The Smiley Smile Message Board

If I had the chance to interview Mike Love, I would ask him what his favorite song to sing would be, not considering the audience reaction.  Mike would probably base his response on what the audience does, but I am guess he may have a difference answer if you took that out of the equation.   

Mike:   Pieces Brothers?
Carl:  Darlin' or Dancin' in the Streets
Bruce:  I Write the Songs
Brian:  Vegetables
Al:  Runaway

If I had to guess...

Mike- Kokomo
Brian- Salt Lake City
Carl- Darlin
Al- Help Me, Rhonda
Dennis- You're So Beautiful
Bruce- "All the leaves are brown" echo part of California Dreamin

If we're not factoring in audience reaction, I would have to guess Al's favorite song to do isn't "Rhonda."

I'd guess (and maybe hope?) the songs they weren't sick of singing and enjoyed singing the most might be songs that were rarely in the setlist.

But it's nearly impossible to separate audience reaction from a live setlist selection; the BBs were never self-indulgent enough to do stuff they *knew* the audience would loathe. Even doing the disco version of "Here Comes the Night" in 1979, I think they *thought* it would go over well enough.

How about the opposite question? Which song might they have least liked singing in concert? For instance, when Al started going out with his "Family & Friends" band in 1999, he clearly loathed doing "Kokomo", but would sometimes perform it if the venue/promoter/type of audience called for it.

Wait, Carl sang Dancin in the Street?!  I've never heard this - is it available anywhere? 

I actually read a quote somewhere in which he said his favorite song to perform live was Surfin' USA, because of the energy of the song. 

They performed "Dancing in the Street" in the early 90s, mostly 1991 and apparently some shows in 1992-93 as well. A lot of the performances during the time (but not all) seemed to be outside of the US for some reason.

The setlist.fm website shows Mike's band having done it a couple of times, once in 2011 and once in 2015.

Thanks, Hey Jude!  I'll have to have a close look through some of the videos from that era on YT and see if I can find it. 

There's audio of one up there on YouTube from 1991. I think it's combined with "Dance Dance Dance."

My first BB concert was that '91 tour. They did an extended dance medley with Dancing In The Street, Dance x 3, and Do You Wanna Dance? Carl absolutely nailed Dancing in the Street.  I remember it being a good setlist by 91 standards including YSGTM, TIKH, PLMW, Dancing in the Street, Still Crusin, I think Al sang Little GTO.

Hard to tell favorite songs:

Mike- California Girls or Kokomo. Fools Fall In Love has got to be up there. He has inexplicably included it in nearly every show for god knows how many years now.
Carl- Darlin maybe. I also recall a story that said Carl loved performing Surfin USA.
Al- Has said Surfer Girl in interviews before. I think DWB is up there too.  I would put Heroes up there too.
Brian- you could ask him 15 times and get 15 answers. He does love California Girls so maybe that.
Dennis- loved YASB.  He did love Rhonda too.
Bruce- tough call because he's often so ambiguous toward a lot . 2017 might say Kokomo for all we know.  GOK might be another bet. I remember an interview where he said it was a challenge to sing the lead but he did it because it was important.

I remember Dancin' in the Streets, too, sure would like to find audio or video of that. It was one of the small ways the touring band would shake up the setlist from time to time.