The Smiley Smile Message Board

Quoting from Brian's website: "Follow Brian on Instagram for exclusive photos from his upcoming album and Fall tour."

Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere.

So great Ang - saving my pennies for a trip to - wherever...

Certainly excited about this and I hope he hits up New England!

A fall tour, when the album is released in the spring ? I'm hoping that's a misprint for "full tour".

If he comes back to Houston I am there.

Probably not a misprint. Tours and album releases don't particularly need to correlate (they may want to theme a tour behind an album, but it's not unheard of for a tour to launch several months after an album release). The days of using a tour to promote an album seem to be long gone for the most part, especially for non-Top 40 artists. Tours make money on their own (typically). I don't think Brian schlepping from city to city is going to get people to buy the album. If anything, good press for the album will lead to ticket sales. But the two, for Brian's "market" in any case, aren't going to impact each other much. He has a built-in audience that will get a certain level of album sales, and of course they hope they'll rope new cross-over fans with the guest stars and whatnot. But there aren't a bunch of hipsters waiting for a live tour announcement to alert them to the fact that a new album is out.

To the degree scheduling later tour dates was a strategic move, they probably want the new album to build enough hype along with a longer on-sale time period to secure more ticket sales.

and hope for book sales and L&M viewings?

::)

What HeyJude said..


Looking forward to seeing the big man back on stage! Until then, we'll have the PBS special to keep us warm.

Have you seen a schedule listed for the show?  I'm thinking it's a fall show....

How do you mean? It was filmed in December 2014.

In Swedish full means drunk, so that is what I'm hoping for.

(http://i.imgur.com/CVmkWgG.gif)

Sure,  I was at the show ( tho I doubt I'll see me in the video. Maybe that Rich guy that owes me $90.... but certainly not my funny face)

STILL, while we heard PBS in March(?) I haven't seen any listed schedule announcing it will actually be shown then. Have you? 

On past evidence, by the time a fall tour comes round, the album will be long gone from the charts. The longest Brian's had an album on the charts is 17 weeks (BWPS). The last three charted, respectively, for four weeks, four weeks and one week. Brian should tour behind a current, happening release that's fresh in the mind, not one that vanished over two months ago (at best). You think a spring release will drive a fall tour ? Come closer, listen,  I have these deeds to a bridge in New York city...

I would dearly love to be proven utterly and completely wrong on this as the album charts high and stays on the lists for months, years. But as you said, Brian has a built-in audience that will get a certain level of album sales. After that, it's crossover... and the presence of Elton, Eric & Macca didn't exactly buttress the chart career of GIOMH, did they ? Granted, said album is a steaming pile of sh*t that God himself couldn't sell, but the basic point is valid: got a new album, tour it.

AGD, I see you are spreading the doubt and negativity again. Must be bleak times in club Kokomo.

You're right, but I believe that they are trusting a lot to the movie that supposably (?) comes out in the summertime. So it's the album first, then the film and then the tour. I want to believe that they (whoever plans the marketing) know what they're doing. If it works, it could be quite a success. Plus I wouldn't be supprised if Brian is doing this year his last touring. He must be quite tired for it. And with the movie and all, this could really be the last year. Who knows?

That’s the whole point I was trying to make. A spring release or a fall release doesn’t have to drive a fall tour. A release doesn’t have to drive a tour. A tour doesn’t have to drive a release. Unlike modern acts that have a lot of chart action, someone in Brian Wilson’s situation isn’t touring to promote an album, nor is he particularly putting an album out to promote a tour. The two things don’t particularly work against each other. But as I mentioned in my post, a BW album and a BW tour don’t feed off each other that much. So it doesn’t particularly matter that a tour follows numerous months after an album. Of course the album will be long gone from the charts. Even if the tour started the same day as the album, a tour that lasted more than four weeks could potentially outpace the album’s chart action.

The album gives him a reason to tour I suppose, something to “theme” the tour with. That’s about it.

I would argue even some top-tier younger artists with a lot of chart action don’t always need to have an album and tour happen at the same time. Touring is a much more lucrative venture all on its own than it was decades ago.

Then precisely what does "To the degree scheduling later tour dates was a strategic move, they probably want the new album to build enough hype along with a longer on-sale time period to secure more ticket sales" - your very own words - mean if not what you've just denied ? Or has someone changed the basic rules of English and no-one told me ?

Andrew is correct..one tours when a new lp has its legs...not long after it has been dead and buried.

Let's be honest, minus a few guys in their 70's who do "American songbook" albums, Brian isn't having an album staying on the charts for too long, no matter when he tours.

Neil Young, Van Morrison, Mccartney even big 80's bands like Van Halen, they release an album, it debuts in the top 10 then vanishes, just how it works these days.

2015 is Brian Wilson year. NPP won't be "dead and buried" in late summer / fall.

BW and his team have this all planned out extremely well. While Mike Love waiting to release a solo album in two years is really going to be dead and buried.  ;)

 :ohyeah

It might be the current norm to tour right around the time of an album. But Brian and his team may be choosing to tour to support his book, and soon after the film ( which, if it is as good as everyone has been reporting, will generate  a trail of publicity and potential sales across the products).

Agreed.

The film is definitely going to be what they are counting on to sell tickets for the tour.  The album being released in the spring, may get a second wind after the movie comes out (if the movie turns out to be a hit).  Then in the perfect storm, the tour becomes very successful.

Oh my dear god!

I must admit, the idea that it was okay for Mike & Bruce to tour without an album for around a decade and a half, yet there's an issue with Brian touring 6 months after an album and with a new movie out - in other words when his profile as a solo artist is likely to be the highest it has been in some years - strikes me as a bit of a double standard. Perhaps he'll be spending the summer promoting the album/film in other territories, be it through gigs, TV appearances or what have you. The fact that the single was premiered on a Norwegian radio station seems to hint that might be the case to me.

It means "I don't think this is the case, but IF it is, here is a guess why." I don't think a fall tour is meant to have any synergy with the new album. But IF I'm wrong, my guess as to their line of thinking was as I stated.

He didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition.

Aside from the fact that Mike & Bruce cannot legally release an album as "The Beach Boys" - as you well know, being a long-time denizen of this here forum - we're talking two different entities here.

Suspect he might be touring to promote a No Pier Pressure BW doll, to hit shelves in the fall.

But maybe a European tour in the summer in support of album and movie, landing US-side in the fall.

Does he have the Kinks old managers working for him now? That seemed to be their modus operandi - either do the tour a couple months before the album comes out, or several months after the release...thereby negating whatever sales boost the tour might have given it.

The Mike/Bruce situation indeed isn't the same. But, it is worth noting that "The Beach Boys" as a brand name/trademark (both pre and post-1998) are another in a long line of examples of a name that draws ticket buyers regardless of concurrent album releases (or lack thereof).

Brian's touring, while on a smaller scale in a number of ways, is the same deal for the most part. New album releases certainly don't hurt in terms of raising one's profile, just like Mike and Bruce going on Queen Latifah doesn't hurt selling tickets to their shows. But few are going to buy a ticket to a BW show, whether in April or October, because "he's that guy that put that new album out called 'No Pier Pressure'." They'll be going because they're BW fans. On top of that, the BW PR machine doesn't seem to have a problem also at least attempting to market his shows to a broader baby boomer-type audience, "casual" Beach Boys fans, by prominently featuring his "Founding Member of the Beach Boys" status in advertising (to the alleged/apparent chagrin of other entities), and those folks are even *less* likely to know or care about his new album.

If there had been any strong indication of any strong link between an album release and stronger ticket sales, I would imagine they indeed would have booked a tour concurrent with the album release.

Long story short, we've seen plenty of apparent bone-headed moves from all corners of BB land. But booking a fall tour this year doesn't strike me as a dumb move. I think they'll probably sell more tickets that way, and/or perhaps were able to book more venues/markets they wanted to.

This makes perfect sense to me. They have quite a bit to promote, spread out over a number of months. There's the US film premiere in a month, the album release a couple of weeks later, the PBS special, the wide(r) release of the film in early summer and book sales in the fall. I think that we'll see a small number of high profile gigs between now and L&M in the big US markets (NY, LA, maybe Chicago). I'm thinking that they a. want flexibility for promo availability b. want to see how the early numbers look on album sales and the film so that they can book the appropriately sized venues.

If things execute like they're hoping, Brian has a lot of heavy lifting ahead of him in the coming months. Might as well pace accordingly.

We may also see some TV appearances more around the time of the album release in April. Maybe they'll forego that, I dunno. But Brian has done Conan, Fallon, Letterman, etc. in the past.

Surely if a spring or summer tour was envisaged, tickets would be going on sale now or would have been even earlier.

I would guess that the tickets will go on sale soon or at the time of the album release, when all the publicity is at its height. Hopefully, people will buy tickets based on that. If they later decide not to go to the show because the album is no longer in the charts... well, how likely is that?  Once they have bought tickets, most will be committed to the idea.  But even if they don't go, they will already have paid.

I know I've made a lot of critical comments about decisions that have been made that I know next to nothing about over the years.  Funny thing is, occasionally I've then learned the reasons behind the decisions and what stood out to me was that I was bitching without having any of the facts - the dumbest move of all. The point is, we don't know why fall was chosen for a tour, but I'm damn excited about the prospect.

We've all been talking about this being a big year for Brian - new record, new film, etc.  We don't know if there will be special guest appearances by some of the people on the record at some shows as there was in Las Vegas, but if so, this would make the scheduling even more complex.  We don't know what other requirements Brian has regarding the film, personal needs and wants, or much of anything else.

I guess forums have a certain bitch factor that allows people cathartic experiences, or to feel like they could somehow "do it better."  If somebody here knows about the decision process for setting up a 2015 tour for Brian, then please, share with us.  Otherwise, I certainly would feel foolish criticizing the timing of a tour I'm thrilled about.  2015 brings a record, film and tour for Brian - I think my calendar is overflowing already, and loving Brian's work, I can't imagine having any reaction but being happy about the whole thing.

Extremely well said, Deb. My thoughts to the tee.   :thumbsup :thumbsup

So glad for any music and any tour, it's just that simple!   Life is really good with Brian in it somewhere.  Even though, I'm somewhere in the back of the line.

Debbie is surely right -  most of us don't know the reasons.

What I quoted from Brian's website yesterday is no longer there so perhaps plans have changed but autumn seems quite a likely time to me. They usually sell tickets several months in advance of the shows.

He's playing here in New Jersey in May. Tickets go on sale tomorrow.

$167.00 per ticket???!!??     :o

For every seat in the house???!!??     :thud


Good luck with that...

It's some sort of benefit for the venue.

I thought the same thing at the $167 per ticket price. It also starts at 6:00, so it must be a benefit. But $325+ for 2 tickets, like the other guy said, good luck with that.

So you really think it matters, to either ticket sales or album sales, exactly when Brian tours?

Andrew, while I respect the insights you've given over the years, and also while I think you're newly found friendliness with Mike is cool, I have to admit that lately every chance you've had to denigrate or doubt Brian and company latest activities you have. And to be honest, I don't think you're doing it on purpose.

For instance, a few months ago you were surmising that what's become No Pier Pressure was not gonna turn out very well, and it looks like you've been proven wrong there. And insinuating that things aren't going well with Brian's book because we haven't heard anything. Well, it seems like it's going well enough because it's got a release date and it's up for sale in some places.

Now what I think is that maybe certain elements in Mike's camp are throwing you some negativity because of that's what they are hoping is going on. Stuff like, "hey guys, did you hear Brian's album is a wreck? Shoulda agreed to my terms and he coulda kept a good thing goin'." Or, "hey Andrew, we know you love Brian, but we're hearing that his book is in a lot of trouble. What a shame." And since you're probably still a little starry-eyed, you're probably thinkin', they're given me gospel here. But what they are really doing is giving you what they wanna give you. And since they know you're a respected person in Beach Boys fan circles, they figure their type of thinking will permeate the rest of us. And if indeed this new album does well and Brian's riding another wave of popularity, it does make Mike look pretty stupid for bailing. And I don't care about "who fired who" or whatever, but the facts are that Brian Wilson wanted Mike Love and Bruce Johnston to work with him, Al Jardine and David Marks on a new Beach Boys album. And they didn't. So Mike screwed up. And the better Brian does, the dumber it makes Mike look. And this is coming from me, a person who owns a copy of both the NASCAR album and Summertime Cruisin'. I like Mike and a lot of his work, but I have noticed a change in your analysis after the C50 blow up and your new friendship with Mike.

So anyways, all I'm saying is, I miss the straight talk we used to get from you. It now just seems a bit tainted by taking one side's word as gospel and disliking the wife of the other side.

The bit that says "State Theatre 2015 Benefit Gala" is a bit of a giveaway... :)

So, I'm not entitled to have my own opinions, then change my mind, like everyone else here ? I say something and it's set in stone ? Thanks, I'll remember that. Obviously my new optimism about Brian's new album is hypocritical.

Also, to suggest my views (note, my views) are in any way influenced or coloured by Mike's camp is something I find deeply offensive. Even in jest.

In all fairness, Andrew's trepidation mainly dated from when Jeff Beck was still involved. I think what we have now is far superior to what we would have gotten back then

You surely are entitled to have whatever opinion you want. It's just interesting that your worries about the album seemed me larger than any worries you had about TLOS, BWRG, Disney or TWGMTR.

It just seemed convenient that you didn't think Brian had "it" this time, coming off the successful TWGMTR but you seemed a lot more confident about TWGMTR even after the naming of Joe Thomas as producer. You never came out and said you'd think it'd stink at all during that era. You were even slightly optimistic about what became TLOS before we knew anything about it. And to me, THAT album was a surprise. Because in the years leading up to that, Brian hadn't had a good new album of mostly new material in 20 years. But this time, coming less than three years after a new artistic triumph, you thought the album would stink. It just strikes me as odd, and didn't correlate with the historian, writer, and poster who I've spent over ten years reading the opinion of.

I mean, if you're as fair as you were even after two years ago, instead of just dogging Brian's album, you'd be questioning why Mike Love is announcing an album for 2017. Why can't it come out 'til then? Especially as he admitted it will likely contain a fair share of re-recordings. Yet I haven't heard you questioning why this guy is doing that. And why he's doing re-recordings again. And why exactly the album has to wait for the book. Why doesn't he do an album now for art's sake, and put something else (like an anthology of his solo work) out then?

Anyways, what I'm saying is, one is likely to believe the story of a "friend" more than they will of somebody they don't care for. You've been fine to nitpick every stupid move made by Brian's team recently, but you've haven't pointed out Mike's equally stupid things. And maybe because you think you're defending the guy who's always getting dumped on. But we don't need fairness. We need truth. We have enough KittyKats, Pinders, and OSDs. We don't need more.

Er, actually, I did - for something like 35-odd years, in fanzines, the book and since 1998, on the internet. HOF speech, anyone ?

I'm talking lately. You will tsk, tsk things like the casting call for the taping of Brian's hopefully soon-to-be-released special for trying to get good looking people or whatever, but I don't hear you protesting that same sexism, ageism, whateverism thing when Mike and co. are bringin' up babes to play guitar during the encore or whatever. For the record, I'm waiting for Scott Totten to pick a mustachioed grump out of the crowd instead of the usual buxom blonde.

And as I brought up earlier, you thought Brian's album was gonna be a disaster because of the long (and supposedly troubled) gestation period. However, you've have nothing to say about the fact that Mike has been teasing an album that supposedly won't come out for two years. Which is really odd to me. Why announce a new album two years ahead. Is it that even you don't take whatever Mike is coming out with half as serious as Brian's new album? Because we know Mike's "album" will likely never come out, and if it does it will contain a bunch of re-recordings of previously released Beach Boys songs and also of course another version of "Brian's Back," so in interviews Mike can say "I'm so glad Brian is out there working again, and I'm glad his latest album is doing decently, but if he just got together with me to write, we could do it again and conjure up some good vibrations and we could make huge hits again!"

Now hey, if you criticize the DX7 '80s keyboard sounds and the re-recording of "Be True to Your School" on Mike's "new album" then I'll eat my words.  But I just know that if Brian's team started teasing a new album slated for 2017 today, you'd likely say they were idiots for even announcing such a thing yet.

sweetdudejim, you worry about things I can't understand how they occupy your mind. I don't see why one should write down such lengthy thoughts about what just one board poster thinks and says and what his motifs might be. It seems a bit obsessive in a way. I don't say this to put you down, I'm just kind of baffled and wanted to respectfully express the impression your postings made on me.

At the risk of sounding like I'm kissing the guy's butt, Andrew's words carry more weight than the average SS poster.

That's fine. My main problem is when people claim to be fair and then obviously are not. I just notice things. There certain posters I look forward to reading opinions from on here (Andrew, Wirestone, guitarfool, Ray Lawlor, ontor pertwast) and I was disappointed that what seemed to be a straight shooting board member seems to instead be "cheering for one team over the other" which I just didn't expect, and I wanted to point out. Should I maybe have done it via PM, probably. But whatever. I just think Brian and his team have taken a bit of sh*t from posters here who I'd expect better from. So I pointed it out. If that's obsessive, so be it. To me, it's just posting and virtually interacting with many of the posters around here for around ten years or so, and so obviously one would have opinions on what they see as unfair (or at least unbalanced) criticism coming from somebody who is a respected name in our circles. I'll say right now, I expect better and more nuanced opinions from Stebbins, Doe, Edelson, Wirestone, etc) and I just wanna point out inconsistencies so newer fans don't take biased talk as gospel.

I do think it is meant to be a put down, but that's okay. It's the internet, and I don't hold it against you.

Just a question to someone who may know. Do venues cost less to hire in fall or winter compared to summer? Its probably like hotels, airlines etc when during high demand they can charge more.

If they are unsure how a Brian tour, backing a new album would sell, the financial risk may be reduced in the fall rather than a prime summer period.

It's a pity you feel that way because it is not the case. I didn't tell you my impression to belittle you, as you are not offensive. But I can't change your mind, and I don't hold that against you either.

Wow! Could I have a field day rearranging that sentence! Add a word there, pull a word here.......but I promised I wouldn't. :tiptoe :tiptoe

What?? How come I'm not in that group? Have I ever lied to you? You don't trust what I post? Do I seem uninformed? I may not post that much and may not be as long-winded as Guitarfool, but I never post B.S. just for the hell of it like some do here.  :P

Guess I'd better post more stuff here to get some respect. Use larger fonts (colored) underlined text with uppercase bold and italics in my posts to get attention....

I'm the KING of b.s. :hat

I respect you Mikie...but only for these last 10 years or so.  AND I respect Andrew as well...although I don't agree with him as often.  Anybody who puts as much time, effort and thought into 'it' as you guys deserves a tip of the hat. 

Then there's OSD.  I respect HIM too.  We're all experts.  Some of us just haven't revealed what we're experts 'at'.

Anyways...sdj...looks at stuff from his seat.  He sees what he sees.  Doesn't make it wrong.  I just know that over the LONG haul...Andrew G Doe knows what he's talkin' about.  When it comes to fact...he's a source to be counted on...NO question.  When it comes to opinions...his are merely as valid as anyone else's.  You know what they say about opinions...not unlike (fill in the 'hole') we all have one. 

We don't have to always agree with one another.  That'd be boring.  Half of the time I don't agree with myself.  The other half I'm still researching to see where I sit...on...where I sit.  I could go on but...I said it all in my very first sentence.  The rest is just 'filler'. :hat

You too Mikie. Absolutely look forward to your posts. You are one of those who I feel calls things as I see 'em. Admittedly, it was a late night post. So yeah, you shoulda been included Mikie!

And I get called long-winded in a post about getting more respect, go figure.  ;D

Thank you, Jim. Not sure I'm in the same league as AGD and Ray and Stebbins and Howie, but I feel much better now after your acknowledgement.  :-D

Thanks to Add Some too - we go way back to the Cabinessence board where I probably pissed him off more than once. We live in Oldfartdom and are very proud of that.

And GF knows I'm just messin' with him. I just wish I had the time to express all my thoughts on the board like he has!

Correct, because that was the, ah, feeling I was getting at the time. Maybe you've not noticed, but these last few months, I've changed my tune... oh, sorry, I'm not allowed to do that, am I ? My bad.


Of course it won't be. It'll be most likely exactly what you'd imagine. And I'm pretty sure Mike's fine with that. Point is, he doesn't have to do this, but he is. Same with the book.


Betcha $10 you're all wrong.  ;D


Wrong. They'll be re-recordings of Mike's unreleased material, last I heard.


Damn right I will (although, as noted above, he won't be doing that): remakes many years after the event are never any damn good. F'rinstance, Kate Bush's Directors Cut album - waste of time, electricity and plastic. About the only such remake that didn't make me go "ugh" was "Carpet Crawlers 1999" on the Genesis 'hits' album.

As regards the last name noted, one is way too many.

Rerecordings of unreleased songs is pretty lame. Does the man really have nothing left in the tank for songwriting at this point?


Or the truth that he is a crappy songwriter who can't hide behind BW's talents and production.

Brian, of course, has never, ever done any such thing.  ;D

But you are avoiding my main point, Mike cannot write new songs even in two years. Its all retreads of half baked stuff from failed solo projects 1970s to 2000s.

And his voice isn't even a selling point either, its a nasal wine these days.


There is no market for dreck like Viggie. ;)

The only guy who seems to be able to continually get major solo deals is Brian. The rest of the guys don't seem very motivated to self-distribute their albums (nor apparently seek out little indie labels; a few of which I'm sure would have put out more Jardine albums and maybe even Love albums). Maybe they're just stuck in the old train of thought where you wait for a deal with Capitol or some other major.

If Capitol or some other major label had called Mike up and offered him a solo deal in, say, 2004, I have little doubt we would have seen some variation on that "Mike Love Not War" album finished and published.

Al has been the only one (in addition to Brian early on with the Roxy live album) to seek out essentially self-distributing stuff, which he did with the live Vegas album, the "PT Cruiser" single, and the first version of the "Postcard" album.

Mike Love has given numerous interviews where he indicates one of his major measuring sticks for success is sales, chart placement, and things of that nature; things that he will not likely achieve with a solo release (things that even Brian has limited success with). If he just wanted to put music out for the sake of getting it out, he would have done so long ago. I think VERY slowly it may have become more enticing to do stuff with their music online, so I think it's more likely for Mike to get something out on his own now than it was in, say, 2004.

According to your very recent pronouncement, BWPS was "pretty lame", because it consisted in no small part of re-recordings of previously unreleased songs. Must be true, because you said it.

But... why am I wasting my time arguing the toss with mental midgets such as you and the other troll ? There's a new album due soon which has definite potential. I am cautiously enthused.

However, Brian has stated the same - that he thinks success equates to how well something does commercially. And, good on him, he continues to make music despite his albums hardly ever reaching the point where he would probably deem them a success. Although, to be fair, there are undoubtedly differences in their potential for album releases. Brian seems to easily be able to get a record deal, and he has a legacy and a name that sells albums. Mike, on the other hand, would probably face a great deal of trouble in trying to acquire a record deal, and how many people out there are looking to pick up an album by Mike Love? So, I can respect the fact that he's actually going to release an album, one that he probably knows has no chance of meeting his definition of "success". It's probably not gonna be good, though.

And how are you feeling about Mike's new album, resigned to defend it as King Kokodoe?

I think it's fair to say that some of Brian's solo releases are almost willfully uncommercial, and major props to him for that: I loved the way he essentially held Disney to ransom in order to get the excellent Gershwin album out.

I think Brian and Mike's takes (as published in interviews, etc.) are not that much the same. Brian has indeed referenced many times wanting a "hit", and in that sense he still seems to have the same train of thought as he did in 1964, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But he has continued to make *numerous* solo albums and do other projects when very few have sold in huge numbers; when he hasn't had anything approaching a "hit" single, and only a few albums that you could debatably call minor hits.

Mike Love in a 2013 interview even minimized the #3 chart debut for TWGMTR, saying:

"Well, it debuted at No. 3. That’s not bad. But it didn’t stay up there very long. To have sustained success, like we’ve been known to do, you need a single that will chart and stay in the Top 20 or the Top 10 for three months. And that didn’t happen with this album."

Now, I think his opinion of the album was probably severely colored by his retrospective negative pronouncements about the reunion (songwriting, etc.). But beyond the fact that his statement shows that he's as out of touch with how "hit singles" work as Brian is, it shows that Mike has pretty freaking high bar for what constitutes success for an album.

He also continually cites not critics' reactions, but polls and chart placements (top "oldies radio" act, 1967 NME Poll Winners; beating out the Beatles, Kokomo getting to #1) as the seeming justification (or vindication) for the band and its music.

This isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes then a failure in sales and chart performance can lead to some introspective thinking. I'd like to believe that part of the reason Mike has pursued little music releases of new material since 1992 has something to do with the utter failure of the SIP album in 1992. It's unfortunate he seems to have more critical comments about the #3 TWGMTR album than the non-charting (as in failing to reach the Top 200) SIP album.

But I'm sure steady tickets sales for decades while the band continued to slip off the charts has informed his decision to tour incessantly and stay away from much new music releases.

Andrew, I've always been perplexed why Disney wanted him to do ITKOD so badly they let him do the Gershwin album first, then seemed to put zero effort behind promoting ITKOD.  Do you have any insight into this?  Was it about disappointment with BWRG sales?

Apologies if this is OT, but then so is Mike Love's album...

I was told that the main outlet for ITKOD was at Disney parks & stores. Makes sense to me. Just wish they'd done more classics and fewer recent songs.

I can't imagine how anyone (personally or as a record label) would think a BW album of Gershwin OR Disney covers would sell terribly well, so that might explain the lack of promotion. It wouldn't of course explain why they pursued the record deal in the first place. Perhaps sometimes it's a tiny "prestige" move for the label, to sign Brian Wilson. It's mostly longtime grizzled industry veterans and hardcore BB fans that know all of the times BW and the BB's caused their labels severe disappointment. So there is still some prestige in having BW on your label.

There's another, far simpler, reason: Mike doesn't like the recording process. Much prefers the stage to the studio, and having done a smidgen of studio work myself back in the day, I can't say I blame him.

I've ended up, unwillingly to some degree, visiting numerous Disney stores regularly since before the release of ITKOD, and I've never seen the BW album there (nor a great deal of CDs in general). But that's just my experience. It's weird as well that Disney offered the "exclusive" version of the album with bonus tracks to Amazon as an exclusive, rather than offering it to Disney parks, which often have "exclusive" items for sale.

I haven't been to any parks though, so perhaps they pushed the CD hard there. I wonder if they had a similar train of though to Hallmark, who had had some big selling CDs at their stores with Michael McDonald and a few others, and pushed for what ended up being the "Songs from Here & Back" BB CD. I'm pretty sure that BB CD tanked as well. No further Hallmark releases, and no later "mainstream" release of the CD to other outlets.

Very true, Mike has said that. But I'm also fairly certain that if the BB's had continued to have hit singles and albums through the 90's and 2000's (or if Mike had had solo hits), and if people had been patting him on the back all that time for his latest hit single/album, he would have been all over the studio.

OK, thanks, that does make some sense.  Not having been in a Disney park since 1974 (not because of any philosophical reasons), and perhaps never in a Disney store, I had no idea...

Yeah, the studio must really suck-not enough people to waive or point at.  ;)

so true :lol

I'm not up to speed on this, but weren't the McDonald, etc. releases on Hallmark all new material (in his case a Christmas album) ? Might explain why when I did a sweep of Hallmark Gold stores in northern Delaware, I scooped up about ten copies of the BB album. It certainly didn't perform to expectations.

Do you have a good cheese to accompany that nasal wine? (Yuck!)

It is also safe to say Mike is not a very creative person. Artists who compose/produce like being in the studio. Mike has not written anything substantial in ages - his last tour de force was SiP. If Mike had the formula to write/produce number one hits he would be in the studio day and night.

So he performs instead.

:woot :woot  Told like it really is, SB! Brian, whose singing gets better every day and still moving forward with his career while luHv is stuck in an oldies quagmire without a towtruck.

Not even number one hits but anything that would generate a comfortable amount of money. I'm sure that Mike does prefer the stage to the studio, but if he had any constant monetary incentive to record in the studio, he would've been recording albums on and off all these years.

Here's an opinion that's not likely to be very popular with certain members: Mike being able to do 150 rock and roll shows a year at age 73 is just as impressive as Brian's ability to put out great albums. And let's be honest, there are certain BW performances (not judging his band) that could be viewed the same way SIP is (aka, not good).

Here's my armchair shrink take on things:

I have no doubt that Mike would change his touring plans if it meant he could work creatively with Brian on his terms, with money having nothing to do with it. Why is that? A. He longs for his relationship with Brian to be how it was when they were younger and life was simpler B. Creatively, it would take a lot of pressure off of him. I think he knows that working with Brian would up his game and get the best out of him.

By the same token, after years of saying "no way", 2012 saw Brian as a Beach Boy again. Why? A. He longs for his relationship with the guys to be how it was when they were younger and life was simpler. B. From a performance standpoint, it took a lot of pressure off of him and he knew that touring at the level Mike was used to would up his game and get the best out of him.  

myKe made his bed so let him sleep in it. Life is not about "on my terms" but tell that to luHv. It appears he wants things his way or the highway. Hit the road myKe, and dontcha come back, come back. come back, hit the road myKe. and dontcha come back no more... :tm :tm :tm

Personally, I would think that this would be the best way for Mike to do this...

Going through the unreleased material picking out the best bits that this admittedly questionable songwriter has done. works better than locking him in a room for a couple months would likely to result in.

Then secondly, taking this material and rerecording it with one band and one studio would hopefully result in a cohesive final result. At least making it sound like something that wasn't thrown together from 30 years of rejected tapes..

imho of course!

This.