The Smiley Smile Message Board

Looks like the touring group is performing on PBS’s Fourth of July concert again this year. Stamos is hosting the show and will guest with the Beach Boys. Mark McGrath will also guest with the BBs. Sounds like some good fun to me.

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/john-stamos-teases-capitol-fourth-lineup-100023025.html

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBpflBpXkAAHIsP.jpg)

NICE!!!

Tackiness at it's worst. No thanks.  ::)

"The Blues Brothers" have one original member, "The Four Tops" have one original member, and "The Beach Boys" have one original member!

Ill have to check that out.  Though Id rather see Stamos onstage with The Beach Boys than Mark McGrath.

This was pretty dreadful when Mike's band was on this a few years ago (2014?). A lot of miming to pre-recorded tracks. I'm sure it's the choice of the show's producers to do it that way, but it makes all the artists look silly.

Even sillier was the controversy last year of even using pre-recorded video of fireworks footage from previous years on the telecast.

A sad echo of a once great event for the real BBs... ::)

How embarrassing for the Beach Boys. I guess it is better than playing weddings and Bar mitzvahs though.

This is wonderful news, more exposure for the band's music, a lot of peeps watch this event each year!  Being asked back is an honor....

This was probably the deal BRI cut with Mike to avoid his Trump "performance"...... ::)

I remember a "Capitol Fourth" in 1980.I happened to be stationed in Japan at the time.HBO put out an hour film on it and I think it was simulcast on some radio stations' I have heard that somewhere the whole concert is[was] available.It would be interesting to see-hear ,the difference between the two. The crowd was LARGE in '80...any body know of or have the 1980 show? If so,What do you think of it?I remember the HBO show and a friend taped some of it off WNEW New York FM.It seemed like a good time!!!

The HBO hour long version was released on DVD in the late 90s in Japan. Pieces of it at least are on YouTube these days I believe.

The full soundboard recording is on Concert Vault and Wolfgang's Vault. They used to be sold as downloads, but it looks like now it's membership streaming.

The new PBS July 4th stuff they do is totally different. It's only a few songs, and probably mimed to some degree.

Looking forward to this.

Ouch, that was rough. 95% pre-recorded, I would say. “Do It Again” was the new single recording and “Surfin’ USA” was the same recording Mike released last year on that PBS set (with maybe a live ending). I guess I’m not familiar enough with the technical considerations for putting on a show, but wasn’t the slip-up with Stamos not getting the microphone to work during his transition to the next act basically an admission they didn’t run live audio?

Yeesh, sounds like about time for them to retire....

The Beach Boys performance was just an alright lip-sync, then the Four Tops , who have hired a lead singer, who sounds nothing like Levi Stubbs, Levi was one of the all-time great singers, I think they could have gotten someone who can belt em out!

A wonderful LipSync presentation.  The Beached Boys are now officially Milli Vanilli.  Good gawd!!!  Even the 4 Tops w/o their unique and outstanding lead vocalist...the late GREAT Levi Stubs...sang live.

There ya have it.  Actual international proof that bad ol' Mike can't deliver the 'goods' well enough to be allowed to perform live when it matters...at least not on worldwide television.  Kellie Pickler is missing her notes but at least she's LIVE.  Kind  of a crappy show all in all really.  No wonder the turnout was so unimpressive.  Most of the 'grounds' were only partially filled.  The Lincoln Memorial [I believe] was almost unattended.  I guess that's all they can get to come and perform in DC these days.  So?  LOADS of folks stayed home.

Yikes!

https://youtu.be/JBfVCMgQOMM

Perhaps the final nail in the coffin for the Beach Boys legacy. Mike Love should have the BB name taken away in an emergency BRI meeting.

If they survived Summer Of Love on Baywatch I'm pretty sure this forgettable bit of fluff won't be the final nail in anything. They did an oldie, the crowd danced around, some guy shouted 'do it' and tried to get the crowd geed up. Boom, it popped, burst and like a mediocre firework, nobody will remember it in the morning.

Supposedly it was Levi's dying wish to keep the Tops going without him.  I still have zero interest in hearing them sing without him.

Well that sucked. Mark McGrath better not start popping up at shows like Stamos does.

that 'do it again' pbs performance was a 'disaster', and fake as hell.
what is with this 'sugar ray' guy? what a pain in the ass to watch him
with a real performer like Mr Love. 
kick him off and never bring that clown back to the Beach Boys.

clown? just one? ...they emptied the whole damn clown CAR onstage tonight!!!

Worst of all - instead of presenting a song to promote the awesome new collection "Sunshine Tomorrow", Mike pulls out a shitty solo remake of a song not related to the new release. Their must be some language in the license requiring him to properly promote new releases.

And Mike looks like a grizzled old man. Time to retire!

Mike and company were good, even though seems to be identical to the single release (ie lipsyncing).

Mark McGrath is honestly funny as hell, and his "DO IT" shtick was very annoying on the single, but live it was hilarious. Just awkward to watch. So awkward.

UPDATE:

I just watched the full set. Not bad. Not really amazing, but its fun if you don't take it too seriously

I still cringe when I hear this group introduced as the Beach Boys, but they were okay for what they are supposed to be - an oldies act. Hated the processing on the vocals, but I guess that's what people like these days. Mike looked as I expected, but I was surprised to see Bruce has let his hair go gray - and that's not a bad thing, better than orange hair. Surprised Mike sang the lead on Rhonda.
They're not a band I would pay big bucks to see in concert, but as part of a way to spend July 4th, they were alright. Same for the 4 Tops.

holy crap that Do It Again was just hilariously awful.
why Mark McGrath? why now?? seriously wtf

plastic music, plastic performance, plastic faces


time to blast Wild Honey again.

As was I! Is this happening on a regular basis in their shows?

He's been doing it for awhile now, and he sounds really bizarre singing it, especially the pre-recorded, mimed version last night on PBS where *everything* including Mike's baseball cap has been autotuned to death.

The show last night was pretty dire, due to a confluence of several things.

Most problematically, as was done several years ago (2014?), Mike's set was all pre-recorded and then mimed. That's distracting enough as-is. Foskett does that weird lazy guitar playing thing where you can tell he's not really playing, Stamos was strumming his guitar during interludes where there was no guitar, and even seasoned performers like Mike and his band can't ever lip-sync perfectly.

Adding to the problems was the *ridiculous* amount of autotune slathered onto *all* of the lead vocals, not just the "Do It Again" remake. Seriously, this was way worse than the worst of anything heard in the early days of C50. The "Mr. Roboto" Styx single sounded *less* like a robot than this stuff. The autotune was so excessive that McGrath and Mike's vocals were weirdly nearly indistinguishable if you didn't know ahead of time who was singing what.

Mike wearing a "Mike Love" baseball cap, well I guess I can't complain about that one too much, that's kind of comedy gold. It's as if he's heard the laughing about his being one of the only guys in rock and roll who wears his own band's name on his hat, and decided to one-up it. Or, more likely, he's trying to plug his new "single."

Mark McGrath is as awful as everyone says he is. The guy's stage demeanor and facial expressions leave me wondering if he was really there or if he was CGI'ed. Total mismatch for BB music, even Mike's "flavor" or "brand" of BB music. His excessive "wooooo! woooooo!" sounded like someone was mistakenly playing that YouTube video clip of all of Michael Jackson's isolated vocal wooops and grunts.

I will also say that the entire show as a whole, including other performances from other artists that appeared to be partly or fully live, all sounded awful in terms of mixing. A very poorly mixed show, sounded at times like a bad audience recording. During some performances, I could barely make out drums. The vocals were often way too far out front of the backing band, yet the vocals also often sounded really muddy.

That's not even getting into the sort of B-list nature of the list of performers in general.

But overall, this was of similar sketchy quality as the previous appearance from a few years ago, the only difference being the added grating presence of McGrath.

But I do think Mike owes Brian and Al and fans an apology for his snarky, mean-spirited autotune comment made regarding "The Right Time" in his "interview" with David Beard from a couple years ago. It's one of the more obvious, egregious examples of hypocrisy of recent years, and that's saying something.

Pardon my ignorance, but why do they pre-record music on these types of shows? I mean, take this band as a perfect example, they literally live on the road doing live shows every night, why deviate from that script? Who cares if they flub a line or miss a note? I suppose some artists, who are more dance/pop oriented might have more of a reason for doing those type of pre-recorded performances, though I can't see what the upside is..ie Mariah NYE.

Yeah, God forbid a 76 year old look like an old man. He IS an old man and has every right to look like one, or does that tax your brain cell too much? Of all the things to criticise, seriously? Did Brian look like a grizzled old man when he fell on his ass too? I'll bet you were right there chortling "Ahahahaha silly fat old fool with mental health problems ahahahahaha he doesn't look like he did when he was in his 20s does he? Fnarr Fnarr." You're an asshole. I'm sick of this forum, f*** this place if the mods let just flat out abuse of the elderly for being old pass as a post. We can't all die young and pretty, sorry. Go heckle a cripple.

"Brian is overweight and out of shape." -Mike Love recently about Brian Wilson.

Yeah, God forbid a 75 year old man be at Olympic level fitness. He IS an old man and has every right to feel and look like one...or does this simple logic tax Mike's brain cells too much? Of all the things to criticize, seriously? Did Mike look like a perfect symbol of health when he fasted himself into a mental hospital in the 60s?...

Well geez, we can equivocate on whether there's any reason to point out that Mike looks "old" on stage, but saying he looks like a "grizzled old man" isn't quite the same as calling someone a "silly fat old fool with mental health problems."

Of course we shouldn't be honing in on personal looks/appearance, and certainly pointing out all of these guys are old is not exactly breaking news.

But, saying Mike Love looks old is not "abuse of the elderly." And, there is some amount of context for looking at how Mike *appears* when he makes a nationally-televised appearance. Pointing out that he looks ridiculous and actually makes himself look older by wearing the baseball caps and doing the same shtick is not necessarily an invalid argument. Perhaps a redundant one, but not invalid.

And indeed, while there's no room for a "well, he did it too!" argument, I'd say the things Mike has said about Brian in very recent years, and any number of things said about Brian (or Mike or others) on this and other boards over the years is far more inflammatory and heinous than a one-line post saying Mike looks like a grizzled old man on TV. I'd be more concerned if the mods *did* act on a person making a one-line comment like that.

I believe it's done to keep things easy. They don't have to sound check a band, worry about things going wrong during the set, and it guarantees a perfect outcome.

For many shows, it's just the S.O.P. and means less chance of a technical snafu during a live broadcast.

What's strange is that some of the other performances, on the "main" stage, *were* live, or at least partially live. So they certainly could have had Mike's band live or at least partially live.

What *can't* be explained is why they didn't just pre-record all of the songs live on stage (or heck, even just record a recent live show or soundcheck and play that recording!), and instead chose to use very canned-sounding, dead, sterile, studio-sounding, pre-recorded tracks with autotune up the wazoo. Everything about the sound quality sounded super synthetic. Everybody involved would have come across less poorly if they had just sent PBS a video compilation of a few songs from an actual Mike show.

The question often asked regarding "legacy" artists and their use of autotune: Is someone telling Mike they're turning the autotune up to "11" on his vocals?

I recall Andrew Doe posting and implying Mike and Bruce where just *aghast* when they heard the C50 live album due to the autotune. But this TV appearance and Mike's "Do It Again" single sound far, far, worse in that regard.

That was truly awful. Talk about killing the history of the band....boo on Mike Love.

Didn't Mike say in his book that Melinda secretly auto tuned their vocals on the C50 tour?  I guess we know who's to blame for this performance.  Looking at you, Smile BRIAN.  ;)

Just posted: Guy Fieri adding his autotuned vocal overdub:

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CL5DgfbWUAEMqdn.jpg)

For those who haven't seen it (and inexplicably want to), here's DIA from the PBS show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBfVCMgQOMM

Of all the cringey parts of this performance, what about Stamos not miming properly to the drum fill at 2:05?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBfVCMgQOMM&feature=youtu.be#t=2m05s

Well, Mike and Brian are both old no doubt about that.  Guess they all are, even the children are getting up in years.  Criticizing either for that seems pointless.

As for the performance it was ok.  Would be nice to see Brian invited to do that show someday, but doubtful it will happen sans the BBs moniker....

Wonder what the average age of board members is, I'm betting it is sixty or higher...

Bruce doesn't adjust his Microphone at all...so you know somethin' ain't right.  :tiptoe

 :lol

Bruce needs a mic adjusting solo! :hat

:lol

I wonder if Brian's team would ever consider doing what Yes has done, changing the name of the Anderson/Rabin/Wakeman band to Yes featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin and Rick Wakeman to rival the other previously touring Yes featuring Alan White and Steve Howe.  They could go out as The Beach Boys featuring Brian Wilson and Al Jardine with special guest Blondie Chaplin.

There's now way Mike would go for that. I doubt he supported the original 1998 BRI vote to give all BRI members "non exclusive" licenses, and in any event is currently paying for an exclusive license.

We saw what happened when Al went out as "Beach Boys Family & Friends"; there's no way that would happen again.

If any movement was made at BRI to move away from Mike having *the* exclusive license to use the BB name to tour, it would likely get tied up in litigation for years.

The "Yes" situation I don't believe is fully analogous to the BBs. It appears the Jon Anderson contingent (or at least Anderson himself) had some share in the rights to the "Yes" name all along and in recent years had just decided to not use the name at all, and now this year he has decided to use the name as he's using it now. I believe the Howe contingent acknowledged that Anderson has the right to do this.

On top of everything else, I don't think Brian is interested in using the BB name. There's frankly more prestige in Brian's name at this point than Mike's branded version of "The Beach Boys." C50 went a long way to undoing the devaluing the of the brand and trademark that had taken place in the previous decade or two, but that was all undone quickly enough as we all know.

Two wrongs make a right. Gotcha.

Since when the f*** am I aligned with Mike? Read my post history. Hey get your brain around this - when it comes to mocking old folks for their appearance, maybe I'm just against in general? Radical, huh?

There are clearly a number of folks here who are over sixty (including myself) but even just counting those posting at this time, I'm sure the average is a darn sight lower. I'd put it around the forty mark. 

I'm questioning whether it should matter at all how old anybody on the board is (understanding what generation/era fans are from *does* sometimes help understand where different fans are coming from though), but I don't think the average age here would be 60. Plenty of folks born in the 60s and 70s and 80s, and I've even seen some folks counter, when asked why they didn't see Brian's first PS tour in 2000, that they would have had trouble doing that since they were a toddler then!

Jude, at age 26 and been a fan since 2011, I feel like a geezer! ;D

The one HUGE flaw in your retort is that Mike Love has been obsessed with trying to look cool, young and hide his baldness for how many decades? He has constantly criticized the Wilsons for their lifestyle while touting his, bragging about meditation and how it is the fountain of youth. If you haven't seen this clip from Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, start at the 3:40 mark. This is what I mock.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dlL7-j-IvVA


 He is selling the fun, fun fun of being young on the beach, cheerleaders and hot bods in bikinis. With his goatee, ball caps and Hawaiian shirts together with his stage persona, his whole act is being the front man who hasn't aged.

So my point, which obviously never crossed your brain waves, is what a clown Mike is at this point. It be one thing if he acted his age.  An analogy might be Paul going out in his 1963 Beatles suit.

Brian is not trying to project something he is not. Mike is.

Yeah BW is semi-retired rock god... :hat

I just saw Roger Waters. About to turn 74 I think. Great show! He is not trying to project that he is still 29. Grey hair, unshaven, t shirt. He is basking in this point of his life. No vanity like Mike Love.

Brian shows grace and dignity.

My apologies for failing to make this point in my original post!

Or Paul with his hair dyed black or brown, to hide all the gray.

But Paul hasn't been sanctimoniously promoting his lifestyle as the fountain of youth.  Mike Love is a charade!

That was the cringe=worthiest of the cringe-worthy.  The auto-tune is so blatant that it makes them sound like robots, not even human. I don't care if the music IS kept alive by appearances like this, it's GOT to stop. YECCCCHH!!!

I just watched the 4th of July performance.  Is there a pill or drug I can take to erase the last ten minutes of my memory? 

In all seriousness, this was really upsetting.  Do it Again is one of my favourite BB songs.  Usually it brings out all these emotions:  wistfulness, peace, and of course pure joy. 

Except this.  The only emotion this brought out was disgust tinged with a strong dose of rage.  I would have loved to punch Mark McGrath right in his ugly mugging face.  Seriously, normally John Stamos makes me see red but he was almost likeable compared with the odious McGrath.  I couldn't take my eyes off him, and I don't mean that in a good way.  I almost feel bad for Foskett and the other band members who are clearly longtime BB fans and associates and now have to live through this utter sh*t and pretend to be enjoying it. 

It's a love nourishment and revenge thang...  :'(

Thanks for making me laugh out loud. Much needed after seeing this monstrosity. 

Take this as a history lesson, it's history repeating itself. Imagine being a younger fan totally absorbed in this band and the music circa 1992-93, wanting to hear more and more of the good stuff. You'd have all the reissue 60's albums and even the 2-fers in the same racks as Summer In Paradise. You'd have the box set getting a 5-star review in Rolling Stone (in an issue with Snoop and Dr Dre on the cover, no less...), and you'd be thrilled to see and hear people talking about the Beach Boys and the greatness of their music...and you'd have Summer In Paradise as the "new release" of note from the same band, and Mike flogging that title song at each and every live show for the next few years.

Then, fast forward a few years. Brian Wilson was back, revisiting his songs thanks to Don Was, the talk of a Pet Sounds AND Smile box set was in the press and eventually happened...and Mike is on Baywatch hawking a pseudo-rap song called Summer Of Love as Stamos played electronic drums on a beach with dancing bikini girls all around. The renewed focus and interest in the music and the musical legacy meant nothing.

Then you had Mike on QVC giving away free copies of Summer In Paradise to every caller who ordered the box set. The box set that got a 5-star review was being piggybacked to an album that no legit label would touch, and which hardly anyone bought. The music became a buy one get one free coupon offer.

The contradictions of all that wackiness just keep reappearing whenever Mike is skippering the boat. It's either a blindness to the optics of all this, or a stubbornness that leads to simply not giving a sh*t about how things look to the people who truly love the music and want to share that love of the music with others.

I wouldn't recommend anyone watch that performance of Do It Again. It takes what was a terrific record back in '68 and reduces it to whatever you'd call that performance from the 4th with the guy yelling "DO IT" over and over.

Mark Mcgrath sucks.

I don't feel bad for Foskett. He chose this.

Just re-watched the performance and took the chance to see what was on the back of the “Mike Love” logo hat.

(http://i.imgur.com/lKMPnOr.png)

Yeah.  I did say "almost". 

I will never understand how he chose this over touring with Brian's band.  I just don't get it. 

Mike is what he is. I'm a bit tired of him being criticized for each and every thing he does. Reality check time: All of these guys are decades past their prime, i'm not expecting great new music from any of them. They are nostalgia acts. They are there to remind us of a happier, more innocent time. Someday, they will be gone - including Mike.

So your  tired of Mike being picked in for being a douche and continually giving interviews where he bad mouths the Wilson brothers?

Your in the wrong thread brother.  Start on the New Mike Single thread and give those posters a stern talking to!

And good luck with that!

Mike is a fine frontman and his vocals are above average for someone in his upper 70's that has sang hundreds of concerts every year for the past 55 years. His lyrical prowess has left the building and he's never had a good ear in the studio. At this point in his life, I wish he would stick to what he knows. This single isn't doing a damn thing to the legacy but it is continuing to shove that wedge deeper and deeper between Mike and the hardcore fan base. As for his longevity, Mike is going to do this 'till he just falls over onstage mid-"wheeeeeeeeeeeeeen" one of these days. I think he's still got a good road ahead of him, but I don't think anyone (Mike included) expects him to be performing over two hour shows and touring 200 shows a year at age 90.

Ozzie Osbourne on drums!  ;)

LET'S DO IT A-F******-GAIIIIIIIIIN!

No he isn't...and he hasn't been since somewhere in the vicinity of 1965-66.  [You know back when that schtick had run its course.]   As a front man he's a clown who relies on age-old OLD and entirely freakin' square antics and hand movements to try and carry an act which requires a gawd-dammed gurney in order to limp into a position of still being noticed and taken seriously.  A fine frontman would be loyal to the brand.   A fine frontman would not continuously put down his band mates ...even those who freaking died and can't, therefore, retort or defend their besmirched honour... in interviews ad nauseum...year after fucking year.  

A fine frontman would not sell out his current band by upping them out of position in order to misrepresent the act and undermine their ongoing contributions by inserting cardboard cut-out replacements because they might give the wizened old act a fresh face...or more 'nourishment' related sex appeal.  A fine frontman would be the one who either sang lead on all the big songs...or at least composed the music...or who has credibility in the music biz...or who commands respect from the foundational fan base...or something other than what this aging piece of really bad cheese offers up.  

A fine frontman would not sell out the legacy of an historic body of work by taking the songs and pissin' on 'em in the hopes of somehow lucking into another glimpse at the glory which sits right in front of him each and every day.  A fine frontman  would see that and respect it.  A fine frontman would not do what he does merely for " nourishment and revenge "  ...well at least that's what HE calls it in his "Obviously I'm NOT a Fine Frontman" 'novel'.

A fine frontman ?  Not Mike.  He's just a dink.

I said Mike is a fine frontman. He's a fine onstage persona. Is he a fine man? Well, that's no one's call on this board but the clues don't always point in that direction, as you've explained, do they?

I bet 95% of Mike's audiences go one time only and don't know his or anyone else's name and say gosh that old fella, ya know the one that HAS to be original...with the hat!, he was just so damn cheeky tonight wasn't he!? Waving at the girls, talkin' bout those cheerleaders, oh and that line about "acapella" being in the nude...what a card!

THAT. That is what Mike is good at. He's a fine frontman.

McGrath! lower those eyebrows!...and the other one -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz1b5U-rAV8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz1b5U-rAV8)

I just watched that DIA rendition, boy there is really a lot going on there.  I noticed 2 Scott Totten things. 
First is that totally dumb "Let's Do It Again!" that McGrath says at the beginning, but the video edit shows Totten saying it, not even into a microphone.  Why would you even choose to edit the video like that and make it confusing?
Second is it just me, or is he wearing a fucking mouthguard the whole time?

If you look closely before and after the edit, it looks like he's looking back at Bruce who is also hanging back from his keyboard at that time and mocking the "let's do it again". I would guess that the witless wonder up front missed his cue or it didn't lineup well, so some clever editing and some inter-band snarkiness led to that. As for a mouth guard...I'm thoroughly confused and not sure where you are seeing anything close to that.

The look in Mark McGrath's eyes during that performance makes me think he would kill everybody in that audience for just one more hit single  :lol  :wink

I think that is a VERY accurate assumption.  :lol