The Smiley Smile Message Board

This record by the Carvells made no. 31 in the UK in Dec 1977 and seems ripped very closely from 'Shut Down', so much so that I wonder if Brian should have got the royalties:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-Z08x-QyO0

The differences between that band in 1977 and bands wearing the BW influence in 2012:

In 2012:

1. Beards
2. Acoustic Guitars
3. Flannel
4. Limited edition vinyl releases
5. Melancholy lyrics

versus The Carvells 1977/78:

1. Clean shaven surfer look, Dennis-approved shaggy hair
2. Rickenbacker electric guitars
3. Matching white trousers
4. Normal vinyl releases
5. Fun lyrics


All things considered, I'll take the Carvells and '77/78 any day - that's a cool record!

Beach Baby by First Class was the most heavily influenced BB track to become a huge hit, in my opinion.

I second that! I guess there are songs that are blatant and songs that people thought were the BB's more in feel. But Beach Baby is at the top of the list.

How about "New York's A Lonely Town" by the Tradewinds, who got that mini-bump in status by getting name-checked on Mad Men?  :)  That one throws in BB's, Jan And Dean, Four Seasons...I can imagine people hearing it who don't know it and thinking Beach Boys especially with the sound and the surfer lyrics, although it's not a blatant one at all.

Lonely Town is a great choice, definitely shooting for the Beach Boys, tho as it is a New York record, it sounds way more like the Seasons. They just have a different way of singing falsetto on the East Coast. I loved hearing the commentary for that Mad Men episode, where Matthew Weiner says that The Tradewinds were chosen because they actually opened at they Forest Hills show. I love that level of authenticity.

Henry Gross's tribute to Carl's deceased canine "Shannon" may have been the highest-charting record to be thoroughly BBs-influenced....and as it happens was released by Lifesong, the label that issued the Carvells' "LA Run" Stateside.

But I hadn't heard that Carvells song before. Pretty rockin'. I see the song was covered in Swedish by an outfit called Magnum Bonum and topped the charts there. That version lets us know what Swedes think about when they think about skating - namely, Big Macs and Skate City itself....New Orleans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uquCLdtzJfk

The answer is...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yus7IvioR_A

Well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk9SYy5RRkM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk9SYy5RRkM)

also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itTAg_6Hng4


a small hit in the Netherlands.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C45Q4X68bEs

and this should have been a hit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O83KBnfFNdc&playnext=1&list=PL493B25098557C386&feature=results_video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mixl3DFVnKE
Ray Stevens "Surfin ussr"
not sure it charted but it's cool never the less

...a couple of those Rip Chords singles.

Bruce knew the BBs sound so well because he had been knocking them off for a while.

Add any of those mid 60's hit records that had Gary Usher producing or writing about hot rods or surf I'd say owes something to The Beach Boys, if not a direct copy than a pretty close approximation of the sound. Terry Melcher, too.

Definitely, Gary Usher was a special case because he worked with Brian very early on.

I love the Tradewinds (aka The Videls, aka The Innocence, aka Pete Anders and Vini Poncia...) - and I also love Mad Men. In which episode were they referenced? Almost fell out of my seat when they made a Merseybeats reference last season...

Tea Leaves was the episode.

"Little GTO" by Ronnie and the Daytonas apes the BB/ J&D style pretty effectively.

That Mad Men episode was a standout because not only were the references cool but as mentioned the attention to detail - as the show usually does - was spot on, down to tracing it back to an actual Stones show at an actual location, rather than a fictional invention to enhance the storyline as other shows might do.

Long story short, in the episode Don and Harry Crane go backstage to the Stones show and they hoped to sign the Stones to do a commercial jingle for a client. Crane gets in, thinks he's meeting the Stones, comes out with an agreement, but he actually signed the Tradewinds to sing the jingle rather than the Stones. They never took it beyond that.

But like Mad Men does often, it sent their fanbase on a search for who or what the Tradewinds were, they found "New York...", and there was a bit of a buzz around the song. AMC shows do that so well, it's great how many fans have discovered new music that way. And it's all 100% period correct on Mad Men, the attention to detail is amazing.

That Vini Poncia was something of a Zelig character around pop music, wasn't he?  :)

It is a bit derivative of the Boys but I absolutely love Live For Sun, fantastic song.

Talking about 'I Live for the Sun' and rip-offs: I wonder if George Harrison knew this song. The "sun sun sun" on 'Here Comes the Sun' sounds not entirely dissimilar from the "sun sun sun sun" on this song.

Crazily enough, I have seen EVERY episode of Mad Men, but not this one! The latest season I caught as it aired, so maybe I was out one night and forgot to watch it the next day On Demand. I will have to search it out.

Knowing your musical tastes, I will have to suggest you check this out. It collects early 60s Poncia and Anders demos, Tradewinds, Innocence, some Videls, and other assorted rarities. The same company does a Neil Sedaka one that is out of this world as well.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANDERS-PONCIA-Masterworks-2CD-Set-64-Tracks-/280421096027

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lCbbaeX1eA

More a re write I guess..... And I don't thing it was a single, It just makes me laugh.

This one wouldn't have existed without BWPS and Pet Sounds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqDBB0no6dQ

Though it's more of an homage.

Well, almost 100%. Didn't they use a stereo mix of "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times"?  :lol

I LIV
4 TEH SUN
BCUZ
IT MAEKS FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, don't block my shade
Hold the lemonade
etc.

...um, WOW.

The Beales "Back In The USSR" is a good contender. Capitol released it as a single in 1976 to promote the Rock And Roll compilation and it peaked at #19 on the charts (US). And it definitely qualifies as a Beach Boys rip-off even if some of it was "inspired" by Mike Love.

is dat "Ding Dang"?

I really am not a big fan of that episode. Pretty sloppily written. That gypsy popping up out of nowhere makes me laugh, as does Don and Harry's conversation with those stupid Stones girls.

The Raspberries - Cruisin' Music.... Kinda the spit of Do It Again, with the riff and melody.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjTkiq8HAkw

To each his own - I remember that one because of the attention to detail and the fact that I was still thinking about various parts of it during the week. And yes, I also looked up that Stones gig referenced in the episode and it led me to some other interesting websites and factoids I would not have seen had it not been for Mad Men - and it was also neat to see the actual commercial The Stones made in real life in the 60's...cereal!

If there were some plot or writing issues - which I didn't see or just don't remember personally - I think the history geek in me wrote them off in favor of the detail and the accuracy of the various things going on.

The blessing and curse with a high quality show like Mad Men is that the best episodes are literally *so well done* that even an episode which may not have as many moments of greatness or certain writing flaws is still exceptional television, especially compared to the competition.

When is it coming back with new episodes, anyway?

Thank you for this tip, I will check it out! I'm not familiar with this collection, it looks interesting.

It's like Love You meets MIU.

The thing to remember is the original question was asking for records which actually made the single charts - maybe all of them listed did just that, I don't know but some entries seem iffy at best - But it was that point which kept some off of my list, including the original version of "Come To California" by Matthew Sweet, which is a spot-on production tribute to late 60's BB's. And that version never charted.

But the video needs to be posted anyway - spot the pretty awesome Brian/BB reference at around 2:24!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8XOQyOHIho

This one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHr8mcWqy9U

Didn't make the singles charts.

As the comments say...................
In my opinion the only thing wrong with this video is that the girl in the middle isn't the only one in it.

Absolutely! That video didn't air all that often, and I would record MTV's 120 Minutes every week at that time. The BW reference floored me at that time, especially a reference to Wild Honey showing up on MTV!

You can't get much closer to wearing a Brian Wilson influence on your sleeve than wearing a beard, bathrobe, and holding a copy of Wild Honey in your video... ;D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEJX6SmMw1s

Who is this guy?

He posted this here not so long ago, try searching the board. Dude with a ukelele sorta-kareokes Smile, it's not bad.

I would go for Shannon as being a big hit sounding like the BBs.

How didi Henry Gross happen to make a song about Carl Wilson's dog anyway?  Always wondered about that....

Shannon was also the name of Henry Gross's dog.  She got a barking credit name check on his prior A&M album.

Or to paraphrase Casey Kasem: a song "about a f*cking dog dying!"

Not a chart single but anyone remember "There's No Surf In Cleveland" by the Euclid Beach Band?  A goof track produced by Eric Carmen.  (Maybe it's one of the YouTube videos above, didn't look)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk9SYy5RRkM

Seriously this song makes me want to dance and is one of the good later surfing songs...Brian Wilson even enjoys it. :lol

dude, it's already posted. see previous replies.

It's OK.

Getcha Back.

I didn't check any of the songs I just posted. Lol (I tend to do that.)

Fun topic. I'd go for 'I Live for the Sun' as well. You know you've got a strong, blatant Beach Boys rip off song when even Jeff Foskett decides to do a blatant rip-off song of your blatant rip-off song!  ;D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgSjxacaccs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50_61zrWdgw

...though it never made the charts - NRBQ's "Christmas Wish."

With the insipid lyrics of SIP.

I think people need to give the name of the song they're linking to. A lot of times when I'm reading the board I don't have time to click on outside links, it would be helpful if people would describe them.

I actually agree with you. (Merry X-mas you bastard)

Dinosaur Jr - Take A Run At The Sun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpl_rYZVhi0

Yes please...

I've always thought the Cowsills' "The Rain, the Park & Other Things" was a blatant ripoff of the "Good Vibrations" sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAq3fvlns0Q

In non-US charts, Fish by Jeff Foskett went top 5 in Japan, I believe...

How about "Just My Style" by Gary Lewis/Playboys and "Rock & Roll Lullabye" by B J Thomas, Yellow Balloon...

:lol  You referring to the Fleet Foxes?  The Carvells actually sound a lot like Jan/Dean on this one.  So is it homage or ripoff?  I can't tell.  Either way... the Beach Boys don't need to f*ck with nuthin!  They just need to record!!

Dusting this one off because I just realized that one highly BB's influenced song that was a major hit (in the UK, anyway) has never been mentioned on the board: the Flowerpot Men's "Let's Go To San Francisco."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puuWsTitPa4

(It was released in the US as by the Flower Men because, well, I guess by then the FCC was on guard for Mary Jane references. Note the clip's swirling psychedelic effects - in glorious black and white.  Come to think of it....recognizable Tokens influence here too.)

You can just sing Heroes & Villains over the top of this and it fits almost perfectly... I like ELO but they sure were magpies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYga0A_jCfE

wow...

I essentially "knew" ELO before I knew much about the Beach Boys besides their biggest hits. I especially loved the album "Time". One of the songs I loved from that album was "The Way Life's Meant To Be". Just a few years later I heard "Heroes & Villains" and realized where Lynne got some of his inspiration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCUm2GthNJs

Love that song! It's strange how the BB seemed to be so influential throughout a time frame when their own fame was actually fading.