What if Al had joined NASA?

Then he'd have faced John Denver on MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch

but it might have been funny to see Mike and Dennis get into a brawl onstage ala Dave Davies and Mick Avory.

BB shows featuring on stage brawls are on the shortlist for my time machine itinerary, though with all the theoretical red tape I can't tell if I actually hope its useful or not.

The interesting I noticed was that short clip of the BB laying down the harmonies on Passing Friend. Just the bare vocals with no processing or effects and the vocal blend sounds exactly like their 1969-70 vocal blend.

I recently picked up the 2003 remastered CD of Culture Club's 1984 album Waking Up With The House On Fire which includes a Passing Friend-sounding bonus track called Don't Go Down That Street. Seeing how the people doing the writing, production, and instrumentals on these were largely the same I wonder if Passing Friend was a rewrite of Don't Go Down That Street. Anyone here more knowledgeable about either song/album able to shed some light here? Passing Friend isn't really the highlight of BB85 for me but I think between these two it's the stronger song. As far as I can tell neither band has performed either song live.

He did that a month or so ago when people were asking him questions on Reddit and he didn't know about Adult/Child or the Feel Flows box

The forgetting a current/upcoming box set project, I'm not sure what to make of that, but for things like Adult/Child I'd easily believe he doesn't remember various episodes from his long career very quickly or vivdly. I get the impression that Adult/Child, while it has a dedicated cult following among some types of fans, never really grew its stature in the band mythology enough for journalists and fans to regularly ask him about it and cause him to ruminate over the decades like happened with Smile. Also, A/C was recorded shortly before the MIU retreat that Brian's previously claimed to have completely blacked out. These two album attempts were separated by a few months and a certain significant tarmac incident but is it understood if this "mental blackout" extended to before the trip to Iowa?

With the Surf's Up album, could that be another case of a generally unpleasant experience that he'd prefer to forget, or perhaps the 21st century events of BWPS and TSS led to Surf's Up being retconned into a Smile-only context in his mind? Ok, that last point seems like a stretch, but if it has anything to do with reality it might somehow relate to his thoughts on the Surf's Up related box.

I thought to myself a few months ago that it'd be nice to have a reprint of the '83 tour shirt but now that one's here I don't think I can actually bring myself to pull the trigger. Seems kinda dishonest to wear a dated shirt from a tour I didn't go to.

Forgive me if this has been covered, but is anyone else concerned about the language regarding rebranding focused on “the beach boys lifestyle”? Mike and at various times everyone in the band have attempted to sell the beach boys lifestyle brand since Do It Again. Isn’t that part of the image problem that you’d want a rebrand to change? Shouldn't the focus, rather than lifestyle, be on songs? So that they can be taken seriously as artists, just like their new stable mates Eagles, Steely Dan et al.

I'll echo your sentiments as far as having found that bands I like attempting to become lifestyle brands has the effect of me taking them less seriously. This is especially the case when it comes to signature beers, like of course I'm gonna buy a Punk in Drublic tallboy at a NOFX show but did that need to exist? I'd imagine whoever's on the case can find some successful way to sell useless crap to John Doe without undercutting a new generation's motivation to to hear deep cuts, but the real question is which Beach Boy's lifestyle are they gonna promote?

It looks like the official Beach Boys website has gotten a pretty big overhaul since this deal.

The photo collage with the alternate BB85 band photo is nice. The music section leads with a bunch of recent comps and archival releases and omits 15 Big Ones, Still Cruisin, Summer In Paradise, and Stars and Stripes. Not surpirsed by those last two but the inclusion of Instrumental Hits is surprising. Is that the only in print title that includes Punchline these days? Gonna also chime in and opine that the MadeWorn store seems pretty tacky. I never understood the appeal of paying premium prices for artificially distressed clothing. To each their own I guess. At least their not selling Beach Boys branded vape pens or bathwater...

Beach Boys Legacy from Twitter:


Brian Wilson ready to win a Pinball tournament in 1979!

This rules

Has the Beach Boys name ever been used to sponsor or promote pro surfing events? It might not be the most popular/mainstream sport but seems like a back to basics, low hanging fruit approach for a Beach Boys youth culture outreach effort. Not sure how much their music means to the surfers of today but maybe the surfers of tomorrow? What do I know? Not suggesting they just try this and call it a day.

No question that The Beach Boys are worthy of and have the assets to mount a serious image revitalization campaign but I do wonder what kind of turnaround time they're envisioning for attaining the everyman's "Mount Rushmore" level alluded to in the article. Does pop culture need more time to change attitudes for the better toward a legacy act than a newer one coming off a sophomore slump?

What kind of new merchandising approaches might this management try? A lot of acts have added a garnish to their prestige with career spanning vinyl boxed sets in recent years. While this wouldn't necessarily get their music into new ears, the existence of such a product might at least help position them upward in a way that a standalone copies of Pet Sounds or Sounds of Summer wouldn't. I'm sure this has been considered, but even when subtracting the what to do with SIP and S&S issue, that would be such a cost prohibitive project. How low could the wholesale price possibly be?

At the risk of validating a sterotype I'll say my last thoughts here are that we could really do without throwing around generational labels like m*******al and z*****r. These are terms of disparagement seldom used in any context outside of condescending or marketing to young people. I'm not saying any offense was meant but I'm sick of people acting like slurs are ok if they're towards age groups.

Apologies, no offense was intended. I myself am 34 so I am technically from the older of those two generations. I'm not really as offended by the term, but I understand that some may be so I'll edit the post (both here and on the subreddit, where I cross-posted).

I appreciate the gesture thr33. Honestly if i had already eaten a full breakfast I probably wouldn't have been moved to say anything about it.

To bring it back on topic, the past ten years or so have been pretty good for attracting a new, younger audience to the Beach Boys catalog, due in no small part to the Smile Sessions release and the continued championing of it by tastemakers. One thing i've noticed though is that Smile has become something of an entry point instead of a New Game Plus for alot of fans, and I've even seen at some people's houses and apartments where that's the only Beach Boys album in their collection (including hit repackages). Haven't noticed much of a resurgence elsewhere in the catalog but I'll admit that my thumb slipped from the pulse of youth culture at some point the past few years.

All I Wanna Do has gotten some mileage on the hipster hype machine and I've seen it credited as the first song in the "chillwave" genre. I see where they're coming from but it seems like a questionable assessment cause that "microgenre" supposedly came around almost 40 years after the fact. Elsewhere I heard that song (and Celebrate The News) repeatedly played over the PA between sets at the my Bloody Valentine/Le Volume Courbe/Wounded Knees show in NYC 2008, so that seemed like a pretty big endorsement from a leader in an older scene under the bigger indie umbrella.

The other day I was on the phone with my parents and it came up they decided at the last minute to miss what turned out to be Arthur Fiedler's last show with the Boston Pops. This in turn reminded me of when they said they wanted to see The Beach Boys in Atlantic City for the 1983 Fourth of July show but regrettably skipped it over anticipated heavy traffic.

What Beach Boys or BB solo shows did you miss attending by a hair?

Lost tickets?
Sudden illness?
Couldn't find a ride?

One of my friends hit me up while I was working in Delaware saying he had an extra VIP pass to Mike and Bruce's 2015 or 2016 Lancaster, PA appearance that night. What an offer but there was no way I would've been able to get there for showtime by the time I was done for the day. Probably coulda made up some excuse to bounce out early but management just seemed kinda strict at the time I guess. Not sure how much this missed chance means to me but I enjoyed seeing my friends pictures with the guys afterward.

[The Crossing]

Big Country: "In A Big Country"

album version > 7" edit.

Big Country's The Crossing (1983) is a superb album, which I bought at the time and still own. My favourite track from it is "Chance", an utterly gorgeous song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKkhNV8zn-s

I hope Stuart Adamson has found peace now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Country

I bought my first copy of The Crossing used about 21 years after release. Inwards skipped on the first line and also did on at least one copy I bought as a gift for someone. I wonder if the part of the disc that passage is on is more natural for people to pick it up by and improperly handle. Bought the then-recently remastered CD soon after. It was great to finally hear all the words on Inwards but the drums didn't sound so hot. Third time's a charm with the old cassette.

Big Country: "In A Big Country"

album version > 7" edit.

Listen to the "Help Me, Rhonda" session recording to understand why the Beach Boys never would, and never could, be like the Beatles.

Fair point there. I have a hard time picturing The Beatles being talked to like that while at work.

For a long time I would've said Rival Schools with 2001's United By Fate, but then they reunited and put out a new album in 2011, followed by a previously shelved/leaked record from '03. Still like all three but I'd have settled for reunion shows without new material.



Nowadays I'd land on The Raymond Brake with 1995's Piles of Dirty Winters or Polaris with 1999's belated Music from the Adventures of Pete and Pete. The latter reunited a few times but has only otherwise put out a one-off single and some archival material.




Realising now that alot of bands I thought were one and done had other records that are either too hard to find or I just didn't stick around for.

Not counting comps/live/remix/etc.

I've always had alot of fond reflections of the local scenes I came up in and decided to make an online time capsule for them last year. Aside from other people who were hanging out around West Chester, PA in the 2000's though, I don't gather there's much of overlapping listenership between these bands and The Beach Boys. WC2K leans heavily on punk/hardcore/emo, but the goal was to present as well-rounded of a resource as I could and the project is ongoing.


wc2k.weebly.com

Love the Hermits. Seems like Peter Noone kept a steady but low profile re-recording the hits for movie soundtracks over the years. On a whim a few years ago l rented The Brave Little Toaster on DVD (thanks Video Underground) and it came with this disproportionately hilarious behind the scenes featurette covering the two straight-to-video sequels. Noone appears about halfway through to talk jokingly about the history of the band, with recording footage mixed in. Had to keep rewinding the part where he talks about the Herman's Hermits business cards costing £9.

The featurette's on youtube (albeit with Little Richard's music muted out) and I'd dare say this is more entertaining then the films themselves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dh7Wz0lUoA

In terms of professional bands where it wasn't just a case of them not being my taste, the award goes to Everclear at Xfinity Live, Philadelphia 6/17/15. The opening band The Good Excuses weren't so great either but my criticism of them is more toward their material than performance.

It was no surprise to me or disqualification that by this time Everclear was down to frontman Art Alexakis with a new entourage, but his vocals just were noticeably off. Not so much the tone but the delivery was really inconsistent, missing alot of words and syllables. The backing vocals were alright but it was also a slight bummer that the Beach Boys style intro to the set opener "So Much For The Afterglow" was canned. You get what you pay for though and fortunately admission and parking were free. When it came time for the encore I could tell what songs were coming up and decided for the first time to leave early and beat the traffic.

Since then it came out that Alexakis was actually suffering from an undiagnosed medical condition that directly impacted his musicianship, so I'll concede that some of my criticism at the time was unfair. Still, the other tour dates weren't free and I wouldn't buy tickets in the future on the strength of their name. Kinda wish I got to see them in their prime but I don't revisit their music beyond the radio these days.

I never really held local bands to the same standards as the pros cause no one's paying them to practice and it's often more driven by community than excellence. That being said, even going back to my days as a 13 year old discovering the local hardcore scene I don't recall anything so exceptionally below that par that I remembered it as the worst. In my late 20's I worked sound and door at alot of harsh noise shows and often felt like I was in The Emperor's New Clothes. I couldn't grasp a point of reference to evaluate whether performers ruled or sucked. I guess it was just over my head. Kinda view it as a different art form that isn't comparable to a rock show.

A few honorable mentions for worst would be The Green opening for 311 at Stone Pony Summerstage in Asbury Park, 7/18/15 and Nothing opening for Swirlies at Johnny Brendas in Philly 7/21/13. The Green had their bass synth so loud that it drowned out the rest of the band. Thought maybe it was just cause I was up front but the headliner didn't have the same issues. Nothing had their amps turned up so loud that active listening was completely negated. I know shoegaze has that kinda reputation, but even My Bloody Valentine '08 didn't brickwall so hard. When the bill was flipped in 2018 I caught the Swirlies opening and left before Nothing's set.

"Going out on top" is a romantic notion that I think is way, way, way overrated. I'm still disappointed with the Beatles and REM for quitting when they did.

I'm disappointed in myself for not buying tickets to REM's 2008 Philly date.

I am surprised that it is only at one theater in the whole Philly metro area. Close to an hour away by car from where I live. I thought it would have a bigger release than this? Hopefully, it shows up at a few more places with tomorrow's listings.

Hmmm....   I don't know much about the Philly area, but I just googled these listings for Friday:  

Landmark Theatres--  Standard 1:00pm  3:40  7:00  9:40

Carmike Ritz 16 -Standard  10:15am  1:15pm  4:30  7:30  10:35  

Regal Cinemas Downingtown 16 & IMAX --   Standard   11:05am   1:30pm   4:20  7:10  10:00

Montgomery Cinemas -    Standard  1:50pm   4:30  7:10   9:50

ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks - Standard  1:00pm  4:00  7:00  8:00

Fandango has five  listings:   http://www.fandango.com/love26mercy_181116/movietimes?location=Philadelphia,%20PA

Never been one to go to midnight screenings but sure was nice to wake up on my random day off in Downingtown and decide to catch a movie in the morning for the first time. Not sure I even realized it was the release date at the time.

Former ICE Magazine publisher Pete Howard sure makes some informative and entertaining videos about old show posters and ephemera. His most recent post (from September) covered a 1962 Beach Boys appearance but it seems pretty quiet since then.

Anyone know what's going on with Pete? Hope he posts more content soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSITCaf6FkY&feature=youtu.be

The Beatles decided to pack it in when all of this got too heavy within the band, and The Beach Boys did what they did. There's the dividing line which hit both groups during roughly the same time period.

As the old saying goes "The Beatles are like muffin tops: they end before the inferior part begins." As a whole catalog BB fan I'd say I have to agree (with myself). Still, doesn't come out of my mouth much these days cause I can't assume everyone feels the same way about baked goods or Let It Be.

I can't so much imagine a Beach Boys history following in the mold of The Beatles but it's kind of worth imagining what their equivalent to the Hamburg days could have been or might been seen as. Even if The Beatles didn't come up with that many originals or sell any records at that time, their baptism by fire in Hamburg shaped their momentum and collective personality in a way that I can't really see a parallel to in the Beach Boys story. Can you imagine Murray facing up to Hamburg Beatles style hijinks?