when was the first time you noticed or listened to the beach boys?

[Bri Davies]

around 1966 or 67 - I was 4 or 5 - it was Good Vibrations and I remember thinking that it sounded like the theme to Doctor Who....fast forward to 1980 and an article in Record Collector magazine  - this was the first time I knew of the whole Manson/Smile/crazy Brian thing....and that was me hooked...

[metal flake paint]

June 1988. During a school bus excursion in Queensland the “Good Morning Vietnam” soundtrack was playing. Suddenly I Get Around blasts from the speakers and it immediately caught my attention. It truly was a musical epiphany for me. As soon as I returned from that excursion I tracked down a used CD copy of 20 Golden Greats and placed a tick beside the tracks that I liked. Admittedly it took me awhile to appreciate Heroes and Villains and Break Away but I persisted until every title was suffixed with a tick of approval!

It was quite difficult to buy their music on CD at that time so I scoured all the local (and not so local!) new and used record stores and found Pet Sounds, Smiley Smile and Friends on reissued Japanese vinyl. These albums took me quite some time to fully understand and appreciate but gradually snippets of certain songs would bury themselves in my brain. I found myself returning to these songs until I had absorbed the entire album. What an incredible musical education!

My curiosity as to who this B.Wilson guy and the Boys were led me to buy the Steve Gaines book which I totally immersed myself in during the summer of 1988; perfect summer reading for a naïve newbie.

[LostArt]

I was 10 years old in 1966, and I'd heard all of the Beach Boys radio hits, but I was more into The Beatles, and that new group, The Monkees.  My parents gave me the Barbara Ann single for Christmas that year (I don't know why), but I liked the flip side (Girl Don't Tell Me) more, because it sounded like The Beatles.  I remember liking Good Vibrations, though, when I heard it on the radio.  As I got into my teens, I started getting into the heavier groups of the day, so The Beach Boys weren't my thing.  Fast forward to 1988...a friend of mine started talking about Brian Wilson one day, and I knew who Brian was and everything, but I hadn't really listened to anything by The Beach Boys in years (other than the occasional radio tune).  The next day he brought me a cassette with "Brian Wilson" ('88) on one side, and Smiley Smile on the other.  I was blown away by that tape.  I played it for anyone who would listen.  I still have that tape, but I now own all of the albums on CD (except for SIP, Still Cruisin', and the Nashville thing), and some nice footwear to boot.

[Mike]

Hearing I Get Around on top 40 radio back in 64 when I was 9, loving Good Vibrations when it came out, and the final thing was a combination of seeing them on TV from the London Show, buying the CATPST Pet Sounds combo, and seeing them live at the Nassau Coliseum all in 72 nailed it.

[buddhahat]

It's interesting that a few people here mention a childhood love of the band that sort of waned, and then resurfaced again in later life when they were old enough to appreciate the darker elements of the music. I was the same - I loved all the classic hits as a kid and owned a couple of comps: 20 Golden Greats and Made In The USA which was in the 1st batch of cds I ever bought.

Then I lost interest as I hit puberty. A few years later (I was aboutt 17) my art teacher (whose taste I seriously admired as he hipped me to The Velvet Underground) mentioned that The Beach Boys actually had serious cred due to this ultra cool album: Pet Sounds. I was totally fascinated as I still had a soft spot for a lot of BB stuff but had no idea they could be regarded as cool! I finally tracked down Pet Sounds and was initially slightly confused by it. I was going through weird drug induced anxiety problems at the time though, and Pet Sounds fit right into that - especially Hang On To Your Ego which i found to be a very spooky song, certainly in the context of Brian's mental health issues which I was learning about at the time. Then bit by bit I discovered the other post PS albums and it was really like finding a different band. I still think of the pre/post Pet Sounds incarnations of the BBs as different bands, which I think in many ways they are.

[Roger Ryan]

1974 - My friend and I were being driven to play mini-golf by my friend's older brother who was playing a cassette tape of ENDLESS SUMMER in the car. When "I Get Around" came on, I asked who it was. "It's the Beach Boys, man!" was the response like I asked the stupidest question ever. A few weeks later, I heard "Help Me Rhonda" in a bowling alley and recognized it was the same band. That ended up being the first single I purchased. By '77 I had all the albums, but the Reprise "best of" collection which contained material from PET SOUNDS to HOLLAND was the one that really made me think the band was brilliant.

I'm afraid that LOVE YOU disappointed me as did almost every subsequent release (loved PACIFIC OCEAN BLUE, however) and I stopped paying attention shortly after KTSA. When Dennis died, I figured that was the end of any attempt at sustained creativity. Read Rolling Stone's very complimentary review of BRIAN WILSON '88 and decided to give it a try. I loved it and quickly bought the newly-issued PET SOUNDS CD and all the two-fers when they first came out in '90. I've remained an active fan since.

[Mr. Wilson]

I was born in 52 so i grew up with BB in their prime while living in southern california at the same time as BB did.. 1st time i heard them was on either KHJ or KFWB am rock stations..Spring 62 on santa monica beach..Surfin then SS + 409..My reaction was who the heck are THOSE guys..!.. By the time spring 63 came around + SUSA came out i was totally fried by their sound..I came to them cause of BW falsetto..PERIOD..I had NEVER heard a sound so perfect like that..There was no legend back then just the music.What a year that was for BB..SUSA..SG..LDC..LSN...BTTYS..IMR..Pluse the 3 hits from the year before..What a string of hits..!!....They have a spirt to their music that no one can touch..The greatest vocal group of the 20th century..IMHO..

[LittleSurferGirl]

I was born in 52 so i grew up with BB in their prime while living in southern california at the same time as BB did.. 1st time i heard them was on either KHJ or KFWB am rock stations..Spring 62 on santa monica beach..Surfin then SS + 409..My reaction was who the heck are THOSE guys..!.. By the time spring 63 came around + SUSA came out i was totally fried by their sound..I came to them cause of BW falsetto..PERIOD..I had NEVER heard a sound so perfect like that..There was no legend back then just the music.What a year that was for BB..SUSA..SG..LDC..LSN...BTTYS..IMR..Pluse the 3 hits from the year before..What a string of hits..!!....They have a spirt to their music that no one can touch..The greatest vocal group of the 20th century..IMHO..

Great story! Your so lucky to have been able to experience that. Lol I cant stress it enough, I was born in the wrong time!
Oh & I totally agree with the last part!!!

[Mr. Wilson]

I was very lucky to grow up with the BB + the whole 60"s music invasion + the English invasion..What a time of adventure with new original sounds hitting the airwaves daily..The BB impact on popular music is no rewrite of history..In fact i believe their impact on music was more in its day than is popularly talked about now..When the british invasion came along BB were America"s best answer + when the competition got thick..They responded with even more hits + invention..The BB are truly an American ICON..They beat the odds..!!..Good for them + us..!

[donald]

the first time i heard "bushy bushy blonde hair" blasting out of the radio speakers in '63. bought all those 49 cent 45's i could.

yep...ol' fart here.....

49 cents?   I recall somewhere around a buck....maybe 79 cents at the 5&10c store downtown.

I think FFF was the first one I actually bought.  But I have memories of a bit earlier.  My older cousin was in a band and they played Surfin Safari in my uncles basement.  I was fascinated with the vocal structure of the song, reminded me of a round or something.....and they had these georgeous red electric guitars........

yep....yet another ol' fart here.....

[GLarson432]

Well, my story is not too disimilar to the other recent posts but...since I, too, am an old fart (born in 1949) I'll chime in.  I first became fully aware of the Beach Boys with Surfin' USA in 1963.  I had heard Surfin' Safari on the radio the year before but it didn't leave the impression me me that 'USA' did.  I have no rememberance of "Ten Little Indians".

I soon started to call/ask local radio stations and check TV Guide for anything BB-related.  The first BB record I bought was "Be True..." about ten days before JFK was shot.

I never really looked back after that.

[MD]

I'm only a semi-old fart born in 63'...

First heard the classic oldies on my friends copies of
"Endless Summer" and "Spirit of America" LPs in the
late 70's...One fateful day I was scanning the LPs at
Sears or maybe NRM and saw this cool LP cover and
bought it on sight...Yes I was a sucker for a good LP
cover and bought many LPs this way! The LP was of
course "Keeping the Summer Alive"...Which I played
the Hades out of...Loved it...Still my favorite LP even
though I know it's not as good as the earlier ones...
I guess it's nostalgia...The same thing happened with
me with Wings "Back to the Egg" on 8-Track...

And speaking of 8-tracks...during my senior year in
80-81...I would catch a ride to school with a friend
who would play the Beach Boys "Today" 8-track!

I wonder how many here still have their Beach Boys 8-tracks...

Monty...

[gxios]

I don't remember hearing the Surfin' Safari 45 on the radio, but I do remember the Surfin' USA 45.  I didn't really take notice until summer 1963 with the Little Deuce Coup 45 (in the DC area, I seem to recall this one getting a lot more play than Surfer Girl). After that they were real big in my area.

[HighOnLife]

I first took interest in the Beach Boys after watching the Brian Wilson A&E special right around the time Pet Sounds was re-released in 1999.

[GLarson432]

That A&E Biography first aired on Brian's 57th birthday, June 20th, 1999.

[Ganz Allein]

I'd heard the BB's early hits on oldies radio and liked them (especially "Good Vibrations") but never got interested enough to buy their albums. Then, something happened one summer day in the mid-'80s when I was driving through New Mexico with a friend. We were listening to a local FM station, and Jimi Hendrix's "Third Stone from the Sun" was playing. Right after the part where Hendrix says, "And you'll never hear surf music again," the DJ abruptly cut the song, said "oh, yeah?" and played 30 minutes straight of BB's '60s hits. It knocked us out, and I was hooked! I wish I knew who that DJ was.

Once I returned home to Texas, I bought "Endless Summer," listening intently while wondering which hairy guy on the cover was which Beach Boy. After reading some rock record guides, I then bought "Pet Sounds" on vinyl. I liked it, but overall it was a bit too lush for my tastes at the time. Soon after that I bought "Love You" on vinyl and "Pacific Ocean Blue" on cassette. However, neither of them ended up being what I expected of BB's music, so I sold them - although several songs from LY stuck in my head (I barely listened to POB once).

Then I watched "An American Band" in the late '80s, got intrigued now that I knew the history of the band, and became captivated by "Surf's Up" and the "SMiLE" legend. I began reading and watching everything I could about the BBs, re-bought LY and POB (which I now appreciated) and started buying the rest of their albums and some of Brian's and Dennis's solo albums. My interest in the band and love for their music has grown and grown ever since.

[Runaways]

when i was 5. so like 1992.  I remember watching "look who's talking" and loving "i get around".  Then i remember around the same time, i had a 60's music compilation, and i would listen to good vibrations on repeat.  i actually remember leaning on my couch holding the cd case and looking at "Good Vibrations".  glad that moment stuck out in my life!

i proceeded to buy the greatest hits and listened to that a crapload.  But then i stopped listening to music really, didn't get into it again till 8th grade.  listened to the boys in passing through high school.  Then my cd case got stolen so a lot of my cd's including my greatest hits were gone.  THEEN like a year and a half ago my friend bought "Sounds of summer" and hearing all the songs brought me back to like elementary school when they were all i listened to.  SO i bought the platinum collection for only 20 bucks!  then i bought pet sounds.  and it's been straight beach boys for over a year now. 

[donald]

Interesting to read everyone's personal account.  No two quite the same.   And the age differences of the fans.  And there seems to be a pattern of rediscovering or initially discovering the band post ES.  And it seems a lot of people then went backward listening to post PS albums and exploring the myths of Smile and the eccentricities of Brian.  It occurs to me that the misadventures of the band over the years has inadvertantly led to their longevity.

This notion is not new but is underscored by the responses to this thread.  Happy listening everyone!

[GLarson432]

.

[Dr. Tim]

Like Mr. Wilson we grew up with the BB as they happened, though we were east coast folk. Bought several singles as they came out, like I Get Around, Help Me Rhonda, Sloop John B, Barbara Ann.  My dad bought us the "Shut Down" LP at Korvettes so we played the hell out of that (PS - it's a scream when you play it at 78 RPM).  WABC played their stuff to death, though I still hate Cousin fuckin Brucie and his cohorts for playing their jingles on top of  the California Girls intro.  First full LP I bought was Smiley Smile - on a recommendation from Time magazine, whose reviewer dug it.  I just thought it was ultra-trippy and cool, knowing nothing of the drama behind its creation.  Then in high school I picked up most of their back catalog at flea markets, and really dug Surf's Up on its debut.  So I never bothered with Endless Summer - didn't need it, had all the tracks already.  Worked at a MOR radio station and got a mint DJ copy of POB out of the music director's dump box, which I still have.  Followed the Boys and Brian since then but got back into it all over again when Smile came out (Brian made lots of money off me that Xmas, I bought it for everyone) and my daughter dug it, so I showed her Beautiful Dreamer (bleeping out the Darian-cam scene where Brian happily curses) and played the GV box for her on longer car trips.  We still do.  She got to see Brian do TLOS when he played North Jersey last year and sang along with the band and Dennis Diken of the Smithereens, who was right in front of us.


Now where is the Vanilla Fudge nostalgia site?

[donald]

.

EDITED YOUR OWN RESPONSE?

How goes the divestiture of the collection?

[Wrightfan]

I've always somewhat heard the Beach Boys on and off because my Uncle was a fan of their surf period. Years after he passed, I went looking through his cassette collection. I popped the tape into...no joke, a 1990's model 2-XL toy robot (remember that young people of the board?  ) and was hooked. That Heroes and Villains track in particular got my attention and that's how I would eventually learn about SMiLE.

[PongHit]

In the late-1970s or early-80s, when I was about 10 years-old, the band performed at a big sports stadium in my east-coast home-town — it was so close to our house that I think we walked there — the local radio stations hyped the show by playing back-to-back B-Boys hits for days in advance.  (This was the first big concert at this stadium since Three Dog Night many years before — the 3DN audience had apparently flipped-out & did some damage.)   
 
Seemed like everyone in town was there — so many people that they couldn't all fit inside.  My older brother brought binoculars & I used them to get close-ups of Al & Carl a few times — "So that's what a Beach Boy looks like," I thought to myself.  They closed the show with "Fun, Fun, Fun," & that ending part that fades out on the record seemed to keep playing in my head like a loop, over & over, as we walked back home on that late-summer night (I just remembered: it was, in fact, the last day of summer before school started again, the next day).

When we got home, my dad said, "It's late.  I was beginning to wonder how long The Beach Bums could play."   

[Amazing Larry]

 

[rogerlancelot]

I really loved reading this thread again since so much has been added since I posted on it 2 months ago or so. And I think I've got a grasp on the Heartical Don's age (SIC) which is wild to me since he is probably my favorite poster on here. Listening to Legacy's Bambu right now and unwinding getting ready for bed and more work tomorrow. But it's so cool we all here have collectively discovered the majesty and splendor of the Beach Boys and yet we all have so many different opinions and backgrounds. We all find something totally different in it that we love. Maybe there is something spiritual here?