The Smiley Smile Message Board

I was shocked today to hear the Offspring album Conspiracy of One and the first track (which goes for about 10 seconds) is just Mike's line from The Lost Concert where he says "when we're ready to sing, we step up to our microphones and it comes out something like this". Also on The Living End (Australian band) album there is a song called Mr. Businessman which uses the line from Murry "what's the matter? you made too much money buddy?" as the intro to the track.

Has anyone got any other ones?

Garbage uses the lyrics (and with some imagination a similar melodie) "Don't Worry, Baby, everything will be alright" in their song "Push It"



And the Beach Boys themselves weren't holding back too much referring to their own songs in the latter days of their carreer (I'm thinking of Kona Coast, Brian's Back, etc.)

- The Queers have a song called "Brian Wilson".
- The Barenaked Ladies have a song called "Brian Wilson".
- The Fall has a song called "Mike's Love Xexagon" (which mentions "Good vibrations")
- Belle & Sebastian has a song called "I Love My Car" with the line "I love my Carl / I love my Brian, my Dennis, and my Al / I could even find it in my heart / to love Mike Love"
- Oranger has a song called "Mike Love, Not War."
- Lifeseeker has a song called "Gone Gure" with the line "Mike Love on line two / put that sucker on hold!"
- DeLorean has a song called "33-53.9°N/118-38.8°W", this is the location where Dennis was buried at sea.

(http://cdbaby.name/t/r/travoltas.jpg)
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000087DRZ.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)
(http://www.knockoffproject.com/images/mikelove.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y171/MistaD/MY%20MUSIC%20BLOG/WestSoundsCover.jpg)

Lindsey Buckingham's song "D.W. Suite" is a tribute to Dennis (obviously), with the "And now, to entertain you tonight, the fabulous Beach Boys" sample taken from the Concert album

Some band has a song called 'fudge you Mike love' which sadly has a lot of views on youtube.

aha, that's one I haven't seen in years. I remember seeing a vinyl copy of that one, but with a different picture.

There's a PS-look-a-like cover of a Charles Manson record as well....



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I have a really funny punk 45 of where they make fun of the Surfer Girl album where they replace all the band members with pictures of dinosaurs and the surfboard at the end has Brian's head wrapped as a mummy. You have to see it to understand the humor! Have not seen that many places since.

(http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf000/f020/f02045e56ou.jpg)

Tears For Fears has a song called "Brian Wilson Said".

Jackie DeShannon had a lyric- "Brian Wilson songs are never left behind"- in her song "Boat To Sail", on which Brian (and I think Marilyn) provide backing vocals.

Bruce's song "I Write The Songs" is supposedly about Brian, and Mike's cryptic "Brian's Back" has long been suspected of being about Brian, in a veiled way.

There was a seventies song called "Dear Brian" by somebody.

And of course- the big one- Henry Gross' big hit "Shannon" was supposedly about Carl's dog.

 "Shannon" and Mike's "Checkers" would form the basis of a concept album about the deaths of the Beach Boys' dogs.  Can anyone come up with musical eulogies for Banana or Louie?

Ah yes, wasn't that one by Chris Rainbow?

Hey Mikey, here are a few Aussie ones for you:

I was going to mention Sydney band Smudge’s EP “Mike Love Not War” but see that Shelter has already posted an image.

Little River Band frontman, Glenn Shorrock released an album with Aussie legend Brian Cadd just after he left LRB, the album is called Blazing Salads and included the track, “Life of Brian”. Link to lyrics:  http://www.lrb.net/html/lyrics/lifeofbrian.txt

Richard Clapton released a single in 1984 called “Goodbye Barbara Ann” which was specifically about Brian and the chorus included the line; “and Brian Wilson sang goodbye, goodbye Barbara Ann”. I only heard it once or twice but it sounded pretty good, unfortunately Clapton was going through his “Friends to Sunflower” phase where the media and radio were ignoring him. It’s a very rare single. Link to label Image: http://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/richard_clapton/goodbye_barbara_ann___amsterdam/    It also turned up on an almost equally as rare compilation put out by the National Film and Sound Archives in Canberra in 2002 titled “All Fired Up: The Lost Treasures of Australian Music 1970 – 1990” Link to details: http://www.nfsa.gov.au/about_us/media_releases/release.php?id=112

I was at a concert a few years ago and Gretchen Wilson was playing. She said she was going to sing California Girls next. I couldn't have been more surprised to hear that because I thought she meant the BB version. Of course it ended up being a new song of hers, but it was obviously inspired by the original.
The revised version of the Righteous Brothers Rock and Roll Heaven mentions Dennis, and I'm probably super dumb for thinking this but I always thought in Drift Away the line was "give me the Beach Boys and free my soul". I've recently been corrected but I still like that way best :-D

I've often wondered if the reference to "Dennis" in Sonic Youth's "Tunic (Song For Karen)" is a reference to Dennis Wilson. Assuming ofcourse that Dennis would have been in heaven when Karen Carpenter arrived.

"I'm in heaven now - I can see you Richard
goodbye Hollywood, goodbye downey - hello Janis
hello Dennis, Elvis - and all my brand new friends
I'm so glad you're all here with me, until the very end"

I remember hearing that song on the radio once...it actually seemed to be a bit of a knock on the Beach Boys version.  I believe the chorus ends with the line "aren't you glad we're not all California girls" or something to that effect.  Clever little trick, I have to admit.

On that topic, Magnetic Fields released a song by that same name this year...with a slightly different sentiment. ("I hate California girls.")

From Surfer Joe...

"Shannon" and Mike's "Checkers" would form the basis of a concept album about the deaths of the Beach Boys' dogs.  Can anyone come up with musical eulogies for Banana or Louie. 

Sure.  "Louie, Louie bo boulie, Fanana fana fo foulie, me mi mo moulie...Louie.

The good readers of this site can go ahead and do Banana on their own.  Thank you (the husband of) Shirley Ellis!

"Mr Wilson" by John Cale

I believe you Mr Wilson
I believe the things you say
And I'm always thinking of you
When I hear your music play

And you know it's true
That Wales is not like California in any way
And when I listen to your music
You're still thousands of miles away

Take your mixes not your mixture
Add some music to our day
Don't believe the things they tell you
Don't let them get in your way

And you know that it's true
Wales is not like California in any way
And everytime I hear hear your music
You're still thousands of miles away

"Remember" by Air uses a sample of the drums on the intro of "Do It Again".

In 1964 The Osmonds did a surf-inspired version of Mr. Sandman produced by Terry Melcher (MGM K-13281)
The intro was a steal from I Get Around: Instead of:
Round round get around I get aound, get around round round I get around
they went
Sandman sandman bring me a dream prettiest girl I've ever seen.

There's an album by Austrian sound artist Fennesz entitled Endless Summer. Though he's always claimed that the title came from the sixties surf movie instead of the BB's world famous hit compilation, the BW influence is all over the place and around the same time he did a cover version of Don't Talk (which sounds like a different piece of music altogether but preserves much of the original's structure and spirit - he did the same with the Rolling Stones' Paint It Black).

There's the most obvious - the Beatles' "Spiritual Regeneration" (with its 'happy birthday, Mike Love' verse, sung to Mike himself).  I find it hilarious that the version that Mike tried to release on his "Mike Love, Not War" album was very obviously just taken from a bootleg, because it has the Wolfman Jack commentary badly spliced out.  (Methinks he sourced that from the Beatleg "The Essential Unofficial White LP", disc seven...)

Then there's the Beatles' "Back In The USSR" (allegedly co-written with Mike); and the 'Smile' parodies "Pancreas" (Weird Al) and "Black Sheep" (John C. Reilly).  What else... oh, the Beach Bums' awful "Upholstery" in the movie 'Phantom Of The Paradise'.

As for non-musical references... SNL used to have a series of recurring sketches with a group of businessmen talking about their supposedly amazing, now deceased co-worker Bill Brasky.  One of their outrageous claims about him, I believe made by Alec Baldwin's character, was "If you dropped a record needle on his nipple, it played the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds!"

The Ramones "7-11" - (Summer fun with the Beach Boys on, but we all know what went wrong).
The Queers "Brian Wilson" I had to mention it again.
The Queers "Live This Life" (...and everybody got to surf like Californ-i-a

That band would be Hogpig. "We loves you Brian Wilson, we loves you Dennis Wilson, we loves you Carl Wilson, we loves you Al Jardine. Hell, we even loves you Al Jarreau. But foda you, Mike Love. Foda you."

Yes, you can criticize me all you want, but I'm a fan of that video.

Neil Young--Long May You Run


Maybe the beach boys have got you now
With those waves singing caroline no


I'm not a big fan of Mr. Young, but this is a cool song.

Randy Newman - I Love L.A.

"Roll down the window, put down the top
Crank up the Beach Boys, baby, don't let the music stop"

Brian Wilson - "One For The Boys"
Brian Wilson - "Imagination" (I miss the way I used to call the shots around here)
Jan & Dean - "(Here They Come) From All Over The World" (The Beach Boys singing now "I Get Around")

Austrian  cartoonist and painter Manfred Deix did a tribute CD. I have it at home, not here now. But it's very funny. California Girls is about 'Madels From Tyrol', for instance.

Elton John had a lyric about "Brian Wilson's promiseland" on the first song from his Captain and the Kid album, which I liked a lot.

Chris Rainbow "Dear Brian"

I can't believe this went so long without anyone correcting it. Checkers was Nixon's dog.  The Mike Love song is Wrinkles.

XTC (as Dukes Of The Stratosphear) - 'Pale And Precious' - from 'Psonic Psunspot' (and, latterly, 'Chips From The Chocolate Fireball') - a Smiley Smile pastiche (surely an officially endangered species?)

World Party - 'Kuwait City' - hidden track on 'Bang!' - California Girls (approx) pastiche

R.E.M. - 'At My Most Beautiful' - from 'Up' - Pet Sounds-era pastiche

Have to mention "Brian Wilson" by the Hanson Brothers (not to be confused with the recent teen pop
short-term sensations). They had some minor regional hits in the 70's. I used to be an acquaintance of
Paul Hansen's, and he once told me about trying to give a copy of the single to Brian at a "Wouldn't It
Be Nice" book promotion event in San Francisco, and Brian putting it up to his face and sniffing at it bewilderedly. Kevin Leslie, the "surf nazi" was hovering nearby monitoring everything very intrusively.
 Thank God for his deliverance from the forces of evil!  >:D

(I was going to start a new 'references to the beach boys in songs' thread, when I realised it had already been done. Hope it's ok to resurrect it.)

I was going to mention Belle & Sebastian and Neil Young but other people have beaten me to it (several years ago, in fact!).

There's 'round the bend' by The Beta Band which features the lyrics:

"I listened to The Beach Boys just a minute ago,
Wild Honey,
It's not their best album but it's still pretty good,
they've got some funny little love songs on there,
but it's not mainly a Brian Wilson production so it's not as good as something like... Pet Sounds"

I'm certain it is, given the context of the lyrics. They also did a cover of I Know There's An Answer during the Goo sessions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLktGrpiW5Q (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLktGrpiW5Q)


Frank Black's version is pretty good too

There's a song by UK band called Hefner which sampled (repeatedly) the 'Hi' from the start of The Trader.

Can't remember what it was called.