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680599 Posts in 27601 Topics by 4068 Members - Latest Member: Dae Lims March 29, 2024, 01:11:48 AM
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8126  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: interesting article: \ on: February 26, 2015, 07:25:58 AM
It really is a weird piece and contradicts everything that everyone (including Mike) has said about the tour and follow up plans.  I don't know who did what to whom related to the C50. Maybe "No Pier Pressure" is a subtle dig at Mike from Brian. But, it's Mike, not Brian, who seems to be spinning out in an effort to rewrite what we know of the story. It's not pretty.

Did Brian pull in a bunch of other Beach Boys for this album? Sure. Why should they all sit around collecting belly button lint while Mike tours the Beach Boys name? They wanted to go on. He didn't. So they went on without him. I, for one, don't blame them.

Then there's Mike's transparent attempts to "out Brian" Brian this year.

Cousin Bri's got a new album coming out? So what! I've got one coming out in… ah…. a few years. Yeah.

Cousin Bri's got a book coming out? Well……. Me too! So N'yah!

Brian did a Q&A on a message board?  Well…. come on over to the newly created and creepily named "Vibe Room" and post your questions to the Lovester! (Seriously. Get a PR guy, Mike. He would have told you that "Mike Love's Vibe Room" was not a good name for a forum).

One thing is sure, though. These guys definitely need to get in a room. Not to write songs, because I think that ship has pretty much sailed. They need to sit down and settle these silly issues that keep getting played out in public, decide how they want to ultimately be remembered, set their own egos aside and do what's best for the band's legacy.

Not going to happen.

As Howie Edelson has pointed out numerous times, this happens because the *band* doesn’t have management. They apparently have a guy that runs BRI (Elliott Lott), but they don’t have a manager that appears to even attempt to get all the guys on the same page, even during times when they can’t or won’t work actively together. As Edelson has mentioned, there are other unifying things they could be doing (merchandising, getting songs in movies, in other words, improving the BRAND) even if they aren’t working together.

It’s just sad. Does anybody think that a Mike book where his recounting of C50 reads anything like that article is going to help the chances of the guys all working together again. Is it even possible in, say, 2016, for the band to do even a tiny “Pet Sounds” tour (or whatever sort of project) while a new Mike Love book is on the shelves that says the things about Brian that Mike has said in the last couple of years. And, to some degree, the same would be true for Brian’s upcoming book. Neither book will likely help relations.

It’s far from a perfect analogy, but it probably isn’t a total coincidence that once Brian’s 1991 book came out, he went from at least occasionally appearing live with the BB’s to not playing a gig with them for five years or so. 

I’m just still astonished that Mike still portrays himself as so disenfranchised. I mean, doesn’t he have pretty much everything the way he wants it now, as far as the “Beach Boys” empire is concerned?

Why is he so concerned with Brian’s new SOLO album, the one that he will no doubt proclaim to never listen to?
8127  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: interesting article: \ on: February 26, 2015, 07:11:21 AM
"Brian wanted to do a rock album"

LONG LIVE PLEASURE ISLAND!  Cheesy

It is kind of amusing that Mike seems to think an album of covers might have been a better idea than an album of new songs.
8128  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: interesting article: \ on: February 26, 2015, 07:09:06 AM
Man, where to begin. For a band known for it's vocal ability, these guys are beyond tone deaf some times.  Sad

In addition to the fact that he directly contradicts himself from one paragraph to another, he also contradicts statements he made in 2012. And over what? A press release claiming that Brian intended to make a new Beach Boys album but ended up with a "solo album" (featuring 4 members of the Beach Boys, Matt and Jeff) because the band dissolved again? Which part of that is untrue? Wasn't there a Capitol/BBs recording contract that called for 3 albums or am I remembering incorrectly? I seem to recall someone suggesting that Brian's new contract was in essence an assumption of the remainder of the BB's contract.

More to the point, he ends with, "More on that in 2016 when you buy my book." Given the contradictions and seeming inaccuracies that a few have already noted, it seems less like Mike clearing things up and more like an opportunity to plug a book and make thinly veiled snipes at Joe and, presumably, Melinda.  

This passive aggressive behavior on both sides is really beneath the legacy of this band. What a shame. Where they could be working as a team to brandish their legacy (both creatively and financially), once again they fail to see the big picture.

I don't think anyone knows for sure how the Capitol contracts went. But many have said the deal was for two albums, and the live album satisfied that, and Brian's album is on a new solo deal.

As with the end of the C50 tour, I guess Mike is saying he was not contractually obligated to do another BB album. I don't think anyone has ever suggested otherwise. That doesn't address whether they could have done another album, or who wanted to do another one.
8129  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: interesting article: \ on: February 26, 2015, 06:55:18 AM
Mike 2015

How was this to be another Beach Boys album? There was never any discussions within the group either during, at the end or after the scheduled and agreed upon ending of the reunion tour.




http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/482551/beach-boys-talk-another-album-together

Mike Love on Band's Future, Label Reaction & the 'Only Drawback' of the Reunion

Though the Beach Boys' 50th anniversary reunion tour comes to an end on Sept. 28 in London, Mike Love says the quintet may, well, do it again, both on the road and in the recording studio.

"There's only one 50th anniversary, obviously, but... there's talk of us going and doing a return to the Grammys next year, and there's talk about doing another album together," Love -- who recently announced some fall dates in South America for the edition of the Beach Boys he and the group's Bruce Johnston take on the road -- tells Billboard.com. "There's nothing in stone, but there's a lot of ideas being floated around. So after this year, after completing the 50th anniversary reunion, we'll entertain doing some more studio work and see what we can come up with and can do in the future.".....


Discussions within the group? WTF were they doing between April and September?

Another album together....it doesn't even sound like they were on the same tour!


Thank you! The tone in the interview was as if the idea of doing another BB album was some fantasy developed by Brian after the reunion broke up. How would just the *idea* of another album not at least be feasible to some degree? Weird….
8130  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: interesting article: \ on: February 26, 2015, 06:53:20 AM
I distinctly recall that in a previous examiner article (one that caused a small stir here), David had stated that such a piece would be upcoming.

Is David being "used" ? No more than anyone who's ever interviewed someone.  Grin


A piece getting the bottom of the demise of C50, or of Mike’s perception among fans, would have (or could have) been an intensely interesting article. But to linger on the “Brian implied his new solo album could have been a BB album” thing is just really bizarre. David Beard seems to be the only one fixating on this, to the point of bring up Mike’s name in a review of the song “The Right Time.”

Mike’s right about one thing in his interview at least: He isn’t involved in Brian’s new album. It appears Beard wants to drag Mike into it and involve him for some reason.
8131  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: interesting article: \ on: February 26, 2015, 06:48:37 AM
Is anyone here really believing Mike actually said a word of this?

I would certainly assume it’s not as if Mike was not involved in this and someone else just wrote it in his name.

But the interview certainly reads like someone else is feeding him a lot of this information, both the background information (Mike seems to think Brian called him a d*ckhead in the press release for NPP or something) as well as the “arguments”, which as I mentioned previously, read like a mixture of internet fan defenses (the “autotune” jab for instance) and legal defenses. None of that may have happened in the slightest, but as good or bad as Mike interviews have been in the past, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen one with him like this, where it reads almost like someone else is using Mike to further *their* agenda, like someone got all hot and bothered about the accusation that Mike could have helped make this another BB album.  

The interview reads like Mike is more upset about this not being a BB album (or the accusation, not actually present, that Mike could have made it a BB album) than Brian is or ever was.

Objectively, taking the “let’s all get along” stance, I would say Mike and David Beard are stirring more s**t about all of this than Brian or Brian’s album press release did. Very odd…..
8132  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: interesting article: on: February 26, 2015, 06:41:06 AM
As much as I stick up for Mike when it's deserved, I gotta call bullshit on this one. Why not just say 'hey, at one point we were going to continue on, but sh*t happened. It'll be in the book'?

Mike was given an opportunity to stick it to Brian and Joe, in a space guaranteed to get noticed, so he ran with it

Pretty much. I’m calling BS on this interview and Mike’s comments as well. If Mike’s book reads anything like this interview, it won’t answer or solve *anything* relating to the end of the C50. The whole interview (and I’m not exactly sure if Mike is prone to writing or saying the “NPP” acronym for Brian’s new album, that’s a bit odd) reads like a lawyer and a defensive internet Mike Love fanboy collaborated on a “response” to Brian’s new album.

Who is even *asking* the question of whether Mike is involved in Brian’s new album? Isn’t that the whole point? He’s *not* involved.

It seems to me like David Beard is running with this “everybody is pointing fingers at Mike for NOT being on this new album” idea when nobody else seemed to care, not even the “I’d give my left nut for this to have been a new Beach Boys album” crowd. Even those people never seemed to care beyond passively acknowledging that, yeah, it appears this *could have* theoretically been another Beach Boys album.

Did Mike Love *read* the press release for Brian’s new album? Did David Beard read a different press release to him or something? Saying Brian moved on to doing a solo album because a Beach Boys album “was not to be” is about as passive as the wording could possibly get. Mike thinks *that* comes across as bitter? Mike Love’s name is not even mentioned in the press release for Brian’s album.

What does Joe Thomas’ fear of flying (already having been documented years ago) have to do with working on a new album? Is there a non-passive aggressive reason for even bringing that up? And if MIke seems to be so familiar with the history of the Brian/Joe collaborations and knows they're so old, why would Joe need to, what, fly into each city during the tour to write NEW material with Brian? What is he even saying?

The biggest BS moment in this interview comes from Mike’s attitude of essentially “Whaaaa? Why would anyone think we might do another album?” The group collectively and individually were asked during the tour about future plans, which would include live and studio work. No definitive answers of any sort were ever provided. But to suggest it was never even discussed strikes me as pretty odd. There were leftover tracks from the TWGMTR, Joe Thomas mentioned in interviews before or during the tour that Brian specifically decided NOT to name the album “Summer’s Gone” because he didn’t want it to be the last BB album.

The whole interview reeks of going back to the drawing board and developing new, different, seemingly (but not really) more plausible reasons for the end of C50. Mike’s position seems to keep shifting. In previous interviews, he discussed disliking elements of the whole C50 project. Now it has shifted to a “what are you talking about? We never even discussed the possibility of ever doing another album?” argument.

And now the “offers” for more dates were “nebulous”? What happened to the reasoning that he didn’t want to do more of those dates because he didn’t feel the band should only play large venues? What about the fact that he had already booked shows for his old band? Would he have taken the offers for more C50 shows if they had not been “nebulous”? It doesn’t sound like it based on prior interviews, so why does it matter?

The whole interview reads like passing the buck on the issue of the end of the reunion, and he has made crystal clear in numerous interviews that another reunion like that is not something he’s into. Why not just say that?

It’s all sort of the same BS as always I guess, but this does nothing but fill me with dread for Mike’s book. If he lays it on this thick in terms of being defensive and passive aggressive, it’s going to be tough to get through the book.
8133  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: No Pier Pressure Review Online on: February 25, 2015, 06:29:27 AM
The thing with reviews, whether written for Joe’s Fanboy Blog or major print sources, is that sometimes that are written in such a way that they could have been written before hearing/seeing, etc. the item in question.

I know I’ve read reviews of DVD or Blu-ray releases where I suspect the reviewer didn’t watch the item in question. Especially when they’re reviewing something like the “sixth season” set of some show; they clearly just copied and pasted the previous season review and made some references to the newer season. It’s not difficult to BS one’s way through these reviews. For Blu-ray reviews, just throw in a bunch of references to “banding” and “compression” and “crushed blacks” and presence of lack of “dynamic sound range in the rear speakers”, etc.

I could have written a review of “No Pier Pressure” that could fill a typical size spot in a review section of a magazine without even having heard the album. It isn’t that difficult to functionally do it; it just ends up useless and boring to people who actually know something. Having actual sound samples of each song would make it even easier. There’s an easy way to prove a review is written not from old descriptions or sound samples: cite a lyric or musical passage or something that isn’t heard in the samples (or heard at the Vegas show) and hasn’t been cited in any articles.

Now, I’m not saying a review has to do this. But if someone is even asking the question of whether a reviewer wrote their review without hearing the album, then it’s probably not a particularly awesome review even if the reviewer listened to the full album ten times.

Some reviews just suck, regardless of their ultimate opinion. I don’t know how many times I’ve read even a positive review of an album where they say “such-and-such tracks is reminiscent of….” and then they cite something that, to me, sounds *nothing* like that. I’ve seen mid-tempo pop songs called “ballads”, slow pop songs called “rockers”, and so on.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this reviewer DID hear the entire album. Some people just don’t have much original or detailed to say about music. Perhaps they shouldn’t be writing reviews then, I dunno.
8134  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Review Of \ on: February 23, 2015, 03:26:20 PM
The myth that anyone fired, or could fire, anyone else... which as almost everyone here, being well versed in BRI 101, already knows is not possible. That some here actually do still believe this happened is, well... pitiful, really. As I've said, mental midgets.

I don't think I've ever seen a single person here contend that Mike Love is legally Brian Wilson's employer and severed his employment in September, 2012. Essentially, the partnership formed to do C50 simply dissolved at the end of it.

The issue is whether what occurred amounted to the same thing. As Wirestone has said in a previous post, many feel that while not legally/technically the same thing, the idea of letting a contract expire and not continuing on with a willing and able Brian Wilson, and then going back to one's exclusive license to use the same name, is not *terribly* different from firing Brian.

To reiterate, I don't think anybody apart from an occasional lazy "journalist", has contended Mike fired Brian. To continually cite "Mike didn't fire Brian" makes no sense to me. It's answering a question that nobody asked. Even Mike has used this as a response in some interviews, citing "there were erroneous reports that I fired Brian", rather than actually discussing why he didn't choose, while under no legal obligation to do so, to continue the reunion.

The "no more shows for Brian" e-mail is also irrelevant. As Wirestone mentioned, we don't know what precipitated that e-mail. But even if it was a completely out of the blue message from Brian, we know that at some point after that, before the tour was over, Brian changed his mind. Folks including David Marks have said that the plan was *always* for Mike to go back to his own tour. It also seems quite possible if not likely that Mike was already booking his own shows while the reunion tour was still happening. Those facts, coupled with the fact that Mike has never, apart from one quick mention in an interview, even mentioned the "no more shows" e-mail. This includes not mentioning the e-mail in that long letter to the LA Times. Why hasn't he mentioned that e-mail more often? I would guess because it's irrelevant. He has other reasons for not continuing. But I don't think anybody believes that Mike would have continued the reunion were it not solely for a mid-tour e-mail from Brian.

My guess is that Mike saw C50 as the anomaly to his usual routine. Given the likelihood that post-reunion shows were booked before or during the C50 tour, it probably was wishful thinking, maybe some naivety, for Brian and Al to think the amazing reviews and additional offers would convince Mike to continue the reunion (either in place of, or after, whatever shows he had already booked). Mike didn't break any contracts, he didn't go back on any word. He simply made a decision to not do something. That's fine. But he has to own that decision. Frankly, Mike is owning that decision somewhat more than a few of his defenders are. At least Mike has stuck to some more concrete (if disagreeable to some fans) factors that he didn't like, such as the size of the touring band, not being able to play small towns and small venues, not being able to write with Brian. I think there's probably much more to the story than that, and it's not surprising that power and money aren't addressed in any of these interviews on either side. I don't agree with the circular logic/wording that has even been used by David Marks, that Mike had these other shows that he *had* to do, as if some other entity was deciding where and when Mike should play and forcing him to play the gigs, or that they couldn't replace those already-booked shows with C50 shows. Mike decides to make the bookings. But in any event, Mike has owned it a bit more than some of the defenders.

I've heard a few other theories as to alternate/additional reasons for the demise of C50, and they all sort of make sense while simultaneously not making any sense given the evidence. There are surely more unknowns in this situation than most of us are aware of. But of the knowns, Mike's own words have not placed the blame on any other band member so much as simply passively saying the situation essentially settled back into what it used to be in 2011.


8135  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Review Of \ on: February 21, 2015, 09:30:59 AM
I disagree with the assertion that Matt is "doubling" Al. He (or whomever is doing the falsetto-type parts) is singing in the harmony stacks, not doubling Al's lead.

I'm also not sure why the review seems fixated on discussing Mike Love and reminding us it's not his "fault" he's not singing in this material. Brian's own press release for the album suggests this would/could have been another BB album. No more, no less. It surely wouldn't have been identical in composition as a BB album. But yeah, while it doesn't matter, it is probably by Mike's hand that he's not singing some of these sings with Brian as the BB's.
8136  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: New Brian Wilson song just premiered on radio on: February 21, 2015, 08:22:13 AM

As bgas mentioned, I don't know who wrote what above, but calling myself an idiot was 100% a self-deprecating comment. Just poking fun at myself for being too impatient to wait for the album, and paying for a lone track just to listen in decent fidelity for seven weeks or so. I guess I could criticize a release model that favors those who buy exclusively downloads versus physical releases. But ultimately it's just my enthusiasm and impatience.
8137  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Preview No Pier Pressure On Google Play! on: February 20, 2015, 04:30:57 PM
If the promo is strong and good -- a very big if -- it could go top 10. Just the way the charts are now.

However, the release of The Right Time as a single concerns me a bit -- no hot young things to push the record. But we shall see!

As I mentioned in another thread, even stranger is that they aren't even marketing "The Right Time" technically as a single.

It's not listed as a single with its own single cover art on iTunes for instance. It's simply the only purchasable track on the actual album. It's being marketed on Facebook and whatnot more as a case of "Pre-Order the album and download one of the songs RIGHT NOW!"

It's actually unfortunate, as the wording of some of the blurbs have implied you can't just buy the single track on its own. They obviously want lots of album pre-orders, but some idiots like me will buy the one download right now and then still buy the whole album on CD as well.
8138  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Preview No Pier Pressure On Google Play! on: February 20, 2015, 04:29:53 PM
This album is going to reach ooh I'm gonna say #9 on the charts.

Give us one pic of brian, al, david, blondie and ricky!

On which chart?


Billboard Hot 100

I think the "Hot 100" is the singles chart. The album would be found on the Top 200 albums chart.
8139  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: New Brian Wilson song just premiered on radio on: February 20, 2015, 04:25:13 PM
well, lay down burden does nothing for me. Similarities notwithstanding, The right time is a gem; so go figure.

When would this song itself chart? It appears to be officially released. Will it make the BB hot 100 or the AC charts?

I'm not sure precisely how downloads figure into the charts, but I do know that radio airplay is weighed heavily into the singles chart. So it's even less likely for Brian to get on the singles chart than the album charts.

A lot of old fogey bands that never have hit singles still can do well on the album charts, as it's measured by sales.

Also, while it doesn't much matter, they don't even really seem to marketing "The Right Time" as an actual *single.* It's not listed as a single with its own single cover art on iTunes for instance. It's simply the only purchasable track on the actual album. It's being marketed on Facebook and whatnot more as a case of "Pre-Order the album and download one of the songs RIGHT NOW!"

It's actually unfortunate, as the wording of some of the blurbs have implied you can't just buy the single track on its own. They obviously want lots of album pre-orders, but some idiots like me will buy the one download right now and then still buy the whole album on CD as well.
8140  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Fall Tour on: February 20, 2015, 04:21:51 PM
But I'm sure steady tickets sales for decades while the band continued to slip off the charts has informed his decision to tour incessantly and stay away from much new music releases.

There's another, far simpler, reason: Mike doesn't like the recording process. Much prefers the stage to the studio, and having done a smidgen of studio work myself back in the day, I can't say I blame him.

Very true, Mike has said that. But I'm also fairly certain that if the BB's had continued to have hit singles and albums through the 90's and 2000's (or if Mike had had solo hits), and if people had been patting him on the back all that time for his latest hit single/album, he would have been all over the studio.
8141  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Fall Tour on: February 20, 2015, 04:19:09 PM
I was told that the main outlet for ITKOD was at Disney parks & stores. Makes sense to me. Just wish they'd done more classics and fewer recent songs.

I've ended up, unwillingly to some degree, visiting numerous Disney stores regularly since before the release of ITKOD, and I've never seen the BW album there (nor a great deal of CDs in general). But that's just my experience. It's weird as well that Disney offered the "exclusive" version of the album with bonus tracks to Amazon as an exclusive, rather than offering it to Disney parks, which often have "exclusive" items for sale.

I haven't been to any parks though, so perhaps they pushed the CD hard there. I wonder if they had a similar train of though to Hallmark, who had had some big selling CDs at their stores with Michael McDonald and a few others, and pushed for what ended up being the "Songs from Here & Back" BB CD. I'm pretty sure that BB CD tanked as well. No further Hallmark releases, and no later "mainstream" release of the CD to other outlets.
8142  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Fall Tour on: February 20, 2015, 04:16:04 PM
I think it's fair to say that some of Brian's solo releases are almost willfully uncommercial, and major props to him for that: I loved the way he essentially held Disney to ransom in order to get the excellent Gershwin album out.

Andrew, I've always been perplexed why Disney wanted him to do ITKOD so badly they let him do the Gershwin album first, then seemed to put zero effort behind promoting ITKOD.  Do you have any insight into this?  Was it about disappointment with BWRG sales?

Apologies if this is OT, but then so is Mike Love's album...

I can't imagine how anyone (personally or as a record label) would think a BW album of Gershwin OR Disney covers would sell terribly well, so that might explain the lack of promotion. It wouldn't of course explain why they pursued the record deal in the first place. Perhaps sometimes it's a tiny "prestige" move for the label, to sign Brian Wilson. It's mostly longtime grizzled industry veterans and hardcore BB fans that know all of the times BW and the BB's caused their labels severe disappointment. So there is still some prestige in having BW on your label.
8143  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Fall Tour on: February 20, 2015, 03:55:21 PM
Mike Love has given numerous interviews where he indicates one of his major measuring sticks for success is sales, chart placement, and things of that nature; things that he will not likely achieve with a solo release (things that even Brian has limited success with).

However, Brian has stated the same - that he thinks success equates to how well something does commercially. And, good on him, he continues to make music despite his albums hardly ever reaching the point where he would probably deem them a success. Although, to be fair, there are undoubtedly differences in their potential for album releases. Brian seems to easily be able to get a record deal, and he has a legacy and a name that sells albums. Mike, on the other hand, would probably face a great deal of trouble in trying to acquire a record deal, and how many people out there are looking to pick up an album by Mike Love? I can respect the fact that, despite that, he's actually going to release an album, one that he probably knows has no chance of meeting his definition of "success".

I think Brian and Mike's takes (as published in interviews, etc.) are not that much the same. Brian has indeed referenced many times wanting a "hit", and in that sense he still seems to have the same train of thought as he did in 1964, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But he has continued to make *numerous* solo albums and do other projects when very few have sold in huge numbers; when he hasn't had anything approaching a "hit" single, and only a few albums that you could debatably call minor hits.

Mike Love in a 2013 interview even minimized the #3 chart debut for TWGMTR, saying:

"Well, it debuted at No. 3. That’s not bad. But it didn’t stay up there very long. To have sustained success, like we’ve been known to do, you need a single that will chart and stay in the Top 20 or the Top 10 for three months. And that didn’t happen with this album."

Now, I think his opinion of the album was probably severely colored by his retrospective negative pronouncements about the reunion (songwriting, etc.). But beyond the fact that his statement shows that he's as out of touch with how "hit singles" work as Brian is, it shows that Mike has pretty freaking high bar for what constitutes success for an album.

He also continually cites not critics' reactions, but polls and chart placements (top "oldies radio" act, 1967 NME Poll Winners; beating out the Beatles, Kokomo getting to #1) as the seeming justification (or vindication) for the band and its music.

This isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes then a failure in sales and chart performance can lead to some introspective thinking. I'd like to believe that part of the reason Mike has pursued little music releases of new material since 1992 has something to do with the utter failure of the SIP album in 1992. It's unfortunate he seems to have more critical comments about the #3 TWGMTR album than the non-charting (as in failing to reach the Top 200) SIP album.

But I'm sure steady tickets sales for decades while the band continued to slip off the charts has informed his decision to tour incessantly and stay away from much new music releases.
8144  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: They need to be more creative with Brians music videos on: February 20, 2015, 03:45:13 PM
I don't want to sound grumpy or anything, because I'm not in the slightest. But, simply put, the BB's have never come across as not awkward on film/video outside of concert videos (and even then, sometimes!).

Brian's "camera smile" that he does on for TV/film has always struck me as bizarre and awkward. He's just not the personality type that translates well on film, at least in any format along the lines of a "music video."

Get Brian playing a piano, or in some cases comfortable in an interview (e.g. something like the IJWMFTT documentary), and he comes across okay.

But anything that is "staged" (whether staged miming or actual acting) usually is awkward and awful. Sometimes awful to the point of being awesomely hilarious (e.g. Brian singing "Night Time" on Dick Clark's show).

Well Brian doesn't have to try to be an actor.  Like in his brief appearance for the BBC video for "God Only Knows", they just had Brian sit at the piano and lip-sync while cool stuff happens around him. http://youtu.be/XqLTe8h0-jo?t=55s

Any awkwardness is certainly minimized when Brian's appearance is kept to a minimum I suppose. But at the point at which we're calling for some auteur director to do something marvelous and then give Brian a cameo, what's the point?

I'm happy with Capitol or Brian's management putting together stuff to get him on YouTube and gets listens and hits. The lyric videos are ridiculous to me, but if they get people to listen, I'm fine. But the BB's and Brian do not, with some scattered exceptions, gel well with film or video outside of capturing raw documentary/musical stuff like real studio sessions (not staged) or live shows. Dennis was an exception I think, but to the degree he "filmed" well ("Two Lane Blacktop", etc.), it was more an innate, natural thing he had than great acting or "posing."
8145  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: New Brian Wilson song just premiered on radio on: February 20, 2015, 03:39:47 PM
So far I'm not really impressed with this song. It sounds a bit uninspired and the chorus just reminds me too much of 'Lay Down Burden'. But hey, I still love 'That Lucky Old Sun' and 'That's Why God Made The Radio', so I'd be surprised if this won't be a really good album as well. And it's still amazing to me to hear a brand new song with more than one Beach Boy singing on it.

It certainly isn't a mind-blowing song compositionally (or in terms of production). It's a pleasant, catchy song.

I sense I'm not the only person who probably would find it less interesting if Al wasn't singing the lead. There is a lot of novelty in hearing Al get a chance to take the lead, and harmonize with Brian.

The chorus does indeed sound a lot like "Lay Down Burden", and in my mind at least some of that repetition is offset by Al singing it, since he didn't sing on "Lay Down Burden."
8146  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Fall Tour on: February 20, 2015, 03:34:41 PM
But you are avoiding my main point, Mike cannot write new songs even in two years. Its all retreads of half baked stuff from failed solo projects 1970s to 2000s.

And his voice isn't even a selling point either, its a nasal wine these days.


There is no market for dreck like Viggie. Wink

The only guy who seems to be able to continually get major solo deals is Brian. The rest of the guys don't seem very motivated to self-distribute their albums (nor apparently seek out little indie labels; a few of which I'm sure would have put out more Jardine albums and maybe even Love albums). Maybe they're just stuck in the old train of thought where you wait for a deal with Capitol or some other major.

If Capitol or some other major label had called Mike up and offered him a solo deal in, say, 2004, I have little doubt we would have seen some variation on that "Mike Love Not War" album finished and published.

Al has been the only one (in addition to Brian early on with the Roxy live album) to seek out essentially self-distributing stuff, which he did with the live Vegas album, the "PT Cruiser" single, and the first version of the "Postcard" album.

Mike Love has given numerous interviews where he indicates one of his major measuring sticks for success is sales, chart placement, and things of that nature; things that he will not likely achieve with a solo release (things that even Brian has limited success with). If he just wanted to put music out for the sake of getting it out, he would have done so long ago. I think VERY slowly it may have become more enticing to do stuff with their music online, so I think it's more likely for Mike to get something out on his own now than it was in, say, 2004.
8147  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Preview No Pier Pressure On Google Play! on: February 20, 2015, 03:27:37 PM
This album is going to reach ooh I'm gonna say #9 on the charts.

Give us one pic of brian, al, david, blondie and ricky!

I think a Top 10 finish for the album might be tough. On the one hand, it seems to take less and less sales to chart highly on the album charts these days. But I believe Brian's best ever solo chart performance in the US is #13 for "Smile" in 2004. "TWGMTR" of course hit #3, but that had the BB name (and anniversary hoopla) attached to it.

If the second week of April is a slow week sales-wise, and Capitol puts enough push behind the album, it could do relatively well on the charts. If it hits the top 10, it could well do so while still selling less copies in its first week than "Smile" did in 2004 when it hit #13.

8148  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Preview No Pier Pressure On Google Play! on: February 20, 2015, 12:01:52 PM
I think O'Hagan had some interesting insights and experiences with the BB's. Certainly entertaining stories. I don't know that a collaboration would have resulted in great music, and there's a huge question as to whether it would have functionally been able to even happen.

I think, especially back around that time, the frustration and tendency for fans to quickly jump on the O'Hagan scenario as desirable was that Brian and the band were picking some sub-par projects. This was within a year or two of Carl abandoning the Paley material (which wasn't pure genius either, but had at least a handful of tracks that were more solid than anything they had done in years) for the dire "Stars and Stripes" project and continued autopilot touring. Meanwhile, Brian's sometimes marvelous compositions were being wrung through a Kenny G filter for his solo album.

I think it would be great for Brian to do a bit like McCartney did with Nigel Godrich several years back; work with someone who will tell you when your stuff sucks, and also not overwhelm your inherent "sound." The problem is, I would guess Brian isn't comfortable with a new person coming in and "editing" his song portfolio and cracking the whip. Supposedly Darian did this a bit production-wise for "Smile", but that didn't involve all-new compositions.

All just stream of consciousness sorts of thoughts of course.  LOL
8149  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: They need to be more creative with Brians music videos on: February 20, 2015, 11:49:55 AM
I don't want to sound grumpy or anything, because I'm not in the slightest. But, simply put, the BB's have never come across as not awkward on film/video outside of concert videos (and even then, sometimes!).

Brian's "camera smile" that he does on for TV/film has always struck me as bizarre and awkward. He's just not the personality type that translates well on film, at least in any format along the lines of a "music video."

Get Brian playing a piano, or in some cases comfortable in an interview (e.g. something like the IJWMFTT documentary), and he comes across okay.

But anything that is "staged" (whether staged miming or actual acting) usually is awkward and awful. Sometimes awful to the point of being awesomely hilarious (e.g. Brian singing "Night Time" on Dick Clark's show).
8150  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Preview No Pier Pressure On Google Play! on: February 20, 2015, 05:59:00 AM
With David, Al and Blondie on the album, I was expecting some real rocking sound, but no... :/

I don't think there has ever been a good chance in decades of Brian writing and recording something that truly "rocks." The most we're usually likely to hear from Brian that "rocks" would be doing something in concert like "Marcella" or something like that. The band had a brief period in the late 60's/early 70's where the harder-edge rock sound was in any sort of evidence, and a lot of that had little to do with Brian.

Now, I think it's fine if Brian doesn't "rock." That has never been his thing, and I love his music.
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