BB's MTV era videos

[Lonely Summer]

Pulled out my collection of BB's 80's/90's videos the other night - unlike many others, I don't have a problem with the music itself of that time (except for SIP - just never liked it, no matter how hard I tried), but the videos are something else. Getcha Back is cute, California Dreamin' is very nice, artsy, Somewhere Near Japan is also nice,  but the others are embarrassing. Someone thought it was necessary to have these 40-something Beach Men surrounded by dozens of bikini clad bimbos, with lots of zoom shots of cleavage, and just general idiocy. Carl's not even in the Wipe Out video (good for him!); I think Brian has a cameo in Still Cruisin', but he's not onstage with the group. It's Gettin' Late doesn't even have the group in it (Brian appears very briefly before the fade). Some older groups actually benefitted from exposure on MTV (always thought the Kinks had very entertaining videos, especially Come Dancing); in the case of the Beach Boys, they would've been better off NOT making videos that this sh..stuff.

[Ron]

I've gotten to the point in my fandom where I'm starting to appreciate a lot of the 80's stuff.  Personally I think the Wipeout and Getcha Back videos are great.  I haven't seen the others enough to comment.  Sure they're cheezy and stupid but that's always been part of the band's image, I have no problem with it and actually enjoy it.  The Getcha Back video in my opinion is really strong, I know the storyline is stupid but it really fits the song well and they did one hell of a job with it.  My favorite part is how cool Carl looks at the party. 

As for wipeout, I love the wall of Brian vocals, it's really catchy.  I've always appreciated the fatboys, too, so I have a soft spot for that song. 

[Alex]

Those 80s videos are painful to watch!

[Mooger Fooger]

In general the attempts by the band in the 80's to be relevant were almost always way off the mark. For example the '85 album being hyped with its Culture Club connections came about 6 months after CC were deemed passe by the masses. The videos they made were constantly cheezy and stupid - which would have been fine had they been still reagrded as mainstream. The 80's were a continual uphill battle for them to appear relevant and it was a battle they never quite managed. Funny thing is, when they performed live and left all the try-hard antics behind and simply played good old rock and roll - that was when they regained alot of credibility and respect. When I saw the band in Narabeen in the early 90's I went along with a buddy who didn't partcularly like them - however he had to admit at the end of the show that they were damn good. At the end of the day, how many bands can you go see who can play for an entire concert playing nothing but top 10 hits?

[cablegeddon]

I've only seen the one where Mike Love raps and Kokomo. I don't like them at all. They look cheap for some reason. Some fan put this together and I think they should've gone for something similar. The paradise on the beach kind of thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avqh4xukkuo

[adamghost]

I enjoy the "Problem Child" video, partly because of the beating Bruce Johnston takes in the video (nothing against Bruce personally, I just think it's funny).  "California Dreamin'" and "Somewhere Near Japan" are also decent.  "Getcha Back" seems like the only video where anyone was really trying.  The "Still Cruisin'" video at least the band looks semi-cool and the car shots are fun, but then, I like anything at all that was shot in the desert.

Now there's some other ones that are among the worst things I have ever seen.  The animated video for "Happy Endings," and I have said this before, is like something you'd dream up after eating Taco Bell right before bed.  And "Summer of Love" is just incompetent and tasteless on any level.  You can't even tell who is and isn't in the band, and Mike's leering and age-inappropriate vibe (hey, I'm a middle-aged guy who likes to get it on, too, but this isn't how you do it) is simply yucky.  I do enjoy Brian's bemusement at it all.

None of this says anything about the music.  Count me as a pretty across-the-board hater of everything the BBs did in the '80s and '90s, a couple of Carl tracks on BB'85 excepted.

[MBE]

Hot Fun and Rock and Roll To The Rescue are the worst!

[adamghost]

Oh I forgot those.  Though the band at least seems to have enjoyed the "Rescue" shoot.  Brian getting pulled out of the truck on a surfboard is a hoot.

I actually love "Rescue," it's one of the few '80s tunes I like, mostly because of the spirited Brian vocal.  I know this is a minority view.

[southbay]

Oh I forgot those.  Though the band at least seems to have enjoyed the "Rescue" shoot.  Brian getting pulled out of the truck on a surfboard is a hoot.

I actually love "Rescue," it's one of the few '80s tunes I like, mostly because of the spirited Brian vocal.  I know this is a minority view.

I'm with you.  And about the Wipeout video, 2 questions I've had now for what, 25 years? First, where exactly WAS Carl?  Did he have the same illness Al had the day of the Summer Days photo shoot in 65? Was he just too embarrassed to show up?  Second, what was with the baby blue karate suit Al was sporting?  Was that from the MTV wardrobe department or did he wear that to the set himself?   

[Autotune]

The fistfight in one of the Wipe Out videos is bizarre to the extreme. Bruce seems to be the most violent, beating up a fat boy or two.

[MBE]

I like the song RRTTR fine for the period, it's just such bad acting in the video.

[Ron]

You have to watch that stuff with a grain of salt, all of the bad acting and silliness was sort of stylized in ALL the videos in the 80's.  All the videos by anybody were either 1. Live concerts where they were wearing ridiculous clothes or 2. Horribly cheesy scenarios that acted out over 3 minutes with over the top overly dramatic acting. 

We've gotten to a point at least here in the States where everybody takes everything so seriously and nobody wants to poke fun at themselves, when those videos were shot they weren't meant to be mind blowing or taken seriously, they were just a fun way to put the songs on MTV... and for kids to watch.  I can remember being about 8 or 9 when Kokomo came out, and going to the skating rink and rolling around with the video being projected on a huge screen at the end of the rink, everybody having a good time.  I can still remember seeing the fat boys videos and actually thinking they were funny.


So I think you have to keep in mind a lot of the videos were for children, and weren't intended to be anything serious or representative of the intellect of the band or anything. 

[Wild-Honey]

Don't know is this was on MTV or not.   It's pretty bad.  Als Hair!!  The bumper boats!  oi oi oi


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGYbvZ7OFX8

[Lonely Summer]

I like the song RRTTR fine for the period, it's just such bad acting in the video.

Yeah, the song is alright, nice to hear the guys doing more of a r 'n' r tune instead of another ballad, but the video just has me feeling embarrassed for the guys. i do remember reading some positive comments about the California Dreamin' video at the time, but I didn't have MTV, none of my friends had it at the time, I only saw it many years later on a comp. I do remember seeing Getcha Back on Friday Night Videos at least once and I thought that one was good fun, and I saw the Kokomo video over and over on VH1 in 1988. I notice they have Stamos mugging for the camera every chance they get....probably hoping that showing the "young stud" from Full House would win over a young audience. Al just playing a tambourine! WTF? Bruce on bass? I'm sure Bruce hadn't played bass on a Beach Boys song since 1968. And the best moment of all? That great sax solo from....MIKE LOVE? He must've taken some lessons between the Shut Down sessions and the Kokomo session. 

[guitarfool2002]

Someone thought it was necessary[/i]to have these 40-something Beach Men surrounded by dozens of bikini clad bimbos, with lots of zoom shots of cleavage, and just general idiocy.

[Ron]

I dunno, I think it may have been Brian "I like Hips, and Legs, and Breasts!!!!" Wilson.

[J.G. Dev]

Don't know is this was on MTV or not.   It's pretty bad.  Als Hair!!  The bumper boats!  oi oi oi


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGYbvZ7OFX8

Damn, Al could rock a mullet!