The Smiley Smile Message Board

From what I gather, a lot of folks don't care about this performance, and I kinda agree. I'd say there's about 1/4 of it worth listening to. I've read where there was some sort of party the night before that screwed up the performance the next day...so this leads me to believe they all partied and thought, "oh well, we've been do this for years, we know what we're doing," and as a result, their performance (or lack there) of suffered. I also think the tracklist could have been better. I mean, why is Wake up Little Susie on there? I know it's the Everly Bros. but this is a BB event! And the "thunder birds" performance of Rock and Roll Music is lower than par that was originally set by the BB in 76....I get no Beach Boy warm-feeling when I hear this performance. How much of this show was overdubbed? and I know the script reading bothers folks...let's face it, the Boys aren't actors...I think they should have learned the lesson from An American Band with this whole ordeal. I think they shoulda introduced songs in their own words...the way this is portrayed is awkward.

Anyone else on this?


I've honestly never read anywhere about this even...not in any books, and if they did, they touched very lightly on the subject.

there are audience tapes of that show. lots of tune ups and stuff. listen to those tapes and you will know why they rerecorded backing tracks.  :o

I think what you got with this TV special was a classic combination of the normal awkwardness and train wreck that often goes along with BB TV appearances (certainly of that era) mixed with the usual awfulness of “tribute” TV specials and multi-artist variety show type stuff.

The reason we got awkward non-BB song performances seems likely to be that, in order to woo what was even at the time an odd mixture of classic artists and newer, but past-their-prime arguably B-list artists, they had to allow those artists to do one of their own songs and/or plug whatever they were doing at the time. That, and even in 1987 the network probably was acknowledging some young kids wanted something other than the BB’s on primetime TV.

The Fabulous Thunderbirds were/are just fine, they’re cool doing their thing. But they obviously had no business at a BB show, evidenced by choosing to cover a BB cover itself.

But I actually watched this the other day, presumably from a Japanese laserdisc (perhaps a bit longer than the TV airing?), and now we can look back and just have fun with all of the crazy stuff going on:

1.   Brian “mouthing” Mike’s lines as Mike reads them
2.   Brian generally alternating between looking awkward and confused
3.   Brian waving to Ray Charles after Ray’s performance
4.   Al being sandwiched in between Belinda Carlisle and Gloria Loring at the end
5.   Patrick Duffy. Enough said.
6.   Joe Piscopo. Ditto.
7.   Paul Shaffer comparing himself to Phil Collins
8.   Brian’s awkward “We love you man” tribute to Dennis
9.   Several guest stars getting BB lyrics wrong, especially Glen Campbell singing part of “I Get Around” one beat off
10.   Belinda Carlisle’s mic cable awkwardly not reaching, and her dress continually slipping off her shoulder
11.   Awkward editing (e.g. cutaway slow-mo shot of The Everly Brothers walking on stage)
12.   A shirtless Brian (and Mike)
13.   Perhaps my favorite: During the “all-star” finale singing “Good Vibrations”, Mike exclaiming off camera “Don Ho, what are YOU doin’ here?”

There were some genuinely good bits. As many have noted, Carl’s “Heaven” was a nice performance. Brian’s “The Spirit of Rock and Roll” was largely pre-recorded and kind of a cheesy song, but still a good one and cool to see the whole band singing it (or miming to it).

Mike Love being creepy. ;D

This is/was a highlight. ;)

There's even some bad editing and it sounds like the Beach Boys' vocals from "Sail on sailor" were muted and replaced by a wall of Jeffrey's (some other songs too). All in all this is the kind of cheesy stuff that played a big part in the downfall of the Beach Boys' legacy if you'd like to see it like that

I just have a recording that I think was from TV...it has some gaps between songs that make me think it was a commercial break or something.

5. Patrick Duffy---was this when Bobby Ewing was "dead?" Dang that guy was hungry for work...maybe that whole concert and season 8 was all just a dream after all.  ;D

Also...is this the only recording of the Beach Boys doing the Spirit of Rock and Roll?

Joe Piscopo. There's where they went wrong.

http://youtu.be/AlrLySfy4Ic

I really love that version of "Sail On Sailor" with Ray Charles on vocals though...fantastic.

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/guitarfool2002/belindahawaii.jpg)


One of the highlights was watching to see if Belinda's dress would actually fall completely off...in what could have been a classic wardrobe malfunction years before the Janet Jackson fiasco.

I also noticed Band Of Gold was an unusual cover, and she did a good job with Wouldnt It Be Nice but honestly after decades of various "tributes" and cover versions, NO ONE can sing it as well as Brian did on the record. Or Al in concert.

I've never seen the concert, but why was Disney Girls played? I'm surprised it wasn't I Write the Songs that was sung by Bruce at that specific concert.

I know I've seen/heard two versions of Brian's tribute to Dennis:

"I love you man, and I want you to know, that you'll always be with us, no matter where we play"

"I love you man, and I want you to know, that you'll always be with us, no matter where we go"

"Play" vs "go."  IIRC "go" was from the audience tape, like it was a rhyming poem, and "play" was how it ended up being aired.

Lee

Also I seem to remember some discussion somewhere about bartering of artists by their respective record labels -- as in, "we'll let XXX appear on the show -- if you let our other artist, YYY also appear..."

13.  The Everly Brothers wigs

I think it may have been a quote from the “In Their Own Words” book that mentioned that the BB’s called some of the “big” artists that had opened for the BB’s over the years, like Billy Joel, to be on the show, but they were turned down. There’s a definite b-list vibe to some of the artists on that show, which in and of itself doesn’t bother me if the performances are still good. Some of them were good (Ray Charles), some not bad (Two Dog Night), some were “meh” (Jeffrey Osbourne, Everly Brothers). Probably the low point musically was that ultra-cheese ballad Carl sings with Gloria Loring.

I just remember that annoying twat chucking rubbish and oil all over the beach.

My guess would be that “Band of Gold” was simply her new record out at the time, which makes the whole thing even more awkward and opportunistic. Still, her performance was not the worst on the show.

The reason I'm keeping my rare DVD.

This Belinda dress slip got me intrigued and it turns out she let the whole dress slip off for Playboy at some point around then ha! NSFW: http://www.celebset.net/Belinda_Carlisle_Naked/

yeah looks like they were taken after the advent of photoshop for sure  :lol

There's so much to dislike about that TV special. They sang live leads over pre-recorded everything. Most of the leads sound awful.

Strangely, there's two different versions of Surfer Girl: a regular one, and  a second one (part of which plays in the background of someone speaking) in which there is a modulation for the bridge (which is one or two half-steps above) and then modulates back to the original key for the third verse. I still have no clue why they did that.

I think the biggest problem with this special is that it's so terribly 80's.  That being said, Ray Charles performing "Sail On, Sailor" is worth the price of admission alone. 

Seeing Carl swallowing really hard during Heaven gets me every time.

What went wrong? That whole decade was what went wrong. The 80s were dark, dark times, similar to what we're going to be experiencing this upcoming decade.

Can only speak for myself, but I had no problem with the 80's.  :-)

 :lol, and then on reflection..... :'(

You think so? What makes you say that?

If this turns into a huge argument about how Obama is the new Reagan I'm never posting here again.

So, what are everyone's thoughts on Obama being the new Reagan then?

The actor ?!  :o

Look at the current young peoples' culture. Trends in music and fashion are just so bad. I honestly kind of wish we'd go back to brightly colored parachute pants and relying heavily on bad sounding synthesizers. People are going to be looking back in 20 years going "man, what the f*** were we thinking?"

You're all crazy, Obama is the new Al Green

I think this age will be more viewed for the technology boom.  Hopefully anyway.  The pop culture of this time is horrible

Maybe the last decade. The 2010s are going to be full of civil unrest and revolutions.

I agree!  I keep saying it won't be a zombie apocalypse or the rise of the machines but a new Civil War, at least in America.  I encourage everyone to be themselves but once upon a time it was considered impolite to discuss politics or religion in mixed company, whereas now people define themselves by how they vote, who they sleep with, what they worship, etc, etc, etc.

No one can change (without a physically altering operation) their sex or race or where they were born.  THAT is who you are.  Beyond that, everything else is just ASPECTS of who you are.  But now people keep self-segregating themselves into groups based on anything and everything (their diet, sports team affiliation, etc.) to the point that sooner or later everyone will wind up in a class by themselves and we'll all be alone.

...But as a straight, white male, it seems I'm not allowed to talk about this stuff.  I've been saying that my getting gender and race reassignment surgeries (making me a gay, black woman) will be the only way I'd be allowed to express my concerns without being called a racist, homophobic misogynist  :-[

I don't know -- civil unrest is on the way to be sure, but that can be good.  I really felt a breath of fresh air at the Madison protests against Walker and the Occupy march I was at.  No other phrase but Good Vibrations comes to mind. 

The process will be bumpy but I think good changes are on the way.  And there's a part of me that thinks that it's not a co-incidence that the Beach Boys are working their magic again, at the same time.

I would say it would depend on what those concerns were. Because for a lot of straight white guys, the concerns seem to be that the unearned societal privilege that they took for granted for centuries is being questioned -- not even taken away, but merely questioned! -- by others.

Things are changing.

Off topic, but this special was not bad. Yeah, the guys made it obvious they cannot read cue cards, but have you ever seen Brian in better physical shape? Carl also looks slimmed down, maybe it was all that sand and surf  ;D I'm an Everlys fan, so seeing them onstage with the Beach Boys was a thrill (and, no, those were not wigs, the Evs are just extremely hairy guys). I enjoyed Three...uh...Two Dog Night (you wanna talk bad blood? The Beach Boys have got nothing on Chuck, Danny and Cory). Too many medleys, though, too many songs cut short, and Good Vibrations was constantly interrupted with "Happy 25 Beach Boys". Probably would've been a better show if they'd just taped a Beach Boys concert, inserted some interviews and backstage footage, and forgotten the guests, but this was prime time tv, 1987. "Surf In the USA" anyone?

Don't look at me.  I don't know the answers but some of my Liberal friends (a very loud few, specifically) want to crucify me for even asking questions because, as you also seem to imply, "I" was in charge for long enough.  First off:  As stated, I'm just trying to get insight on why the Pride of one's in divduality doesn't sometimes go a little too far.  To quote one of my more Conservative, Gay friends, "What's next, an Anger Parade?"  And second:  "In charge"?  I can assure you, *I* have NEVER been in charge of anything outside of my own stores/businesses and personal well being.  I'm just trying to get by like everyone else.  ???

Many of the prevailing political messages we hear are carefully calibrated to play to peoples' hidden resentments...making it very, very difficult to get past our own sense of grievance to see the other person's point of view, and reach an agreement.

Which, of course, is exactly the point.  Most of my extremely right-wing friends don't realize how identical they sound to their mortal enemies, my extreme left-wing friends.  They're concerned about a lot of the same things, but think the problem lies with the other. 

My personal opinion is it's a wonderful shell game, and a very few people are getting rich while we all point fingers at each other, get angry and beat each other up with silly-ass petty grievances and slogans.

The bottom line is that the government needs to spend less money. Neither party can see that, apparently. So much cash is wasted by Washington on things that have absolutely nothing to do with running the country. We're fighting people that pose little to no threat to us on the other side of the world while completely ignoring the anarchy in Mexico caused by our insatiable appetite for drugs. Are we gonna do anything about it before the violence starts spilling over the border?

And then there's stuff like this: http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/e4be66d5b23a46bd9d9ee84fc9406123/US--Panetta-California-Commute

The defense secretary has flown from DC to his home in California 27 times since July, each flight costing the government $32,000. "Panetta, in turn, has reimbursed the government about $630 per roundtrip for the personal flights, based on longstanding formulas dictated by federal policies."

It's a drop in a bucket compared to the amount of money being spent but there is SO FREAKING MUCH good that you can do with that "small amount" of money. So much food, so much shelter, so many books, so much medicine, so many roads you could pave or forests you could replant.

...and that is what went wrong with the 25th anniversary show.

I agree...good review!

Definitely not off topic! A much more elegant TV show could have been put together. But I think you’re right that some of it has to do with the era. In 1987, that’s kind of what that type of show would have to look like and sound like.

I’m actually surprised at how there are still so many unpolished aspects to the TV special considering it’s not like it went out live; it was pre-recorded and mixed and edited.

And yeah, the cutaways to the people on the beach clad in their 80’s beach wear is pretty annoying. Amusing for a bit as a funny time capsule, though.

The Wilson Project offers a good read into the filming of this special as Gary Usher was there.  He described the politics involved in getting the Spirit of R&R recorded the day before the tv taping.  Since Landy was involved in the writing and producing it was a huge band controversy. As he explained it, all songs were being recorded the day before taping.  To get R&R on the show, the Beach Boys had to pre-record it.  That meant 3 Beach Boys.  It was up to the last minute whether 3 would show up based on the Landy issue. Ultimately, Mike and Bruce (who is a Beach Boy for performing and recording purposes) showed up and they and Brian were the only vocalists on the song.  Al and Carl did not participate in a stand against Landy and their vocals were not on that song on the show.

Interesting....a piece of Beach Boy history of which I did not know. Those were very strange times.

The cutaways are extremely annoying when you're trying to listen to the recording on cd.  ::)

Odd how they didn't support Brian (Al and Carl), even though in the end, it supports Landy. It'd be nice if this kind of stuff was in a documentry. The Wilson Project is one of few BB/BW books I've not had a chance to read because I can't find it anywhere!  What was Gary Usher's purpose for the show? Just to help with Brian and/or Spirit of R&R?

Usher was Brian's main collaborator at the time, and a co-writer and producer of Spirit of RR.

The leads were done live over pre-recorded everything else.

Bingo! You may be a ghost, Adam, but you're an insightful ghost.

Landy was preventing Brian from communicating with Carl at the time, so Carl may not have had a choice.

I figured that's why he was there.

I'm reminded again of how much I still hate Landy. Yeah, I know he's deceased....and probably very warm right now >:D

Little hint - your response goes outside the quote box.

ZING!

Dang, I see people make that mistake all the time...first time I do it...karma police is after me.  ;)

but really, the text box at work is really screwy whenever I type in it.

I actually do quite enjoy the band performing Don't Worry Baby right into Getcha Back...but it only goes to show how much Getcha Back is based on the tune of Don't Worry Baby.

It's like if they performed Some of Your Love and then go right into Be True to Your School or Mike Come BAck to LA or Child of Winter...or something or another.