Poor Ol' Bruce

[Jimmie_R]

Does anyone know if Bruce has his own Facebook page?

[SMiLE]

That's a highpoint on his record.  He's probably made a fortune off of it.  He even got a GRAMMY for it, lol.  I mean sh*t. 

That does not make it a good song though.

[Ron]

That's a highpoint on his record.  He's probably made a fortune off of it.  He even got a GRAMMY for it, lol.  I mean sh*t. 

That does not make it a good song though.

Yes it does. 

[The Shift]

If Barry Manilow hadn't had a hit with it, and BJ had had a flunk single instead, we'd be referring to it as a lost classic, like Guess I'm Dumb or something.

[Ron]

Exxxxactly.  Bruce wrote this song about Brian Wilson, it was never understood, blah blah blah I hope they boot a later take of it on the "KTSA" box set, did you get yours yet?  Mine's in the mail, I ordered mine from the wrong place so I'm going to get it 6 hours late, blah blah blah.


 

Seriously any song a songwriter made a fortune off of is by definition a GREAT song.  Don't really care if anybody agrees. 

[Mike's Beard]

I've honestly never heard Manilow's version, the only one I know is Bruce's off Going Public. Which IS a great song btw.

[Smilin Ed H]

"That was definitely a bad  mark on his record. "

Come on. Don't let the Manilow memory put you off.  If it had turned up on MIU or LA it would've improved the album considerably (especially the former)

[Ron]

I never got why people want to bag on somebody like Manilow anyways.  We get it, he's not what I listen to either, but for a lot of people they really enjoy his music, plus Manilow keeps a low key life doing his thing entertaining his fans, and isn't your cliche'd ego maniac musician who constantly has to have the spotlight, etc.  I've got nothing but love and respect for Barry Manilow. 

[Aegir]

I don't like "I Write the Songs" all that much. It's alright. And I'm not anti-Manilow. I love "Mandy".

...some people already have the Smile box and here we are talking about Barry Manilow!

[Mikie]

There's a Youtube clip of Bruce playing Disney Girls around 1975 on the Grey Whistle Test show. Really good. For some reason he asked that it be removed from Youtube a couple of years ago, but I see it's still up there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63NBh0NqaLY

[Aegir]

The reason was that the clip is on an available-for-purchase Old Grey Whistle Test DVD and Bruce thought it was wrong that people could see it without paying for it. He got really mad at the person who originally posted the clip but since then it's been uploaded by multiple users.

[Smilin Ed H]

It's a stunning performance.  A reminder of what he CAN do.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

For my money Disney Girls is one of THE all time Beach Boys pinnacles!

Bruce rules!

[willy]

And any guy who can hold the same facial expression for almost 46 years is cool with me.

[Awesoman]

It's ironic because between the 60's and early 70's Bruce seemed a bit of a hipster himself. But all in all I am sure he himself feels that he has had more than a rewarding career.

I'd beg to differ.  There is no one that is more un-hip than Bruce.  Considering he was in a rock & roll band, this guy rocked about as hard as a pillow.  Even Neil Sedaka could kick his ass in a fair fight.  It would not be unfair to say that (with the obvious exception of Dennis, of course) that the members of the Beach Boys themselves were kinda square when compared to the Mick Jaggers and John Lennons of the day.  So believe me it is saying a lot when you have to refer to Al Jardine as the second dorkiest member of the band.  I mean, you know when you're in trouble when the biggest achievement in your career was a hit for Barry Manilow.  And who can forget Bruce's ill-fated attempts at hipdom?  An 11-minute disco-fied remake of "Here Comes The Night", anyone?  Or a "Britney Spears" version of "Surfin'"?  And then of course there was *this* monstrosity:



Taking a gander at all of Bruce's uncoolness makes it that much more mind-boggling how he ended up singing on a Pink Floyd album. 

I still love "Disney Girls" though.

[Ron]

I know.  It's almost like you're wrong about all that. 

[lance]

Bruce is no hipster, but to say that he doesn't rock is flat-out wrong. He may have turned into a Adult Contemporary schmaltz-meister, but many of his early pre-sixties records rock like nobody's business.

[joe_blow]

The last couple of decades Bruce has been the epitomy of mailing it in. Waving, clapping and the odd vocal/keyboard tinkering. At one concert I focussed on him and found myself laughing , thinking, "what the hey does that guy do?" Great gig!

That said I also don't care for Disney Girls at all! I do like Tears In the Morning the best of his songs.

[pixletwin]

It's ironic because between the 60's and early 70's Bruce seemed a bit of a hipster himself. But all in all I am sure he himself feels that he has had more than a rewarding career.

I'd beg to differ.  There is no one that is more un-hip than Bruce.  Considering he was in a rock & roll band, this guy rocked about as hard as a pillow.  Even Neil Sedaka could kick his ass in a fair fight.  It would not be unfair to say that (with the obvious exception of Dennis, of course) that the members of the Beach Boys themselves were kinda square when compared to the Mick Jaggers and John Lennons of the day.  So believe me it is saying a lot when you have to refer to Al Jardine as the second dorkiest member of the band.  I mean, you know when you're in trouble when the biggest achievement in your career was a hit for Barry Manilow.  And who can forget Bruce's ill-fated attempts at hipdom?  An 11-minute disco-fied remake of "Here Comes The Night", anyone?  Or a "Britney Spears" version of "Surfin'"?  And then of course there was *this* monstrosity:



Taking a gander at all of Bruce's uncoolness makes it that much more mind-boggling how he ended up singing on a Pink Floyd album. 

I still love "Disney Girls" though.

Totally agree. I was referring more to his fashion sense. 

[lance]

I wrote 'early pre-sixties' but I meant 'early sixties, pre-Beach Boys'