New Mike interview in HuffPost

[RioGrande]

Hi folks, thanks for the laughs. Nothing like stirring a Kokomaoist pot. You sound like angry wasps, and make less sense.
And "Pinder", you still don't own a mellotron.
A subtle hint for the Mods: "Unfunny Brianista troll is unfunny, and permabanned."
On a (slightly) more serious note: what should be permabanned is this board - from reality. Check failed.

[KittyKat]

Hi folks, thanks for the laughs. Nothing like stirring a Kokomaoist pot. You sound like angry wasps, and make less sense.
And "Pinder", you still don't own a mellotron.
A subtle hint for the Mods: "Unfunny Brianista troll is unfunny, and permabanned."
On a (slightly) more serious note: what should be permabanned is this board - from reality. Check failed.

Wow, it's just a message board. There's always the Blue Board. Maybe that's a little place where you can go, where you can get a t(r)opical contact high.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Brian's management is good at getting him press and getting him substantial plaudits such as the Kennedy Center Honors...

Really ? I thought it was his body of work over 45-odd years that led to his award. I guess they were responsible for the Grammy too ? 

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Brian's management is good at getting him press and getting him substantial plaudits such as the Kennedy Center Honors...

Really ? I thought it was his body of work over 45-odd years that led to his award. I guess they were responsible for the Grammy too ? 

Word

[KittyKat]

Brian's management is good at getting him press and getting him substantial plaudits such as the Kennedy Center Honors...

Really ? I thought it was his body of work over 45-odd years that led to his award. I guess they were responsible for the Grammy too ? 

Why wasn't he given a Kennedy Center Honor years and years and years earlier? Gimme a break. It's a political thing and somebody had to lobby on his behalf. Sure, he has the body of work, but no one on the Kennedy Center committee was noticing it or thinking he belonged with those people until someone pointed it out and went to bat for him with the honors committee. Also, he got the honor under his own name instead of the Beach Boys. His management had something to do with it, both directly and with getting him a lot of press that helped his cause. There's nothing wrong with that, either, which is why I think his management has done him a lot of good in helping to raise his profile.

[ontor pertawst]

Why wasn't he given a Kennedy Center Honor years and years and years earlier? Gimme a break.

Er, because it's a lifetime achievement award? Still, good to know that all his good press, reviews, and awards come from his management team. If that's all it is, you'd think Mike Love would've hired better management. He could've netted a CableACE award and a Peabody by now, surely!

[clack]

Diana Ross was honored in the same year (2007) -- without the Supremes. Smokey Robinson, sans Miracles, was honored the year previous. But then again Led Zeppelin were honored as a group, and Peter Townshend and Roger Daltrey were co-honored, so it's an interesting question as to why it was Brian alone, and not the Beach Boys as a whole, that received the Kennedy Center award.

[Smilin Ed H]

Brian's management is good at getting him press and getting him substantial plaudits such as the Kennedy Center Honors...

Really ? I thought it was his body of work over 45-odd years that led to his award. I guess they were responsible for the Grammy too ? 

Why wasn't he given a Kennedy Center Honor years and years and years earlier? Gimme a break. It's a political thing and somebody had to lobby on his behalf. Sure, he has the body of work, but no one on the Kennedy Center committee was noticing it or thinking he belonged with those people until someone pointed it out and went to bat for him with the honors committee. Also, he got the honor under his own name instead of the Beach Boys. His management had something to do with it, both directly and with getting him a lot of press that helped his cause. There's nothing wrong with that, either, which is why I think his management has done him a lot of good in helping to raise his profile.

ZZZZ

Or ZZZZ City, as Jan and Dean might have once postulated.

[Wirestone]

Brian's management is good at getting him press and getting him substantial plaudits such as the Kennedy Center Honors...

Really ? I thought it was his body of work over 45-odd years that led to his award. I guess they were responsible for the Grammy too ? 

Why wasn't he given a Kennedy Center Honor years and years and years earlier? Gimme a break. It's a political thing and somebody had to lobby on his behalf. Sure, he has the body of work, but no one on the Kennedy Center committee was noticing it or thinking he belonged with those people until someone pointed it out and went to bat for him with the honors committee. Also, he got the honor under his own name instead of the Beach Boys. His management had something to do with it, both directly and with getting him a lot of press that helped his cause. There's nothing wrong with that, either, which is why I think his management has done him a lot of good in helping to raise his profile.

Precisely so.

Brian's management has erred in many ways over the years -- having your wife be your prime mover is fraught with peril -- but Melinda and company have learned and adapted. And Brian's profile is surging yet again.

Interesting question -- does Brian even have a conception of the music business in which his managers are not also related to him, married to him, or his best friends?

[Lonely Summer]

Diana Ross was honored in the same year (2007) -- without the Supremes. Smokey Robinson, sans Miracles, was honored the year previous. But then again Led Zeppelin were honored as a group, and Peter Townshend and Roger Daltrey were co-honored, so it's an interesting question as to why it was Brian alone, and not the Beach Boys as a whole, that received the Kennedy Center award.

The difference being that Ms. Ross had a string of #1 singles as a solo artist, and Smokey had a number of hits post-Miracles, too. Brian's had some modest success as a solo artist, but most of the raves have been about Brian as a live act - or more accurately, Brian's incredible band. And what have they been playing for the most part? The old songs Brian wrote for the Beach Boys. So it seemed strange to me that the Kennedy Center award went to Brian alone, when it was clearly his work with America's Band that got him there.

[KittyKat]

Why wasn't he given a Kennedy Center Honor years and years and years earlier? Gimme a break.

Er, because it's a lifetime achievement award? Still, good to know that all his good press, reviews, and awards come from his management team. If that's all it is, you'd think Mike Love would've hired better management. He could've netted a CableACE award and a Peabody by now, surely!

Yeah, Brian goes out and arranges his own interviews, or releases his own publicity releases. Right. Not to mention that it's a fact that Kennedy Center Awards are lobbied for, by somebody or other. If you don't believe it, look it up. Brian's work is an accomplishment, but someone has to toot his horn. He had Derek Taylor doing it in the mid-'60s. A lot of the press about "Smile" that is compiled in the Dominic Priore is an example of the tail wagging the dog, because people were writing about something that had not even been released, but Derek helped build expectations by inviting the press to come hear it and having the press interview Brian and the Beach Boys. Sure, Brian built some brilliant tracks, but what if Derek had not invited the rock press to listen and talk about it?

Same with what Brian's management has done for him in the past ten years or so. If they were totally incompetent, there would not have been the buzz built about Brian, and perhaps Brian himself would have been doing less because he wouldn't have had the confidence that his management helped provide him. His website and message board are another accomplishment for his management team that has helped build his brand. His management hasn't been perfect, but if you think about it, he's a good example of how acts can build buzz for themselves through publicity and their presence on the internet.

[ontor pertawst]

I dunno what Derek Taylor has to do with a lifetime achievement award. I'm sure it's only a coincidence that Brian's music moved a lot of people and stuff, at least he made his management's job easier by creating some killer pop compositions. It'd probably be a tougher sell if he didn't crank out a Pet Sounds or somesuch... still, it doesn't explain why Mike "voice of the people" Love only has a shared Kid's Choice Award for Kokomo. What the hell is his management doing wrong? It's like people don't think he'd give a great acceptance speech or something.

[Jonathan Blum]

And what have they been playing for the most part? The old songs Brian wrote for the Beach Boys. So it seemed strange to me that the Kennedy Center award went to Brian alone, when it was clearly his work with America's Band that got him there.

Given how much emphasis the Kennedy Center bio put on "Pet Sounds" and his production work, maybe they just figured that writing the words for "California Girls" isn't quite on the same level.

Cheers,
Jon Blum

[clack]

Just pure speculation here -- but maybe if Carl had still been alive in 2007 the Beach Boys as a whole might have been honored.

[Doo Dah]

Just pure speculation here -- but maybe if Carl had still been alive in 2007 the Beach Boys as a whole might have been honored.

Interesting possibility. Showing my true bias here, but I'm glad the band did not receive the award. I'm glad that the spotlight was on Brian - because he deserved it and perversely the band deserved it. Any opportunity to honor the true architect of the sound is fine by me.

Throwing open the gate to the 'whole gang' would've invited inevitable Mike Love rooster-struttin' about how his lyrics are all about spirituality and positivity and mom's apple pie. That would've diluted the effect of alerting America to the talents of the true architect. And that's the way it should be, Kokomaoists be damned.

[jamsvet]

God some guys hate ML

[bluesno1fann]

God some guys hate ML

Do you really blame them?
Even Steve Love admitted that while Mike is a great frontman, he's a huge disappointment as a person. He has even called his own brother a hypocrite and a greedy person

[jamsvet]

Would this be the same Steve Love?

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/25012/EX-BEACH-BOYS-MANAGER-SENTENCED-IN-THEFT.html

[bluesno1fann]

Would this be the same Steve Love?

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/25012/EX-BEACH-BOYS-MANAGER-SENTENCED-IN-THEFT.html

Interesting. I never knew that.
But still

[Cam Mott]

Would this be the same Steve Love?

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/25012/EX-BEACH-BOYS-MANAGER-SENTENCED-IN-THEFT.html

Interesting. I never knew that.
But still

Steve is the go-to felon for opinions on people's character.

[jamsvet]

Would this be the same Steve Love?

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/25012/EX-BEACH-BOYS-MANAGER-SENTENCED-IN-THEFT.html

Interesting. I never knew that.
But still

BUT STILL !!!!!!!! Please

[Niko]

He may be a total asshole, but he's actually a really good guy!!!!!

[bluesno1fann]

He may be a total asshole, but he's actually a really good guy!!!!!

Asshole and good guy are words that don't mix

[jamsvet]

God some guys hate ML

Don't need to say much more

[Lonely Summer]

It's just so much fun to hate Mike Love, isn't it? Only thing I ever wonder about Mike is why didn't he ever join the Hair Club for Men? I think a lot of his jealousy of Brian is down to the fact that Brian has a great head of hair.