The Smiley Smile Message Board

Yesterday I found out about 'Matchpoint of our love'. My life has changed. I'm in love with this song. I don't know why.

Did Mike include subliminal messages in the lyrics? Was Brian's voice sex'd up to hypnotize the listener? Why is this late 70s porn-movie lounge sound so damn beautiful to my hears?

Damn u board! A plague on both your houses! I love this song!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qb9vV-H9ec (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qb9vV-H9ec)

Can someone, anyone help? Can someone explain to me what's going on?

What's going on, is Love.  Sweaty, it's wrong but it feels so right, back-alley Mike Love. 

I've been strung out on Love.

I mentioned this song specifically in your other thread about "things that piss you off about your favorite band" when I was making the point that Brian still had the ability to sing very sweetly in the mid/late 70s but chose not to most of the time.

Anyway, it's a great tune... one of my favorites. A guilty pleasure perhaps but so be it. The lyrics strike me as more Brian than Mike, especially the line "but we both didn't have the nerve"

Something about adorably bad grammar just screams Brian Wilson to me.

Dude, I was changing the title of the thread as you were answering! Guilty pleasures, amazing! We're in synch  ;)

Ok, to make the thread less dramatic I'll try to do an exercise (exorcize?) a list of BB songs that I classify as either my guilty pleasures and those I think are pure misunderstood genius.

In my guilty pleasures list I'll start with 'Airplane'. I love it because of Brian's falsetto, something attracts me to it, a mix of amazement and tabloid-like perversity. This is the same guy that sang 'Surf's up"? Mesmerizing.

And like I already said, 'Matchpoint of our love' is another 'weird' BB song. I'm totally into it, my office colleagues think I finally lost it, but am I crazy or this is beautiful? Anyone else can actually get that? This is beautiful!

You're not alone, I think it's a great track! Probably my favourite on the M.I.U. Album.

To list another song: When Girls Get Together. It's something about it that makes me feel nostalgic.

I love everything about "Matchpoint Of Our Love" - the melody, lyrics, production, vocals -  and I don't apologize for it. I never understood how fans could praise "Busy Doing Nothing", and turn around and criticize "Matchpoint". Eight of the twelve songs on MIU were co-written by Brian. "Our Team" (also co-written by Brian) should've closed the album. MIU, the album, isn't a guilty pleasure.

It's hard to call any Beach Boys' song (or album) a guilty pleasure. There's something redeeming about all of them.

Thank you sheriff, your comments are always inspiring. I agree, there's beauty and redemption in these songs. Guess that's what genius is about.

Yep to everything.

I don't think they are actually performing Matchpoint on this clip!  I'm pretty sure I've seen the footage on a documentary and it was another song.. correct me if I'm wrong someone.     The clips is really weeeeeird,  it's quite mesmerising though, Dennis and Carl look great, the others not so much.   I do love the song, Brian  sings it beautifully and it has a great  melody,  so it's a not quite guilty pleasure :)

matchpoint is crappy period

fixed!  ;)

I find this comment insulting.

I guess I really like Pitter Patter, a song about freakin' rain. Especially the 'Listen to the rain' part. Gotta love Mike's bass vocals.

I've always loved Drip Drop (even though it has never been officially released)!  Brian is just rolling and rocking on that track.  He sounds like he's out-of-his-head...but it also sounds like he's having a blast!  Another unreleased "guilty pleasure" is Life Is for the Living!  The lyrics are a hoot...but Carl and Brian sing them with such gusto!  I like to imagine Mike's reaction when he first heard that one!  Plus, it might be the only song recorded by a major rock band to feature the word "enema" in the lyrics!  If you're talking officially released songs...I'd put down most of BB85 as my guilty pleasure!  I just really like the record...even with its dated production.  Honkin' Down the Highway is another gem!  It's just plain goofy...but how can you not smile when you hear it! 

I like Full Sail.
I think it's lovely.

Yes, I know they're not playing this song there, but its a really nice montage. I love how they look like a group there, with Brian fronting the band, singing with a beautiful voice and playing the bass like in the old days.

And you gotta admit they look cool there. Dennis looks really good, I love how his lips are in synch with the lyrics ('...let you down') at one point (min 1:47). Although I'm not gay, gotta say he's darn sexy there - I understand now his success with the ladies.

One thing that hits me every time I hear this song (over 100 times now since yesterday  :-X ) is the guitar playing. Its really subtle but beautiful. For example, near the end of the song (min 2:54) there's an arpeggio that becomes evident, although that melody is hidden throughout the verses. Listen to it. Its brilliant production.

Great comments, Banana  ;D nice alias!

I agree 'Honkin' is a fun song, but don't consider it a guilty pleasure. Falls in my 'misunderstood genius' category. For example 'Getcha back' is a guilty pleasure for me, horrid 80s production but enjoyable - when no one else is around to make you feel stupid  :P

That would describe most of BB85, I think!  I argue all the time that's not a BAD recording...yet so many around here are quite dismissive of it.  Yes, it has very dated mid-80s production...but that is because it WAS produced in the mid-80s!  The song writing is, for the most part, solid.  The singing is strong (especially from Carl) as are the harmonies.  I know Levine tweaked quite a bit in the studio...but oh well...he was taking advantage of the technology that was available at the time.  Getcha Back is a GREAT song...even with Mike's sped up vocals.  It's Gettin' Late has some absolutely incredible vocals from Carl...the opening alone is worth the rest of the song.  Al sounds good on Crack At Your Love.  I even like Bruce's gruffer-than-normal vocal on She Believe's In Love Again.  Heck, it was the last LP that featured the active participation of two Wilson brothers!

"Matchpoint..." has been a favourite guilty pleasure since I first heard it circa 1990 on 2nd hand vinyl. Personally, M.I.U. is full of guilty pleasures  :smokin

That original footage was part of a French program about The Beach Boys' 1978 tour rehearsals. It includes partial performances of Surfer Girl, Fell Flows, Love is a Woman, Let Us Go On This Way, Airplane and Back Home.

Nice, do you know where can I get that footage? Would love to see them rehearsing those songs  :)

Can't stand Matchpoint at all, tho I should like it, considering I love nearly every other Brian song of that era.
Guilty pleasure:

SKATETOWN U.S.A.

I wouldn't call it a guilty pleasure, but I'd rather listen to "Tricia" than any song on BB85.

Hey Little Tomboy and School Girl are my guilty pleasures. Because I'm 35!   8o

I kinda enjoy the weirdness of Amusement Parks USA. And I absolutely love She's Got Rhythm, no matter what anyone says.
And... I don't know if I'd call it a guilty pleasure, but... there's something about Student Demonstration Time... I don't know what it is...

"Shortnin' Bread," both the released and unreleased versions  ;)

Roller Skating Child

ALLEY OOP WOO f*** HER BIG TITS

No way is Rollin' Up To Heaven in any way, shape or form a guilty pleasure. It's a brilliant slice of Beach Boy rock and roll and one of the coolest things they ever did. Great song - nothing guilty about it.

(I'm also confused as to why anyone has felt to list either Full Sail or Amusement Parks USA as guilty pleasures - they're both perfectly decent tracks. Not exceptional, but certainly good.)

Non-guilty and wholly unapologetic: Hey, Little Tomboy and HCTN!   ;)

Summer in Paradise (the song)

Thanks for reviving this thread  :)

My biggest Beach Boys guilty pleasure is the "Still Cruisin'" album...I really enjoy it, with the exception of Wipe Out. 

I also like Lahaina Aloha, Strange Things Happen and Summer In Paradise from that otherwise piece of garbage album.

It's funny, when I was ranking the tracks from Still Cruisin' I came to the same opinion as you. As cheesy, '80s, faux-tropical as it is, I like nearly everything on that album besides "Wipe Out".

Summer In Paradise. I really enjoy that album!

Cruisin'!   :-D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGOnW8Rui9k

Mike and Brian look ultra cool in this performance.

Live version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz5Hm1wVF5M

"Wipe Out", I still haven't found anybody who admits to liking this song.  I don't like it as a guilty pleasure, I think it honestly has merit as a good song for what it is, lol.  The harmonies are pretty cool, I always liked the fat boys back in the 80's, it's a real good look at Brian's ability to just do the wall of Brian thing, it's an intriguing look at a band like the Fat boys who were the hottest thing out at the moment, working with a band that was incredibly out of touch at the moment (the Beach Boys) and both bands appeared to be happy about it.  There's even the racial thing, here's a group of black guys who are all hip and cool and they want to work with the Beach Boys, the whitest of white bands? 

Just a strange song, I really enjoy it, though. 

I think to the end of time, too, there will always be the divide among fans who do and don't like Love You.  "Honkin Down the Highway", for instance, in my opinion... is one of the absolute greatest things the Beach Boys ever did.  I know it's simple, I know it's stupid, but it's very good, imho.  If that's on the radio, I'm *NEVER* changing the channel.  I can't really say that about every Beach Boys hit, but I can about that one.  Hell i've changed the channel when "god only knows" was on before, but I'd never skip past Honkin' down the Highway. 

Woncha Come Out Tonight, Pitter Patter, Santa Ana Winds. I love them.

Student Demonstration Time, She's Got Rhythm and Kona Coast, I like them.

Matchpoint Of Our Love doesn't meet my personal taste, but it's really sad to hear Brian sing in that good a voice, because it makes clear that there was a chance for his voice to recover but didn't after all.

And they do look good in that video.

Pitter Patter had everything it needed to be a hit-just needed some airplay. Matchpoint would have been an excellent B side. Both songs are worth having the album, imo.

Other than Summer of Love, I don't find anything on SIP to be particularly offensive. I like the album quite a bit.