Somewhat painful Bruce Johnston interview in a Dutch magazine

[Juice Brohnston]

Bruce could care less. He is not shy with his opinions. And I know this first hand by him sticking his head in my car with my family aboard and admonishing me for actually running into the band when they were checking into a hotel in KC. Remember Bruce? I'm sure you do. Come to think of it, I've had several personal contacts with BJ. In a bar after a concert in Austin in 1969. The car thingy in the mid 80's, and for a long time before a concert in Wichita in the early 90's, when he pleaded with me to get the weather report as storms were threatening. Bruce, if you do read this board then I have two words for you. EAGLE, NEBRASKA.  June 1989. We nearly all perished that night. So I can say with some confidence, Bruce could care less what you think.

So true...he really doesn't.

[rn57]

Wanted to read the whole article before commenting. Now that I have...it's Bruce being all too typically Bruce. Enough said. I'd rather read thousands of words discussing a painful interview with Daniel Johnston. Or even one with Freedy. Let's just settle down and wait till Bruce does something worth devoting a gigantic thread to. Like wearing Speedos onstage. Which he'll probably do this weekend.

[orange22]

I hate getting involved in such a soap opera, but I can't hold my tongue. I haven't read the whole thread, but drbeachboy (if you're even a real doctor), you're really making yourself look silly here. And I'm quite surprised AGD is on the same side as well, I would think you would be for journalistic integrity more so than anyone else.

[Jim V.]

I hate getting involved in such a soap opera, but I can't hold my tongue. I haven't read the whole thread, but drbeachboy (if you're even a real doctor), you're really making yourself look silly here. And I'm quite surprised AGD is on the same side as well, I would think you would be for journalistic integrity more so than anyone else.

As much as I respect AGD, I'm pretty sure he knows right wing Brucie pretty well, and doesn't wanna rock the boat. I don't blame him.

[MBE]

For me the point I am making is that it doesn't hurt to try to be kind and understanding no matter what business you are in. I liked seeing Bruce on this tour, I don't feel he has the talent of the others, but Disney Girls and his energy worked as part of the show. It isn't that I really care about his politics, it's just that I think people shouldn't rush to judge, be so quick with a putdown, or feel they are above others. With my job I have met many musicians and most of them are cool. Most of the people in and around the Beach Boys are also very cool, but Bruce just doesn't seem to care if what he does is hurtful. That's what I find to be sad. If I am hard on him it's because I don't think it's ever too late to improve ones self. I think the Brian, Mike, Al, and Dave of today are much more mature and thoughtful than say their 1978 selves. Bruce just hasn't shown the same growth.

Bruce may well indeed read this, and my two cents might mean he'll trash my book, but I'm honestly not concerned. I'm not trying to be an insider or hang with the band, I just want to fairly tell the story of their music. I don't go into my personal feelings about him ethically in there, and feel I am fair to his work, but hey I would rather him think about the things he says than like me personally. Frankly I doubt he will care what we say, but maybe he needs to stop looking at us as Beach Boy to Beach Boys fan. Maybe just maybe our study of his life and career may provide some insight on how he makes people feel in a personal situation.

I have had someone bad mouth me on the phone (nothing to do with Beach Boys or my work) without thinking I could hear them and it's not a good feeling if they have just been seemingly kind. Nobody's made of stone Bruce.

[Mikie]

Why do I feel like I'm reading a typical Shut Down board 'other topics' politics thread from a few years ago? Why are people firing of snide xenophobic comments off at each other, including a moderator?

Shut Down can't hold a candle to this board.  No control freaks here and people state their opinions freely without an Admin breathing down their necks and threatening them all the time. That's why Shut Down's dead now.  Welcome to the First Amendment, Paulos!

[Jim V.]

For me the point I am making is that it doesn't hurt to try to be kind and understanding no matter what business you are in. I liked seeing Bruce on this tour, I don't feel he has the talent of the others, but Disney Girls and his energy worked as part of the show. It isn't that I really care about his politics, it's just that I think people shouldn't rush to judge, be so quick with a putdown, or feel they are above others. With my job I have met many musicians and most of them are cool. Most of the people in and around the Beach Boys are also very cool, but Bruce just doesn't seem to care if what he does is hurtful. That's what I find to be sad. If I am hard on him it's because I don't think it's ever too late to improve ones self. I think the Brian, Mike, Al, and Dave of today are much more mature and thoughtful than  say their 1978 selves. Bruce just hasn't shown the same growth.

I can't say, since I don't know all that much about the guy, but once again I think the reason he is so petty and mean-spirited has to do with the fact that he's never really had it tough. Brian, Mike, Dave, and even Al have between them all dealt with family issues, emotional problems, people using them, etc., whereas Bruce has seemed to just kinda skate through life with no real strife. And I think the fact that the others have had to overcome more adversity makes them more sensitive to other people's feelings.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I think that's it. I mean, I was never rich by any sense of the word, but I used to live comfortable, and as much as it shames me to admit it now, there was some arrogance. Now as I have been having severe financial troubles over the past few years and am about to be homeless in a few weeks, I know the meaning of humility.

[Jason]

Why do I feel like I'm reading a typical Shut Down board 'other topics' politics thread from a few years ago? Why are people firing of snide xenophobic comments off at each other, including a moderator?

Shut Down can't hold a candle to this board.  No control freaks here and people state their opinions freely without an Admin breathing down their necks and threatening them all the time. That's why Shut Down's dead now.  Welcome to the First Amendment, Paulos!

+1

[adamghost]

Fair enough.  Point being, magically eliminating government does not magically eliminate the problems inherent in managing a society.  Some kind of institution needs to be in place to regulate, enforce laws, etc.  Any powerful institution, government or business, unchecked, has the potential to be abusive, and all other things being equal power (and abuse) tend to follow the money.  My basic problem with libertarian and much mainstream conservative thought is the inability to grapple with that reality -- and that government "not being better" than business is a good argument in favor of having each as useful counterweights to one another, rather than weakening one to such a degree that the other takes over.  Once you get to that reality, then you can start to have a civic discussion over how to order that balance and arrange those institutions better, but until we see the whole picture and acknowledge it, we can't have a realistic debate over what form of government or society works best.  Otherwise, reflexive anti-government (or anti-business) rhetoric is all fantasy talk to me and I can't take it seriously.  Fair?

Completely fair.  I particularly like that you say "inability to grapple" because I think it should be a grapple.  The answer isn't obvious.  And you're right, that we can't have a good, honest debate about things with which people aren't willing to grapple.  There's a strain of Utopianism in mainstream politics, be it the left or right.  But it's never going to be pretty.  Like James Madison wrote, people aren't angels.

Love it.  *handshake*

[adamghost]

I think that's it. I mean, I was never rich by any sense of the word, but I used to live comfortable, and as much as it shames me to admit it now, there was some arrogance. Now as I have been having severe financial troubles over the past few years and am about to be homeless in a few weeks, I know the meaning of humility.

I gotta say, this also rings true for me too.  I was born of well-to-do, basically conservative parents, though it was the northeastern pro-business strain and not the social conservative strain that some of my family has brought into.  I was thoroughly exposed to those ideas in my formative years and still respect them...in fact, a lot of my "liberalism" these days comes from basically conservative values of civil, personal and fiscal responsibility...I just see those things in much broader terms than many modern conservatives do.  But anyway, what I meant to say was as a young adult without having had any really bad experiences, and not wanting for anything, I definitely had a lot more insensitivity and "let them eat cake" sense of entitlement.  If you're in that situation you don't necessarily want to grapple with people with other life problems, because it makes you uncomfortable and feel guilty.  There's also the very real fear people have of something bad happening to them -- and a way folks cope with that is to tell themselves that they are superior and nearly all of the bad things that happen to people are the result of moral failings and bad choices (I was, in fact, taught this).

What woke me up was being a newspaper reporter and having to see, and weigh, multiple sides of an argument.  Well, and Bush's invasion of Iraq making absolutely no logical sense to me on its face, but that's another story.  But I think there's really an upbringing factor that is key here, whether it's adopting the environment that you were brought up in, or rebelling in it.  Thinking for oneself, and reaching one's own conclusions, is very difficult and also not encouraged in our society (individualist ideas notwithstanding, we get blasted the same messages over and over by a tightly controlled media).  It requires effort and (most of all) self-questioning, which makes most folks uncomfortable, particularly if they're insecure.

It's interesting that the one really bad experience I've ever had in a band with someone with "showbiz" disease was with an ex-minor rock star who was as it happens a strident, judgmental hard liberal.  Even though I agreed with him on a lot of issues I found his black and white stances extremely hard to take.   I think his stridency was a result of deep insecurity, of lashing out so that his core ideas (and self) would not be threatened.  He also had a habit of shooting his mouth of publicly in ways where he had no concept of how it was coming across, which is one of the reasons I stopped working with him.  I think it's that bubble factor that fame and/or wealth can create if people allow themselves to get sucked into it.  Hardship forces a lot of us into that self-questioning.  But if it doesn't happen, it's easy to create a reality that reinforces what you want to believe about yourself.  Some people to do it anyway.

[Jay]

The "kicked his ass for ten minutes" part is the worst part of the comment, in my opinion. It's not even arrogant, it's downright bragging, like he's some macho tough guy. Shades of rocky pamplin. 

[Mike's Beard]

Bruce could care less. He is not shy with his opinions. And I know this first hand by him sticking his head in my car with my family aboard and admonishing me for actually running into the band when they were checking into a hotel in KC. Remember Bruce? I'm sure you do. Come to think of it, I've had several personal contacts with BJ. In a bar after a concert in Austin in 1969. The car thingy in the mid 80's, and for a long time before a concert in Wichita in the early 90's, when he pleaded with me to get the weather report as storms were threatening. Bruce, if you do read this board then I have two words for you. EAGLE, NEBRASKA.  June 1989. We nearly all perished that night. So I can say with some confidence, Bruce could care less what you think.

Dave, if you don't mind my asking, what did he do at the bar in 1969?

[mabewa]

So what, not every country needs to be the USA. Bruce didnt expect a european to act european?

Socialism is bankrupting the EU and is about to bankrupt the USA. But that's a topic for the Sandbox. Let's keep this on topic as best we can.

Two problems with this point of view:

A).  The more socialistic countries like France, Sweden, the Netherlands, etc. are doing the best economically.

B).  The US was far more socialistic (progressive taxation, strong labor unions, etc.) in the 40's, 50's and 60's) than it is now.  And we were also in far less danger of going bankrupt back then.  If Bruce doesn't like socialism, then he should be pretty happy about things nowadays compared to how they were when he was a kid/

That's all I will say about this topic. 

[Don Malcolm]

Good stuff, Adam. Would only that more folk evolve in that direction of thought. It's important that we step out of our own perspective and listen to others.

Even if it's on a phone line that has been left open by accident...  

[Seaside Woman]

BJ has a Grammy on his shoulder.

[Disney Boy (1985)]

Bruce could care less. He is not shy with his opinions.

Well said. More folks should be as content as Bruce clearly is.

Come on, shouldn't you be above provocative comments like that, especially considering that you're a moderator?

I'm not going to bite my tongue due to my position on this forum or because others don't like my opinions. Never have, never will. I'm entitled to an opinion as much as anyone else. It's nothing personal. If anyone wants to make it a personal issue, I'll happily take it to PMs. Folks had their shots at me and that's fine. People aren't going to agree on everything. Let's keep it that way. The board will be better off.

I agree, that was uncalled for by this Real Beach Boy guy who has some larger-than-life image of himself and his country.

I really don't, but you can think whatever you want.

So you can read English then...

[Jaco]

I agree with some of you it's clearly PR press talk by Bruce.
Therefore he wanted only positivity, cos you wanna sell the latest record and promote the latest tour, don't you?
I would take much of the interview with a grain of salt.

"By the way, I did like Summer in Paradise."

Really, Bruce? Earlier comments, I remember reading them somewhere on the net, said the contrary.
I think Bruce dislikes SIP as much as his own Pyama Party lp from the 60s, of which he admitted to be awful in his own view.

[Moon Dawg]

I can't say, since I don't know all that much about the guy, but once again I think the reason he is so petty and mean-spirited has to do with the fact that he's never really had it tough. Brian, Mike, Dave, and even Al have between them all dealt with family issues, emotional problems, people using them, etc., whereas Bruce has seemed to just kinda skate through life with no real strife. And I think the fact that the others have had to overcome more adversity makes them more sensitive to other people's feelings.

 No strife in Bruce's life? That's a huge leap, don't you think? EVERYONE has problems, even Bruce Johnston.

[Manchini]

 No strife in Bruce's life? That's a huge leap, don't you think? EVERYONE has problems, even Bruce Johnston.

Exactly. Have we all forgotten --  or are we simply unable to sympathize -- that his baby mama moved out up to Europe with his kid, and packed her warmth and took her soul? That's enough to make me hate those socialist assholes any day.

[J.G. Dev]

Just confirms what I've suspected all along....Bruce Johnston will kick your ass, and he'll do it with a smile on his face. 

[Theydon Bois]

 No strife in Bruce's life? That's a huge leap, don't you think? EVERYONE has problems, even Bruce Johnston.

Exactly. Have we all forgotten --  or are we simply unable to sympathize -- that his baby mama moved out up to Europe with his kid, and packed her warmth and took her soul? That's enough to make me hate those socialist assholes any day.

I have been dismissing Bruce's opinions on Europe ever since I learned that he thinks it rhymes with "sure of".

[Exapno Mapcase]

"Just confirms what I've suspected all along....Bruce Johnston will kick your ass, and he'll do it with a smile on his face."

Wearing shorts and clapping at the same time.

[AlFall]

Bruce may well indeed read this, and my two cents might mean he'll trash my book,

Bruce isn't going to read this.  I asked him after the soundcheck at Red Rocks whether he reads or posts to this board, and he emphatically said that he doesn't read or post anything on this or any other board.   If I were an artist, I wouldn't read the boards either. They're filled with ignorant, personal, negative crap.

 I attended the soundcheck at both the Dallas and Red Rocks shows, and Bruce was very friendly and gracious at both, and he went out of his way to engage the crowd who bought the VIP packages.  During the Red Rocks soundcheck, I yelled "Bruce, you sound great!" (which he did), to which he said, "Brian's the guy to thank, he wrote it, I just sing."   That doesn't sound like an egomaniac to me.  I know he has his bad moments, but he's 70 years old, and he and his mates gave me 3 hours and 10 minutes of fantastic entertainment (2:45 of actual playing + 25 minute soundcheck, 6 soundcheck songs + 51 show songs). I can overlook his faults.

I am a Democrat and a fan of Obama, but I don't have any problem with people who think he's a bad president. In a comment a couple of months ago (secretly taped by a fan), Bruce said, "we're f***ked if Obama gets re-elected. But our guy (Romney) is bad too."   I don't have a problem with that comment, and I do recognize that he could be right.  I do have a problem with people repeating right-wing lies, such as "Obamacare gets between you and your doctor" (rated FALSE by politifact.com), "Obamacare is the largest middle class tax increase in history" (rated PANTS ON FIRE), "Obamacare is government takeover of healthcare and/or socialized medicine (2010 politifact.com Lie of the Year)", Obama was born in Kenya (according to Trump and Huckabee, rated PANTS ON FIRE), Obama apologizes for America (repeatedly rated FALSE), etc.

[ontor pertawst]

he emphatically said that he doesn't read or post anything on this or any other board.

News to Beach Boys Britain, then! Wonder why he lied to you. Because if he actually said "or any other board," then yeah -- no misunderstanding there. Just an outright lie or somebody on there has a very rich fantasy life. Maybe he doesn't want 'mericans stinkin' the place up, or maybe he wanted to do his I-can't-believe-you-care-so-much-it's-just-a-job-to-me shtick.

If I were an artist, I wouldn't read the boards either

Yeah, I'm way too oversensitive and would be crushed. But I'd also be morbidly curious and would check at odd moments, then snarl "oh what the f*** do THEY know!" and close the browser after a bit.