The very worst Beach Boys related 'song' ever released

[Alan Smith]

Wow, 11 pages and no mention of the most abysmal Beach Boys related song in existence, I of course refer to Speed Turtle. Closely followed by the woeful Won't Somebody Dance With Me?.

There are fifty reasons why Speed Turtle is better than Teeter Totter Love...hmmm, actually, I can only think of 2!  

[runnersdialzero]

Not released, but I've recently found Mike Love's "Oh Those Girls". One of those songs that are so awful that I'm literally laughing. Loudly. I love Mike's voice, but 90% of the hilarity is his voice - he sounds like a hair metal singer!

I suppose there's something to say for something like that, something you can get some kind of enjoyment out of, than something that's just offensively bad or something. But oh God, I just can't believe how bad this is!

[Newguy562]

Summer of Love..Love Is A Woman..Belles Of Paris..Winds Of Change..In The Still of The Night..Student Demonstration Time..Got To Know The Woman..TM Song..Transcendental Meditation Time..Here Comes The Night{Long Version Only}LDC{Party lp}..Bugged at my old man..South Bay Surfer..Lana..Chug A Lug
Chapel Of Love..Louie Louie....Just of the top of my head..IMHO

why belles of paris? :/

[hypehat]

Gonna throw my hat into the ring and say 'Santa's Got An Airplane' is a bloody disgrace and Al deserves a kick in the nads for it.

[Andrew G. Doe]

"Barbara-fucking-Ann".

There, I win. 

[SMiLE Brian]

I will never understand why that song is a "classic", its a sloppy cover for a stop-gap album.

[The Heartical Don]

[SMiLE Brian]

Forgot about that gem....

[The Heartical Don]

Forgot about that gem....

  I adore it. It is so inept, so naïve, so utterly utterly out there... in fact it's pointless to criticize it for its faults, as if the guys could have done any better... you just have to love it, period.

[b00ts]

I like Problem Child, too. what's wrong with me?

So far as I'm concerned, Problem Child is one of what I like to call the "phone book songs."  They're songs that prove the adage, "Carl Wilson could sing a page out of the phone book and it would sound amazing." Although I might rather here Carl sing the phone book, it really doesn't matter how dreadful the song is, I listen anyway, just to hear that voice.  There are a good number of songs that fall into that category for me in the 80s. It's Gettin Late is my favorite of said category.

Personally I can't stand Carl Wilson's voice as soon as it's obvious he doesn't mean what he's singing. His trademark style may still be impressive but I think he wasn't very good at hiding his occasional lack of interest (which probably speaks for him as a person).

That said, "It's Gettin' Late" is one of my 80s-era favorites too, one of BB85's very few genuine high points. It's an interesting song.

Agree on It's Getting Late. And I like Passing Friend too.

I'm not a huge fan of "Passing Friend," but "It's Getting Late" and "Male Ego" are very good tunes. "Male Ego" harkens back to "Love You," with its slightly detuned organ patches...

[onkster]

I haven't read thru all 12 pages of this but...has anybody mentioned the "WipeOut" 'duet' with The Fat Boys? Urgggggh.

[Cabinessenceking]

Worthy contender:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RryIroTqs-k

and (rock with the croc.....yeah sure, w/e mike...):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B_okZ4kgLg&feature=related

Paul McCartney had this snapper too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0auCDOERZyE

[Sound of Free]

Carl's vocal on "The Night Was So Young" is weird. The first time I heard it (the 93 box set) I thought it was Brian except for "Why She has to Hi-ii-ide. She's passing it by. She won't even try." Then I thought Brian took over on "to make this love go where it should." (and the equivalent on the later verses).

Those parts I mentioned were the only ones to me that sounded like Carl. Since Carl said he went back and "worked my ass off" to finish "Love You," I'm surprised he didn't take another crack at it.

I wonder how many times the cleaned-up Carl of the '80s and '90s wished he could do it again.

[Newguy562]

Carl's vocal on "The Night Was So Young" is weird. The first time I heard it (the 93 box set) I thought it was Brian except for "Why She has to Hi-ii-ide. She's passing it by. She won't even try." Then I thought Brian took over on "to make this love go where it should." (and the equivalent on the later verses).

Those parts I mentioned were the only ones to me that sounded like Carl. Since Carl said he went back and "worked my ass off" to finish "Love You," I'm surprised he didn't take another crack at it.

I wonder how many times the cleaned-up Carl of the '80s and '90s wished he could do it again.

his vocals on "the night wa sso young" are amazingly beautiful

[Ron]

I think you can make a pretty big argument for Barbara Ann, since it was such a big hit but it's out of key the whole time.  If you've ever heard the original, though, it's even worse, amazingly. 

Once you're doing Cover songs, hell the doors are wide open, so it makes it even worse that they'd cover such a crappy song and do such a crappy job of it. 

I know they did a lot of other bad songs, but none of them were actually as popular as this one.  I've never liked it.  Even as a kid I hated it. 

[Ron]

I haven't read thru all 12 pages of this but...has anybody mentioned the "WipeOut" 'duet' with The Fat Boys? Urgggggh.

I actually liked it.  the wall of Brian is strong on that one. 

[Paulos]

I think you can make a pretty big argument for Barbara Ann, since it was such a big hit but it's out of key the whole time.  If you've ever heard the original, though, it's even worse, amazingly. 

Once you're doing Cover songs, hell the doors are wide open, so it makes it even worse that they'd cover such a crappy song and do such a crappy job of it. 

I know they did a lot of other bad songs, but none of them were actually as popular as this one.  I've never liked it.  Even as a kid I hated it. 

As crappy as the Boys version Barbara Ann is, it seems like a work of towering genius next to the original which is as limp and insipid as it gets.

[Iron Horse-Apples]

Carl's vocal on "The Night Was So Young" is weird. The first time I heard it (the 93 box set) I thought it was Brian except for "Why She has to Hi-ii-ide. She's passing it by. She won't even try." Then I thought Brian took over on "to make this love go where it should." (and the equivalent on the later verses).

Those parts I mentioned were the only ones to me that sounded like Carl. Since Carl said he went back and "worked my ass off" to finish "Love You," I'm surprised he didn't take another crack at it.

I wonder how many times the cleaned-up Carl of the '80s and '90s wished he could do it again.

his vocals on "the night wa sso young" are amazingly beautiful

Newguy, you are now truly one of us.........

[AndrewHickey]

Carl's vocal on "The Night Was So Young" is weird. The first time I heard it (the 93 box set) I thought it was Brian except for "Why She has to Hi-ii-ide. She's passing it by. She won't even try." Then I thought Brian took over on "to make this love go where it should." (and the equivalent on the later verses).

Those parts I mentioned were the only ones to me that sounded like Carl. Since Carl said he went back and "worked my ass off" to finish "Love You," I'm surprised he didn't take another crack at it.

I have long suspected that Brian cut a very good guide vocal for that track, and Carl was following it. For all that Carl had a very distinctive voice himself, he could also be something of a vocal chameleon -- if he copied someone else's phrasing, he ended up sounding like that other person (just listen to the 85 album, where he sounds ridiculously like both Stevie Wonder and Boy George). I suspect that 'chameleon' quality probably came from him singing in the middle of a harmony stack for so long -- when you're singing those parts, you want to sound as close to the people around you as you can, not stand out a mile.

Personally, I love that vocal, but then I think that Love You has some of Brian's best vocals on it, so Carl sounding like Brian then doesn't seem a bad thing to me.

[Newguy562]

Carl's vocal on "The Night Was So Young" is weird. The first time I heard it (the 93 box set) I thought it was Brian except for "Why She has to Hi-ii-ide. She's passing it by. She won't even try." Then I thought Brian took over on "to make this love go where it should." (and the equivalent on the later verses).

Those parts I mentioned were the only ones to me that sounded like Carl. Since Carl said he went back and "worked my ass off" to finish "Love You," I'm surprised he didn't take another crack at it.

I wonder how many times the cleaned-up Carl of the '80s and '90s wished he could do it again.

his vocals on "the night wa sso young" are amazingly beautiful

ohhhh yeahhhhhhhhhhh

Newguy, you are now truly one of us.........

[Iron Horse-Apples]

 

Carl's vocal on "The Night Was So Young" is weird. The first time I heard it (the 93 box set) I thought it was Brian except for "Why She has to Hi-ii-ide. She's passing it by. She won't even try." Then I thought Brian took over on "to make this love go where it should." (and the equivalent on the later verses).

Those parts I mentioned were the only ones to me that sounded like Carl. Since Carl said he went back and "worked my ass off" to finish "Love You," I'm surprised he didn't take another crack at it.

I wonder how many times the cleaned-up Carl of the '80s and '90s wished he could do it again.

his vocals on "the night wa sso young" are amazingly beautiful

ohhhh yeahhhhhhhhhhh

Newguy, you are now truly one of us.........

 

[Sav-Man]

As far as worst BB-related song, "Summer of Love." Mike sounds downright creepy. And the "video" was no great shakes either. Brian wearing a leather jacket on the beach?!? LMAO!

And although it's BW solo, "Smart Girls" is up there, too. Brian trying to rap? Uh, Brian...please don't rap. You're not Ice Cube (yeah, I imagine Landy was probably behind that whole debacle, but still...It was a shame, b/c I like most of the other songs on Sweet Insanity, apart from the synth-oriented production).

Other bad moments for me:

Sweet Sunday Kinda Love (just bland and not that interesting)
Oh Darlin' (puts me to sleep everytime I hear it)
School Days (Al sounds OK, but the "wooo-oooh! Wooo-OOOH! Wooo-oooh! Wooo-OOOH" noises are grating)
When Girls Get Together (the rhythm is terrible, and the musical arrangement is just a mess)
California Callin' (sounds more like a California tourism commercial than an actual song)

[Banana]

"Hey Little Tomboy," hands down.

F'fn creepy!  It makes me sad that Brian was actively involved with this hunk of garbage.  Mike just sounds creepy...like some old dude leering at young girls.  This song deserved to remain in the unreleased bin.

Other clunkers...
"Livin' With a Heartache" straight-up BLOWS!  I can imagine Kenny Rogers singing this circa 1979/80 in a light blue leisure suit!
"Oh Darlin'" is an insanely wimpy sounding song.  Brian's original at least has some soul to it.  Production is syrupy goo (thanks, Bruce).  The chorus is awful "...it's like a missing piece of puzzle has appeared..."
"Sumahama" sounds like something you'd hear just before the nitrous knocked you out and you woke up missing your wisdom teeth.
"Winds of Change" is awful.  When did Barry Manilow join the Beach Boys?
"Somewhere Near Japan" is incredible terrible.
"Student Demonstration Time" is putrid!  Mike sounds so behind-the-times...and to think they bumped something like 4th of July and Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again makes me ill.

[punkinhead]

"Hey Little Tomboy," hands down.

F'fn creepy!  It makes me sad that Brian was actively involved with this hunk of garbage.  Mike just sounds creepy...like some old dude leering at young girls.  This song deserved to remain in the unreleased bin.

Other clunkers...
"Livin' With a Heartache" straight-up BLOWS!  I can imagine Kenny Rogers singing this circa 1979/80 in a light blue leisure suit!
"Oh Darlin'" is an insanely wimpy sounding song.  Brian's original at least has some soul to it.  Production is syrupy goo (thanks, Bruce).  The chorus is awful "...it's like a missing piece of puzzle has appeared..."
"Sumahama" sounds like something you'd hear just before the nitrous knocked you out and you woke up missing your wisdom teeth.
"Winds of Change" is awful.  When did Barry Manilow join the Beach Boys?
"Somewhere Near Japan" is incredible terrible.
"Student Demonstration Time" is putrid!  Mike sounds so behind-the-times...and to think they bumped something like 4th of July and Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again makes me ill.

I agree with ya on Livin with a Heartache, Winds of Change, and Student Demonstration Time...though each has great vocals like any other BB song, these are downright snoozers.

[Slow In Brain]

"The Grammy" is  lame