The Smiley Smile Message Board

Discuss, review and rate Songs From Here And Back, released May 2006.

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It's a curious little CD. The live tracks are good for the most part. The studio tracks range from great (Cool Head Warm Heart) to ok (The Spirit of Rock and Roll) to plagiarism (PT Cruiser). 3.

A very nice little curio to own, Cool Head, Warm Heart is Mike's best solo work by a long distance, Spirit Of Rock N Roll is a lot of fun and as TRBB has stated PT Cruiser is just plain plagiarism - the intro sounds identical to Hey Little Cobra!, did he think no one would notice?!

Cool Head is a nice little song. Though, Christian's backing vocals far outshines Mike's lead vocal.

From what year is the live version of "Dance, Dance, Dance" and who sings the falsetto?

Universal Amphiteater, Universal City, CA, May 1989
falsetto by Jeff Foskett

Thanks! :)

They actually played the Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa, not the Universal in May 1989. Part of the BB/Chicago tour.  I was at that show, and both my memory and the Anniversario setlist confirm they did not play DDD at that show. Clearly from that era, however, and it is Foskett.

Pacific Amphitheater, Costa Mesa on May 27th and Universal City on May 30th (filmed for "Endless Summer" and partially used for the Hallmark CD).

I don't think so. Not being sarcastic, just disagree. They played the Pacific (which was indeed filmed for the Endless Summer show) and the Hollywood Bowl on the same weekend.  During the same weekend, they filmed some footage (including the campfire scenes and some performances specifically for the tv show, but this was not a concert and the only audience was 10-15 cheerleaders and actors) at Universal Studios, but did not play a show at the Amphitheater. 

May 1989 -
27 - Pacific Amphitheater, Costa Mesa CA*  [w/Chicago] [3]
30 - Universal Studios, Los Angeles CA* [4]

3  This show was filmed and used in the Endless Summer TV show.
4  Special show filmed for Endless Summer TV show. Brian again has a solo slot.

Seems to me they used the TV show tapes for the Hallmark album. BTW, Brian's 'live' 1989 vocals on this album are post-dubbed.

which shows do Wouldn't It Be Nice and Good Vibrations come from?

Cool Head Warm Heart is great! Mike Love's best solo song. PT Cruiser sounds like a commercial for a car dealership. The Spirit Of Rock & Roll is okay. Nothing special though. The live stuff is decent but not incredible. SFHAB is cool for collectors, but on a whole I'd give it a 2.

Yeah, I don't disagree with this but the songs shot at Universal Studios were not part of an actual concert.  They played two concerts open to the public that weekend, one at the Pacific Amphitheater and one at the Hollywood Bowl (which, of course, they conveniently forgot about during all media interviews during their C50 reunion).  The songs shot at Universal were done on a soundstage, not open to the public and were shot specifically for the tv show. To be more accurate, my original post SHOULD have stated they did not play the Universal Amphitheater, which is what I meant ;)

I like this cd a lot and I just wish it had 65 minutes of live music plus the 3 studio tracks.. Im guessing here but  the vocals on the live tracks aren't re done are they . So its pure live BB..  So when are we gonna get a live full cd of 93 box set tour music with unplugged music ?.. Jeez its been 20 years those tapes are buried by now.. Probably when im in a wheel chair  or dead..  The music + vocals don't have to be touched up.. Another missed oportunity ..!!  Oh and id like a full dvd of all 61 songs on C50 tour with no autotune PLEASE  !!    :h5

It's a nice little cd for what it is. Sure, I would've liked more live stuff - there were a lot more songs shown on the tv show. But it was a minor miracle to have 3 separate solo tracks included on the same cd. I do think Mike has the best of the 3; Spirit of Rock & Roll sounded better on Sweet Insanity; PT Cruiser isn't original, but it is the one track that most faithfully replicates the sound of the early stuff. Cool Head, Warm Heart makes me wish Mike would finally put out that solo album. He's clearly got more to offer than Kokomo rewrites.

Funny,

I didn't become aware of this CD until 2013 or so.  I assumed the title was a reference to the TWGMTR song From There to Back Again. 

Then, found out the CD was released well prior.  Mind blown. 

I got it after it had been out awhile, didn't cost much, maybe $6? I do recall hearing radio ads for it, one of the songs in the ad was Cool Head.

An interesting thing about this Hallmark CD is that some reports at the time indicated that if it sold well, it might see a mainstream release outside of Hallmark stores. It obviously didn't sell well enough, and it kind of had the vibe more of a freebie bonus disc than a stand-alone archival release.

It's also funny that I think some fans probably snatched up an extra copy or two thinking it would be rare in the long run, and I think it's still found online for super cheap prices. I don't think the whole project was formulated or marketed that well. The cover looks like a super generic hits compilation.

Yep, I think I paid a penny for the copy I got on Amazon Marketplace.  That is not an exaggeration. 

Definitely could have used a better cover photo - it's not one that's going to stand out as you browse the cd bins.