. And the beach boys weren't cool enough to move records at the time, especially without Brian.

Yes.

Mujan...I was trying to find a positive in amongst the rubble.  Turd polishing is rather a waste of time.  As is spray painting them.  And THAT is what we've pretty much done in this thread. .. ... ...Spray paint turds. :lol

Sure, it would have been WAY better with Brian -- but he really wasn't in a great place either.  I forget all the timing of this... but I picture Brian in the early 90s as hopped up on Landy-pills or something.  Too thin, wearing a sweat band, and wearing leg warmers.

Just wrong.  But yes... it would have been a zillion times better.

No, I'm with you on that Mujan.  While it is impressive artwork that catches the eye with its depth and detail -- it's wandered awfully close to kitsch-ville.  It only needs a rainbow... and there'd be world peace.

I desperately want to see what's going on above sea level.  Look at the island.  But we're submerged, forced below.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/db/SummerParadiseCover.jpg)

Mike, surrounded by models in bikinis, would have been better.  That's basically what this album is about.  The visual attempt of "depth" is ironic and a detriment.  

Thank you. Yes, it looks like the cover of some reading rainbow or eye-witness science video about the ocean. And that awful Beach Boys font would make anything look kitschy and dated. Who designed that, and why has it become the standard ever since?

I agree--Mike Love, with a ring or two on each finger and an outrageously younger woman on each arm would have been a far more accurate cover for this atrocity. It's basically his solo album anyway...

I believe you can blame Dean Torrence for that logo, going back to the '15 big ones' period artwork....

I actually like the logo myself.  may even get it tattooe'd!

RickB

This album was 4 years too late. If it had come out right after "Kokomo", it would have moved a few copies just on residual interest. The "Kokomo" sound was already dated by 1992. But maybe Mike had never heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

For some reason I'd love to hear what Masterpiece would've been like. Do we know if any initial recordings exist? I'm wondering if the album would've contained any song(s) about cutlery.

I didn't even know such an album (almost) existed until coming across a reference on this board just the other day. Where could one find more information on this? Was it abandoned when SIP flopped or for other reasons?

See, it makes sense on that cover because of the throwback tunes and celebration of the band's 15-year history. That neon sign look fits that oldies vibe. But making it the band's official logo just makes them seem eternally dated, imho. It's not timeless like other famous bands' iconography.

YA but...Ya but...Ya but...The album cover AND logo are both better than and superior to...the contents contained there-in.  The logo may well be dated...but at least IT once had its day.  The music here?  Not so much.

That other thread?  The one where we all shuddered to think what the 2017 album would be?  SIP is darned close to 'it'.  [minus Carl]  It wouldn't be any more advanced I'm afraid.  Just kind of stuck in neutral...remembering the good old days which actually never happened THIS way.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And ALL that said...I am a listener...not a collector.  Am I glad I own the album and got a chance to hear its contents?  Absolutely...100%.  If I knew it existed and was hidden away in 'the vaults' would I want it?  You betcha.  So as BAD as the contents are...it's BAD compared to a whole mess of other recordings by THE BEACH BOYS.  Compared to other groups?  [and compared to at least 40% of what POSES as a top 40 hit in THIS day and age... ... ...it ain't THAT bad.  There's 'musicality' there.  [except on 'Forever' which was just a terrible choice, idea, and route to travel.]  It just kind of reminds me of the cover albums the Ray Conniff Singers used to put out in the early/mid 70s.  Close but NO cigar.

It's M.O.R. 'filler' and not worthy of The Beach Boys.

I was so bummed out when MiC was released and saw that they were still using that godforsaken logo/typeface. Here we just had the Smile Sessions box come out, we're finally getting the release of vaulted rarities, The Beach Boys are gaining traction as being not just 'Sun and Surf' band but a tour-de-force in intellectual classic pop music....and they stuck them with that dated malt-shop neon sign logo again.

Mike talked about it back in '93 - he said it would follow on the title track of SIP, with songs about the environment, kind of a latter day "Surf's Up". I have no idea if it ever got past the talking phase, but imagine that musically, it would've sounded like SIP Vol. 2.

See Mike?  Some of us appreciate you.

Wait, "Surf's Up" is "about the environment"? Are you saying this or did Mike?  ??? ??? ???

Not the song "Surf's Up", but the album. You know, the one that starts off with "Don't Go Near the Water", and also includes such topical songs as "Lookin' at Tomorrow", "Take A Load Off Your Feet" and "Student Demonstration Time". Maybe he would have given us SDT set to a drum machine with pseudo tropical sounds.

I think we all do. I call him out for the things he's done that I think weren't commendable, but I do the same to Brian as well.

Brian, Mike, whoever else...we love you guys. We wouldn't be here otherwise. Now that it's confirmed you both see this stuff, I feel the need to say it. I hope that's clear. We understand you're human and since this is a discussion forum, your faults and least proudest moments are gonna come up. But it's nothing personal.

That joke is already a fad, it was boring from the start when I saw the vid. Anyway, to answer job, I think w/ right songs it yes, would've sold better. And we don't even have to include Brian songs. That said, the album as is is good enough for the early 90s. Most everyone hung in the middle of 'creativity crisis' (self-made term, take or leave) and BBs jus' followed their steps. Not a big deal.

There is nothing boring about cutlery

Alright:

Don't go near the table
Have you lost your fork?
Don't go near the table, yeah
The fork will wound your hand...

So, still nothing boring about cutlery?