Terry Melcher's production value

[guitarfool2002]

Here's the thing...it may have been done in the 80s, but it was NOT 80's style production. For one, the drum sounds are too soft.

80's style production is a loaded phrase: does it mean Mike Clink's sound on Appetite For Destruction, David Foster's sound with Whitney Houston, Quincy Jones' with Michael Jackson, Nile Rodgers' with Madonna or Bowie, Scott Litt with REM, Jeff Lynne with Petty, etc... Maybe it's a case of you know it when you hear it, and then it becomes purely subjective.

I said 80's because at the time Melcher was hired a certain overall production value was expected in order to sound like a hit, and that of course is the debatable issue of "what does a hit sound like?". I'm just saying the band is responsible as much for the decisions to hire a certain producer if certain folks don't care for the finished results and place blame on the producer. I like some of Melcher's work as a producer.

[Mike's Beard]

I think some of the stuff he produced with Paul Revere and The Raiders in the mid sixties is nearly on par with what BW was achieving at the same time.

[adamghost]

No way man, they needed Brian. Ever listened to "In My Car"?  That's what Brian could've made the Beach Boys if they would've just LISTENED to him instead of thinking they knew everything because they made "Kokomo". "Kokomo" ended any chance the group ever had of collaborating with Brian, because it convinced them they knew more about music than the modern-day Brian did.

"In My Car" is the last art song by the Beach Boys. Listen to that production! It marries the Beach Boys old lyrical and musical themes with '80s trends. I mean, when Brian throws in some church bells on the chorus, then you know he's bringing it for real.  It's as good as "Breakaway"!

Well, to be fair, "In My Car" mixwise is an un-holy mess.  It's so cluttered you can barely track what's going on.  But I think otherwise you're spot on.  It's INTERESTING.

[adamghost]

I think guitarfool gets close to the heart of the matter.

In McPartland's book with Gary Usher there's a very instructive passage about Brian asking Gary Usher about using a drummer instead of drum machines and Gary's response was that "we can't compete (commercially) with real drums."  I wasn't very old, but I was already playing a bit and with the advent of sequencers and synthesizers peoples' ability to judge good from bad taste went completely out the window, and in almost every case, it was the younger musicians and producers who fared the best in working with the new technology.  Compare, say, Thomas Dolby or the Human League's use of the technology with, say, an old school genius like Stevie Wonder's.  I was so disgusted by it at the time that I switched from keyboards to guitar.  Nobody was PLAYING anything.  I spent most of my time creating patches for people.

By my recollection, it wasn't until around 1988 or 1989 that people started to realize that the technology did not obviate the need for real organic dynamics and instruments.  Until then, everyone was following each other around embracing the new digital order in hopes of getting on the radio.

[the captain]

80's style production is a loaded phrase: does it mean Mike Clink's sound on Appetite For Destruction, David Foster's sound with Whitney Houston, Quincy Jones' with Michael Jackson, Nile Rodgers' with Madonna or Bowie, Scott Litt with REM, Jeff Lynne with Petty, etc... Maybe it's a case of you know it when you hear it, and then it becomes purely subjective.

I love this. You hear all the time, "I love/hate 80s music," or something similar about some time period. It is not quite meaningless, but it's pushing in that direction. But that said, there are certainly prevailing winds. Sometimes they really blow.

[filledeplage]

80's style production is a loaded phrase: does it mean Mike Clink's sound on Appetite For Destruction, David Foster's sound with Whitney Houston, Quincy Jones' with Michael Jackson, Nile Rodgers' with Madonna or Bowie, Scott Litt with REM, Jeff Lynne with Petty, etc... Maybe it's a case of you know it when you hear it, and then it becomes purely subjective.

I love this. You hear all the time, "I love/hate 80s music," or something similar about some time period. It is not quite meaningless, but it's pushing in that direction. But that said, there are certainly prevailing winds. Sometimes they really blow.

 

I do think that "super-imposing" or splicing in a new style like "Here Comes the Night" or "disco on top of rock" could be analogized to what happened with hip hop, etc., with splicing in of classic underpinning of one song and morphing it into another style...and a new interpretation of existing work...and always interesting to see how it catches on...even "Wipe Out" with a classic rock structure being reworked into a different style...you can never predict what will click with the the public...

Disco as a stand alone did work for the Bee Gees!  For the most part, I found it a little overkill and was very glad when it burned itself out!