The Smiley Smile Message Board

So I was listening to Love You and it hit me, that Brian's stuff from this era would have been a lot better just a little faster. Though I like Love You as it is, this could have been Brian's dance punk album, the best new wave album the 80s never had even. Don't believe me? Download Audacity, http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ , take Honkin' Down the Highway and speed up the tempo by 45%. And listen, and be amazed. It works surprisingly well with the other songs too.
If Brian would have only released versions like this in the late 70s it could have been the second golden age.

Funny, when the Boys played Honkin' Down The Highway in December 1977 in Seattle, they played it with almost punk abandon. Earlier versions were damn near snooze-inducing.

Further evidence you're not crazy .....but that Brian is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1EPXBQV3yM

I love that clip. Brian looks like he's fucking the bass. This clip is from Houston, 1978. It was professionally filmed as well. I think it's gone around to an extent from a videotape copy, but I've only seen clips of it. Parts of the concert (In My Room/You Are So Beautiful) were excerpted in An American Band.

Credit goes to Andrew "I'm English and even I know who Ric Flair is!" Doe. :)

I've told a story about that show before; someday maybe I'll tell it again.  It was quite a night in Honolulu, and there are photos of mine from this show in David Leaf's book.  Never fails to make me smile when someone posts this link!


Houston, are you sure?  I swear it's Honolulu '78!  Also, I don't think it's professionally shot, but rather, shot on a 3/4.  Where's Alan when we need him???

I think you're right, Ed...I just referenced the American Band video and noted different clothing during the Houston segments. The guy who uploaded the video says it's Australia, but Roller Skating Child wasn't played in any of the Australian shows. If the show is Honolulu, it certainly does make you wonder why they would bring Roller Skating Child back for one or two nights - they played it a few times in 1977 and then it came back for virtually every 1979 show after April or so.

And if it was shot on a 3/4, that would mean shot directly to videotape, right?

If you think about it, these kind of complaints go back to songs like "Marcella", as well. I think Brian liked slightly slower tempos than normal so that you could pay more attention to the melodies, but this didn't always work within the context of what people expected from rock music.

Speed the tempo of the original by 15%, and you end up like this.
You know, except without the bass humping.

If you want to hear the dream punk rock version of "Roller Skating Child", use Audacity and up the tempo by 40% and then decrease the pitch by 30% (which pretty much makes the song sound normal, so it doesn't sound like chipmunks are singing). If you're like me, you'll also boost the bass, but that's a personal preference. Anyway, after doing this, you get that punk rock version of "RSC" that so many people clamor for.

If we sped up "Let Us Go On This Way" 40% I would expect that the song would have to be doubles in length and a special area for the mosh pit would have to be installed.

I've always felt the too slow tempo was a problem on a number of BB songs beginning with Darlin and  Do it Again.  Others include Marcella, Sail on Sailor, R and R Music, It's Ok, Honkin Down The Highway, KTSA.  If the released versions were similar to live versions of the time, I think there might have been some more success. I'm not saying Number # 1 hit but would have helped. I have non BB fan friends and when you play them live versions of the songs they cannot believe it's the BB in a good way!

Thank you, that was awesome. Honkin Down the Highway sounded great live too. Especially the crazy drumming.

I might be way off here, but having played in a band where the songs always doubled in speed when we played live, and having watched many videos of the stones in their prime where songs that were already pretty quick seemed to go supersonic, isn't the increased tempo just a thing that happens in live performance and is not necessarily designed but more the by-product of adrenalin (or other chemicals)?

Come to think, the whole would've sounded a lot better with a more forceful, less synthy production. And some less brain-dead lyrics.

I tried this out actually. Holy crap this way better.  Up that tempo and kick up the bass, this is awesome.

If your curious to how much better it sounds, you can PM me and I'll... give you the instructions, yes, yes.

Here's how I played it. Once you hear it like this, it'll become hard to imagine how the album would sound any different:

-Let Us Go On This Way - +25% tempo, default bass boost.
-Roller Skating Child - +15% tempo, default bass boost.
-Mona - +5% tempo, default bass boost.
-Johnny Carson - +10% tempo, default bass boost.
-Good Time - +5% tempo, default bass boost.
-Honkin' Down The Highway - +30% tempo, default bass boost.
-Ding Dang - No tempo change, +10db bass boost.
-Solar System - +5% tempo, default bass boost.
-The Night Was So Young - +5% tempo, default bass boost.
-I'll Bet He's Nice - +7% tempo, default bass boost.
-Let's Put Our Hearts Together - +10% tempo, default bass boost.
-I Wanna Pick You Up - +10% tempo, default bass boost.
-Airplane - +5% tempo, +10db bass boost.
-Love Is A Woman - +10%, default bass boost.

For clarity, 'default bass boost' is 200 hz and 12 db in Audacity.