The Smiley Smile Message Board

So I just joined this site and it just struck me how amazing it was that the internet can bring together so many hardcore knowledgeable BB fans together in one place.  As a kid growing up in the 80s I always felt like the ONLY person who was into this band.  I would do my part.. bring the music to school, blast it on my boom box at the beach, etc.. but I never met anybody else who loved the group like I did.

Anyone else go through this same experience?

The 80s are a lonely place when you're the only BB fan around...

I was the same as you.  A friend of mine used to call them the Beach Grandads!  He was into Iron Maiden and Guns N Roses!  Still I persevered and managed to 'convert' a lot of the sceptics. ;D  A big battle I had was with a couple of Beatles fans at school over who was the best.  I didn't help when people only had this cheesy surfing image of the band.  Once I got them listening to Pet Sounds up through Holland and Pacific Ocean Blue they never looked back! Job done!

I also grew up in the 80's as a Beach Boys fan (1st concert 1983).  You would think growing up in Sacramento, CA everybody would be a fan but no one I knew were into them as I was.  I know a lot of people on this board despise Kokomo when it came out in 1988 but somehow I felt vindicated that this "oldies" band that I love so much was top of the charts once more and EVERYONE knew it!

For me it was continuous playing/giving/forcing mixtapes (cassettes) on anybody I could.

I played greatest hits tapes at family cookouts (especially Memorial Day & July 4), tried to win girlfriends' hearts with Brian's music, made "deep cut" tapes for co-workers who showed some knowledge about music beyond the Top 10, forced my buddies to play the tapes in the car when we were cruising around, and made sure the Christmas album (and 1977 bootleg!) got played in December. It was a relentless, dedicated effort at spreading the music!

I got the BBFUN mailing list from Alice Lillie in 1975 and got in touch with a number of fans from that list by mail. This led to my starting my own horrifically bad newsletter and further alienating the international Beach Boy community... :o

In my junior high music class the students were allowed to bring an album to class each week and play our favorite 2 tracks for all to hear.  Amongst the standard early 80s fare ( twisted sister, Michael Jackson, def leopard, prince, etc) of course I was the only one to bring in BB albums.  Bizarre looks from everyone but they all seemed to enjoy it.  I would get totally nervous with sweaty palms and everything as that needle came down on the record.   The music would kick in and my heart would be racing!

Ahh good times.

 BBFUN and the Add Some Music fan-zine were about the only games in town in the late 70s and early 80s

Beach Boys fan pre-internet primary sources for my collection and knowledge:

Beach Boys Freaks United - Lillie
Pet Sounds fanzine - Leaf
Add Some Music fanzine - Cunningham, Bleiel
Friends Of The Beach Boys fanzine - Taber (Cancelled subscription after 1rst issue)
Endless Summer Quarterly fanzine - Beard, Mast, Edgil, Dempsey
Beach Boys Stomp fanzine - Grant
Friends of Dennis Wilson fanzine - Duffy
Goldmine Magazine
Discoveries Magazine
Record Collector Magazine
Peter Reum auction lists
Derek Bill auction lists
Steve Bates auction lists
Midnight Records auction lists
Capitol Records parking lot record swap meets, Los Angeles, Pasadena
Tower, Moe's, Rasputin's, Leopold's, Amoeba Records, Berzerkely
Tower, Let It Be Records, Recycled Records, Streetlight Records, Amoeba's, San Fransicko
Tower, Rockaway Music, Music Man Murry, Wenzel's Music Town, Wallach's Music City, Record Collector, Peaches, Los Angeles
Tower, Rare Records, 804 K St. Mall, 9th St. Records, Sacramento
Tower, Rowe's Rare Records, Big Al's Record Barn, San Jose
Blue Meanie Records, El Cahones
Forgot the name, Singapore, mail order only, original silver CD's up the wazoo.

Beg to differ but in precisely that timespan Beach Boys Stomp was probably at its finest.

This is nothing but the truth. It was awful. And yet... oddly compelling...  ;D

I still wonder if you other guys are real or only generated by an internet computer program. In the late summer I had a barbecue with friends out in the garden and played MIC from the Wild Honey tracks on. After about one hour and a half several guests asked me if I had any other music...

BTW, "Watch A Cave" is a moniker that fits very well with my kind of humour! :)

The 80's was a lonely town, when you were the only BB fan around.

I was mocked at every turn, and it made me hyper-defensive and argumentative. I'm convinced this is why us BB fans of a certain age are a curmudgeonly lot. We've had years of defending our position, with the zealots knowledge that we alone know the truth.

Brian who?

This year, when I was with some friends, when I said, "BTW, today is Brian Wilson's birthday", they looked at each other if anybody might know what I was talking about, and then one said, "Must be one of the Beach Boys."

When BB85 came out, the school weight-lifting champion asked me to tape a copy for him, but only because he was a hardcore Culture Club fan.

No other serious enquiries came my way, although via 1 kid I managed to get taped copies of Shut Down through Today from his dad's collection - and some of the Beatles nuts met me halfway on Pet Sounds.

Uni was worse, with, again, some concession for Pet Sounds, Good Vibrations amongst the potheads and the idea of Smile, but general disdain abounded - baffling stuff in the face of Mike Love et al (duh) Carl appearing on TJ Hooker, Live Aid and peddling the heavy heavy shi of Kokomo and Still Cruisin'.

The pre-Internet era for this Beach Boys fan in Melbourne, Australia meant physically searching record and CD racks in many local record stores that have since closed down and at record fairs which have become less prevalent.

Fanzines such as Beach Boys Australia, ESQ and A California Saga provided the "latest" news on happenings in the world of The Beach Boys.

Imported copies of Goldmine magazine were scoured, searching for that next BB purchase.

Many of my early purchases were made courtesy of set sale and auction lists, predominantly printed on dot matrix paper. You had to rely on the judgement of the seller about the condition of those items as there was no accompanying colour photo(s) as part of the listing, and payment was by bank cheque (ouch, fee-wise) or international money order (lesser ouch, fee-wise).

One of my most treasured memories from this time was having the privilege to talk long-distance to Frank Holmes and thank him for the colour reproductions he made of the Smile booklet art; a true gentleman.

 Sorry AGD no disrespect meant  thats how isolated it seemed I was not even aware Beach Boys Stomp exsisted though somehow I did get a hold of Derek Bills great  auction             

lists.  I had forgotten about David  Leaf 's Pet Sounds newsletter-where he actually reviewed Adult Child as a new release.   
 
Of course Mr. Leaf's book about Brian and the Boys was the deepest insights we had of the group at that time.

The 70s were surreal, as the BBs went from being shunned and vilified in the USA to top of the heap and then back again.

The 80s were mostly painful, with Dennis's death and all the "applied Machiavellianism" that reigned. 1988 was arguably the weirdest year to date, with BW's "shouty" return and the BBs' unbelievable one-shot-over-the-bow-Sweet-Jesus that is still known as "Santa's Goin'..." (I mean, "Kokomo").

The 90s, of course, brought us the 'Net, with its ever-increasing info, spam, and snark. And the BBs found a way to actually get some of their sh*t back into the old sock, first through cooperation, and then via an Internet-fueled spat that is still "Goin' On."

Throughout all that, I never worried about what others thought about the BBs or my ongoing symbiosis. Running into others who "got it" was always a source of pleasure--and that always outweighed the pain and annoyance of cohabiting with those who didn't. What is most important, regardless of the "delivery system" and networking, etc., is how the music works on the emotions of each and all who truly "get it." I can remember a few times when circumstances forced me to be away from the music--and I can remember the overwhelming emotional tidal wave that occurred every time I would be reunited with it after so long a deprivation. It was like finding the oasis after having been stranded in the desert. And it still happens, just that way.

You're right. Leaf's book has come into some criticism over the years/decades, but when it first came out (1978?), it was something special. That book was a really good read, it had great pictures, and it gave a Brian Wilson diehard optimism that he would eventually (soon?) do great things again. I remember practically memorizing the Leaf book, and it formed my opinions on Brian and the band; many of those opinions I still maintain. 

I have great memories of all the people I met through my newsletters in the '70's. I actually met my wife indirectly through doing those fanzines. And, in a way, Friends of the Beach Boys was kind of like a prehistoric version of this message board, being very fan-driven and participatory. Plus full of outlandishly fraudulent information, of course.

It could be potentially construed the same as the 80's in the mid to late 60's.  It was, and is a gift. Stomp was too far away.  BB fans often tend to "march to a different drummer" and are strong individuals and passionate, in my opinion.  Those people who embraced Pet Sounds and Smiley, during the "imposed downturn" and got themselves to be the coolest adults on the planet.

And, I feel sorry for the sheep.  It is like swimming laps; peaceful, sometimes swallowing water, and choking, yet, unlikely to change your mind.  To meet up with many of these iron-willed contemporaries and swap stories has been a blast, as is this forum, whether we agree or, agree to disagree. 

Pre-Internet, it could be isolating, only if you let it.  Here we are with Smiley  :beer

It is a beautiful thing! 

This is an AWESOME topic!!! Great idea!!!! Can't contribute anything really since I only became a die hard around 2000, but it's fascinating to read about your experiences pre-internet. Thanks for sharing!!

Pre-internet, we communicated with letters, and occasional phone calls (I once had a quarterly bill for £276 in the late 80s): if you were as devoted (=obsessed) as I was then, you got all the 'zines. Stomp, ASM, Taber's horrific rag, the Japanese and Dutch FC mags. I subscribed to a clippings agency and accrued some of the now-classic articles for maybe 5p each. Oh, the bliss of hearing a whole new album without knowing anything but the title ! I think POB was the last album I didn't get pre-release tape of. Can you youngsters possibly imagine hearing something that magnificent absolutely cold ?  I don't think you can. I just fell over backwards, died and went straight to heaven.

And the best thing of all was, I was pretty much ignorant of all the nonsense we now take for granted and which irredeemably colors our views of... well, everything. The end of the innocence.

The Beach Boys have affected and directed my life since 1975 more than anything else has, or could: wouldn't be here otherwise. Responsible for the minor writing career that I have, and for some enduring friendships - ever the odd relationship. I've met some wonderful and amazing people because of this band... and yes, encountered some terminally weird folk too, not to mention the odd fraud, charlatan, liar and flat out asshole. And that's just here on Smiley.  ;D

But, for all that, good and bad, there remains the music, the incomparable music. Is there any better in the rock canon ? I happen to think not, and of course I'm right. I usually am.  :old

I remember hearing Getcha Back on the radio for the first time in 85.. I was floored.

A new BB single??  With a soaring Brian falsetto???  I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Yeah, it was cool being unaware that the Beach Boys had a new single coming out and then hearing it on the radio for the very first time. 

A couple of incidents that really stick out in my mind are going wild when I first heard Do It Again on the radio and then going all over town looking for a copy, and driving along the beach, hitting a radio pushbutton, and landing on a station that was in the middle of playing a new version of Rock and Roll Music and realizing it was by the Beach Boys.  Also hearing Darlin on the radio, shortly after I bought the Wild Honey album, and realizing it was their new single from the album.  I decided I had to buy the single and give it to my girlfriend that night.  The first record store I went to didn't have it, but walking up to the second one through the window I clearly saw the single in it's picture sleeve displayed on the wall.  When I pushed the door to enter it was locked and they shouted to me that they were closed for inventory.  Shouting back, I said I just wanted to buy the new Beach Boys single and they told me to come back tomorrow.  I continued shouting through the closed glass door, pleading with them to sell me the single, and they finally let me push a dollar under the door in exchange for the single, also pushed under the door, I'm sure just to get rid of me so they could continue with inventory.  Here's another one - walking into Tower Records in June 1974 and being absolutely dumbfounded to see a massive floor display (including cardboard palm trees if memory serves me correctly) of a new Capitol greatest hits double album entitled Endless Summer.  I was amazed that they expected to sell so many copies of a Beach Boys album, although the album was attractively priced as a single record (I think $3.99 at Tower back then) whereas double record sets usually went for a dollar more. 

But that's how it was in those pre-internet days, you'd listen to the radio and search record stores for new releases.  I'd also call record stores inquiring about new releases and starting in 1971 from time to time I'd call Warner Brothers Records in LA and ask about forthcoming Beach Boys releases.  And if I was at the library I'd check Billboard mag for news of new single and album releases.  Sometime in the eighties I began subscribing to the BB FUN (Beach Boys Freaks United) newsletter which often had news of forthcoming releases, plus, as mentioned, Pet Sounds Magazine, Add Some Music mag, etc.

Another great record store, not mentioned by Mikie in his rather complete list, was Pet Sounds in Newcastle Upon Tyne in the UK, one of those good places to obtain rare BB stuff and boots if I recall correctly.  Plus there was Derek A. Biil and, well, I could go on and on, so that's enough for now!

...and then there was the TV Guide. I used to buy it the day it came out AND SCOUR IT! I would check every day, every time, every station - and look for any listing of The Beach Boys. Do you remember those local Evening Magazine or PM Magazine shows? They were usually came on at 7:00 or 7:30PM and consistently featured The Beach Boys when they (The BBs) strolled into town. And, of course, Entertainment Tonight. Sometimes I would be "caught off guard" at the 7:00 PM showing of Entertainment Tonight and The Beach Boys would be featured, so I would then set my alarm clock for 2:00 or 3:00 AM - just to videotape the 5-7 minute segment when it was replayed. I have quite a large VHS tape collection full of old Entertainment Tonight segments; they have been very kind to The Beach Boys over the years.

You know, it's funny, but one of the main things I looked forward to seeing when catching The Beach Boys on TV in those days was to see how much weight Brian was losing. With each successive TV appearance he lost more weight, up until 1980-81. In those days you lived and died by those brief TV appearances. How do the guys look? How did Brian sound? Was Brian with 'em? Did they play a snippet of anything new? As a fan in those days, you looked for anything positive you could find. And things were moving fast; an album a year, different hair styles, clothing, wives :o

Sad to say that as a teenager the Beach Boys piqued hardly any interest in my musical vocabulary. The lack of enthusiasm from the DJs and music critics didn't help either and I was totally preoccupied with mostly British rockers emulating their American Blues heroes of the past decade and then riding the wave of Prog Rock until that crashed into a New Wave. The magnificence of the 70's came and went -- the 80s dragged on and left me, uninspired

but then the dawn of a new day, there was Kokomo.

Thank Mike.   :bow

Yeah,  the best thing in the world was going in the record store the second they opened, and watching them open a box full of the Surf's Up album!  Taking it home and dropping that needle on side one! No leaked previews...

As much as I love online communication, it will never replace the good old days of hanging out at the record stores, and being surprised when there was a new release by the Beach Boys, Dylan, ex-Beatles, etc. It was nice when the person behind the counter turned out to be a fan of the same artists.

Pre internet meant I could actually score front row seats to the Beach Boys without spending $400 on a package. You had to wait a while in line at the box office or ticket outlet place, but it was worth it.

I was born in 1977.  How did one find out about these things? You couldn't just google it :) 

I do miss some of the larger record stores, such as Tower and Virgin. Although, there are still some great indie record stores in the Dallas area. Shout out to Good Records!

I envy those who walked into a store to find the new release of Sunflower, Surfs Up, etc. I first became a Beach Boys record buyer around 1998. I was always excited to find a cd with a song or 2 that I had never heard before. Then the two fers came out. I was especially excited to get Smiley Smile, hoping to find Smile tracks only to be dissapointed. But I finally bought the Good Vibrations box around this time and of course was pleasantly surprised.

There was also an indie record store in the area that no longer exists that always had some obscure boot leg cd.

Now that I have heard most everything, going to the Beach Boys section is not nearly as adventurous, unless something new comes out (Smile Sessions, MIC, etc). But I still can't help to look.  :)

I have been looking for copies of David Leaf's PET SOUNDS newsletter; specifically the ones published between 1977 and 1980.  I am particularly interested in his review of ADULT/CHILD... coverage in 1977-78 about recording plans and how things eventually evolved into MIU ALBUM.  And - a very interesting interview from the fall of 1978 with Bruce Johnston about what was being considered for the L.A. Light Album.  I would be happy with internet links to these articles/interviews, or simple machine copies; don't need original issues.  I had these newsletters back in the late 70s and would simply like to read them again.  Thanks.

I guess this is a good thread to make my first post on (I've been reading/lurking for a while...).  I, too, became a Beach Boys fan in the 80s (born in '77).  My first real memories of the group are the Waikiki special from '86, and honestly the Sunkist "Good Vibrations" commercials.  Along the way I picked up several cassettes, mostly comps, (Concert Days, Surf's Up -- an early years comp, not THE Surf's Up from 71, among others).  Yes, being a child in the 80s, "Kokomo" was a thrill, I used to watch VH1 and MTV just to catch it and "Still Cruisin'" when they would air.  I called local record stores in Charleston, WV when the SC album came out looking for it.  My first CD I ever bought was BB '85, loved it then (late 80s/very early '90s) and still like it a lot today.  Got all of the original 1990 two-fers except Friends/20-20.  I was a member of BB FUN for a couple years, and couldn't wait to get the little single sheet newsletters in the mailbox every month (along with my Baseball Digest). 

I actually write a blog focusing on Christian music, but the one secular album I have reviewed on the blog was TWGMTR.  Waiting for that release date reminded me of being an 11 or 12 year old kid calling the Tape World in the mall about every week just waiting for Still Cruisin' to be available.

Ahhh...the good ol' days!

in the pre internet there were 2 periods:
the first before 15 Big Ones, I only got news about the BBs from the english excellent rock press (NME, Melody Maker, Record Mirror) and some US mags (Rolling Stone, Phonograph record Mag and Creem).
Then after 15 Big Ones I had access to many fanzines and record lists , see Mikie list plus all the european/world fanzines :
From Germany (Gene), Holland (Eddy Feiken), Sweden (Goran's Surfer's Rule and Ragnhild's Good Vibrations), Japan (Susumu Ogata) and Australia (Stephen J mc Parland informative Ca Music and BBaustralia).
Beach Boys Stomp conventions were an excellent place to pick the real information. That period was rich in exchanges (letters/parcels of records; you waited for them during long weeks!) and as a result I got many friends all around the world.

There were only four or five, last one in 1978.

Here's the craziest thing - over the years, I've met just about all the people I used to read about back then and some of them - Stevie K., to name one - yes, I regard them as friends. And if you'd told me that back in 1975, I'd have laughed in your face, loud and long. A long strange trip indeed.

And the truly heartwarming thing is, I'm far from being alone in this. It's hard to think of a more accessible band.

Thank you, AGD.  Any help would be appreciated.  I've got the BEACH BOYS LOVE YOU issue.... but would love to access the ones from later in 1977 and 1978.  As I recall, the Bruce Johnston interview went into a considerable amount of detail on which tracks were being considered for LA Light... including some tracks that would have made it a very different album, indeed.

I've got them, but theyre buried. if I can dig them out, I'll put them in the Media section

It continues to be a real pleasure to write about the members of the Beach Boys and their extended families and friends. 

I have been fortunate to get to know them all too…so much so, that I produced an entire CD with a handful of them for the Bamboo Trading Company.

Very cool stuff. 

The reason I do it?

The pure joy of the music.

bgas, that would be great

Someone mentioned hanging out in the record store... I remember going in the store nearest me (Main Street Records, long gone) when Ricci Martin's Beached album was due out. Now, that was a very obscure album to be looking for, so as I'm looking around, the owner (and only one in the store) asks if he can help me.  I told him I was looking for the Ricci Martin album, expecting a puzzled look. Instead, the guy's eyes lit up and he knew all about the album. Turns out he was a huge Beach Boys fan,  and we became fast friends. I spent many hours at the store, talking with Bill. Over the years I gradually lost touch, having a family of my own by then. I found out a couple of years ago that Bill had passed away. I think back on those days every now and then and it brings back lots of good memories..

Being a Beach Boy fan is hard now because most don't see them as a serious band. I'm mocked all the time for it.

Agreed, they mostly see them as a bubblegum surf band despite the fact that Pet Sounds and Smile are quite well-known.
I wonder what people's opinion on them would be like if they successfully overcame their crappy image.
More importantly, I wonder if there's anything we can do to help change their image?  ???

Another quick record store story....At my local record store, they had a stack of Billboard magazines on a counter (past editions and the current one). So I would go in there every week like clockwork, and stand at that counter paging through the latest Billboard magazine. I would go meticulously through all the charts to see if any Beach Boys' albums or singles were on there, and how they were doing. I literally lived and died by those charts, hoping the current releases would make some noise. As a bonus, sometimes there would be a blurb or a paragraph on an upcoming release. It was usually just something like "The Beach Boys are in the studio in L.A....Brian Wilson is recording with the group....one of titles is "Our Team"....the album should be out in the spring...." It's funny how some of those record store moments were highlights of your day, week, life!

Hmmm, that's exactly what Jack Rieley was thinking and set out to do back in the latter part of 1970.

The Beach Boys are cursed primarily by the simple fact that they pre-date the Beatles. This is especially true of American FM radio. The Beach Boys took a little more effort in order to be appreciated. They are kind of like this girl ( or guy) in high school. This person never quite fit in - maybe they didn't wear cool clothes or hang out with the cool kids. Nobody made the effort to give this person a chance, because everyone was too busy trying to look cool themselves.  But, if you spent some time with this person, you found out how amazing they were. That's how it is, was and always will be with the Beach Boys...

I have a few collecting stories of my own.

One of them is when I found a tall stack of "The Making of Holland" books sitting on the front counter near the register at Tower Records in Berkeley. They were free and I took two. Guy behind the counter told me to take more, so I did. Like other records and paraphernalia, I didn't know they'd be collectible. Down the road years later, I used a few for trading collateral and gave away a couple. Coincidently, Tower in Berkeley, along with 3 or 4 other used record shops I use to frequent around there, was just around the corner and up the block from People's Park (Student Demonstration Time).

Hey Marty, I was just kidding about cancelling my subscription to your 'Friends Of The Beach Boys' fanzine after the first issue. Been awhile since I looked through my paper items, but I'm sure I still have a few of them. How many did you publish? The thing that I remember most about 'Friends Of The Beach Boys' was that it was folded in half and held together with just one staple! About 5-10 pages if I remember right....

I did seven issues,  each one larger than the one before. Started out 3-4 pages and issue 7 was about 40 or so. I created a monster! Lots of fun, though, and made a lot of friends...

Well, you may be correct to a certain extent post-Beatles, and certainly by 1968 for sure, but in the pre-Beatles pre-British Invasion years (before 1964 in the US), nobody, and I mean absolutely nobody in the music industry was cooler than the Beach Boys.  And in the US, despite the British Invasion, they were still considered totally cool through 1965.  Around 1966 things started to change, but I totally agree that if you spent some time with they you found out how amazing they were.

And then there was the PhonoLog, this absolutely massive "book" listing every album and single in print in the US, both by artist and title.  Not sure how often it was updated, maybe monthly, but for sure at least four times a year.  Each PhonoLog page was removable, so when the updates arrived in the mail a record store was charged with the task of junking any pages with old info and replacing them with an updated page.  Not only would the PhonoLog alert you to any new releases you might be unaware of (assuming you went to the trouble of looking up the artist in question), but you also became aware of albums and singles no longer in print when you no longer saw them listed (for example the great Capitol Records Beach Boys album purge when they initially went to Brother/Reprise, although a some of the deleted albums soon became available once again in truncated 10 songs per album two-fer form).


Yeah, totally agree!

Okay. The First issue is up in Media. As i note there, there are some quality issues, so let me know if these are good enough/what you think. 
Good/bad of the first:  Mikie and I were recently talking about Don Spears who has an article on the last page. Sad story there( not on the page)

>>  Don, if you're out there somewhere, I hope things are great for you...

couldn't find it…

Volume 1 Number 2 is up ( The Beach Boys Love You )

I got my copy of Beached at a thrift store in the winter of 1986/87. Didn't even know about it before then. I don't know why it caught my eye, but as soon as a looked at the back and saw the superstar supporting cast, I knew I had to give it a spin. NM promo copy for under a dollar. Wow.

The last two issues of Pet Sounds (the magazine) are up in the Media section. Yeah, hope you like them, given the condition of the newsprint... 

It's been SO much fun doing them, that maybe I should copy all the issues of "Friends Of The Beach Boys" for a new project.   

Growing up as a teenager in southeast Kentucky in the 80s I can say us Beach Boys fans didn't abound in great numbers except for some people who like the typical early 'fun in the sun' material and Kokomo. One of my friends despised the Beach Boys until we were in our early 20s in the early 90s and I played him "Til I Die" and "Surf's Up". There was only one other person in town that got into the 1966-'73 period as much as me.

However, what made me feel REALLY lonely as a teen in the 80s in Kentucky was knowing how my schoolmates felt about my Todd Rundgren/Utopia/Three Dog Night/Laura Nyro/Dusty Springfield collections...Everybody else my age was into Bon Jovi, Poison, Thompson Twins, Michael Jackson, Prince, Motley Cure, Madonna, etc.....They LOVED the Beach Boys compared to how they were about the other artists I mentioned.

Ah, yes, the old PhonoLog. Yeah, there was one of those at my local record store, but I/the customer wasn't allowed to use it on their own! You had to ask - or bother - the person behind the counter. I remember one time being told that it was really expensive. So, I didn't want to be a pain and I would wait until nobody was in line or things were slow, then I'd politely ask the clerk to check on my requests. Eventually, that PhonoLog was replaced by this big, bulky computer that the customer could use. You just put in the name of the artist and everything that was available would come up on the screen. You could even print out the item on this slip of paper and give it to the cashier/clerk to order. Eventually people got frustrated by nuts like me who spent too long at that computer, or the thing was always broken!

Nice topic....suffice to say that most of the information that is around today was not around in the late 60s and early 70s. The BBFUN Newsletter was the first fan list that brought a number of us together....me, David Leaf, Derek Bill, Marty Taber, Don Spears.

My first tape was 20 Golden Greats round about 1988, just before Kokomo came out.  I was hooked and began asking all my school friends to ask their parents if they had any Beach Boys records. Then my mum was out with her friend and happened to mention my 'obsession'.  Turns out her friend loved them too and gave me most of the 60s original issue UK lps.  Then in 1989 they broadcast the 25th Anniversary concert so I had some recentish footage!  I bought Made in USA and Brian Wilson.  Then every time I went into Virgin I tried to order a Beach Boys lp.  They had them all listed but the only one not out of print was Pet Sounds.  Eventually after getting told they were deleted a guy who worked there told me where to get a second hand Surf's Up.  But in the meantime he copied his own for me onto cassette.  A really nice thing to do for a young fan.  Nowadays you can just go on the Internet and pick most albums up from ebay!  Takes a bit of the fun and excitement out of it though. :-D

bgas- is that a threat?

Similar timeframe to me. I was lucky to find Pet Sounds, Surfer Girl and Party on LP in Our Price (remember that shop?). Also had a great second hand record shop near me, Beano's, in Croydon. Got all the original albums. Then I sold them when the two-fers came out! (arghhhh - what was I thinking?)

But yes, the joy of scouring for records in second hand shops, not just to complete your collection, but to get hold of stuff you'd never heard. I'd been a fan for about a year before I'd even heard Summer Days!!!, Smiley Smile and Surfs Up. Unthinkable nowadays.

I'm glad it happened the way it did, although if it wasn't for the internet I probably wouldn't have stuff like the full set of Sea Of Tunes and other (cough) recordings in my collection.

Seems to me!!

Stephen, I do remember Our Price!  I also managed to pick up a few of the albums from that 80s reissue series on cassette.  Then I went to the States for a holiday and remember going into Sam Goodie's music shop and they had loads of Beach Boys tapes, stuff that I hadn't heard like '69 Live in London.  It was like an Aladdin's gave for a young fan like myself.  Needless to say I picked up a few, including the abridged Today and Shut Down, aka Dance Dance Dance and Fun Fun Fun.  I also remember writing to EMI asking for any Beach Boys stuff they had available.  I got a nice letter back saying they would be reissuing the albums on CD.  A year later, true to their word, the two-fers came out much to my delight (even though I didn't have a CD player! ). Happy days! :-D

Happened to notice that a seller has the first two issues of Pet Sounds magazine for sale on Ebay: 

The Love You issue: 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Beach-Boys-PET-SOUNDS-Rare-1977-VINTAGE-Newsprint-FANZINE-Vol-1-Number-2-/111197097515  ( Buy It Now) 

The First issue: 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Beach-Boys-PET-SOUNDS-Rare-1977-VINTAGE-Newsprint-FANZINE-Vol-1-Number-1-/380752105034  ( an auction)

Yes, there have been 2 times when the Beach Boys stuck their foot in the water of 'hip'. The first was with Pet Sounds/Good Vibrations and the talk of the forth coming SMiLE album. That came to an abrupt ending with Brian's melt down. The 2nd was in the Jack Reiley era. On the front cover of Rolling Stone fighting the old surfing image. That came to an abrupt ending when Endless Summer came out, and Blondie then Ricky quit the band.

Dennis Wilson as a solo artist could be a third. He released one album, but his addictions kept him from moving forward.