The Smiley Smile Message Board

Recently had a chance to sit down briefly with singer/songwriter/leader and founder of THE BEACH BOYS

 Rocker P: tell us about The Beach Boys

 Mike Love: In the early 60s, I started a group with my cousin, who liked to mess around on the piano, so I let him play to some lyrics I had written, we get the baby cousins to form a rhtyhm backing group, and my songs took off right away. Top of the charts,all those great songs I wrote. Now my cousin become a drug addict off of LSD, so we had my good compadre, BRUCE JOHNSTON, who tours with me to this day, 180 dates a year come aboard. In the later 60's, the baby cousins wanted more say in the group, so being the gracious guy I am, I let em take the lead for a bit, but the public just wasnt digging it like they did MY songs, we had a compilation of mostly my songs which I entitled Endless Summer come out, and it brought us back on top, we were a hot solid concert attraction that I led, and then another one of my songs Kokomo brought us even further to the top of the charts in the 80's.

*sigh*

Wow.  Is this for real?

What is the "History of Rock" -- a book, I'm guessing?  Published when?


     Love and merci,   Dan Lega

I really hope this isn't real.

I'm sorry but this sounds completely made up.

Yeah.

If it's true then i'll admit my mistake of defending Mike's personality.

Great "interview with mike" Being the totally in love with himself guy that he is, I can imagine him at least thinking the thoughts presented in the "interview.

Anybody who didn't know this was a joke is a fool!  You hear me?  A damned fool

I don't believe that Mike Love would EVER underestimate Brian Wilson's role in the group's success. We all relish in the times that Brian and Gary, or Brian and Tony, or Brian and Van Dyke spent together writing. Yet we hardly ever talk about the emotional experience it must have been for them both to be composing songs like Kiss Me Baby, or Please Let Me Wonder.

What Mike would actally say- heck, I have it on videotape somewhere from the L.A. news (and did he also say it in "Endless Harmony"?) is that all the positivity was his contribution, and in a way, I think that's a very legitimate claim.  He didn't come up with the title "Good Vibrations", but in general, the "Fun, Fun, Fun" aspect of the Beach Boys is mostly connected to him by the general public, and the angst and the emotionalism and melodicism  to Brian.  That's s gross oversimplification, of course, but I think there's a basic truth that underlies it.  Mike contributed heavily to the band's image and legacy in that area.

Mike's annoyed the hell out of me for years, but I don't think I've ever seen him diminish the roles of the other Beach Boys.  As always, I could certainly be wrong.

We asked Mike to discuss some of the other players who have been in THE BEACH BOYS

Brian- my cousin,yeah he did some background singing, and liked to be in the studio with the likes of Hal Blaine and Chuck Brits, because I hired nothing but the best for my records. Got real messed up on LSD, I think he moved in with a therapist for a while or something.

Carl-my youngest cousin, yeah he played the guitar with us on stage, and sang a couple of the less commerical tunes, he croaked a while back, too much smoke or something.

Dennis-another cousin, yeah he would come around sometimes. He was more into classical stuff, strings and things. I think he worked with Marilyn Manson for a bit too.

Al Jardine- Al? hmm doesnt really ring a bell, oh yeah, AL! he was in the group very briefly when we started, left to become a dental assistant or something, I remember he had a bad attitude.

This same thing was posted when this board was on comiclist. Talk about deja vu all over again...

Yeah, I don't understand what this guy's trying to do.  I don't get what the 'in the history of rock' thing means, either, that's what the title of the old post was as well.  Maybe English is his second language? 

The thing is, for parody to work at all (much less be funny), there must be some basis in truth- it has to caricature or comment on something actual.  In the absence of any evidence that Mike ever denigrated the roles or contributions of the other Beach Boys, I don't get the point.  He may have puffed himself up at times, I don't know, but not at , say, Carl's expense, as far as I know.

Well, in fact I heard an interview with Mike where he sid he misses Carl from a personally point of view, but not from a musical point, 'cause the guys in his band are doing a great job. Dunno if this falls into that categorie.....

I wouldn't say it's a huge slam unless he said the new guys were much better- in any case, it doesn't really inflate his own role in the past stuff at Carl's expense. 

Mike has given his critics so much material over the years that I don't know why anyone has to invent new stuff.

On the other hand, is there anyone left who hasn't slammed the original Beach Boys?  I guess next up will be Al saying that the Family and Friends group is a vast improvement over his old band, and then Dave will comment that the Marksmen were light years beyond his previous band...

From Beach Boys to whipping boys...

I think Mike just has a bad way with words and is pretty blunt.  He has a lack of "couth".  I dont' think there's anything particularly wrong with what he said, I would much rather have somebody like me personally than professionally.

BBFC is running an interview with Mike in the next newsletter (subscription only, sorry). Since I help with the newsletter, I've seen Mike's interview -- and I can guarantee you that the "interview" that tops this thread doesn't even sound like Mike. It sounds like someone's April Fool's gag that was posted a few days late, after circulating around, to me. Son, it's bogus, I say!

It may fall in the same category as brian claiming that his band is way better than the Beach Boys. Oh wait, Mike didn't go that far, the distinction goes to Brian alone.

Poor exercise of parody. If I come up with a Brian quote defending racial segregation will anybody believe it's for real as well?  ::)

Here it is. I guess it sounds really not like putting Carl down....

http://rapidshare.de/files/17486199/mike_interview_muenchen_2001.mp3.html

I don't even think rocker P's statements were meant to be anything BUT parody.. if anyone had to think for more than a a nanosecond about the veracity of the interview, they're a few apple trees short of an orchard, if you catch my drift.

This interview was conducted with Mr. Love, when he phoned my house during his telemarketing job.
He introduced himself as "Mike" and I thought I recognized the voice,, when I interupted his copy toner
sales presentaion, he explained he did telemarketing in the off hours of his touring, to help pay the
many alimonies he owed. He sang a  song at my request, first allowing his supervisor to get on the line
and sing the high parts, he then agrreed to my interview for the History Of Rock program, which is quite
popular in my country. Thank you for you concern
Salutaions,
Peter Longe.

I doubt that anyone took it serious, but there came a discussion out of it with real life-arguments and I think that's a good thing....

Read again, there was an alarming number of people who thought it might be a real quote. Which says a lot more about the dysfuntional fanbase than about Mike.

Speaking or "Rocker P", have y'all heard what Dennis and Dave Marks used to put in those squirt guns?

Mike Love on zany cousin Brian.... january 2002 >:D

I have been so criminally exploited by Brian Wilson.  Most of the happy songs were mine, music and lyrics. Brian and Murry were very quick to exploit my awesome musical genius.  I mean..Brian got all messed up on LSD and that unsuccessful ego music crap he tried to spew out from 1966 on. I was the cool one, the fun guy and for some crazy reason cousin Brian gets all the credit. I wrote most if not all of the catchy tunes. I mean Brian didn't even like to bathe. He had that weird little creep Van dyke writing lyrics no one could really relate to at all really.  I wrote fun sunshine lyrics everyone really enjoyed.