Bizarre Mike Love Interview

[Mikie]

He did the same thing in the early '80s on PM Magazine or Entertainment Tonight or one of those after-dinner TV shows, when the story was about how Landy wasn't allowing anybody to talk to Brian, cutting over to Landy saying anybody who wants to talk to him CAN, etc. Mike did the crying thing then, too, except I think that time he MEANT it....

I remember clearly watching that on TV that night (don't remember what year) and I even taped it. And I've seen it a few times on YouTube. To me, THAT was fake and I think the one at the top of the thread is too! Trying to solicit sympathy. Shiiiiiit!

You know, it's his word against Brian's as far as how many of those 35 songs that he had a hand in. I'd really like to know. I don't think Brian remembers, or even cares, and Murry's dead and probably wouldn't be a legit witness anyway. Ever since Asher called him on the "Wouldn't It Be Nice" lyrics, I'll remain pessimistic about what Mike says he actually wrote. ALL of Good Vibrations? I doubt it.

Notice that Mike alluded to the fact that he and Brian would essentially 'move forward' with their relationship. Both of these instances of Mike's conciliatory remarks and crying B.S. were recorded on tape,  and before the 2004 lawsuit concerning the Daily Mail. Brian's and Mike's relationship hasn't been the same since. Who are you guys kidding - if Mike had another reason to sue Brian again, he would!!!

[Ron]

His word against Brians?  Have you even paid attention to the court case?  Brian agreed with him!  lol.  It's his word against Brian's lawyers.  They put Brian on the stand, and he basically said Mike wrote a lot of sh*t, and a lot of sh*t sounds like Mike could have wrote it. 

So it's Mike and Brian's word against YOURS. 

[Mikie]

Of course I followed the court case, Ronnie baby! I followed it closely! Anyone can read the details if you look for it on the Internet!  Brian rolled over and played dead in court! He didn't contest it! He didn't even want to be there. His lawyers effed up! Brian doesn't remember all of what the hell Mike wrote!  Have you ever heard Brian say that Mike wrote anything other than  the "I'm pickin' up Good Vibrations" part in that song? Go find me statements by Brian that Mike indeed wrote everything he said he did in court! You don't know and I don't know for sure - we never will. It's Mike's word against Brian's lack of memory!

And if you believe that Mike Love 'sentimental' crying routine (*twice*) I got some real good swamp land to sell ya!

[Mike's Beard]

Mike wrote the lyrics to Good Vibrations - period.
And placeholder lyrics they may be, but one only has to listen to the Tony Asher version to see just how much of an impact Mike's words had on the overall quality of the finished song.

[Autotune]

Have you ever heard Brian say that Mike wrote anything other than  the "I'm pickin' up Good Vibrations" part in that song?

Well, Brian was whining for decades about not having given Mike credit for the lyrics to California Girls. The credit issue with Brian/Murry was a mess. Surfin' USA did not credit Chuck Berry!!! And after Brian acknowledged IN COURT!!! that Mike may have had a hand in writing those songs the case was closed.

BTW: after the case was settled, and being healthier, Brian has never stated in public -that I know of- that Mike did not write the 40+ songs he'd claimed. Brian has been very bitter towards Mike Love in interviews in recent years. Yet, he's never said that Mike stole undeserved credit.

Regarding the veracity of Mike's sentimental outpour, it's his word against yours, I guess.

[Cam Mott]

Brian has said Mike deserved it.

Brian apparently was well aware of the situation all along. Mike has claimed he even brought it up to Brian back in the day and Brian sort of blew him off with a he'd take care of it. So I guess Mike thought 30 years was long enough to wait and Almo owned the music now and could afford it and Brian testified on his behalf along with others in the the band. So the people in a postion to know, Brian, the band, the jury, all agree Mike deserved it; some of us in the not-know seem to feel we know better.

Even with WIBN, it is just Asher's word against Mike's. The jury heard both and gave the nod to Mike. I know the jury could be wrong. The jury does not seem to have wanted to bother with a settlement commensurate with the amount of contribution to each individual song. Mike did not specify any amounts only a low ball settlement. The jury decided the amounts and awards so blame the jury I suppose.

[oldsurferdude]

Of course I followed the court case, Ronnie baby! I followed it closely! Anyone can read the details if you look for it on the Internet!  Brian rolled over and played dead in court! He didn't contest it! He didn't even want to be there. His lawyers effed up! Brian doesn't remember all of what the hell Mike wrote!  Have you ever heard Brian say that Mike wrote anything other than  the "I'm pickin' up Good Vibrations" part in that song? Go find me statements by Brian that Mike indeed wrote everything he said he did in court! You don't know and I don't know for sure - we never will. It's Mike's word against Brian's lack of memory!

And if you believe that Mike Love 'sentimental' crying routine (*twice*) I got some real good swamp land to sell ya!

Where's the video of Myke gently sobbing about how he wrote all of Smile? I mean c'mon man, why stop with just CG,GV and WIBN? All he wants is to be declared a genius just like Brian was, right?

[Nicko1234]

Have you ever heard Brian say that Mike wrote anything other than  the "I'm pickin' up Good Vibrations" part in that song?

It's common knowledge. Even Al has talked recently about Mike writing the lyrics to that song. Why attempt to deny something that's undeniable?

As others have mentioned, I've yet to hear Brian say that Mike didn't deserve the credit for those songs. I'm sure that on some songs Mike's contribution was more than on others but we know that Mike was denied a credit on California Girls and David Marks was there in court to attest to the fact that Murry also screwed him on other songs. Neither you or I know on exactly how many so why debate it?

[Ron]

Of course I followed the court case, Ronnie baby! I followed it closely! Anyone can read the details if you look for it on the Internet!  Brian rolled over and played dead in court! He didn't contest it! He didn't even want to be there. His lawyers effed up! Brian doesn't remember all of what the hell Mike wrote!  Have you ever heard Brian say that Mike wrote anything other than  the "I'm pickin' up Good Vibrations" part in that song? Go find me statements by Brian that Mike indeed wrote everything he said he did in court! You don't know and I don't know for sure - we never will. It's Mike's word against Brian's lack of memory!

And if you believe that Mike Love 'sentimental' crying routine (*twice*) I got some real good swamp land to sell ya!

I've heard Brian say that Mike wrote the lyrics to the entire song.  Many times.  BTW, let me point something out here.

I'm saying they're both great.  You're the one bringing negativity into this, your hatred for another human being is disgusting. 

[Mikie]

That's a totally ridiculous statement, Ronnie! I don't hate anyone, including you! You're the one who seems to be very argumentative around this board, Ron. You'll argue about anything and everything, huh?

Remember, I was the one who stuck up for you when you went off on your continuous seven post rant against the Moderator here a week ago. Yeah, that was I who suggested that you cool off because you were looking more and more stupid with every post, and I didn't want to see you embarass yourself. I saw quite a bit of hate and discontentment coming from you there, Ron. So don't suggest that I hate anyone, especially members of my favorite band on planet Earth, OK?  Thanks in advance.

[Mikie]

I've heard Brian say that Mike wrote the lyrics to the entire song.  Many times. 

You say many times. Show me just one instance/statement by Brian where he said Mike wrote ALL the words to Good Vibrations. I'm not talking about the "I'm pickin' up good vibrations" part, I mean the whole thing.

[Mikie]

Have you ever heard Brian say that Mike wrote anything other than  the "I'm pickin' up Good Vibrations" part in that song?

It's common knowledge. Even Al has talked recently about Mike writing the lyrics to that song. Why attempt to deny something that's undeniable?

As others have mentioned, I've yet to hear Brian say that Mike didn't deserve the credit for those songs. I'm sure that on some songs Mike's contribution was more than on others but we know that Mike was denied a credit on California Girls and David Marks was there in court to attest to the fact that Murry also screwed him on other songs. Neither you or I know on exactly how many so why debate it?

Maybe I wasn't clear.  I'm not "debating" whether or not Mike should get credit for some of the songs. I'm not debating that Brian has said that Mike deserved credit for some of the songs. And I know Murry was involved with this - it's almost obvious. And I know Dave Marks was in court as a witness and stated that Mike was responsible for a couple of songs, including "Chug-a-lug". I'm not debating that at all! All I'm saying, or questioning, is how can Mike prove that he contributed lyrics to thirty five (35) songs? That's a helluva lot of credit and royalty residuals. I mean, did Mike keep track in writing which songs he helped to write or were the songs just off the top of his head? Did he pull songs out of his butt and say, yeah, I remember writing those lyrics, albeit one word, one line, or the entire song?

That's all I'm asking. All Mike did was present all these songs in court and who knows if he really did contribute to them or not! The trigger to my thoughts on this was the Tony Asher interview, where he said that if anything, Mike must have phoned in the lyrics at the last minute or suggested them at the recording session (like the words "sleep tight baby") at the end, because to the best of Tony's recollections, Mike definitely wasn't involved with writing any of those lyrics.

Mr. Mott, we've already discussed this ad nauseum on another board way back when. Like a lawyer, you dug into this in depth at one point so I know that you know who knows about this court case.  

[runnersdialzero]

upon blind faith
they place reliance
what we need
more of is science!

[Mikie]

The credit issue with Brian/Murry was a mess. Surfin' USA did not credit Chuck Berry!!! And after Brian acknowledged IN COURT!!!

That was a given. That was settled a long time before the 1994 court date for 35 song credits. They settled that so fast that the label was changed on the second or third pressing of the single to include Chuck Berry in the credits. Don't think that even made it to court - I think Berry's lawyers wrote a threatening little love note to Sea of Tunes and or Capitol to include Berry's name on the credits. That didn't seem to phase Murry after that, though, who continued to credit Brian as sole writer, presumably so Murry would get a larger piece of the pie for the publishing?

[Aegir]

I've heard Brian say that Mike wrote the lyrics to the entire song.  Many times. 

You say many times. Show me just one instance/statement by Brian where he said Mike wrote ALL the words to Good Vibrations. I'm not talking about the "I'm pickin' up good vibrations" part, I mean the whole thing.

Who else could've written the lyrics?

[Mikie]

Of course I followed the court case, Ronnie baby! I followed it closely! Anyone can read the details if you look for it on the Internet!  Brian rolled over and played dead in court! He didn't contest it! He didn't even want to be there. His lawyers effed up! Brian doesn't remember all of what the hell Mike wrote!  Have you ever heard Brian say that Mike wrote anything other than  the "I'm pickin' up Good Vibrations" part in that song? Go find me statements by Brian that Mike indeed wrote everything he said he did in court! You don't know and I don't know for sure - we never will. It's Mike's word against Brian's lack of memory!

And if you believe that Mike Love 'sentimental' crying routine (*twice*) I got some real good swamp land to sell ya!

Where's the video of Myke gently sobbing about how he wrote all of Smile? I mean c'mon man, why stop with just CG,GV and WIBN? All he wants is to be declared a genius just like Brian was, right?

Of course! Mike always need attention. He doesn't want to be slighted in the least. He just wants to write songs with Brian again, but sueing Brian ain't helping matters, is it? I'm waiting for the next lawsuit after Brian says no to a reunion tour and Mike doesn't get his way. There's a chunk of change here for Mike with this Smile release, so unlike the one year Pet Sounds box hold-up, Mike isn't gonna pull that again or his rep will be mud with a lot of people!

Still looking for the other interview with Mike where they played "Brian's Back" and I think Mike was on the beach and he cried. I think it may have been Maury Povich or one of those gossip shows.....

[Mikie]

Who else could've written the lyrics?

Brian! Who else? But maybe Mike did write them all, I dunno. All I ever see in interviews (even yesterday on the new Smile box interview with Brian on his web site) is Brian (or Mike) talking about Mike getting credit for the low part, specifically the "I'm pickin' up good vibrations" part. I see that written a lot.

Notice where the subject matter of "Good Vibrations" came from?  Who do you think came up with that??

[runnersdialzero]

my lack of knowledge of current events is surpassed only by my unquenchable thirst for urine

[rogerlancelot]

I wonder how many Paul McCartney songs Mike actually believes he composed himself? Everybody knows that he thinks he wrote "Back In The USSR" single-handed.....

[Chocolate Shake Man]

You have to admit it's strange that Mike typically only talks about writing the lyric "I'm pickin' up good vibrations/She's giving me excitations" and nothing else. Maybe he did write the rest of it, but why does he only claim that part when talking about it in interviews? I mean, if I wrote "I love the colourful clothes she wears and the way the sunlight plays upon her hair", and I pat myself on the back repeatedly, I would probably mention that too. Same with "I Get Around" - he only claims the lyric "Round round get around I get around". Maybe he did write the whole thing - but when the man claims ownership of Wouldn't It Be Nice because of "Good night baby sleep tight baby" then I think we are forced to at least consider taking WHAT HE ACTUALLY SAYS at face value, especially for those of you so intent at throwing Mike's word at Mikie in this debate.

[Chris Brown]

Who else could've written the lyrics?

Brian! Who else? But maybe Mike did write them all, I dunno. All I ever see in interviews (even yesterday on the new Smile box interview with Brian on his web site) is Brian talking about the low part, specifically the "I'm pickin' up good vibrations" part. I see that written a lot.

Notice where the subject matter of "Good Vibrations" came from?  Who do you think came up with that??

I think it was a matter of Brian coming up with the initial concept, explaining it to Tony (and later, Mike) and having them both take a shot at the lyrics.  I don't recall specifically where I've seen it, but more than once I've read about Mike dictating the lyrics to his wife in the car on the way to the studio.  I don't find it at all hard to believe that Mike wrote all of the lyrics on "Good Vibrations."  

That said, I don't think the lyrics to that (or any) song are nearly as important as the music, but Mike's lyrics make the song work better than Asher's do, so he deserves all the credit he gets.

[Mikie]

I know I am a minority here when it comes to Asher's lyrics on Good Vibrations. Ever since I first heard them in 1976, for some reason I've always really liked them. Still do. They were obviously unfinished, and maybe Tony did take just a quick stab at them, but I remember playing that over and over incessantly back then because I liked the lyrics and the way Brian sang them on the demo.

[Mikie]

I think we are forced to at least consider taking WHAT HE ACTUALLY SAYS at face value, especially for those of you so intent at throwing Mike's word at Mikie in this debate.

EXACTLY!  Thank you for that!

Now I'll go back to my corner......

[theCOD]

Does anyone else here imagine Ron as the Secretary of Education from Idiocracy?

[Quincy]