The Smiley Smile Message Board

Does Love personally dislike this period, or does he simply prefer to "give the masses what they want"?

All through that period, when he had the beard and the robes, he was secretly biding his time till he could don a baseball hat and Hawaiian shirt and write songs which quote or paraphrase Fun Fun Fun or Help Me Rhonda.

He is a truly evil person, far worse than Hitler IMO, and I'm glad someone finally start a thread where we could discuss this.

:lol Mike is a Monster.

He may not be a monster but he is definitely a very weak songwriter.

For the time period we are discussing, he was fine in my opinion.

Other than thinking 'Till I Die was depressing I've never read or heard anything where Mike gives nothing but praise for the group's output from this period.

Mike thinks the work of this time period should have made him a lot more money than it did  :p

I was just listening to "It's A Beautiful Day" and "Summer In Paradise (Live)" from the box set and they are terrible. Also I was referring to this:
"write songs which quote or paraphrase Fun Fun Fun or Help Me Rhonda."
No apologies.

Um what?

Let me create an alternate reality where it's your name on some of the most earth shatteringly awesome hit songs in history and tell you you're a weak songwriter!

With "Sound of Free" on the box, gotta give Mike his due. In his prime, he wrote so great lyrics.

He seems to like the music from the era, but he'd probably rather discuss the more successful recordings they've made. Mike seems to make a distinction between artistic and commercial, so he probably views the period as artistically successful, but maybe indulgent ... or perhaps thinks of these records as 'failures' in the sense that they were experiments that were not fully embraced by the general public.

I think Mike was way more involved in these records than maybe some think he was. I mean, the guy co-wrote the Wild Honey album ... and seems to have positive things to say about it.

I was talking late 60's, early 70's. You're talking late 70's and early 90's. Big, big difference, there. ;)

I just listened to "Sound Of Free" and typed the lyrics and they ARE cool. Check them out:

Children of light in darkness all around
We are all born without sight and shackled to the ground
Drawn always toward the sound of free
Free

I pray my love will make you come and see
I know the ways so come and follow me
And always hear the sound of free
Free

The mountains are high
The valley so low
I know the way through
Come, baby, listen to me
I'll whisper the sounds of free
Free, free, free, come on, listen to me
As high as the sky
As deep as the sea
Sound of free, listen, listen

I was referring to those other 2 songs I mentioned which name check past glories. But then there is the wonderful turd known as "Smart Girls" on the flip side of things...Ouch!

In terms of the live shows it is absolutely about giving the crowd what they want. Which is why they will play the 'meat and potatoes' setlists at the outdoor shows and the longer sets in theatres.

He draws some interesting images with those lyrics... almost like some of Rick Wright's Pink Floyd lyrics.

I had a classic exchange with someone on the Hoffman board a couple of months back. A poster (who at times could give OSD a run for his money) was claiming that Mike has never written a good song without Brian. I supplied a list of good/great songs Mike has wrote/co-wrote without the involvment of BW, including Sound of Free. The guy posted a snarky reply that unless Mike had been suing for songwriting credits again he didn't have a credit for Sound of Free. I was more than happy to upload an image of the orignal 45 which clearly displayed the names D. Wilson - M. Love under the song title. Oddly enough, the guy then suddenly shut up on the subject, funny that.

I like Rick's lyrics like "Paintbox" and "Remember A Day" and can see the comparisons. On the other hand, the second verse of SOF seems to suspiciously have the "Manson" touch or maybe I'm just stretching it a bit.

My thoughts exactly.

Hitler, Bin Laden, Mike Love. My own personal "axis of evil."

For the record, I'm joking.

Mike was still harping on the Friends album during C50 interviews.

Once again the John Cena of rock n roll has reared its ugly head.

Mike has said before that he always liked the musical changes. But he didn't like how Capitol Records continued to promote them as a surfing group. During this time Mike wrote Let the Wind Blow, Anna Lee the Healer, All I Wanna Do and Big Sur. (with a little help from his friends). Even after Endless Summer, how clear is it that he was or wasn't the leader in pushing them to a more oldies route? Didn't they ALL agree to play more oldies live??? Plus, Mike wrote what I consider to be the best song on 15 Big Ones called Everyone's in Love With You.

 :lol

Yes, we all know that Mike was in the forefront of experimentation with the Beach Boys. His genre hopping and dedication to following his muse at the expense of public adulation or sales set an example for fellow trailblazers like Captain Beefheart.

Or even worse:
Stalin, Pol Pot, Mike Love. The true evils of history!
 >:D ;D

I think it has a lot to with the fact that Mike was lead VOCALIST on probably about 75% of the songs put out from 1962-1965...vs maybe 30% of the songs from 1966-1973

Though I mentioned I didn't like how they made Brian look in the era, in the new Record Collector Mike and Al are both very positive about the 1967-73 period.

At least Hitler killed Hitler. Mike Love never did anything nearly as good.

Cena is actually a better lyricist than post-1973 Mike Love though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVqtMx1TlGA

Yeah...Friends is the only record I've heard Mike gripe about...Bruce too for that matter.

He said All This Is That is a favorite of his, so he must have some positive thoughts about the period. Of course, he's almost certainly more proud of the mid-60s, when The Beach Boys were one of the biggest bands in the world.

Not as far fetched as it seems!

(http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy31/andrewbotwin/80a3c09812410c9c88d6cd924bba932e_zps0d24c081.jpg)

Which means this little pipe bomb frm Mr. Wirestone :

"Yes, we all know that Mike was in the forefront of experimentation with the Beach Boys. His genre hopping and dedication to following his muse at the expense of public adulation or sales set an example for fellow trailblazers like Captain Beefheart."

is the BB message board equivalent of  this.

http://youtu.be/gujrv_HanGU

Or this.

http://youtu.be/stlJGgvvdqc

Or this.

http://youtu.be/fqn5LDu397w

I've heard Bruce moaning about Friends, wasn't aware Mike had whinged about it too. What exactly did he say? Perhaps they don't like it much because they're both barely on it...

In general, I presume that Mike Love is not an albums person. He probably has fond memories of individual songs like "Do It Again" or "All This Is That", maybe even "Student Demonstration Time". ;D Other than that I reckon that touring must've been a bigger highlight for someone like Mike around that time. I mean, how many lead vocals did he get to sing on So Tough? Two, right?

Mike Love's favorite moment was dancing like an ugly woman and adjusting everyone's mics during "You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone".

Three.

This era is when Mike found his post-surf, post-car, post-teenage lifestyle subjects -- subjects he would continue to write about through SIP:

1) Ecological warnings
2) TM
3) Nostalgia with a purpose (that is, let's not just remember the good old times, but let's re-create them)

1968-73 is when Mike emerged from Brian's shadow and found his "mature" voice.

I was thinking in terms of being the front man and guy who has the good guy image, yet people dont buy it, and like to hate him. Perhaps coming off as a bit of a phony to many. Yet Mike has been a huge part of their success and best stage performer they ever had. John Cena has been the ggood guy face of wwr and brings in the most money. But he gets booed as much as anyone  and social media isnt kind to him either :)

I think the real similarity is that they've been overhyped up, by the WWE in Cena's case and by Mike Love in Love's case to the point where "hardcore fans" dislike them.  They're both talented in their fields and work hard but aren't as good as some others in their field, and generally cater to the casual masses instead of the hardcore fan in terms of their performances.  As a result, they basically have been doing the same old routine for so long that it's been overexposed to the hardcore fan and they hate them for it.  The hardcore fan would rather hear some more obscure songs or watch CM Punk and Brian Danielson wrestle a 5-star classic match.

Mike was upset because he had written a whole set of lyrics for "Passing By".  ;D

Fans don't hate John Cena because they are the wrestling fan equivalent of  Brianistas. They hate the character because he has been doing it for so long. Just like the WCW faithful's reaction to Hulk Hogan  prior to his heel turn.  By he early to mid 90's, the fans were starting to boo Hogan (especially in Ric Flair/4 Horsemen country).  It was only the heel turn and the nWo storyline that reinvigorated Hogan's career as a box office draw.

Fro: That is also a very good observation.  Cena, however much we jokingly compare him to ML, carries himself a little differently than ML.

I vote this thread takes a sharp detour from Cena back to the original topic.

66 - 73 was the Beach Boys attitude era when Mike rapped about them singing in the nude and cussed out the audience since no one could hear him . Since the late 70s, Mike Love has lead the Beach Boys into the PG era. Wheeeeeeeeeen....

Actually all monsters are Mikes, but as it happens, Mike Love isn't one of them. :o



I'm not sure it's the best song on the album, but certainly the most earpleasing recording on it.

Not saying much. I am not a big fan of 15 Big Ones. But its ironic that there are two Beach Boys albums that I think Mike exclusively wrote the best original song IMO. 15 Big Ones and Summer in Paradise. Also, the two worst Beach Boys albums IMO. :)