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Isn't that three remakes of "Do It Again" in the last five-six years for Mike including the C50 remake?

Quick, someone photoshop Guy Fieri into that photo!

Jude! :lol. Keep doin it again!

Oh god mark mcgrath is literally one of the worst musicans to ever live.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T6PhDbfNDws

Just when I was about to pay Mike the biggest compliment ever about Wild Honey, how that album was his finest hour ever, and how he should savor the well-deserved adulation he'll be getting for it (there is absolutely not one thing musically to complain about from Mike's contributions on that album, IMO - all top notch stuff)... he releases this drivel. I refuse to even listen to it, and I listen to EVERYTHING by this band. Even NASCAR.

I mean, how embarrassing can it be on several levels: Stamos and McGrath are widely not taken seriously by ANYONE, and yeah...Mike CAN'T remake a song that he just remade and released a few years ago when it was used specifically to promote the happy reunion vibes that Mike himself squandered.... plus after he inexplicably also remade it again (!!!) a year or two ago as well.

HE CAN'T DO IT. It's not tasteful since it was the theme song of C50. It's sh*tting in the face of all the fans who deeply felt connected to the reunion, who felt the reunion and those song lyrics (and choice of that specific song being remade in 2011) actually MEANT SOMETHING. We're fools, clearly.

But he did it anyway. Because it obviously meant nothing to him, and damn any fan who had any emotional connection to the idea of the band remaking that song for the reunion reason. I guess I'm the overly-emotional fool in this equation.

Geeeeeez. Shaking my damn head.

I'll just listen to Sunshine Tomorrow and remember a time when Mike was firing on all cylinders and however briefly kicked complete ass on every level. I will never take that away from him. He ruled then. He's just become a complete ninny, that's all. This current nonsense is unfortunately a distraction from Sunshine Tomorrow, and a joke.  

Is this a bit what it must've been like when the glory of Pet Sounds being issued on CD for the first time in 1990 was happening concurrently with Problem Child being released, as well as the cheerleaders at shows? I wasn't a fan back then, but I feel like this must be almost just like that.

*If a modern re-recording of the same song, Do it Again, hadn't been the specific theme song of C50, this move would *still* be cheesy as hell, and embarrassingly ill-timed, BUT it wouldn't bug me NEARLY as much. That's why, as a fan of BOTH the band as a whole as well as Mike's specific contributions to the band (such as the Wild Honey album), I feel this is a slap in the face. It'd be like Brian recording Carl's Heaven for a dog food commercial. It really doesn't pay to have an emotional connection to this band when Mike pulls sh*t like this.

Jack Rieley quote x10000000000000

Utterly ridiculous and absurd on every level (the gimmicky contributions of his "star power" collaborators aside, the quantity of remakes in a several year period is still absurd).  Even Mike's defenders must in their hearts know how ridiculous this has become, even if they won't admit it.

Jesus, there was another one already besides the C50 version? They must all sound completely indistinguishable from one another.

Well the 2011 remake did actually have Brian Wilson and Al Jardine on it, so these re-re-remakes erase any pesky other actual Beach Boy band members from the equation...  because Wilson/Jardine are CLEARLY inessential (unlike the essential powerhouse of Stamos/McGrath); maybe this is some sort of retribution by Mike for Brian releasing Soul Searchin' while having erased The BBs vocals on the Getting in Over My Head album (not a move I was a fan of by Team Brian, either).

Nah, I'd be surprised to learn Mike even gives these sort of releases a second thought. It's just business as usual for him. There'll probably be another "Do It Again" in two years... maybe with Ted Nugent.

Yeesh dudd.... ;D

It would have to be released as Mike and Bruce, right? Can't be the BB without Brian and Al, based on the license or is that just studio material.

Un-fucking-real. Never miss a chance to piggyback on something like the '67 set that enhances the legacy and brings in new fans with something like this. Can Mike release something other than covers and remakes? At this point, it doesn't appear that way.

Protect the brand? Go team. Have fun with that. For f***'s sake... and someone here was critical of Brian for a best-of release that's coming out in September?

Yeah, and define the our in "our new single".

That was my understanding too...did something change?

It's clever wordplay and marketing to toe that line of how to name something like this, knowing there is a renewed interest and excitement around The Beach Boys and the music thanks to the glorious 1967 set release. Like Michael Corleone said in Godfather 2, can anyone give a straight answer? Who is "our"? It can't be a Beach Boys single, period. That's the license signed years ago.

Can we expect another USB thumb drive release anytime soon with yet another remake of a classic?  ::)

Unless they suddenly mention that this is done as some sort of charity single or something and is crediting to each individual performer...I'm thoroughly disinterested and disgusted all at once.

This is really not good. So much autotune. Someone is shouting in the background and it is very annoying.

At least if they'd release Getcha Back with the new lyrics that'd be interesting. I don't need to hear Mike "Do It Again" again for the countless time. 

It's a "Mike Love" single, complete with Mike swapping out his BB cap with a "Mike Love" cap:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/617v77Qv30L._SS500.jpg)

And yes, this thing is autotuned up the wazoo, worse than anything on TWGMTR:

https://www.amazon.com/Again-feat-Mark-McGrath-Stamos/dp/B073C8QMHW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1499141101&sr=8-4&keywords=Mike+love+do+it+again

That would be Monsieur McGrath....

For f*cks sake.

Seriously, who do they think is the audience who will buy this? At least the Sloop John B thumb drive remake was a giveaway that came with another product.

Mike already tried to do a piggyback release with a remake of Do It Again in 1996, on his own MELECO label, remember "Catch A Wave" the remake album before Mike's NASCAR remake album that came with a tank of gas? This was just after the Don Was film featured Brian performing the song as a highlight...so I guess Mike tried to release a remake which he did with Adrian Baker...and it went fucking nowhere.

Nice touch, whoever is yelling DO IT! DO IT!.

What a sham all of this is.

Protect that brand, guys. The legacy is of utmost importance.

Here's the full track:

https://youtu.be/o_JcpR_NTvk

Never mind the autotune for now...DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! Oh, FEELS GOOD!

What the serious f*** is this?

Did I wake up in 1997 after drinking the latest reissue of Zima clear malt?

Protect that brand.

Haha, I was just about to say the same thing. Sounds like Stamos to me. Just what the song always needed, huh? Maybe someone on the other side of him was telling somebody not to drive because they were too drunk. "Do it, do it! Yeah! HUnh!"

Anyway who really gives a sh*t. It'll be forgotten in 2 weeks along with NASCAR and Santa's Going To Do Some Blow.

Just keep repeating to yourself SUNSHINE TOMORROW. SUNSHINE TOMORROW. SUNSHINE TOMORROW. There. Better.

It is sad that Mike must just throw his hands up and go, 'sure' at any opportunity. I mean who is this for? Is this......is this for us?! Does he think we want this? Does he think a super casual fan will go 'hey, I love that one Beach Boys song 'Do It Again'' and will go on Spotify and THIS will be the version they listen to? Do It Again...and Again....And Again...And....hey, isn't doing this and expecting different results the dictionary definition of insanity? Sweet insanity.

f*** me this is awful. I'm actually listening. Ugh. Lordy. Beautiful new archival release out showcasing TBB as a band to be taken seriously and this steaming sweaty thrice regurgitated turd has to be laid over the top of it.

Mike, it's time for a bit of an intervention mate. Wearing your own band's merch is naff enough but when it comes to solo....? You look like your mam was scared one of the school bullies would nick your hat so she stitched your name into it and got a bit carried away cause of her needlepoint class.

Here's a bit of a poser for everyone - what would it take for Mike Love to accept that the Beach Boys fanbase don't actually like John Stamos. At all? He's barely even famous anymore. At this point it'd be like if Paul McCartney wheeled out Tony Danza and expected a reception that would bring the roof in while he let him sing lead on one of George's cuts.

If this were not a serious, legit "release", I'd hear it and think someone was doing a parody and having a laugh.

I agree so much about the Sunshine Tomorrow release bringing so much positive attention to the band's *music*, I listened at least 4 times through the set in entirety over the past few days because it's so uplifting and inspiring to hear that music, then Mike drops this sh*t on what someone must think is a fanbase who will buy it or even accept it? It's beyond surreal.

Name one legacy artist with the status and accomplishments of The Beach Boys (artistically and commercially), those in their peer group in the upper echelon of 20th Century rock music, who would piggyback something like this remake atop an archival release that spotlights the musical legacy like Sunshine Tomorrow.

Name one. I can't.

Imagine if all of the boys were alive but that bit beyond performing anymore. You put out something like Sunshine Tomorrow then along comes your cousin who apparently has a scat fetish and a viscerally violent reaction to quality music.

I actually like Mike but bloody hell does he make it hard to sometimes. You can settle a lot of your differences with him as a fan by thinking 'well, he's the one with the commercial head, he's the one who courts hits and popularity' but I mean, who is this going to be a hit with? Senile dementia patients who've forgotten they already have a dozen versions of the song they've bought in recent years and who's hearing is failing so they keep accepting shittier and shittier versions of it?

Im usually pretty quick to defend Mike, but this is some kind of awful.

Silver lining.  Its the best song Ive ever heard Mark McGrath on.

Wait'll OSD hears this...

Well, I was having an outstanding vacation until I heard about this manure. I always said the surfboard scene in the Summer of Love video was the nadir of the Beach Boys career, but this takes the cake. What a total humiliation--I'm embarrassed. And don't get me started on that hat.

Mike sounds pretty good, but the rest of it is trash. 
Just........Why?!!!!
Could have at least done something new.

you've got all that great musicianship collectively, and no one had the
guts to say, 'that F'n sucks ass man'?

This. So much of this forever and ever. The pained cry of the music fan to the musician. You know this is bollocks. Why. Why. WHY?!

OK apparently I woke up my Wife playing this nonsense too loudly. Her reply: "What in the hell is that garbage?"

That says it all folks.

someone should start a thread at the 'hoffman' board,
let the blood hounds loose on this 'masterpiece'.

The hell with this.  I just wanna hear that "Britney Spears'" styled version of "Surfin'" they allegedly recorded back in the late 90's. 

????!!!!!!

ok, you're joking, right? Don't make fun of me, you couldn't put it past them!

This is the audio equivalent of sticking your hand in a blender and setting it to puree.  I'd rather dip myself in honey and roll around in a fire ant bed than ever listen to this garbage again.  Wow...there are no words. Well, I can think of several million but none of them are very nice. Beethoven's ghost just  covered his ears.  Unless this a comedy track , in which case this was much funnier than the pickle brothers.

Don't ever do it again.  Just...don't.  Protect the damn brand

Interesting that this single is licensed to BMG Rights Management instead of issued straight through Meleco. Perhaps a sign that Mike’s new solo album has a distribution deal?

Wow, just listened to it, oh my lord.

This has either been pulled or is unavailable in my country. Is it anywhere else online?

https://open.spotify.com/artist/7lIlJTlWaSIBTMJxpIvd8f

http://www.samaritans.org/

Okay, thanks, EN. I'm not on Spotify but that's my problem... 

And you're involved with the Samaritans? Or is that a swipe at Mike's single?! 

It was a joke at the quality of the single. Ill-conceived and a bit tasteless that (depression sufferer myself, being a bit glib), I apologise.

Anyway JK, it's also on Deezer if you have access to that or in case you've not used Spotify, you can just log right in with your Facebook details if you have some and stream away. No money or card details needed, worst you'll have to do is listen to an advert first. It'd be step 1: log in to spotify.com through facebook, step 2: scroll to the bottom of the page and click on web player under where it says Useful Links and step 3: type Mike Love Do It Again into the search bar and you should be greeted with the disconcerting baseball-capped visage of the man himself.

What in the actual f*ck did I just listen to?

Seriously and furreal.

Fair play, EN. Been there...


I have no Facebook details (no life). Thanks anyway.

But looking at all the outraged comments, it doesn't look like I'm missing an awful lot. In fact I may even be in an enviable position. ;D

Wait. What? Why? They JUST did Do It Again when the BBs reunited. Does Mike have an original idea in his head, ever? Every time Mike re-emerges into the market, it's Do It Again, because he's doing it again. Clever.

This is the guy who has spent years convinced that if he and Brian just got into a room, they'd make a great hit. And yet, he keeps proving that he's out of ideas. He couldn't have tried to come up with something new?

Also, Mark McGrath hasn't had a hit in 20 years. I don't measure the quality of someone's output based on hits, but McGrath isn't exactly some wonderful underground musician either.

Ha good point! His follow up single to this should be called Do 'Do It Again' Again.

Okay I really wanted to give this the benefit of the doubt, find the good parts and enjoy them. Mission impossible.

JK, be thankful this isn’t available in your country. I’m betting that it wasn’t a copyright issue at all; some diplomat probably got an early listen and decided it was in your country’s best interest to have this thing shitcanned before it could hit the airwaves. Mike’s gonna be out there with his own rickety pirate radio boat trying to get anyone to listen to this new single...you’ll never see more people come together in unity as they turn their radios off.

Seriously, Foskett sounds like he heard the final backing track and put in an equal amount of fucks as the musicians did. His voice sounds flat in places, and it sounds like he did everything in one take.

Also, Mark McGrath who?? Is he a huge Beach Boys fan or something?

“Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it” and the autotune. As the song progresses the autotune gets exponentially worse. “It makes your nighttime’s warm and outta sight” - At this point it reaches Joe Thomas’ ‘the-C50-can-go-straight-to-hell’ levels...Only somehow it surpasses Joe’s C50 album fuckery and enters a whole new bizarre universe of electronic blitzkrieg. Whoever had their hands on the autotune dial, expect a call from LucasFilms with a job offer from their robotics sound department.

Part of me hopes this isn’t tethered to a new album by Mike, because I don’t think the world is ready for this very unique sound. The other part of me could use a good laugh on par with ‘Summer In Paradise’.

To the guys who made that pathetic attempt to convince us that Carl produced most of Wild Honey: be thankful you didn’t instead choose Mike for that lie as after this single no one would believe he’s had any experience at all with production or a sound board.

Happy fucking birthday America indeed.

It occurs to me that had Mike been the leader of the Beach Boys, their entire career would have been remakes of Surfin' Safari, just to capture that sound (and dollar) again and again and again and again...

Yeah, I’m not getting the Do It Again schtick...are you planning on suing Brian again? Or giving away this album on QVC again because no one will buy it?

As for the Brian/piano/room thing: Mike proved this excuse was a complete farce in a recent interview when he whined about the room thing then went on to brag about how he wrote the lyrics to Good Vibrations in his car without Brian on the way to the studio. Mike must think the people reading his interviews are complete idiots who don’t give his statements a second thought outside of “wow Brian and his supposed handlers suck”.

This abomination can get f***ed.

surely someone is this SS community must like it? anybody lol?  :-X

Maybe somebody who was a teeny bopper in the late 90s who thought "Fly" was the greatest song ever. 

In the late 90s, Bruce mentioned that he was working on this.  I can't remember where I read it, maybe it was on the Beach Boys Britain message board.

That was awful. The autotune was slathered on with the technique of a drunk hot dog vendor putting on sabrett onions.

Let's not be too hard on ol' Mike, even Sir Paul's doing it! (again?)

(http://dellydel.com/paul.jpg)

There's a little more about it here: http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=19328.25;wap2

He does it for his own "nourishment and revenge".  He said it.  He does it.  Why is everyone so friggin' surprised?  It's a litany of wrong moves...always made over and over and...over.  Do it again is the follically challenged cousin's mantra.  "Nourishment and revenge" the driving force.

I used to suggest that the festering mess known as Mike Love needed a PR company to set him on a course which would work for HIM first and the "brand" second.  He wants no part of that.  He's just a tad [or 3] sick.  Sick with envy, jealousy, short dick syndrome and an oh-so-expanded view of his own talent and abilities.

The only thing that will help this loyalty challenged doofus from being the on-going goofus he obviously is is to retire him him from fronting the Beached Boys.  His service was long ago rendered.  Now?  He's just a gigantic sh*t...wearing a hat.

[And no...I did not, would not and will not listen to it.  Why would I f*** with something which was once considered to be really, REALLY good?  Eh Mike?]

 :lol

Don't do it again! ;D

Can't get myself to listen to this. Don't want to ruin the holiday.

Every single person who criticized Brian for having She & Him, Kacey Musgraves, Sebu and Nate Ruess guesting on his solo album can now officially go heartily f*** themselves.

For the win! EXACTLY!

Like I said, can anyone name another artist with the stature of the Beach Boys who would put out something like this DIA rerecord in 2017? No less with some clown doing that nu-metal "DO IT, DO IT..." bullshit throughout the track?

Mike could call Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit to join McGrath next time, maybe they can do Pisces Brothers and the Durst/McGrath vocal duo can yell "I MISS YA", "HARE KRISHNA", "PRECIOUS MOMENTS" and various Unnhhh and Huhhhh grunts in between Mike's vocals.

It is currently 11:40 am here, but I am opening a beer and offering a toast to you, sir. Perfectly said. Cheers!

And this:
 :woot :woot :woot :woot :woot :woot :woot :woot :woot :woot

Let me add those same people can go heartily f*** themselves in general for many reasons.

Wirestone is a legend! 8)

I wonder if the Kokomaoist response to that question would be "when Brian stops bringing John Cusack onstage."

Dellydel, thank you for making my Fourth that much more enjoyable :lol

Wirestone and Guitarfool, you guys are spot on. Though in the case of Brian's collaborators on NPP, at least most people have heard of those artists.

This. X 1000.

Too bad "the captain" is MIA and can't do a faux-fillaplage post again. ;)

sad.

I mean, geez. At least Brian tries.

Mike is like the man who decides, after finding no woman is willing to date him, to head to the cemetery and start defiling corpses.

Looks like GF beat me to the punch in complimenting Wirestone's spot on comment. Thank you both! I've got to say that I'm feeling a slight sense of validation after reading comments on the boards concerning this rancid cash in by my favorite clown. I even skipped breakfast to soak in the so deserved negative comments regarding this latest attempt by the lovester to cash in once again and further destroy the legacy. Someone said that he's gone too far this time and I so agree. It's well beyond time to take the name away and call it a day.  ::) ::) ::) ::)

Literally, this is emblematic of a sickness. The shooting-yourself-in-the-foot kind. How many chances does Mike have left to gain respect have that he keeps squandering?

This specific moment in time, with the Sunshine Tomorrow reissue, *has* to be THE last chance he had at any critical reevaluation and respect.  Because that album was really the last time he was totally kicking ass within the band, on the entirety of a whole project. And on a BB project that just happened to largely be neglected and unknown/underappreciated by most people in the general public, which was ripe for rediscovery.  

WH was the underdog of BBs albums. Mike was set to be the comeback kid for at least some decent measure of critical respect with ST, no joke.

This was it. There are no more unreleased items like that with in the catalog. Sure, there might be isolated songs here or there that are really awesome, or other entire albums like Friends/Sunflower are awesome, but no other entire albums which he was a main contributing factor to, that could possibly make critics take notice to ponder if maybe they had unfairly written off his contributions to the band.

Of course, I took notice in the liner notes of ST how Mike continues to repeatedly pump up how he and Brian complement each other, to continue to remind everybody and their mother of the implication that Brian really, really needed Mike in order to flower as an artist.  I knew he was still on a wild ego kick, but I just shrugged and tried to enjoy the music,  hoping that he would actually still get a good measure of well-deserved critical respect from reviewers, despite coming off sounding like an ass by egotistically pumping himself up in the liners.

But now this. This is going to be plastered all over the place. It's just a fucking joke of epic proportions on so many levels. The moment Mike gets people to like him, he ruins it instantly. There was literally three days of time while ST was released prior to this abomination being unleashed.   Again, fans be damned who made any kind of emotional connection to the song and C50. Screw them.  And screw BB fans who don't want their favorite BB songs ruined by TV show sitcom stars and assclown 90s has beens.

Seriously, this is some bizzarre pathological sh*t which I cannot wrap my head around.  Someone could write a psychological college thesis paper on this behavior, of  why this particular song would be released at this exact moment in time.

Baffling.

Exactly

Well, you gotta give Mike credit for one thing. ..for once this board and the people at the PS forum (even clowns like Mike's Beard, although I don't know if his troll account here would admit it) are in agreement that this sucks. When even Andrew Doe can't defend his boss, you know this is awful

Even those most skilled in the art of bullshit and spin-doctoring reach a point where the bullshit runs out and all that's left is the hard truth. History being any indication, either the losses will be cut and a disappearing act or the ignorance card will occur (wow, I had no idea! That kind of thing), or a group huddle will be called and we'll start getting talking points and complaints of "Mike bashing" in the near future.

If people don't see it all laid out on the table by now, they either don't want to see it or they've been sold so much bullshit over the years that they can't see it.

Don't forget that a live version is coming tonight

You must live in the smartest country on Earth.

I think this sort of thing reinforces what we already know, which is that this is h ow Mike rolls. This is what he *likes*. He'd much rather be hanging with Stamos and McGrath than having to be on stage with Brian or Al, where there might have to be a bit of deference (and really, that's only the case with Brian; Al wouldn't even require that).

Look, I think it's important and quite telling that in the same week an amazing 1967 compilation was released, Mike remade "Do It Again" *again* with two tacky guys as guest stars (and since when did the *drummer* get co-billing on a single? Hal Blaine *and* John Cowsill are pissed right now!  :lol ) . But I get it, a quickie set for a 4th of July gig is never going to be the place to bust out "A Thing or Two." I think what's going on here is simply an ironic contrast between two disparate elements of BB fandom and brand-building.

I do think ideally that BRI would put a bit of a tighter leash on how Mike uses the *trademark brand/band name* to plus his solo stuff. Yes, he releases it under his own name. But he *is* blurring that line a little bit (by referring to a "we" or "us" when referring to solo releases, and by *exclusively* playing his solo stuff at "Beach Boys" concerts), and if nothing else is using a powerful trademark to promote his mediocre solo stuff. It's not the same as Carl doing a track from his album in 1983; back then no single member was licensing the BB name.

But I think with the new team and new president in place at BRI, what they probably end up having to do is focus on the archives. Ideally BRI will continue to make things fair for all the corporate band members as well, but Mike can do ten albums with Guy Fieri if he wants if Jerry Schilling and Edelson/Boyd/Linett can continue to make archival releases happen.

THAT's not how you spell barfing.  ;)

I have mixed feelings about the NPP album, but yeah, Brian also put a lot more thought into those guest spots. Musgraves and Sebu actually collaborated with him (and Musgraves is an accomplished writer in her genre), and the Deschanel and Ruess vocals were given to them because their voices suited the songs.

And *all* of those collaborations were of *new* songs.

I'm not even as huge of fan of the song "Do It Again" as other fans. I like it, but especially as years went on, I've found it one of the more tedious tracks at live shows. But I'm also sure a tiny bit of the annoyance at Mike dusting the song off so often (or not dusting it off because he's not letting it collect dust!) has to do with how it harkens back to the early, positive days of the C50 project.

I imagine I also would have been disappointed if, say, McCartney had prematurely canceled the "Beatles Anthology" project and within a couple years remade "Free As A Bird" multiple times, including a duet with Cliff Richard or Sporty Spice or something.

Even that would be less annoying; Paul hasn't remade "Paperback Writer" twice already in the last five years; and he wouldn't be promoting it while touring as "The Beatles."

Well, at least the writer worked in a plug for "Sunshine Tomorrow." Though, I'm curious if the writer has actually listened to Mike's new single:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-mike-love-john-stamos-recreate-beach-boys-do-it-again-w490841

Connections can get you anything.

Worth noting that RS article lists a link to an article "Celebrities Who Completely Killed Their Careers In Seconds".

Stating again, the bullshit simply ran out and what's left is the hard truth. It's all on the table, whether people have been blinded by the bullshit over the decades or they don't want to see it laid out, it's all there on the table. From the fanbase to the actual actions to the whole ball of wax. It's hard to admit when you got bamboozled, but it's all on the table now. Almost all of it.

My kudos, and thanks, and a beer hoisted in tribute to everyone here and elsewhere across the fanbase (as few as that number may be) who had the balls to call it out in spite of the blow-back from doing so, and the need to walk on eggshells due to various interests. Cheers.  :beer

And again to Wirestone: Your words are more accurate and spot-on than some people will ever admit.

I wish I was.   Bruce used to threaten us with it in interviews back in the early 2000's.  Supposedly it played once on the radio.  I have never heard it though. 

Not to add any confusion to the thread, here is the version of “Do It Again” that was released last year on the CD set you could only get through PBS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rgCY0LznVw

Seems to have many elements in common with the version released today, but… a lot better, in my opinion.

 The fact that it had Brian Wilson, Alan Jardine, and David Marks makes it a million times better than having John Stamos and Mark Somebody.

Looks like I did add some confusion. This is Mike solo and is different from the reunion recording.

I can't imagine that anyone is going to like or buy this. In my curiosity, I went to Mike's Facebook page, where of course he's promoting the single. Unfortunately the comments won't load for me. I wonder what people are saying.

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialMikeLove/

My former next-door neighbour once met Sporty Spice----on a sports field, would you believe. Don't think Cliff was there.

Ok, I totally missed this--Schilling is now at BRI? Help me out here please

Almost all of the comments are actually really positive and encouraging. Weird, I know :lol

Not weird. It's Mike's FB page.

It's obvious!

Melinda Wilson re-fitted those autotune devices from 2012 prior to Mike, Stamos and McGrath arriving at the studio.

Bravo!   ;D

Comments won't load for me either....though I saw one and it was pretty negative. Haven't ventured to the BS board in ages but I'm glad it appears they too can't even scrape the bottom of the barrel to defend this, err, 'song'.

Also, agreed with Craig "or a group huddle will be called and we'll start getting talking points and complaints of "Mike bashing" in the near future." - no doubt this will happen. The irony being that Mike can't seem to do one interview where he doesn't bash some aspect of Brian's life, but people justifiably pointing out what a farce this song is will piss him off.

Like others have said: at least Brian tries. He, along with collaborators, explored different ground for NPP to try and make a #1 hit. They made some really cool music along the way. Hopefully Mike will one day set aside his childish "room" excuse and realize that in life sometimes you can't get what you want and you have to adapt. That's called being an adult...and people will more likely want to see your point of view when you act like an adult. Until then, good luck topping the charts with your buddies McGrath and Stamos.

 :lol

1. Bruce's contribution - recycled a rejected disco drum track from "Here Comes the Night" for this gem.

2. Mike managed to obtain and use the auto-tune presets from Cher's 1998 smash hit "Believe". Be a stroke of commercial genius if this were 1999.

3. In an "I'll show you Brian" moment, Mike has countered the Blonde/Al Jardine vocal duo with Stamos and Mark McGrath. Well played sir.

Taken all together, what could go wrong?

Remember Rolling Stone last year?

The Ballad of Mike Love
A Beach Boy asks, "Why am I the villain?"

 :lol

Surfrider. That 'Brian Moment?' I'm thinking 'sh!t on a plate' handed to Murry.

Self sabotage. How many times have Mike's solo albums been shelved? Does he think he's going to entice a record company or get respectable sales/plays with this or Santa's Going To Kokomo? There were so many other options. Put out Pisces Brothers or something, it's certainly not as bad as this. Or actually be proud of Sunshine Tomorrow, do an interesting remake of one of those tracks as a single then you have an excuse to play a relatively obscure (though tied to an acclaimed 'new' Beach Boys release) at tonight's concert. Great promo for the old band, the current band and for Mike as a solo artist.

No, Do It Ad Nauseam with Stamos and some other has-been. Nice one.

This makes having front row tickets next month a little bit harder to get excited about. I hope there isn't a whole album of this sh*t out before that gig for him to plug...

speaking of Murry, i wish Love and Mercy had depicted that moment when, not unlike King Kong, he got naked and stood atop the Wilson kitchen table and bellowed, "i'm king of this family!"  :lol

That turd given to Murry might have sounded better hitting the plate than this ungodly horror.

Folks. The legacy is safe. If "My Ding-A-Ling" did nothing to make even the slightest dent in Chuck Berry's reputation*, this fly-by-night affair by one original band member certainly won't do it for The Beach Boys.

* Indeed, Chuck's the only rock'n'roll or even pop artist with a track ("Johnny B. Goode") on the Voyager Golden Record, now out there in interstellar space.

What is the difference, really? Are you really that much more happy to hear Robot Brian singing over a Kenny G. version of Summer Means New Love?

Crap.

I don't want to speak for Wirestone, but I got the impression he was referring more to the "guest star" aspect of it, and how a number of folks critical of Brian were honing in back in 2015 on the guest vocalist aspect of the NPP.

As in, some people harped on it so much that Brian made the relatively rare move to post a statement online telling people to chill the f**k out and let him make his album the way he wants to.

So, as I previously mentioned, not only would I say that Mike's new "single" is of a similar format (and at least a few seemingly "pro-Mike" folks were coming down hard on Brian for the guest star aspect back then), I would take the extra step of suggesting that Brian's "guest spots" were more artistically interesting because they involved new compositions and/or collaborations, and hand-picking vocalists to sing some new songs.

Someone running Mike's Facebook page *strictly* monitors it and removes comments that could even be interpreted as the slightest bit critical of Mike.

A ways back, Mike put up a stupid post contending that "angry Beach Boys fans" back in 1983 mounted a more impressive protest than actual environmental protestors did back at that time, and I posted a quick post pointing out how wrong that was for numerous reasons (not the least of which was that the BBs weren't exactly A-listers in 1983 and "Beach Boys fans" weren't marching in the streets or anything), and the comment was removed *within minutes.* My comment wasn't even a direct indictment of Mike, and they still removed it.

Reposting my question about BRI. Info please?

You must not have heard the new "DO IT. DO IT. DO IT." chant repeated about 200 times in this single...talk about a bold creative statement!

Jerry Schilling is listed as the president of BRI in the 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow booklet.

Not much else known right now publicly beyond the fact that Schilling is listed as BRI President in the new CD set's booklet. I'd say this is hopefully/potentially a great move, and could prove to be momentous and the best things fans could have asked for.

What will be interesting to see is how much Schilling can enact on the archive side of things (this is where help is needed the most, and requires less of the shareholders who just have to let Edelson/Boyd/Linett do their thing and the shareholders can collect the check), versus how much Schilling will play a role in the branding/marketing side of things, and related to that, how he will handle or impact the interpersonal issues among the shareholders and specifically Mike using the trademark to tour, etc.

I'm guessing good PR and branding folks would tell Mike his "Do It Again" single is kind of lame both in terms of timing and execution, but it's early days right now for Schilling I would imagine, and one has to pick their battles, and Mike can't be controlled anyway as far as doing his solo stuff. It's probably better to not bug Mike and let him do his tacky solo side stuff with Stamos.

Actually, maybe the nauseating "do it!" chants over and over and over and over and over and over again are a subtle tip of the hat the the "do it!" at the start of "Little Pad", featured in backing-track only form on Sunshine Tomorrow. Must've been Love's plan all along to do a ST tie-in.

Mike cannot be controlled. I think that's he's made that known. Deprive him of "The BBs" name for releasing studio recordings? He uses the "we" term to make people think he means "The BBs" in his Facebook post, and gets new hats made to get around any controlling rule imposed on him. He'll try to get away with absolutely anything that he thinks he can.

I'd like to hear him asked about how he feels about his lack of ability to release studio songs under "The BBs" name. I'm sure it must bug him a ton. He surely feels he deserves to, and that it's some sort of injustice that he can't.

I wonder how many "Mike Love" hats he had manufactured. And that heart in place of the "o" in "Love"... bwwhahahahahahahaha

Another thing I want to know is, how did Mike get away with actually using the drum sample from the original BBs studio recording? With Dennis playing, no less. Does Mike have to pay or get permission to use that sample? Yet another way he tries to blur the line and make people think they are getting "BBs" product.

This version sucks SUCH ass it's remarkable. The look on my coworkers' faces this morning when I played it in the office was a sight to behold.

I'm not a fan of the Joe Thomas vocal production whatsoever, and it bugs me greatly to hear robot-sounding Brian on modern recordings, too.

But at least Brian's not:

-remaking the same song that he remade and released for the THIRD time in the last few years

-tastelessly remaking a song that was specifically just separately remade and used for The Beach Boys reunion in a "we're all together again, ain't it sweet?" kind of way, thus sh*tting on any fans who had made that emotional connection to that song when used in a remade modern context

-using TRULY embarrassing hack guest stars (I guess it's subject to opinion how much someone likes or hates Brian's guest stars on NPP... I'm not a fan of many of them, but none are remotely as embarrassing as the DOUBLE SHOT of a Full House actor and Mark McGrath  :lol)

-I despise non-transparent Autotune usage with every fiber of my being, and that goes for Brian, Al, Mike, or any non BBs artist...yet as bad as some of its usage is on some of Brian's material, this is a FAR, FAR worse hackjob (and by Mike, who had the chutzpah to hypocritically and laughably diss Brian for using Autotune in an interview)

-releasing a turd of such epic proportions within 3 days (!) of one of the greatest reissues that THE ENTIRE BBs' BAND should take pride of and focus on promoting

-at least remaking Summer Means New Love has *some* artistic purpose, something potentially interesting to bring to the table, to see what a song like that instrumental tune would sound like with lyrics, which for all we know might have been floating around in Brian's head for that song way back in the day. I don't love the NPP version, but it's at least an *attempt* at something of quantifiably more potential artistic value than Mike's laughable new release

Those are just some of the differences. There are more. Curious how you'd respond to this list.

Don't feed the troll. If someone truly can't tell the difference between a Mike solo single version of Do It Again with McGrath and Stamos and Brian's "Somewhere Quiet," which is the actual title of the bonus track in question, he or she is willfully ignorant. (And for those who actually care, the song was an extra on the deluxe edition of No Pier Pressure, co-written with Scott Bennett, and originally intended for Love and Mercy movie as a flashback-style thing.)

Shocking indeed, although I already see some mitigating (e.g. comparing this Mike remake to Brian remakes or Al remaking BB songs on his solo album, which is frankly an insulting comparison for a myriad of reasons).

But yeah, it's bad when the foremost Mike defender of all time on the internet can only muster this about the new Mike single: "It is not the worse [sic] thing I have ever heard."  

Yikes, Cam Mott is pissed... ;D

Well let's not rule out the possibility that this single could be used for Mike's documentary that is due out...um, a couple years ago?

In all seriousness, I never knew that about 'Somewhere Quiet', or I forgot. I would've loved to have heard that in the movie somewhere!

Maybe the house scene with Melinda and then it fades into a 1960s scene with "SMNL"

I read somewhere -- possibly from one of the musicians (Brett Simons?) that the two Scott Bennett co-writes on NPP were meant for Love and Mercy and that Brian was originally supposed to provide more original material for the soundtrack. You can imagine Brian and Scott sorting through the archives and crafting new things for the movie out of old snippets and instrumentals.

Regardless of the tantalizing possibilities, those plans shifted and the sessions all went toward the album instead. Left unsaid in all of this is that I suspect Scott is the uncredited co-producer on those two songs -- they sound markedly different than the other material on the record. (And, of course, One Kind of Love ended up in the movie anyway.)

Instead of searching through this thread for the direct link, a few minutes ago I went to look this video up on YouTube by typing in "Mike Love Do...", and it's sad that it immediately defaulted to auto-fill in a couple of other more popular suggested options prior to "Mike Love Do it Again".

I'm thinking it might be wise for Mike's people to suggest a change to YouTube's algorithm, because people who innocently search for this song on YouTube are gonna see these suggestions first.  

(http://i66.tinypic.com/2mpkk5k.jpg)

Mike did it again to his rep... >:D

Too bad he couldn't get Bart Simpson on this

Fixed that for ya ;)

It's crazy to think that three out of the five suggestions are downright negative for Mike.

Mods, I vaguely remember a rule where you can't mess with other people's quotes, if this is a violation I understand if it's deleted.

This is pure garbage.

I let my ten year old listen to it. I wish I'd done one of those reaction videos. I *think* she said "what the what", but I'm not so sure. She said it kind of low,  but I can't get after her if I didn't hear it clearly, right?

So besides her possibly cursing,  she had some thoughts about it...

1) She said it sounded like it was sung by Siri
2) It sounded like parts of the 2012 version were sampled  (or as she put it, (copy pasted).

My wife's thoughts are probably not suitable for print

even for a 10 year old, I think that would be appropriate in this instance.  :lol
she's only telling it as it is!

:lol this is the best joke about the track :lol

Oh my god!!!! :lol

Siri!  :-D

"And the children know the way, their song is love"- BW was onto something in surf's up! :hat

I think even with the uptick in attention the PBS TV show gave this "single", it's not exactly burning up even the online digital charts. It's currently ranked #1,089 in albums and #1,145 in songs (the single track is both an "album" and an individual song the way things are cataloged there).

Meanwhile "Sunshine Tomorrow" is still #22 on the CD chart on Amazon (it's also #516 in digital album sales; but this is probably because the digital download is inexplicably nearly twice as expensive as the physical CD set).

:lol

Child is the father of the man!  ;D

I don't think anyone realistically expected it to burn up the charts.  Two days into its release, it has 1,237 streams on Spotify.  In comparison, Wild Honey had about 10,000 streams two days into the Sunshine Tomorrow release.  Aside from that, nobody even knew about it until a few hours before its release.  If Mike ever does get a solo album together, I expect it would do a fair amount better than this "single".

The original post I was replying to appeared to suggest that Brian's tremendously poor artistic decisions should be validated or elevated by Mike's tremendously poor artistic decisions.

My response to your post: virtually everybody whose devotion to the Beach Boys lies above "casual" and beneath "diehard" considers NPP and DIA'17 to be equally disposable latter-day solo works recorded by septuagenarians. Only super fanboys think about any of the points that you listed. "At least Brian's music is newly written" is a total fallacy that I'm seriously not interested in engaging with. Bad music is bad music. The irony is lost on anyone who believes this new Mike Love single is something reprehensible but thinks NPP advances the case for Brian Wilson: Musical Artist. For the majority opinion of how NPP contributed to his legacy, consult the exceptionally honest Tiny Mix Tapes review (https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/brian-wilson-no-pier-pressure). (For the record, I disagree with some aspects of the piece, but the general sentiment is dead-on.)

With all due respect, that reviewer can do f*** themselves....

Finally built up the courage to listen to Mike's track ...sweet Jesus... as a Brit I don't really know who Stamos and McGrath are but I guess the nearest Brit equivalent would be if Mick Jagger was to release a single with Dean Gaffney and Joey Essex.

I appreciate the reply. But while I'll admit there are MANY issues with NPP (I'll honestly state that I have some major problems with its vocal production,  the over-abundance of Autotune and guest stars, and unlike some people, I feel no need to downplay how much these things bug me just because it's a BW album)... there are also some genuinely very solid moments on the album too.  

I can honestly say that I feel Brian put some love and well-meaning effort into the songs... especially the song about his wife which was then nominated for a Golden Globe. (Not that such a nomination automatically makes it worthy of praise - lots of turds get nominated for awards - but this happens to be a solid tune).

One Kind of Love is a great tune, one of the best of Brian's solo catalog. On the Island is a rad one too. I certainly dig This Beautiful Day. None of those songs are anything remotely approaching outright embarrassments. IMHO. And there are also other songs on NPP with some very good parts about them, even if they are dragged down in one way or another to varying degrees.

On the other hand, there isn't one single solitary thing about this new Do It Again '17 remake that doesn't suck and isn't gag-inducing.

Equating NPP to the Do It Again '17 remake would only make sense if NPP consisted entirely of remakes/remixes/re-recordings of Smart Girls. Like 13 of them in a row... if that were the *entire* album. And if Brian proudly touted Dave Coulier as a guest star on all of the tracks.

Then - and only then - could we talk about it being in the same ballpark of sucktitude. C'mon; there truly is no comparison, even if one is dead honest about the faults of NPP.

That's a pretty ridiculous blanket statement and assumption. Please don't speak for any large group of fans.

 I was probably more critical of NPP than a lot of folks here, and even I would never lump NPP in with Mike's new single.

Anybody that is *that* dismissive of apparently *anything* these guys put out solo aren't going to care enough to even know about these projects or purchase them.


To go in reverse order here, saying NPP isn't nearly as bad as Mike's single isn't the same as saying NPP "advances the case" for Brian's career. Bad music is bad music, good is good, middling is middling, etc. You can't say "bad is bad", but then extend the criteria for something good to mean that it isn't just "good", but "advances the case" for one's career.

Brian's music being newly-written is not a fallacy. It's fact. Yes, some if not much of it came from the late 90s, but in this context "newly written" means "not previously released", and that's were Mike's DIA remake is far, far different.


Majority opinion? What makes this hatchet job review the "majority opinion?" The album got middling reviews in many quarters, but even then I wouldn't say *this* particular review represents the "majority opinion" of the album or Brian's career.

I wouldn't say NPP is equally disposable as Mike's new turd-- not by a long shot, but do I think it's groundbreaking? Nah. Are those tracks among Brian's career best? No way. I listen to that album quite a bit, but I don't for a second think it's consequential to his career or legacy.

What's funny/sad about this new single is I couldn't find it on Spotify last night by searching 'Mike Love.' (Actually, searching Mike's name returns some other artist with that name.) I eventually found it by searching "John Stamos."

Not even comparable. Grasping at straws by the weak here is all that is.

Sure, there's crap on it. Runaway Dancer...Our Special Love...

BUT, Mike's single isn't even deserving of being mentioned in the same sentence as the rest of NPP.

Mike Love wishes he had something like "The Right Time" in 2017.

Mike wishes he had something as good as an album of chipmunk darts in 2017, if this garbage is anything to go by.

Are you fair dinkum mate?

'Guess You Had To Be There', a collaboration where Brian talked with Musgraves on multiple occasions about lyrics. Kacey took Brian's ideas and her own experiences and melded them into some of the best lyrics on that album. The backing track alone combines the best of country and The Beach Boys without making it a farce. It's a song that, with very few changes, could've been recorded back in the day for their Summer Days album and no one here would bat an eye about it.

So yes, I think that a song like 'Guess You Had To Be There' does advance the case for Brian being a musical artist. Of course, personal opinions about this song vary as everyone's taste is different, but no one can deny that actual creative artistic thought went into the making of this song (and NPP album). Whereas I doubt Mike was up late into the night on the phone with McGrath discussing the deep aritistic merits of repeating "do it" 1,600 times througout this remake.

That point in bold: Maybe the group huddle in this case produced how this discussion has turned. It goes something like this:

Get the people who are talking negative about Mike's new "single" distracted and in a defensive posture by pointing out and comparing negatives in Brian Wilson's releases. The people will start defending the merits of Brian's work being challenged or called out, and the issue of Mike's release being an embarrassment that has received near universal criticism from the fan base gets pushed aside as the discussion turns into one about Brian and not Mike's "Do It Again" travesty.

Don't let it happen. That playbook ran its course along with those who kept going to those same plays some time ago. The distract and divert tactic...ain't happenin'.

And don't insult the fanbase's sensibilities and intelligence by trying to say Mike wasn't looking to sell this thing.

If he wasn't looking for sales and market attention, I'd ask why the f*** did he release it when he did, riding the coattails of the '67 set within days, and why didn't he say it was *HIS* release instead of saying *OUR* as in The Beach Boys for an ignorant or gullible general public watching that broadcast Tuesday night?

C'mon.

Mike could be taking a big bow for his superb work on Wild Honey but instead rolls out this turd.  It's a head scratcher!

Agreed about GYHTBT.

This new version of DIA is just an attempt to capitalize on the Fourth of July appearance, it's about putting something out in case people who saw the show wanted to download a track they enjoyed. The choice of this particular song and the guest stars are not for hardcore BB fans, the kind who bought Sunshine Tomorrow, they're for the average people who watched the 4th of July program, and who had never heard any version of Do It Again before.

From this perspecive, this single was worth a try, and DIA is actually a good choice, since it's both catchy and relatively unknown to general audiences.

That much grating Autotune (beyond the myriad other issues) frankly negates everything good that could possibly be had from this atrocity. Especially coming from the singer who publicly dissed his former bandmate and blood relative for the same production choice (done WAY worse here).

Like seriously, I do not know how that ugly, ugly hypocrisy can NOT bug somebody. What kind of blinders does one have to put on for that hypocrisy to be okay, hunky dory?  

By your logic, Mike gargling with Listerine while singing the song should be released as a single just because average people haven't heard that before.

Where is the cutoff? What type of release would finally push the boundaries to be unacceptable for the brand, in your estimation? *Some* potential release, whether actual or made-up, must certainly qualify.  How about Mike re-recording Surf's Up with his own lead vocal, and trying to license his version to a phone sex line commercial on KDOC TV. Would that be okay too? (If it isn't obvious, this is a huge exaggeration, but I'm trying to see where your barometer would fall, because I cannot wrap my head around anyone defending this feces-esque DIA '17 release).

One *could* argue that if there was someone who wanted the buy the song after watching the PBS show, they could have easily searched for "Beach Boys Do It Again" and found the original recording.

Whatever Mike's motives for releasing this single, it surely wasn't to just help out fans who otherwise would have no idea how to obtain this rare, hard-to-find song?

Of course, in actuality the song is far from "relatively unknown." While it may not be in the absolute top tier of the dozen or so most well-known BB songs, it's pretty recognizable and well-known. It hit #20 as a single in the US, it was a #1 single in the UK, has been performed at most if not virtually *all* BB concerts since 1968/69, is featured on the top-selling "Sounds of Summer" compilation, and was the kick-off track for the promotion for the 2012 anniversary tour (and was the opening song on that tour as well).

Sure, there are probably super young folks who aren't familiar with the song, but I'd wager they also then wouldn't be familiar with a bunch of other generally well-known BB songs either.

Regarding this new single not being targeted at hardcore fans who bought "Sunshine Tomorrow", one of the points of "Sunshine Tomorrow" was to work towards bridging the gap between hardcore fans and younger, hipster fans exploring the band's catalog. To release a single to a "different demographic" (e.g. new, casual fans or non-fans) literally *days* after a release like "Sunshine Tomorrow" that was trying to bridge that gap is just rather cynical. As I've said before, it's not like I would expect Mike to go on that PBS show and bust out "A Thing or Two." But geez, he *could* have worn a "Sunshine Tomorrow" t-shirt or baseball cap or otherwise plugged *that* collection more online instead of pointing everybody towards a Mark McGrath collaboration.

I'm surprised Mike didn't arrange for a Toby Keith duet to release the weekend after "The Smile Sessions" came out.

"We have a brand new single, out today." - Mike Love as lead singer of The Beach Boys introducing 'Do It Again' to the audience.

Unfortunatelty (or fortunately), anyone searching iTunes for "The Beach Boys Do It Again 2017" will come up with zero results as he performed this track live as a Beach Boy but released it under the name Mike Love...which just further confuses people.

It was an attempt for Mike Love to use The Beach Boys name on live TV to confusingly capitalize on his own solo venture. Of course it was worth it for Mike to take advantage of this moment.

It's 2017 and we're okay that this abhorently autotuned collaborative remake (3rd time this song has been remade for release in the last 5 years?) with a sitcom star and a guy no one has ever heard of is being advertised by The Beach Boys for a Mike Love solo single?

To your average person this is just a fender bender; an accident worth looking at but forgettable an hour later. To us fans this sh*t is a mile long trainwreck. I love that Mike was so perturbed by one of the last tracks on TWGMTR that he formed his fingers into the shape of a gun and put it to his head when the song was played back to him...he gets moody about that song but sees this comically autotuned collab with a yoghurt salesperson as something to be advertised on live television to the entire country? This band's legacy/priorities are all kinds of f***ed up.

And the rub is that I don't think much of anybody, certainly in this thread, is contending that NPP is "groundbreaking."

My issue is with lumping Mike's new single in with Brian's recent output. They aren't the same animal at all. Sure, in both cases it's an old dude, each a former Beach Boy, putting a recording out. That's about the end of any comparison. Brian's project was a full album. Mike's is a single. Brian's project was mainly new songs. Mike's is a re-recording of an old BB song, and one he has re-recorded at least four times in his career, including three times in the last six years. Mike is promoting his new *solo* single by playing it at shows labeled as "The Beach Boys." Brian promotes his solo stuff at "Brian Wilson" shows. Brian put thought into his collaborations and either co-wrote with his "guest stars" and/or hand-picked vocalists for specific songs much in the same way he did back in the BB days. Mike, well, I guess we don't know precisely how he stumbled into a McGrath collab, although Emdeeh pointed out on another board that former Sugar Ray bandmade Murphy Karges is the stepson of Carl Wilson's first wife Annie Wilson-Karges.

McGrath has covered Getcha Back on the Herbie Fully Loaded soundtrack.

His band also recorded a cover of “Little Saint Nick” featuring Carnie & Wendy (https://www.discogs.com/Sugar-Ray-Little-Saint-Nick-/release/5122555).

Check out this interview with Mark McGrath from a few years ago. It's *EERILY* similar to how interviews read from a certain other guy we're quite familiar with. Although, I'd actually give the nod to McGrath for being somewhat more realistic and humble compared to Love:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/mark-mcgrath-i-understand-why-people-dont-like-me-20130212

Thanks for linking that, HeyJude. All of this thread aside, that's a good perspective from McGrath on old bands still touring.

It's quite interesting really; McGrath has essentially settled into the stage Mike Love entered into the 80s and 90s. So many of the quotes from this article read like Mike Love. It actually explains amazingly well why the two guys are sympatico. But again, McGrath is actually more self-aware and self-effacing, saying he's the "Peter Noone of the 90s", and flat-out stating: "I've done a lot of douchey things," he tells Rolling Stone. "I understand why people don't particularly like me."

Where he's similar to Mike is that he's largely fast-forwarding past new/artistic endeavors and he's already prepared to sail for the rest of his life on his hand full of 90s hits: "Again, we all have a ton of hits. You're going to hear them from top to bottom, quick changeovers. We proved last time this will work. I'm ready to do this for the rest of my life."

The only difference appears to be that Sugar Ray doesn't have enough hits to tour on their own, so they've done a lot of 90s package tours, much like bands from the 50s and 60s did so in the 70s/80s (and on).

So is anyone getting added onto the songwriting credits for all the new "DO IT"s?  :p

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4eScf6TMaM

 :lol

Or:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7oxjVfZvNw

Mike needs some eye-candy on stage! :smokin

When I make my ULTIMATE BRIAN WILSON SOLO MEGA-MIX, long after he's dead, (many versions of which I've already made over the years) you betcha there will be a couple to a handful of songs from NPP, just like there will be a couple to a handful of songs from every single solo BW album.  None of them are Pet Sounds, but they all have their moments, and those moments are sometimes stupendously good.

It makes me sad that for some people only the top 98 percentile of this guy's work is good enough, and that means the rest is garbage.  You're missing out on this septuagenarian's occasionally brilliant, and often perfectly good, latter day work.

Oh wait that's not what this thread's about!!!

I will buy you a beer! ;D

Hilarious. Watch the whole thing. Vic Berger is an editing genius and a huge BBs fan.

https://youtu.be/AdYbymafUd0

Brilliant....

And wow, that really is McGrath mouthing "That's Mike Love!"

 

Just stumbled on this. And oh boy. Here's where that all began...

https://youtu.be/ebXgao3swlA

Bottom line?  Mike is an out and out dick...and he's had 50 + years of perfecting ***THAT*** to the point where it's now pretty much a 'science'.  Pause and see/hear....He also has NO unique or discernible talent with which to bank on a future of anything other than mall openings, senior's residence mini shows and empty little halls...singing somebody else's songs.  [Although Stamos tagging along might attract some "nourishment".  So the 'tour' continues?]  I've heard stories about what really happens after shows and particularly about what happens behind the scenes in regard to the actual band...from some of the folks who've suffered through working for a certain horse's ass.  The boss, as mentioned, is an out and out dick.

Brian isn't a dick.  He's spent NO time working on it.  He HAS talent and continues to tour with no lip-syncing required...and no clowns or actors replacing musicians in the band when there's a possible spotlight on the whole enchilada.  So...they'll continue to play halls of note until they decide that enough is enough...all the while knowing that there are also newly released songs, as opposed to retreads from past albums, to potentially be included in the shows.  As for nourishment...let alone the Love injected revenge quota...Brian seems to rely on appreciation, positive response and reaction, and the satisfaction of purposing a project, accomplishing the goal, and enjoying the benefits of the subsequent moves and reactions which come back to him both in person and via the bank account.  

But then...let's not forget that Brian, Dennis and Carl weren't perfect and that they had issues.  No doubt there are more reminders of THAT still to come.  Let us also remember that in addition...the Wilson brothers also ALL had talent.  REAL talent.  You know...musically.  [and spiritually]  The other family in this whole, historic equation?  Well...Really?  Truly?  Not so much... ... ...at all.

You CAN'T con me Mikey boy.  You're a lip-syncin' fake from WAY back when.

Lee Marshall gets it! :)

 :woot :woot :woot :woot :woot :woot :woot :woot :woot :woot

Side question... where did the  "nourishment and revenge" quote originate from?

One place was Mike's book.

Speaking of Stamos, the part where he jumps up to show boat and completely misses miming to a big drum part is an extremely underrated part of that whole travesty.  It's classic Stamos.

As Craig so accurately pointed out...dirty Mike told us all in his stinky little booklette that he does what he does for his own "nourishment and revenge."  HE said it.  Not me.  I just quote him.  It explains why he has been [and "heh now"!!!... "has been" certainly works in  every way, shape, and form when discussing disgusting Mike] such a complete and utter TWEEZOCK since somewhere in the vicinity of 1966.  

So?  He tours for his nourishment.  What exactly about dim-witted Mike-Eddy needs this so-called nourishment?  His ego?  His bank account?  His sex life?  I don't know.  His need to feel like he's in charge and calling the shots?  His vehicle to inflict a captive audience with his 'tunes'?  His fast fading credibility to try and get in one last kick at somebody's can?  A final chance to prove that he is one of the all-time biggest arseholes ever in the music biz?  Or is it really just, bottom line, about gettin 'some'?  That almost sounds like a BINGO!!!...don't it?

The revenge?  Lawsuits?  Firing Brian, Al and David?  Laying claim to royalties for inconsequential blips on the band's musical horizon?  Undermining the credibility of the legacy?  Calling into question the value, worth and obvious talent of anyone and everyone named Wilson?  Heart [Ann and Nancy] and Wilson Pickett's estate better cover their keesters.  Better to shoot first and ask questions later I guess.  [and then just keep shootin'.]  Mental illness? Pshaw!!!  W/O Scott Totten the Beached Boys would be nuthin'.  Mikey ain't no music director.  He's just an egoist floating on someone else's artistic talents.  He tried to keep a lid on it...but those aren't lids.  They're just cheap hats.  Hats which no longer even read Beach Boys.  Now all they say is Dick Love.

How fitting.

Don't get me wrong, I think this new version is crap, and I wouldn't pay five cents for it, but it's just product put out in the hope some 50-year-old guy in the Midwest will download it because "I liked that Beach Boys tune they did with Sugar Ray on the PBS show yesterday". As for the autotune, sadly that's the sound people expect now. It was applied incompetently, but this single is obviously a small-time operation. Somebody probably told Mike the song had better commercial prospects with autotune.

It's just old Mike trying to release something in the hope it might sell a little bit.

Yeah, I'm not sure about this part...

This showed up on my twitter timeline retweeted by the most unlikely non- bb source. Someone who normally tweets politics/social issues. From Australia.  Must have got a bit of traction on social media. A lot more than the song ! :)

It's true, though.

As I've never read his book… do you know, or does anyone else know, the context of that quote in the book?  As in, what was the entire quote and the topic at hand when it was said? It sure is sad (although perhaps refreshingly honest, despite being completely warped) that he would admit that revenge is a driving force behind his actions - even though I'll always say that I have empathy to a degree for him that he got screwed out of the song credits which he actually deserved. That is unquestionably very shitty, although it just doesn't excuse other mega shitty actions, of course.

Everything you said in your last reply is certainly factual; I guess where we differ is the idea of whether or not it's a truly disgraceful embarrassment or not.  And if you *don't* think it's a disgraceful embarrassment to both him and the brand, I'd like to know specifically what type of BBs or Mike release would qualify as such for you.

What would it take, if not this?  Honestly.  (Regardless of its faults, NPP - lest it be used as an argument- is nowhere in the league of this. It absolutely has isolated moments of merit).

Just because there's perhaps one low-information Joe Schmoe in a random city who might purchase this song, I don't see how that absolves its release from being anything but a completely terrible, terrible idea which unquestionably should never have happened.  

It certainly does not help the band legacy or his reputation, particularly at this moment in time on the heels of ST.  It's just one more reason why people won't take the guy seriously (including people who maybe were ready to give him some legit positive reevaluation); most ironically, this moment in time should be a time for him to bask in how people would otherwise be appreciating that vintage release.  I don't see how this is an arguable point. People really need to stop defending this drivel and just universally admit it was a complete disaster on every level that should never have happened ever -  especially when one considers the timing. There's no wiggle room in this, let's be real here  :lol  I know this is all just opinion, but c'mon!

God! that is so weird and funny.

I'm just wondering who benefits? Mike is probably going to make at best $100 from this thing from digital sales - which, firstly, goes to show just how deep in the mud he has dragged this band since the C50. Secondly, it shows just how out of touch he is with music these days...the only people who like hearing autotune are teenagers who listen to the Ke$ha/lil Jon top-40 songs...and they aren't eagerly tuning into PBS on July 4th to hear 76 year old Mike Love lip sync to an already deplorable mix of his remake of DIA. What's funny about this autotune is that Mike mocked Brian for potentially using it for The Right Time single. Yet here and on his Christmas single he uses it so haphazardly that even the most ardent Mike apologists couldn't find anything nice to say about it.

So again, who benefits? This is Mike taking advantage of his Beach Boys touring license to promote a poorly done solo remake that has more comedy appeal than it does artistic. It's not worth it to the fans, it's not worth it to the legacy, it's not even worth it to Mike himself as it probably cost more to make this thing than he's getting back from it.
_______

I won't get into the NPP arguments, but I will say that what HeyJude said is right on point about Brian's collaborations. There are people who posted here during that time (who actually know what the hell they're talking about) who wrote a lot of posts documenting how Brian picked the collaborators. Check the archives here for some great posts on the making of that album...pretty cool stuff.

Lil Jon should have been on the single yelling "yeah,yeah!" 8)

Regarding the autotune: I've said it before, I don't think Mike has a big problem with autotune. He only began talking about it after people started criticizing it on this messageboard (and probably others but I'm no member on any others, so I don't know). It seems clear to me that he just used it because he'd read it on BBs messageboard.

True. Just funny he doesn't see how hypocritical it is to say a single won't be great if there's autotune on it, then turns around and uses it in the most unprofessional way.

SB, Lil Jon and Brian need to collab on Drip Drop asap...."yeah motherf**kers, lets go!"

Oh my god, that would be a number one hit! :lol :lol :lol

That's not the case - and there is more to it as you know, but topic for another discussion. If it were the case, then the stories in his book about C50 and autotune devices being "attached" to microphones to Mike's horror and dismay are bullshit.

And again if it were the case, isn't it pretty pathetic to have Mike using that as a weapon to stick another knife in his cousin in a bogus 'review' of Brian's single that was actually a megaphone for Mike to air grievances and "set the record straight" instead of just taking 3 minutes to listen to his former bandmates' new song and say something like "I'm happy for them, it's a good record" or simply not comment at all?

Instead the decision was made to join the effort to throw sh*t - again - on Brian joining in with online idiots and trolls publicly instead of keeping it clandestine and relying on mouthpieces and lackeys to do it...oops, I shouldn't say that.  :smokin

Whatever the case, it's pure hypocrisy to have such a thing go down with criticizing the use of it on C50, NPP, etc and then have so much blatant use of it on the two most prominent piggyback singles Mike himself has released since NPP.

Hahaha for real? Makes me more happy I never and will never read that book. What a hypocrite.

Time to bust out Photoshop for some album art concepts :lol

The autotune story from Mike's book is one of many of "nourishment and revenge". Mike didn't get his nourishment of constant attention from fans and groupies as the "one" BB on tour. Plus the other BBs tried to let go of decades of revenge that Mike lives on.

Time for BW to get Crunk! :lol

I have no problems with it. I can't understand all the fuss, to be quite frank.

Thank you, filledeplage!!  :3d

No question but that Fourth of July week(end) is actually one of the crankiest timeframes of the year in the USA. Mindlessness and id-like behavior are encouraged as a phantom gateway to what the Lovester once called "all-out fun."

While fun may be in the eye of the beholder, much of what we behold just ain't fun. And there's the rub. All of which makes Mike and his desire to dive into the mosh-pit of America's faux-patriotic pseudo-spectacle that much more hard to take.

The good news is that it will all be over in two days, and we can go back to all the other civilization-shredding surrealism that was put on hold for hot dogs, fireworks, and autotune...

Let the old boy get his kix, I say. A few of the concert attendees who site Kokomo as their fav BB song will enjoy it and it will otherwise be forgotten. I don't think it's damaging to Mike's or the band's legacy. Ignore and it will swiftly disappear. It's also pretty irrelevant that "Do it Again" was re-recorded in 2012 already because that version has sunk without a trace also.

;D

This performance has been fantastic publicity for the Boys. A guaranteed audience of millions! If a handful of those millions (even just one individual, dammit) decides to investigate further and gets hooked, that performance will have served its purpose. So why knock it?

JK has a point, but what a way to find out about the group.....  :brow
Well..... it's only uphill for those folk
 :rock

JK, I respect your willingness to see the glass half full. Before I listened to the recent single I tried to go into it with that same attitude but that thing was so overwhelmingly bad I just couldn’t see any positives.

“If a handful of those millions (even just one individual, dammit) decides to investigate further and gets hooked”

Believe me, it probably was just one individual, and I think that’s the issue here: It could be the whole damn audience that gets interested enough to get back into this band - but a performance of this poor caliber is doing very little for the fanbase. It is a squandered opportunity where more fans are left scratching their heads than getting excited for the music. The biggest moment of their concert was introducing Mark McGrath and John Stamos to help sing a solo single that Mike even advertised onstage - as it was released as a Mike Love solo single what iTunes page does he want people to go to? The Beach Boys or his own?

Here’s a guy who was apparently dismayed at autotune being used for the C50 - and why wouldn’t he be? It is an atrocious little tool when used unprofessionally and it’s a slap in the face to the legacy of America’s most unique vocal/harmonizing bands to use it in this fashion in concert. So he gets pissy that it’s used during the C50 (and had it been used on Brian’s NPP single) but now he has no problem using it? I’m not pointing this out for the obvious hypocrisy going on here, I’m pointing it out because at one point apparently Mike himself hated this vocal effect so much that he complained about its use in interviews and his own book...it’s that bad of an effect to him. And I would hope this irritation was stemmed from a sole dislike of the effect rather than some petty grudge he has against certain people - though sadly I’m sure it is the latter.

Regardless, let’s say that one person did enjoy the autotuned lip-synced performance that he/she heard - besides Joe Thomas’ disgrace of a C50 CD I’m not sure they’ll find anything in the catalogue that remotely sounds like what we heard on the 4th. And if they did like the Mark McGrath collaboration they won’t even find it on The Beach Boys band page anyways as the version the audience heard is a Mike Love solo single.

Perhaps I'm a little out of my depth here, but I still feel it's worthwhile to at least try to inject a little positivity into a situation that until now has been treated as 100% negative.

Although I must confess I bust a gut reading some of this topic's inspired descriptions of Mike's hapless single...     

here's what McGrath is really like when he's not clowning for an audience or knocked out under the plastic surgeon's knife

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvjD0SkoFr0

I guess I’m really out of the loop when it comes to Sugar Ray or Mark McGrath (I have no idea who they/him are). After all of this I kinda wanna stay out of that loop forever. Given all the negative reviews in this thread can we expect Sugar Ray, cough, I mean Mark McGrath to show up to tell us that we’re all nothing?

@JK, again, commendable that you’re trying to interject some positivity. The way I see it: Mike has pretty much gotten nothing but good reviews here and elsewhere for his latest string of concerts (except for this Fourth concert). Give credit where credit is due, I say.

Agreed on the credit bit. And add me to the chorus of good reviewers. :=)

Incidentally, I played the original DIA recording and the new Mike single in the car with my kids (all 6, who range from ages 4-16), and asked them which version they like better. To my dismay, they chose Mike's new remake. Why? My teenagers said they preferred Mike's version because it had "more beats" and because the original release-- while they recognize that it features all of the original BBs-- "it sounds like crap."  So crappy autotune trumps crappy production in my kids' minds.  (The muddy sound of the original is my big beef with it, too.) Mind you, these are the kids of a Beach Boys die hard, who are a captive Beach Boys audience for at least several hours per week in the car.

But... BUT, then I played the 2012 C50 remake and that became their favorite version because a) Brian's voice is prominent and b) it doesn't sound muddy. 

"Why have we never heard this version before, Dad?"

"Because some idiot somewhere decided to only release it on the CD that came with the zinepack thing that you could only get at Target during a 3 month window, so when I finally got my hands on it online I had to rip it and add it to a playlist, which I had to side-load to my iPhone."

I couldn't remember if that was the ONLY release of that version, but my point was it was a throwaway track. My point (well, one of them) is that while we keep joking about DIA being redone and redone and redone, I'm not sure how relevant the far superior C50 remake is, since approximately 30 people in the world have ever heard it.

Interesting side note, though... After playing C50 DIA for them, I played the live 2012 version from the Isn't It Time EP.  The kids preferred this version better than any, saying a) Brian, and b) it was so much more alive than the C50 studio version.  Overall, there were no comments whatsoever-- good or bad-- about autotune on any version. It wasn't noticed and was not factor.

The 2012 "Zinepak" thing was even worse; it was a *Walmart* exclusive. I didn't mind them not putting the DIA remake on the TWGMTR album. It could have easily been released as an online single. But the point with that remake was two-fold:

1. An exercise to apparently see if the four main BB guys could get through their first session together in 15 years without murdering each other.

and

2. A promotional tool for C50.

It was made to be an online video to promote the album. Again, as I mentioned, why they didn't go ahead and sell it as a "single" online eludes me; it wouldn't have hurt. But who knows, maybe it was promised to Walmart as an exclusive (in the US anyway). The track was tacked on to the Japanese version of the TWGMTR.

But, more importantly when we're talking about complaining about Mike's continued remakes of the song; that is an *artistic* criticism. It doesn't matter whether 10 people heard the C50 remake or whether anyone remembers it. I'm sure even *fewer* heard his 2016 solo remake (some fans online didn't even know about it). It's not as if Mike remaking DIA *again* would be less of an artistically vapid move if the C50 or 2016 or Adrian Baker remakes had been super popular, or sunk without a trace. The point is that the fans that know Mike's career and can therefore actually judge (to some degree) his artistic repertoire will therefore know that he's making a *particularly* monotonous artistic decision by remaking the same song so many times. *Every version* Mike does is going to sink like a stone to some degree.

I do think Mike continually remaking a song which already had a remake that was integral to the promotion of C50 is probably a little bit of an extra kick in the nuts to C50, but that's not a huge deal I suppose. Let's remember Mike was performing "Isn't It Time" *without* Brian, Al, or Dave within months of C50 ending.

I mean this in all seriousness, I *think* Mike should have just done "Kokomo" with McGrath instead. I'm actually super surprised he didn't just do that.

I don't think anybody is arguing Mike's new remake is hugely damaging to the band's legacy. It certainly doesn't help, and most certainly makes him appear extra unimaginative and artistically vapid, but the whole thing will indeed be a distant memory before long (if it isn't already).

I think the move is more simply an interesting and telling decision on Mike's part. Quitting the band in 2012 and clearly looking *far more* excited and invigorated singing next to Mark McGrath than he ever did on C50 singing next to Al Jardine tells us some important things about Mike and helps us face up to the harsh realities about Mike and the band that I guess we have already known for a long time.

As for the C50 version of DIA sinking without a trace, as I mention in another post, the success or failure of previous versions doesn't matter when we're talking about Mike remaking the song *four* times in the studio simply being an artistically uninspired decision. It's just lazy and uninteresting. It's the same thing as Capitol repackaging the old hits. Mike didn't try to "get in a room alone" with McGrath and write a new song. Mike can't be bothered to even *listen* to Brian and Al's recording of "The Right Time", but can throw shade on it regarding autotune, and then he goes back to his bunker and two years later comes up with robo-McGrath and robo-Mike singing the same friggin' song he's performed at every concert since 1969 and the same song he's re-recorded numerous times with and without the other BBs.

In terms of studio recordings, even Ringo hasn't remade "It Don't Come Easy" or "Yellow Submarine" FOUR times. (Ironically, while the albums are kind of forgettable, Ringo continues to crank out albums to the point where I couldn't even tell you how the songs go on the last couple).

"1. An exercise to apparently see if the four main BB guys could get through their first session together in 15 years without murdering each other."

Jude, thats pretty much it! :lol :lol :lol

I'm just really hoping that this isn't the first installment of singles for his supposed Beach Boys cover album. I cringe to think what other obscure artists could be helping reinterpret Beach Boys songs down the road.

Mike is merely continuing his tradition of devaluing The Beach Boys brand. "Do It Again 2017" is the worst Beach Boys-related product I've heard thus far; pretty big achievement, all things considered.

For those comparing DIA '17 to No Pier Pressure, Brian doesn't always make the best choices artistically... but he *is* an artist. Brian is a person who creates new things, while Mike is someone who crassly, tastelessly attempts to exploit the BB brand for profit.

The fact that Love couldn't pick another Beach Boys song to redo, after having covered the same song last year and in 2012, speaks volumes to his creative bankruptcy. DIA '17 makes "Santa's Goin' to Kokomo" look like a real artistic statement.

"Do it! Do it!"  ;D WTF?!?

On the other hand, I do find myself listening this track and showing it to friends because of how absolutely horrible it is. That's something Do It Again '17 has going over the majority of No Pier Pressure, which is merely a bland, workmanlike Brian album - Imagination MK II.

Anyway, good to be back on SmileySmile :)

B00ts! ;D

Welcome back!

I remember you posted a self-recorded BB track under the name b00ts----it was "Wonderful" (I just looked it up and revisited it) with those awesome ascending backing vocals... 

Thanks for the kind words, glad you enjoyed it! It's available for free download at isobelmorris.net. I will probably revisit it in a few years with the singer of Smashmouth and the guy who played Screech on Saved by the Bell ;)

It's good to be back :) And hi, SMiLe Brian!

Another thing I'd like to point out for those whose take on the single is "Meh, it's just a single, and it's kind of goofy or stupid, but it's no big deal and not hurting anything", I'd say this:

I think little one-off items like this would be much more palatable if there were also plenty of other riches from the group to soak in at this same moment in time. That is, if the C50 lineup had stayed together and made another album or two of generally decent quality, continued to tour with a great band and great setlist, and if we were in the middle of an onslaught of releases as part of a huge archival program, then Mike going off and doing essentially his solo version of the '87 "Fat Boys" single would just be a little blip.

Now, we're *getting there* as far as this is concerned, at least with the achives. "Sunshine Tomorrow" is the best thing imaginable in this (hopefully) next new phase of working the archives. That "Sunshine Tomorrow" exists probably *is* why Mike's single has been more laughed off rather than even more strongly derided.

But this sort of single becomes a main focus because it's *all* Mike is doing or has done for some time now, and the actual BB group doesn't release new music anymore (and the only active member releasing solo albums, Brian, isn't cranking them out every year either anymore).

Imagine if George Harrison had come out, after five years of inactivity, in 1987 *not* with "Cloud Nine", but instead a re-recording of "For You Blue" as a duet with Kylie Minogue and Ginger from Gilligan's Island. This is kind of maybe a *bit* like that.

... Except that I would actually really want to hear that.   :lol

Still waiting for kreen's reply on this...  

I'm not kreen, and I do think Mike remaking DIA over and over is definitely an embarrassment to everybody involved, but I'll go ahead and say something that amounts to utter blasphemy here:

I think almost the entire Love You album is an absolute embarrassment to the band, the brand, and all involved.

Mind you, I realized that Love You was creative, new work, etc. Not trying to compare apples to oranges. But I almost wish it didn't exist.

It's worth noting though, that whether one personally likes "Love You" or not, it isn't widely derided among the indie/hipster/hardcore/nerdy fans, and thus many prominent critics (the type of critics who would ever care to review the album certainly).

So in terms of overall critical sentiment, and thus how it impacts the brand, I think "Love You" is a net positive, again whether one personally likes it or not. I'm not *as* enamored with the album as its most hardcore devotees, and I think "Mona" is compositionally one of the most annoying songs Brian ever recorded and released. But the *songs* are there enough on the album that I still think it's brilliant. And in terms of both composition and production, it's Brian following his muse which I think is something he should be doing more often. An album released in 2017 full of "Message Man" type tracks would be cathartic I think for both Brian and fans.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion, although personally, I don't agree with it at all. I mean, I can understand why people would feel it's an embarrassment due to the raw nature of the backing tracks, and the sometimes clunky vocals, etc. It's VERY different than other BBs albums.

But yeah, it does have some VERY creative stuff on it, and I personally love the heck out of that album. Dearly, I do. And as HeyJude pointed out, it has many, many people and influential critics/artists who love it, so it's not any sort of blight on their legacy even if some people (even a sizeable amount) don't like it. Too many people love the sh*t out of it for it to ding their legacy. Apples and oranges indeed.

I just want to know why people (not you, bonnevillemariner) who defend DIA '17 (there aren't many!) insist on ducking the question I posed above. It's seemingly unanswerable, so duck, dodge is the only option.

Kreen called it crap, so I'm not sure how you consider that defending the song.

It's one thing conceding that it's not a good remake, it's another to take the additional step of stating that it should never have been made and is an absolute, utter embarrassment to the band/brand (I honestly cannot understand how any fan won't bring themselves to say that), as opposed to grasping at straws to find an excuse, saying that it's okay or justifiable somehow because one random dude in the middle of the country likes that version of the song.
 
Maybe some people privately think that it's an incredible embarrassment of unimaginable levels, but don't want to publicly say it lest they be accused of "bashing"; but ultimately it's just being honest. It's not an overreaction, it's *that* bad.  I hate the idea that fans should play "soft" to excuse unimaginably terrible stuff like this. It's not like we can simply wish it to not exist and cause the song to evaporate from existence, but I just think people should be more honest about how much it sucks, and how shameful its release is for the brand.

It's all down to whether one feels a sort of "meh, it sucks but it's not a big deal" sort of attitude serves as a defense of the track. I'd argue that position doesn't really defend the quality of the track, but it does defend its existence and downplays the criticism of it.

Which is fine of course. I don't tend to extend Mike that much leeway in a lot of cases, because he has heartily earned the skepticism of fans. A lot of people also had a "meh, the reunion had a set end date" attitude, which I felt (and feel) was way too dismissive of that whole situation.

It might be embarrassing to us hardcore fans, but the reality is it's already in the dustbin of history at this point.  Nobody is talking about it except us here and over on the PS forum.

I understand what you're saying, but it's such a small time release that I don't see it having any negative impact on the band.

Unfortunately, we'll never know if some prominent writer at some influential blog might have been writing a legit, non-sarcastic, well-intended reevaluation piece about Mike's talents in the wake of Sunshine Tomorrow's release, only to decide to scrap such an article in the wake of DIA '17, as well as how its parody video has gone somewhat viral (on a relatively small level, but still). I mean, this is not reaching to assume a scenario like this might actually have occurred.

As I previously mentioned, I was (for several short days after ST's release, pre DIA '17's release) newly thinking of Mike in a way that made me feel like "maybe Mike was right, maybe him + Brian was really a magical combination on a level that I never quite realized", and I was thinking about posting a thread about it on this board. But DIA '17 just took the wind out of my sails, man. So I could completely understand similar scenarios possibly occurring in the world of actual, influential (non Smiley Smile messageboard) music blogging.

So if we're gonna discuss the topic of "Nobody is talking about it", unfortunately the reality is that the "it" in question is more likely in regards to critical reevaluation and praise for material that Mike should deservedly get praise for. In all likelihood, if critical praise pieces for Mike were possibly going to have been written for one brief moment in time... nobody in influential circles is gonna talk about it with regards to ST anymore due to DIA '17. Yep.

And that irks and pisses me off, because I *want* him to get praise where praise is due. I legit *want* to like Mike Love and his contributions to the band. But it's VERY hard to talk about how great Mike is at the exact moment in time he sh*ts on the legacy in the worst way possible.

The dustbin of history is where Mike's reputation has fallen, right at the moment the tides could've turned *just a little bit*. He was never gonna undo all the damage and terrible things he's done over the years, but ST was a very, very unexpectedly good thing that for a brief moment could have helped his reputation out *somewhat*. Don't you agree DIA '17's release was literally the PERFECT way of dampening any potential praise or respect he could've received for ST? Could Mike have done a better job if that was his mission? 

I think most any single event like this is not a huge factor in the band's career or legacy, etc. But critics have pointed out in the past how the whole Mike/Stamos presentation is an embarrassment and certainly demonstrates the art/commerce divide between Mike and Brian (among others).

It doesn't help the band or brand in any way, so it really only slightly injures it because it's more fuel for critics who (I believe rightly) point out how everything to do with the single (Mike's use of the name, Mike's shtick, Mike's thing with Stamos, Mark McGrath, etc.) is not something to be proud of.

The rock press who, despite the band's complete lack of presence on classic rock radio and a couple decades of watering down the trademark, talked this *band* and *brand* up in 2012 (as Howie Edelson put it, Mike going from Frankie Valli to Mick Jagger literally overnight) will never again do so given Mike dumping the reunion and his subsequent reversion to Lou Christie (and the 2017 version of Lou Christie, Mark McGrath), which includes things like this DIA single.

As with most things Mike does and says, it's all more emblematic of the underlying issues than it is a huge *cause* of any of them.

I won't repeat my previous long post, but again, there are really zero positives and some slight negatives. Hardly an epic event on the scale of, say, Mike's '88 Rock Hall speech or something. But it's a slight net negative on most everything Mike does, when it comes to the *brand* and *legacy* that is. He does well for *his* organization, Meleco, and *his* band members, and *his* concert fans, etc.

This isn't always the case, though. Mike glady participating in "Sunshine Tomorrow" is great, and hopefully he'll keep doing stuff like that.

I can just as easily say no writer was planning to write some piece that re-evaluates Mike's role in the band.  I mean, everyone already knew what Mike contributed to Wild Honey, why would this release change that?  I completely agree with HeyJude about C50, but this is a completely different scenario.  There's no earth shattering revelation about Mike that came with this release. 

I guess that's where we differ.  I don't see the negatives hurting anything when it comes to the brand and legacy.  The people who hate Mike still hate him, his facebook fans still like him, and 99.9% of casual music fans don't even know the song exists.

Well right off the bat that's not quite true, because as I stated, I myself was pondering writing such a piece on this board. That's not equivalent to a Rolling Stone/Pitchfork reevaluation article, but it proves at minimum that people with knowledge of the band actually had such an inclination. I'm just one person, but I don't think it's such a stretch as a possible scenario.

What would you say if it provably came out that my scenario was actually true? Would the blame just go to that writer for letting some silly remake spoil what should be clear-headed reevaluation for Mike Love? Or would then it be fair to say that Mike really shot himself in the foot with this one? There are lots of what-ifs and things we'll never know with regards to this band, but saying that Mike's contributions were ripe for rediscovery at this moment in time (and that people, or in my case, just one person, thought about writing praise for Mike within the band's contextual history) is not some wild idea. It's possible, and perhaps even probable that it would've happened.

If there's anything earth-shattering, it's just that the WH record needed a second look (and listen) and due to the immense talents of the people involved in its release, it finally is presented with a mix that it always deserved. It IS in fact earth-shattering how good the record is, when compared to how "meh" it previously sounded with its original mix (just my opinion, but an opinion shared by many others I'm sure). I have played ST for casual fans of the band, who suddenly were FLOORED by how awesome the album is. It's *that* good a remix (not to mention the bonus tracks).

That's why it's all the more sucky to have any good Mike vibes spoiled by Mike himself for the umpteenth time. If DIA '17 came out a year after ST, it would still have sucked, but not quite as much. That's half the point I'm making.

That's great that you were pondering re-evaluating Mike's role in the band, but you didn't actually write anything.  You had Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and up to Monday evening to write such a piece, but you didn't.  All of the major sites were done talking about Sunshine Tomorrow by that time anyway.  If they had anything to say about Mike, they would have said it by then.

Firstly, I had yet to fully listen and relisted to the entirety of the set, and to really soak it in. There isn't a time limit on when people can write stuff, either on messageboards or on websites. Somehow you are magically putting a time limit of when a positive piece might need to have been written to suit some narrative that minimizes what potential damage a release like this could cause around the time of ST.  

The elements that might plant the seed of motivation to get someone to write something (writings that might eventually take a few weeks to actually come to pass) would probably be based in the positive vibes that were set in the days after first hearing the tracks. The experience was soured somewhat for me. I'll certainly still love ST and will listen to it a lot, but for awhile anyway, I'll be reminded of the coinciding release of a giant diarrhea dump on the legacy. My motivation to write a positive reevaluation of Mike simply evaporated upon hearing this absolute garbage. Sorry.

The timing makes it feel like DIA '17 was released as a bonus track on ST.

For as much grief as I may give Mike on this board where I feel it's due, I'm also the type of person to positively tout his positive contributions in person, to get people I personally know to reevaluate the guy positively. I absolutely feel that his good stuff should be praised, and that people shouldn't irrationally ignore the actual good things he did for this band.  I have spoken such good words before because I feel it's the right thing to do.

Personally speaking, part of liking the Beach Boys on a deep level is appreciating the "underdog" factor where as a music fan, you feel a need to make sure the band's positive offerings are properly respected on a level they deserve (because so often they are not respected in a way they deserve by many music fans). I feel the same about the "underdog" aspects of Mike, which of course exist; I'll generally go out of my way to defend his good in-need-of-praise contributions to my last breath, and will be pissed at anyone who tries to say the good stuff ain't good just because he acts like a toolbox a whole helluva lot.

DIA '17 sapped my own personal motivation for wanting to go the extra mile like that in this instance. At minimum, any underground person-to-person word of mouth type of stuff has probably been dampened somewhat by this lame release (same for other people like me who might do that as well; I can't be the only frustrated fan of this band who feels the need to talk good things about Mike when possible) . I was planning to have a listening party with some friends for ST (still planning on it, no date set yet)... I can only speak for myself, but I'm less motivated to want to tell everyone who's sitting around chilling out to the tunes about how kick-ass Mike's contributions specifically are on this set. I cannot imagine I'm alone in feeling this way. It's not that he erases his past contributions, it's just that he reopens old wounds that as a fan, sour my feelings on him in a very big way. A modern DIA remake being the C50 reunion theme song only makes it even worse.

This. The rules of engagement are different out here in cyberspace. And not everyone has all day to write stuff anyway.

Late to the party....

Saw this last night. The re-remake of Do it again is just awful in my opinion. Why do it again?

It reminds me of a karaoke version but with an original member and some guest stars.

And who wears their own name on their hat?

Id have more respect for a new release that was an original song written somewhat recently even if it wasn't good.

I find the hat absolutely hilarious. It brilliantly encapsulates Mike's inordinate arrogance overall. I kind of want that hat-- if only to smirk at the irony.

(https://morningbrayfarm.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/smokey2.jpg)

 :lol

JK, you win the internet today!

This is great! :lol

There needs to be a perverse scavenger hunt-type game where someone gets one of those Mike Love hats and then tries to get people like David Crosby, Van Dyke Parks, Nelson Bragg, and others to pose in it.

And OSD! :hat

Nice one JK.

Good points about the timing, reminds me of John & Paul jockeying to see who would announce first that they had left the Beatles (or rather John holding off his announcement out of consideration for the others and Paul smugly taking advantage to make himself look good). Or even more, Capitol releasing their Best Of package so soon after Per Sounds. Just typically atrocious taste, 4th of July or no, but Mike never thinks about these things.

I swear I'm not a gratuitous ML basher, and I understand the matter-of-fact acceptance of the negligible impact of this on the casual fans, but seen from a larger perspective this kind of cheapening is truly an outrage IMO and we should be less jaded and more indignant about it. Not to sidetrack unduly, as HeyJude says, the Mike-instigated C50 implosion is underplayed, and is a perfect example. Whether Melinda's methods and minions were cramping his streamlined style, despite his fronting the band earning him some leeway, as long as something obviously special like that was going down, Madison Square Garden and larger, more comprehensive band image rehabilitation beckoning, he d--n well owed it to his cousin (and himself, even if he couldn't see it, but of course he's entitled to his own priorities) to suck it up and go for a rare chance at yet another brass ring. He also owed it to the band;s legacy, and yes, the serious fans, who have supported them through all these years and would have been immensely gratified to see a huge mainstream commercial (and critical, though that was already underway) resurrection.

How many major elder statesman outfits with their mainstream potential (not counting the B act circuit) do you see selling out to this degree? NONE that I can think of! It's an absolute disgrace and, like the current presidency, rather than lapse into apathy, people who care about this band, its music and its image and legacy should stay passionate and bear witness to Love's ultimate sellout, no matter how much it hurts. Yes, there is a carefree, fun aspect to it all which, if the diminishment of the personnel and musical content and overall cheesiness of the presentation wasn't occurring would be tolerable and even wonderful, but with Stamos, McGrath etc. Dennis and Carl would have reached a new level of disgust, were they alive to see it.

:lol JK that's fantastic ;D

Regarding the hat, it would be one thing if Mike had a solo career.  And unlike Smokey the Bear ( that's gold, JK) Mike's  brand really doesn't exist ! I may as well put my own name on a hat and wear it.

We need another thread dedicated to hats.

Imagine that Ringo Starr started touring as the Beatles...which would be ridiculous enough. But then pretend that he decided to remake 'Paperback Writer' with Rob Thomas (of Matchbox 20 - about as random as Mark McGrath from Sugar Ray) slathering it in autotune, releasing it as a single under his solo name, and performing it with Rob Thomas at a "Beatles" concert being broadcast across the country on a major holiday.  

It would be the pinnacle of absurdity yet it's actually happening to our favorite band.

Dammit Rab, that is the hard reality of the situation. I need a beer....

Cheers, SB...wish I had a Guinness right about now! :beer

"Happy Wednesday" I have skunky bud light lime left over from vacation....

Have some Sunkist™ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUrxYhFNk5g) instead.

Seriously though, skunked beer would probably leave a better taste in your mouth than this DIA single!

Wasn't skunky bud light lime served in club Kokomo (RIP) ? ;D

 A remake of All I wanna do off Sunflower would have been much better. Probably one of Mike's best songs.

 

But the new DIA is such a low-key, barely-released-at-all single that it can have no impact on the brand. What it would take for me to be angry is if ML personally blocked something like ST from release -- and he didn't do that.

Well, to compare it to Mike's situation, it would have to be Ringo - or Paul - touring as the Beatles with a later addition to the band - Billy Preston? - along for the ride. How about Macca with Kanye West?  :lol

Taken from one perspective yes, this isolated release will have "no impact on the brand" as many here have said, basically because it's already in the toilet (leaving aside Brian's tours), at least as far as modern-day iterations, lawsuits, classless infighting etc.

From another larger view, each smarmy ill-conceived step DOES make a difference, and is a missed opportunity to turn perceptions around, again using the example of how monumental C50 was just on the cusp of becoming when the plug was pulled, Madison Square Garden beckoning etc. Seen in that light, which is the more meaningful light IMO, DIA is more consequential.

I could think of a ton of hypothetical scenarios of things Mike could do to disappoint or anger fans. Block releases, kick a dog, sue to strip Al Jardine of the right to use the name "Al Jardine"; all sorts of stuff. But none of those hypothetical worse scenarios make something like Mike's single *better* in any way, or somehow blunt whatever small impact it might have. Imagine a major label releasing the single:

"New from Columbia Records: Mike Love's "Do It Again" featuring Mark McGrath and John Stamos. Available on iTunes and Amazon Now! And remember, Mike could have blocked the last Beach Boys archival release, so this single isn't that bad in comparison!"

As for the DIA single being a low-key, "barely released at all" item, I wouldn't go *that* far. Yes, it's not burning up the charts and never would have, and a decade from now or even a year from now nobody outside of hardcore completest fans and discographers will know about it. But in the moment, we're talking about a single that was prominently featured on a nationally-televised holiday broadcast on PBS, and was plugged online not only through Love's social media, but also through a weird puff piece article online at Rolling Stone. A quick Google news search also shows a number of other websites picked up on the "news" of Mike's "Fourth of July Single!" This single is probably the most prominent thing Mike has released as a solo artist in eons, arguably maybe since "Looking Back with Love" in 1981. Maybe his last two solo tracks, "Pisces Brothers" and "Alone on Christmas Day" were of similar visibility, though I'd argue probably not as much as DIA. But in any event, while in the end not a huge deal, I don't think a track plugged by Rolling Stone, featured on nationally-televised PBS, and sold in iTunes and Amazon is a "barely released at all" nothing track. It's prominent enough to remind people (both those inclined to think John Stamos is awesome as well as those who loathe what Love has done to the band and brand) where Mike stands on the art vs. commerce issue, as well as on the "Would I rather sing with Brian and the reunited Beach Boys or Mark McGrath/John Stamos?" issue.

The whole issue of what Mike does to the "brand" and "legacy" is a CUMULATIVE thing. To say something he does adds to the tarnishing of a legacy or something to the effect isn't to suggest that in 50 years a history book (or Wiki page or however histories will be digested) will say "The Beach Boys were a popular, ground-breaking American rock group formed in the 1960s. Then Mike Love ruined it all with that single he released with the Sugar Ray guy."

As a long-time fan who has witnessed DOZENS and DOZENS of instances of Mike (it's usually Mike, but sometimes the other guys) doing something that helps tarnish the legacy, I can't tell you how many times I've read dismissive "Meh, it's not a big deal" sort of comments. This goes back to the Fat Boys/John Stamos/Full House/Summer in Paradise/Crocodile Rock/Problem Child era, and even farther back actually. If a huge hunk of these "meh, it's just one little thing and a blip on the radar" events hadn't happened, the Beach Boys wouldn't *still* be derided in plenty of circles, and the narrative wouldn't consistently be the disparate nature of Brian's art versus Mike's schlock.

I do not believe that Mike Love or  even Kevin Love for that matter  releasing Do It Again hurts the BB legacy or Brian's artistic legacy in the least. People other than the "insiders"  will  judge the song on its own merits. If it sounds good they will like it. If it doesn't they will ignore it and not give it another thought. Stamos and Mark are popular  with certain fans. The sooner message board followers come to grips with that ,  the better in my opinion. I am interested in hearing anything from the  band members. If David Marks put out his version of the song I would listen. If it was great , I would  pass it on to my friends. If it wasn't, I would just file it away, without any disparaging comments and wait for Al Jardine to cut Do It Again with one of his grand children. But thats just me!

If "low-key, barely-released-at-all" is the reason why you feel it can have no impact on the brand, what if Mike took out front page articles in major newspapers, and a billboard campaign across major cities? Would you change your mind then? Serious question.

Honestly, I'm trying to understand the logic which somehow seems to imply that *nothing*, literally *nothing* that any of the Boys could possibly ever release could be a terrible, terrible idea that is an utter embarrassment to the brand.  This is as bad as it gets, and is associated with the brand name THE BEACH BOYS since Mike was plugging it while playing a show with the brand name in front of one of the biggest places an artist can play a show.

As HeyJude pointed out, Mike's actual promotional push for this is pretty much as big a promo job as a guy like Mike is realistically capable of doing in 2017. My hypothetical promo above is absurd, admittedly; no 76-year-old artist is going to do that for a one-off remake single. But clearly, it's something that he absolutely actively TRIED to get noticed, which of course is completely understandable for any artist releasing something.

What if a new remake of God Only Knows by one of the band members used percussion that was entirely their own sampled farts and belches, and they advertised that as such? Would that be ok too, and not an embarrassment to the brand? I just don't understand the implication that everything is ok and non-embarrassing, no matter what.

I also want to know if this applies across the board to all famous bands; is the idea that no legacy band can ever possibly release anything that is an embarrassment to the brand, ever?

I was of course kidding about Kevin Love, and of course I care as much as anybody about the quality. All humor aside, my point is that  I do not think Mikes version of Do It Again will be an embarrassment. Mikes band has made some very nice improvements since the 50 th . Im sure his current band took a lot of time trying to make a credible version of the song.  Maybe I'm just tired of the Brian's legacy is going to be ruined implications. Mike is his own worse enemy when he speaks. On the music side its all very subjective. Ive heard some of the Andy Paley Sessions material that is worshiped on these posts, Ive passed it on to my friends. Many thought I was kidding when I said it might be released.  They thought it must have been Brian just screwing with all of us!  The vocals and production took a lot of getting used to for me also. One persons raw is another persons sloppy. Stamos is no John Bonham,  or even  Dennis, but does the song require  those guys or Keith Moon drumming on it? And some people even like Sugar Ray!

Timbnash68, If David Marks put out a version of DIA he wouldn't be performing the solo remake under The Beach Boys name on live television. I think that's where my irritation comes in. Mike has apparently changed a few of the lyrics of 'Getcha Back' for his live shows, he has remade DIA and performed it as The Beach Boys. What happens when he makes this supposed solo album of covers (which will likely be in this same autotuned nightmare we hear on DIA)? Will he perform those solo reinterpretations under The Beach Boys name on live television for the entire country to see (just like he did for DIA)?

Yeah, this song is just one tiny droplet of annoyance. But it's one droplet of countless in a bucket that has looked like sh*t for so long that we think nothing of it these days. Baywatch, Stamos, Full House, Tribute To NASCAR, Summer In Paradise, the ridiculous 2005 lawsuit, the "firing" of Brian and Al at the end of the C50 (yes I know they weren't fired), Mike complaining about TWGMTR post 2013 (even though it was their highest charting album since Summer Days!).

Anytime these guys make headlines anymore, aside from the occasional archival releases, it's usually something stupidly negative or embarrassing. The "legacy" is that had Ringo pulled this same stunt with the Beatles name on a national holiday it would've made every musical news headline across the world in a negative way. But for The Beach Boys it's not news because this type of embarrassing sh*t happens all the time with the band. The legacy is that the 1960s Beach Boys were one of the greatest band of all time. Post-1980s the legacy, outside of a few beautiful gems, is of a band drenched in tacky, embarrassing, spiteful, and negative behavior that seems to be eminating from one guy...and, proven by this latest single, it's not gonna end any time soon.

I respect your opinion. And agree that the BB's do not sit at their rightful seat at the Rock legacy lunch table. And I also agree that Mike playing golf course openings and having dancing girls on stage ( in the 90's) hurt the brand. I also hate the fact that the 50th reunion was cut short, on and on. My little point is that Mike is just furthering his  tarnished image and not harming Brian's or really the Beach Boys with this particular re make. And in a way I think Mike does keep the band legacy going to a certain degree. These days better than ever with  his  current incarnation of the band. I would like to sit down with Mike and his people and try to convince him that the 17th remake of this song wouldn't have been my choice. But in a obtuse way I think it just adds to Brian's legacy rather than take it away. And it makes most people miss Carl and Dennis and Al and Brian and Blondie even  David more. What Might  Have Been as the song goes. But I do get upset when we take it too far and start ripping everyone who trys. Mark has fans, Stamos has fans. and Mike Love has fans that might really like this. Ive heard some pretty bad covers of Brian's material , Ive always looked at it as a honor for Brian, and if I thought the cover sucked, I just didn't play it again, rather than trash the band or singer for trying. Didn't William Shatner do a cover of MR BOJANGLES once? I m sure I didn't like it, but I do not think that The Nitty Gritty Dirt Bands image was tarnished by it.

And one last point, dont Brian and Al receive money for The Beach Boys name that Mike is licensing? If they are worried about their image, wouldn't they stop? I don't suspect that Brian at least really needs the income. So he or his team don't seem to be that worried.

This is kinda my point: if the legacy could be better then obviously something is currently hurting it to not make it as good as it could be. The C50, the top charting TWGMTR, made it clear that people want to see Brian, Al, Blondie, and Marks in the band again. Imagine the legacy if Brian were able to record a follow up to TWGMTR. Imagine the legacy if the C50 continued. Instead, Brian recorded a solo album and Mike is doing this thing with McGrath using The Beach Boys name.

Brian and Al do receive money for Mike's touring. It's probably in both Brian and Al's best financial interest to keep Mike happy as he's proved himself to be fairly childish with the lawsuits when he's pissed off.

The name is licensed to Mike by the Beach Boys' legal entity, Brother Records Inc. There are four shareholders -- Brian, Al, Mike and Carl's estate. Because there are four principals, it would take a vote of at least three of them to change the status quo. Carl's estate has no reason to upset the apple cart. Therefore, as angry as Brian or Al may or may not be, they still don't have the ability to stop Mike from touring if he fulfills the license conditions.

You know Tim, I'm actually in agreement about being interested any time the main guys (in my opinion that means in order: Brian, Dennis, Al, Mike, Bruce, Blondie and Carl) put something out. I like that they are still trying to do something. And while I don't think that even if Mike put out a billion of these it would harm the legacy, what it does do is just cement him as a bit of a jerk off with a major lack of taste. But is that really anything new? So put simply, I'm glad he's trying, but what he is trying at is embarrassing.

That about sums it up. The only good in this is that Mike has an apparent urge to create and actually release content.

I should add though that what has consistently bugged me about Mike since C50 is not that he puts out new solo work (shoot, I even encourage it) or that he tours all the time, but that he uses the name THE BEACH BOYS to enhance these things. The touring obviously speaks for itself, as he is touring under the name of the very same group that released Pet Sounds and all the other wonderful work. And the recording work is fine unto itself, but it's super bothersome when he is promoting his new solo work via the Beach Boys vehicle, blurring the lines when talking about things like "our new single" and things like that. Because when people hear this guy Mike Love on TV saying "our new single" I would assume that what this guy means by "our" is THE BEACH BOYS. And while I've even bought the mp3 of "Pisces Brothers" on iTunes or Amazon or whatever it was, why is that solo Mike Love song being performed by the group known as The Beach Boys? It's not a Beach Boys song, it's not a song associated with The Beach Boys, and it is not conducive to helping "the brand" as performing solo Mike Love works at the shows does nothing to shine more light on the group. And this is regardless of the quality. If Mike Love wrote something better than "Hey Jude" today and started performing it at "Beach Boys" shows under the pretense that it was a Beach Boys song, that would be as much of a crock as this is. And just for the record, "Pisces Brothers" is no "Hey Jude." sh*t, it's hardly better the "Revolution 9."

And it seems like I keep having more thoughts on this, but ultimately this whole thing with solo Mike Love tunes being performed by a band labeled as "The Beach Boys" stems from the bad decision that was made around 1998 with the license and everything. Because once Brian, Mike and Carl's estate agreed that there could be a touring group out there known as The Beach Boys without Brian or Al in it, but also specifying that they couldn't record under the name really made the whole thing a bit of a mess. And as much as I adore Brian (and anybody who knows me from this board knows that Brian is one of my favorite people in the entire world) I have to say that the legacy everyone is so worried about suffered the most damage when it was allowed by Carl's estate and Brian to let a faceless group of hacks go out there and represent themselves on the road as The Beach Boys. I'm sorry but it's true. Maybe I'll get attacked for it. Now maybe Brian never thought he would return to the group back in '98 and he and his wife thought that this would be a nice way to keep the name out there and also make some nice money. But besides the money, all this has done is devalued the name. You wanna know why C50 was playing amphitheatres instead of arenas? Because instead of the majority of the public building up demand to see the real Beach Boys since 1997 or 1998 or whatever, the average person probably thought, "what? How are they reuniting? They didn't break up! I just saw them last February at the Dodge Dealership opening!"

I don't think this reasoning washes. So, if it sounds good, then people like it. That's good for the artist, right?

But if people don't like it, then it's just ignored with no consequence or negative connotation? So there's no negative for the artist?

If people (whether hardcore fans or random listeners) don't like a track, that's a net *negative* for the artist. I don't think much of anybody I've seen commenting on this song online seem to like Mike's new single. Even the all-time infamous Mike defender on another board, who has made excuses for literally *every single* awful think Mike has done or said, couldn't muster more than a "it's not the worst thing I've ever heard" review of the track.

On the track's own merits, regardless of how many times Mike has recorded it or what name it was released under, or even who is singing, it's a bad track. It sounds awful. It's tinny and pinched-sounding, and the vocals are processed and autotuned to the point of not sounding human. I guarantee you if this single had been *heavily* pushed by a major label, it would have been *decimated* in reviews.

It's only because Mike released the track under his own name and that this single is *relatively* low key (though not literally an invisible, "barely released" track) that there's not any huge, significant damage done to the brand. But it's still a net negative for everybody involved.

It doesn't really hurt Mike (or McGrath or Stamos), because the elements of the Beach Boys brand/trademark/legacy that are ever so slightly nicked by crummy releases like this are elements that those guys simply don't care about.

I don't think anyone is suggesting *nobody* likes Stamos or Sugar Ray. The question is whether that's the type of artist one wants their own favorite artist associated with.

If Brian were touring as "The Beach Boys" and did a TV gig duetting on "Kokomo" with the Insane Clown Posse or something, maybe Mike would take issue with that and how it "impacts" the brand.

As for the musical quality of the DIA single (e.g. Stamos's drumming, etc.), I think, in my opinion, one has to have super low musical standards to find that track palatable, regardless of anything to do with legacy/band politics, etc. It's just a poorly-produced track.

Also, it's not just hardcore scholarly fans that will take notice that Mike is simply releasing a cover of a nearly 50-year-old song. Generally speaking, covering one's own song is not seen as the peak of artistic standards. There are exceptions, but Mike is basically just doing "Stars and Stripes" without the country element, and that was a project that failed both commercially *and* artistically.

That's what's ironic. The DIA single isn't a weird "Kokomo" style conundrum of art vs. commerce. Mike's new single failed on both counts to the degree people are paying attention. It's worst of all worlds. It didn't sell well or hit it big, yet got *enough* publicity and visibility so that plenty of people still were subjected to it on PBS.

And I'd go one step further and go out on a limb and say that David Marks releasing a recording of "Do It Again" as a single would likely be not terribly interesting either. I'm sure he'd do some nice guitar work, and would almost surely eschew autotune and do the whole thing more organically. But I don't need ANY of these guys to re-record "Do It Again" again. The original is there. To paraphrase the guy in "Jurassic World", "Original Beach Boys recording; Wow enough!"

The more i listen to it the more i like the 2017 version.

You must have access to better weed than I do.

I would also mention that the license issue and how Brian, in particular, feels about it and acts (or doesn't act) is not a simple issue. I think the only person who probably actively wanted to strip Mike of the license was Al, and that was probably only for a the few years between 1998 and the early 2000s.

Carl's estate having no reason to object to free cash rolling in is a big factor, but not the only factor.

Even if all three voting BRI members other than Mike called a meeting to strip the license, the whole thing would *still* likely be tied up in litigation for *years.*

And *that* is part of the genius of Mike's business maneuvers in the mid-late 90s. Once the whole enterprise was established, it became very difficult to dismantle without severe financial consequences for the corporation and/or some of its members.

Al evidently saw this coming in 1997 (if not earlier), as evidenced by the description of his reaction to Mike bringing David Marks onboard in 1997. Yet, he couldn't do anything about it. He was the lone active dissenter it appears at that time.

In any event, as of 2017, I would guess the scenario is that Brian and Al recognize the huge set of drawbacks to trying to lobby or move towards stripping the license from Mike. So they're in this weird limbo where they aren't exactly super supportive of Mike using the name. Rather, they seem to just tolerate it, and/or are resigned to it. Not that there aren't drawbacks to doing that as well. Al (and Brian and Al on their tours together) have apparently been harangued on occasion for too prominently using the BB name to promote their shows.

The lines have always been blurry. This really goes back to the '70s and '80s when solo Dennis/Brian/Mike/Carl songs were performed at BBs concerts. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

C'mon, I think everybody is missing the obvious. The *2018* version is going to be the one to watch for. That one's just going to have Bruce on the lead and the guy from Smash Mouth, and maybe Urkel. Strangely though, it will still feature Mike on the cover, this time wearing a "Bruce Johnston" cap.....

I don't think the two situations are quite analogous. Back in the 70s and 80s all of the living and willing members of the band were *in* the band using the name. The "touring band" and the "studio band" were one and the same. Had the 1982 touring "Beach Boys" wanted to release a re-recording of "Do It Again", it would have (or could have) been released under the BB name.

In 2017, the "band" essentially doesn't exist and instead Mike is a solo artist who, for concerts *only*, pays to use the BB name. So you can have the same guys performing the same song on stage and then on record, but under two different names. So the situation is more confusing because Mike as "The Beach Boys" is performing a Beach Boys song on stage, and then on record release the *same recording* (remember, they just mimed to the studio track for PBS) under Mike's name.

In 1983, the "touring Beach Boys" were essentially "covering" live Carl's "What You Do To Me" record. With Carl present. 

In 2017, Mike Love solo is covering on record a song originally recorded by the Beach Boys, and recorded in 2017 by a licensed "Beach Boys" touring operation.

A closer analogy would be if Carl had released his solo album in 1981, but then went out with his *solo band* without most of the other BBs as "The Beach Boys" on tour, playing stuff from his solo record and old Beach Boys songs.

Well, yeah, all situations are different. The point being that the "touring BBs" performing solo songs live has precedent going back decades. That's fact. I was thinking more along the lines of Pisces Brothers, as sweetdudejim had mentioned that song, so I admit that Do It Again 2017 presents an additional twist, but still...the point stands. I'd hope/prefer that a solo Mike (or Bruce) song was announced as such before being performed, to avoid any confusion. And I suppose I wouldn't have been opposed to the license barring the performance of solo songs, but it appears that is not the case. I assume that wasn't even considered ?

Yeah this is bullshit. "The Beach Boys" as an entity at those times weren't a name loaned out to a member at those times. And due to this, the only things that could be done now are to showcase Mike Love or Bruce  Johnston* solo material. There is no chance for Brian or Al to incorporate, say, "Let It Shine" or "The Right Time" or "Waves of Love" as Mike has chosen to exclude them from the band by quitting the group in 2012 so he could then go on tour under the group's name but not have to tour with it's two other living founders.  So basically Mike is using his power given to him by BRI to perform Beach Boys material to also promote his solo career, regardless of how dead-on-arrival it is. And as big as the "Brian Wilson" brand has grown to be, The Beach Boys brand is bigger and gives a larger platform to whatever it is promoting. And therefore, what Mike is doing is NOT the same at all as Brian or Carl doing their solo stuff in the '80s.


*Bruce Johnston recording new solo material. Ha! That's a funny joke. That woulda required him to actually do more than clap and complain about Democrats for 30 years.

The only reason Mike Love still has a career is because he can tour under the Beach Boys brand. Without that he'd be finished. 

Meanwhile, Brian has really built his brand into something very respected.

The other question to ponder: does Mike actually *care* about brand confusion when he uses the "our" in talking about the release?

Does anyone actually think he cares? It's plainly obvious he only cares when he thinks brand confusion is a threat to him. I don't for a moment think he's exactly *happy* to be wearing the hat with his name on it. That had to have cost him tens of dollars to get custom-embroidered; dollars that he wouldn't have had to spend if he'd been able to just keep wearing the BBs hat.

Maybe with the money he racks up for Spotify plays of DIA '17, he can break even with the embroidery costs.

But the entire setup and legal standing for the current "touring Beach Boys" is completely different now as compared to the 70s or 80s. And I'm not talking about the members or lineup. I mean that presently, the "touring Beach Boys" is essentially one member's solo tour which pays a licensing fee to use the name.

Back in the 70s and 80s, the "touring band" and the "studio band" were one and the same legally. Today, the "studio band" literally doesn't exist, and the "touring band" is legally barred from using its own licensed name for studio recordings.

So no, the "touring band" performing a "solo" song in 2017 is not the same as the touring band performing a solo song in the 70s or 80s. It's a different presentation, a different connotation, and a different implication.

Dennis wasn't trying to blur the line between the BBs and his solo stuff when he did a few "Pacific Ocean Blue" songs for like five minutes back in 1977.  Arguably, in the case of both Dennis in 1977 and Carl in 1983 performing solo songs at BB shows, it was a case of adding the songs to the setlist for a short time to avoid those members leaving the touring band to tour solo (and yes, I know the Dennis solo tour issue in 1977 was more complicated than that of course).

I'm not sure what you are arguing with me about. I only responded to one line of sweetdudejim's post. Not entirely disagreeing, but adding another layer. I was simply considering that the way the BBs ran their tours in the past (performing solo songs), may have informed licensing decisions. As I implied, I'm not a big fan of Mike performing solo songs, but I can't pretend to retroactively have a problem with Dennis/Carl/Brian solo material performances at BBs concerts. I acknowledge the differences between the situations that you have stated, but proving that two situations are not exactly the same, does not prove that there are not any similarities. Differences in presentation, connotation, and implication are irrelevant. All I was saying is...the band touring legally as "The Beach Boys" has performed solo songs, then and now. Not entirely unnatural, is it?


Not me.

As for Do It Again '17, I can't get past the autotune and "do its". It's embarrassing. More so for Mike than anyone or anything else. Not to mention, totally unnecessary.

I wonder what Brian and Al think about this. Privately, they may  be laughing their asses off at this. Who reworks a song that was reworked 5 years ago that was a remake of a song from nearly 50 years ago? ....and each time it gets worse. No when to quit and not appear so desperate already.

Really hope they're not laughing, it's not remotely amusing. I like the cut of the jib of this thread. It either is or isn't a big deal, not both, those who are acknowledging the points but minimizing it in the next breath are missing the point.

I actually started commenting in this thread after just hearing and being appalled by the performance, wasn't even aware that it is being released as a Love solo effort, is that really true? That makes it even worse, much worse. It's of some merit that he is keeping the music alive in performance by touring it, but the original is enough and needs no augmentation. Sorry but he is quite simply a shameless, money-grubbing pig as far as I'm concerned , and along with the repulsively self-serving spin he tried to put on the events of the past in his recent autobiography this is the final straw for me. He was an integral part of the band's success but now he is no less than a cancer on the Beach Boy name and legacy.

HA (sniff).

I actually thought the Beach Boys name would be retired when Carl died back in 1998. Would have been a proper - and respectful - thing to do. Doesn't mean Mike couldn't tour with his Endless Summer band, it would simply mean that the Beach Boys was a special combination of people - 3 brothers, a cousin, and some friends; not just Mike and a bunch of nobodies.

Not arguing at all. I was simply pointing out that your analogy (that there is a comparison to be made between the 2017 touring band performing "solo" songs and the 70s and 80s band performing "solo" songs) did not wash in my opinion. Other than the literal fact that both cases involve performing songs from solo members' albums, there's no comparison. You seemed to be suggesting that Mike's 2017 band performing his solo songs was markedly similar in circumstance to, say, the '77 band doing a song from POB, and I think most everything about the two scenarios is completely different.

Specifically, *everything* about the uneasy or circumspect feelings people have about Mike's current band doing his solo songs in concert and otherwise promoting them has to do with the *current licensing situation*. And *that* is 100% different from the 70s and 80s.

Concerning what has actually informed "licensing decisions", if you read the Marks/Stebbins books and other sources, performing solo songs (or for that matter anything to do with the actual songs being performed) has *nothing* to do with how the current licensing situation arose. That licensing situation had to do with business moves back in the mid-late 90s.

Of course the touring band performing solo songs is in the literal functional sense quite simple, and of course Mike wanting to plug his solo stuff makes sense. But this is where your contention that the *implications* of that setup being "irrelevant" is missing the entire point of why some fans are uneasy about what Mike does now. Nobody is arguing that *functionally* what Mike is doing is "different." They're saying the implications of it are different, because he's the ONLY corporate member of BRI who can use the *Beach Boys* trademark in concert to plug his solo stuff. *That's* why it's different. Plus, it blurs the line between "Mike solo" and the Beach Boys as a band.

Boring but DIA isn't huge favorite anyway. "Let's do it"shouts remind Stars On 45 intro song before they get to the [artist] medley.

i dont smoke  ;D