The Smiley Smile Message Board

It was 30 years ago that the Fat Boys released their album Crushin'. I'm am no expert on the genre, but it has been described as their breakout album. And although the band seemed to have a somewhat comical persona, it appears that they were respected in the profession, and were pioneering in some aspects of Hip Hop.

So, given that Crushin' was their most successful release, and that Wipeout was the single from said album, which had a respectable climb to Number 12, does Wipeout deserve more respect among Beach Boys fans? Did the Beach Boys, in some small way, help pave the way for Hip Hop to become an accessible genre that would go on to dominate the modern music industry?

Confessions: I like this song, although the version on  Crushin' was better (different mix and editing)


Crushin' was their commercial breakthrough, although their earlier work was better.

The real question is if Mike and Bruce missed an opportunity to do Disorderlies 2, where they'd star as the orderlies.

While I'm not expert on rap / hip hop, I don't think the Fat/Beach Boys version of Wipe Out had quite the lasting impact that the RUN DMC version of Walk This Way with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from Aerosmith. 

For one, Walk This Way helped revive Aerosmith's floundering career.  And it seemed to break down more barriers when it comes to making rap more "acceptable" to mainstream audiences. 

Also, in 2017, Walk This Way seems to have aged far better than Wipe Out. 

Some thoughts:

- I've always thought from the moment I first heard it that the splashing sound at the end of Wipe Out '87 sounded like a toilet flushing. Totally serious.

- That said, I love The Fat Boys as a guilty pleasure; I owned Crushin' on cassette as a kid, long before I ever bought my first BBs album, and long before I was particularly familiar with The BBs' music.

- Is this song the first known usage of the term "The Real Beach Boys"? Funny, since that later became a catchphrase when debating the legitimacy (or lack thereof) of the various splintered camps. Maybe The Fat Boys accidentally invented a popular term.

Their first two albums are ace; they definitely went for a poppier sound on Crushin'. Weird thing, two years or so later they tried to do a (ahem) "hip hop opera" which to this day is one of the weirdest things I have ever heard.


To my knowledge, yes

I must hear this.

I wonder if I'm the only member of this board to have seen Disorderlies in the theater, in first run. (And out of being a kid fan of The Fat Boys, not out of any Beach Boys fandom, mind you!)

CD,
Interesting perspective. So since you were listening to Crushin as a Fat Boys fan, how did Wipeout rate, was it enjoyable or more of a distraction from the rest of the album?

I saw it in the theater back then too (I was 9, btw). When they were pushing Ralph Bellamy (can't remember the character's name) in the wheel chair at full speed during the credit roll, I remember  I about lost my sh*t.

I'm not CD, but for me at first it was a guilty pleasure, not because of the Fat Boys, but because the Beach Boys were on it (sort of, I think only Brian and Mike were actually on it), and at that moment in time it was very uncool to like the BB. It fit the album, though it was weird because it came between a love ballad (!) and an ode to sex (!!), neither which the Fat Boys had done before (or since).

Look what I found

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-08-17/features/8901060169_1_fat-boys-tin-pan-apple-beach-boys

Very cool!

And here are 14 cuts from that "rapera":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeuJ4in8gos&list=PLwoyYQXxXlKO7XJ9sr9om49eKljWHy4iM&index=1

Funny this topic comes up when people are freaking out over Mike's version of DOI.

I don't begrudge anyone for liking this but...

to me, this is (nearly) the nadir of The Beach Boys' recording career. I don't have any problem with The Fat Boys and obviously have no problem with The Beach Boys...but never the twain shall meet. Truly appalling version of the song. The only redeeming value for me is the wall of Brian Wilsons singing backup.

And yet...still not as bad as "East Meets West" with Frankie Valli & Whoever-happens-to-be-The-Four-Seasons. Two groups that seemed so well matched put out a song that could barely pass for incidental music in "Hardbodies". 

..yet not as bad as the absolute bottom of the barrel..."Happy Endings" with Little Richard. You have rock and roll's wild man Little Richard on a record and he sounds like he's weeping over a Casio.

Ay-yi-yi!     

I have this vague memory of watching the music video to either Wipeout, or possibly a different music video of theirs. I wasn't really into The BBs at all yet, so I guess it was just *there* and nothing I remember standing apart from the other tracks too well.

I definitely was a bigger fan of songs like "Crushin'", "Falling In Love"... and "My Nuts".

Wipeout is more bland by comparison. At the time, I was probably more into the drum machine/dance-like sounds and synthy touches that the band did on some tracks. Wipeout is kind of the odd track out on this album, but that said, it didn't stand out like a sore thumb to me at the time.

Nice!!

It's pretty remarkable that The Beach Boys are featured on an album with a song called "My Nuts", a tune that is specifically about testicles.

About. Testicles.

Yeah, Rocking the Man in the Boat is about cunnilingus, but at least it's a euphemism that isn't necessarily obvious at first listen. This song straight up says, in its title "It's about NUTS!!!!!"

I wonder what The BBs thought about that at the time.

I guess they were balls deep in questionable career choices at that point.

A person can like or dislike the recording, the idea, the genre (rap, I mean; I assume vocal-oriented pop isn't an issue for people on this board). I don't care in the slightest about that. But I will say, I thought then, and think now, that "Wipeout" was harmless fun. Like CenturyDeprived, I probably preferred the Fat Boys to the Beach Boys at the time of its release (and I was a HUGE fan of "Disorderlies" at the time, probably because if I'm not mistaken, there was partial nudity ... never discount partial nudity when you're talking about an 11-year-old boy's movie tastes).

Honestly I think there is no comparison between it and the new Love-Stamos-McGrath DIA. (Though I don't care much about the latter either, and certainly don't subscribe to blaming it for the collapse of the band's legacy and/or western civilization.) The Fat Boys were popular at the time. Rap was an increasingly popular new form of music among pop audiences. It made a lot of sense then to try to capitalize on it, whether the attempt succeeded or not (and on what level, artistic or commercial). KDS is right: "Walk This Way" ended up being the better regarded, semi-similar attempt at crossover (as did the Beastie Boys' use of Kerry King on "No Sleep Til Brooklyn"). But you can't blame them for ending up the less-remembered, less-well regarded attempt. It was an attempt. A crass attempt? Maybe. A superficial attempt? Certainly. But it's fine. It was fun. It doesn't hurt anything.

The legacy is in tact. The legacy will remain in tact. The only people who think much about it, who worry, are the people who purportedly love the band the most (and so whose confidence should be strongest). Pet Sounds is never going to suck, no matter how many shitty albums, singles, sitcom appearances, or former celeb collaborations happen. It will never matter unless you make it matter.

"Wipeout" was fine. Fun. Pleasant. Enjoyable. Everyone, enjoy your summer.

Well, I think there IS a comparison because they both suck. lol (in my opinion)

...but yes, as history has proven these questionable (to be kind) choices don't matter a hill of beans when it comes to what the group is remembered for. More like odd detours for hardcore fans to discuss after history forgets.  

(double post)

My main issue with the version of DOI is the horribly processed production that makes the C50 live album sound like a Steely Dan record.

I only heard it once but I assumed it was same lead vocal from the C50 remake just imported over.

What is DOI?

Yeah, wasn't just the vocal that was imported over (the backup vocals were too, and I strongly suspect the basic track was as well). Not that it matters...Mark McGrath does not sound like himself (or human for that matter), and the less said about the "Do it Do it" part the better.  Whole thing sounds very amateur-ish, like it was done on a Fisher Price "My First Mixing Board".

Was supposed to be DIA, although it  sounds like it was recorded by someone who got a DWI on the way home.

:lol :lol

And freaking out? :lol meh, firstly it’s discussion and secondly it’s a Beach Boys forum where we discuss sh*t related to the band. No ones having a panic attack because Mike has some incredibly awful taste.

Now you're talking! ;D


Wise words, cap'n. And not a moment too soon. Have a great summer yourself. :=)

^This

Mike's an out and out  weenie.

I like this song approximately 12 /ah sh!t...make it a true baker's dozen Alex/13 times more than that 'slumber in pair of dice' remake of Surfin'.  It was one [ and really only 1 ] thing.  It was FUN!!!  It was an off to the side  group project and, for me, it neither adds to nor subtracts from 'the legacy'.  It's a rap-time kind of 'Party' extra.

The rest of their Mikey-poo inspired wiping out formula doesn't equate to doin' Wipeout with The Fat Boys.  Those 2 clowns who just hogged camera and mic time with the latest in a sadly never-ending and ongoing litany of ways to ruin the originally questionable decision to 'do it again' are not Fat Boys.  They're fake boys.

At this point?  So is Mike-Eddy.  A fake...in a dumb-ass hat.  I guess that's why he's an ass-hat.  [Multi decades of practice.]

I was in my first decade of BB fandom in 1987, so anything that got them on the radio was great to me. No, I didn't really love Wipe Out, but at least it got them a chart hit, and maybe won them a few new fans. I remember hearing all those 80's singles on the radio - Getcha Back, It's Gettin' Late, She Believes in Love Again, Rock 'N' Roll to the Rescue, California Dreamin', Wipe Out, and then Kokomo. So it's not like there wasn't anything and then suddenly Kokomo. Those 80's records are mostly forgotten or despised today, but I was glad our guys weren't 100% nostalgia yet.

Honestly... Still cruisin is their last best solid song. Forget anything from summer in paradise except summer of love, that's catchy. Forget Stars and Stripes. Now if you count Al's Don't Fight The Sea. Now that's a song!! That song should have been on the 50th reunion album. The title track off their 50th is pretty good. Also From There To Back Again is really good.

They may not be as good as their 60s / early 70s stuff, but I really like their mid to late 80s output.

I was given my first Beach Boys album on my 12th birthday, which coincided with an extended family boating trip in Utah.  That album was Still Cruisin', and I played that cassette tape over and over as I sat on that beach. It's still one of my favorite Beach Boys albums, although admittedly it's because of nostalgia.  I lost the cassette long ago and it drives me insane that it's not available digitally.  

But dang I loved Wipe Out! Not a fan of that really echoey splash at the end, but nothing quite brings me back to my teenage days like hearing that album and that song.  I've never sought out the Fat Boys version, so I'm champing at the bit for this meeting to end.

Yeah, I like it, too. Was pretty cool to see them do those songs 'live' when they were new.

Despite the abysmal "Happy Endings" (to say nothing of the abysmal "My Ding-A-Ling"), Little Richard's legacy (to say nothing of Chuck Berry's) is every bit as intact as that of The Beach Boys. I fail to see the problem.

I would say yes it deserves more credit among Beach Boys fans because as someone said, it presented the boys as contemporary artists in a different genre. I remember buying the Crushin' tape to hear the cut. I still have never heard any of other songs on the tape though I do remember Wipeout fading into a loud annoying wail that started the next track that I would hear before hitting rewind (Something like "Wahhh, Charlie!"). Utterly stunned to hear Brian and Mike singing 15 Big Ones style. I loved it. Wipeout also deserves the credit (or blame) for the Kokomo success. Wipeout put the Boys into the minds of the youth at the time. I recall Mike saying in a TV interview during the Kokomo craze that their earlier single Wipeout was very popular and paved the success of Kokomo. I even got to hear it live. It was at a baseball show so Carl couldnt leave the stage but did stay in the back drinking a soda while Billy H gave a very enthusiastic lead rap.

But, nah, it didnt do anything to make hip hop become an accessible genre.

I have little to add to this thread other than to confess that I love Wipeout.  I loved it when I was a teenager and love it today.  I really think the BB vocals are gorgeous.  Wah-wah-waahhh...

However, I do find it a bit hard to watch the video.  When they get to the break-down part with Al, Mike, and Bruce in Times Square with record players...Oh my god, it's embarrassing. 

I like the BB's 80's records; the videos, on the other hand, are mostly embarrassing; the exceptions being California Dreamin' and Somewhere Near Japan.

Never suggested Richard`s legacy was in trouble. He could record 1000 "Happy Endings" and it would make a damn bit of difference to his legacy (which has consistently been my point all along).

Brian Wilson and The Human Beat Box...two geniuses unite....

I agree. Same for Chuck, same for the BB.

Sorry if I gave the impression I was criticizing you. I just don't understand why others are getting so het up about these inconsequential lapses.   

Fun fact.  Little Richard was also on Full House

I wonder if he made a secret appearance in the Peter Sellers movie 'Being There'?  Mr. Penniman also liked "to watch".

Cause Mike told him "you should do Full House, it'll introduce your music to a whole new audience - pre-teen girls with a crush on John Stamos!" I wonder if Uncle Jessie ever turned up at Richard's concerts? Maybe to sing his very special rendition of "Bama Lama, Bama Loo".