Mike Love dedicated his career to being a jerk

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I don't know how any songwriter, especially someone who is primarily a lyricist, could support that.

[Shady]

Especially one who wrote "Still Cruisin", a song about cruisin for prostitutes

[ontor pertawst]

I thought it was about Al Pacino and fists.

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

[SMiLE Brian]

Especially one who wrote "Still Cruisin", a song about cruisin for prostitutes

, Never thought about that song like that. But now that you mention it, Mike was single in the late 1980s so I think he was cruisin for hookers.

[Heysaboda]

HAIKU:

getting tired

oh so very tired

of the idiotic Mike bashing

meh

[smilethebeachboysloveyou]

Regarding Mike's thoughts on Pet Sounds, according to Tony Asher himself Mike wasn't particularly fond of it and told Brian "not to **** with the formula."  That doesn't mean he tried to sabotage it, and indeed he has some great vocal parts on the record, and one of the songs that he was involved in writing ("I'm Waiting for the Day") is one of my favorites on the album.  His dislike of the album is probably exaggerated in some circles, but the rumors didn't come from nowhere.

I don't think it's that complicated. As someone wrote earlier, Mike is not an artist, he's an entertainer, and it's not like he ever tried to keep that a secret. Brian wants to create art, Mike wants to sell a product. And from his commercial point of view, the way I suppose he saw it, it's understandable that he wasn't too sure if releasing this entire new product (Pet Sounds) was a smart move for the company that he co-owned (The Beach Boys). But that doesn't necessarily say anything about his personal opinion about the album as a work of art. If he says he loves it, than I have no reason to not believe him.

The account that Carlin gives in Catch a Wave suggests that Mike both disliked the album and thought it wouldn't sell well.  He was hardly the only one (according to the same book, Al, Dennis, and Nik Venet also voiced objections, and the album's poor initial sales in the U.S. suggests that American listeners were also not so enthusiastic about it) so there once again seems to be a double standard at work, since you don't frequently read accounts of the Beach Boys' history depicting any of those people as villains.  I also happen to be of the opinion that Terry Sachen's lyrics to "Hang On to Your Ego"/"I Know There's An Answer" are the worst thing about Pet Sounds, and they were also probably Mike's biggest complaint.  Still, the evidence seems to be that he was something less than a champion of the album, at least when it first came out.

[runnersdialzero]

Wait, the book lists Dennis as an objector? Don't most accounts say Dennis was one of its biggest supporters from the get-go?

Also, Mike's opinion of Pet Sounds seemed to turn around right quick just a couple years later. I wish I could find the particular article, but I think it was from '69 and he's basically complaining that Capitol didn't give a sh*t enough to promote it and that he thought it was a pretty good album.

[EthanJames]

Also, Mike's opinion of Pet Sounds seemed to turn around right quick just a couple years later. I wish I could find the particular article, but I think it was from '69 and he's basically complaining that Capitol didn't give a sh*t enough to promote it and that he thought it was a pretty good album.

Yea same with Smile, only about 44 years later...

[Jason]

Michael's only problem with Smile was the lyrics. He's held onto that for over 45 years. Yet I'd love to hear someone tell me that his vocal on the tag for Cabinessence isn't one of THE great moments in Beach Boys history. For the guy who just "hated" the music, he sure sang his heart out on those songs.

[runnersdialzero]

Also, Mike's opinion of Pet Sounds seemed to turn around right quick just a couple years later. I wish I could find the particular article, but I think it was from '69 and he's basically complaining that Capitol didn't give a sh*t enough to promote it and that he thought it was a pretty good album.

Yea same with Smile, only about 44 years later...

His story hasn't changed a great deal, though. Even in 2011, he was quick to say his biggest objection to the material was mostly the lyrics, not the music (which he did say he thought was great). He's not suddenly singing its praises or anything, and the logic he used of feeling like a lot of their core fans wouldn't understand or would be put off by the lyrics was a valid point, to me. That's seemingly one of the reasons Brian scrapped the material, while we're at it.

Just sayin' - those who accuse Mike of revisionist history or trying to save face should consider these things.

Edit: BEATEN TO IT but yeah ;39

[smilethebeachboysloveyou]

Wait, the book lists Dennis as an objector? Don't most accounts say Dennis was one of its biggest supporters from the get-go?

Also, Mike's opinion of Pet Sounds seemed to turn around right quick just a couple years later. I wish I could find the particular article, but I think it was from '69 and he's basically complaining that Capitol didn't give a sh*t enough to promote it and that he thought it was a pretty good album.

I think most accounts say that Dennis was the most enthusiastic band member about Smile, but I haven't heard that about Pet Sounds.  I was surprised when I read that, too, though.

[Shady]

Michael's only problem with Smile was the lyrics. He's held onto that for over 45 years. Yet I'd love to hear someone tell me that his vocal on the tag for Cabinessence isn't one of THE great moments in Beach Boys history. For the guy who just "hated" the music, he sure sang his heart out on those songs.

If the only thing Mike ever did in the Beach boys discography was the Cabinessence tag,  I'd love him forever for it

[drbeachboy]

Wait, the book lists Dennis as an objector? Don't most accounts say Dennis was one of its biggest supporters from the get-go?

Also, Mike's opinion of Pet Sounds seemed to turn around right quick just a couple years later. I wish I could find the particular article, but I think it was from '69 and he's basically complaining that Capitol didn't give a sh*t enough to promote it and that he thought it was a pretty good album.

I think most accounts say that Dennis was the most enthusiastic band member about Smile, but I haven't heard that about Pet Sounds.  I was surprised when I read that, too, though.

Loving the music yourself versus questioning whether your fan base will love it are two entirely different things. I can see why they were all concerned. Not that Pet Sounds was the reason, but their concern about their career turned out to be justified, as they fell from grace rather quickly not long thereafter.

[runnersdialzero]

I know it was like 10 years after the fact, but given the timing of Pacific Ocean Blue, I doubt Dennis really gave a sh*t if he was alienating some stubborn folk who thought the Beach Boys should have one sound and should only be choosing from a pool of about three lyrical topics. Even his earliest contributions to Beach Boys albums leaned more toward Pet Sounds-like arrangements, if they pointed to anything in their past at all.

[drbeachboy]

I know it was like 10 years after the fact, but given the timing of Pacific Ocean Blue, I doubt Dennis really gave a sh*t if he was alienating some stubborn folk who thought the Beach Boys should have one sound and should only be choosing from a pool of about three lyrical topics. Even his earliest contributions to Beach Boys albums leaned more toward Pet Sounds-like arrangements, if they pointed to anything in their past at all.

Think whatever you want, but the fact remains he said it. He can think one way artistically, while thinking another career-wise. Both come in conflict with each other quite often. Remember too, they were big hit makers in 1966. A lot happened by 1977.

[Doo Dah]

During tonight's Presidential debate when Mitt Romney announced he had "binders full of women", somewhere in America Mike Love thought to himself..."that's a good idea for a song."

[ontor pertawst]

binders full of women, all ready for school -
who would choose one but a kuh-ray-zee fool?

MIKE: "Hey, what rhymes with Benghazi?"

[Doo Dah]

binders full of women, all ready for school -
who would choose one but a kuh-ray-zee fool?

MIKE: "Hey, what rhymes with Benghazi?"

That's a NUT buster!

[Dunderhead]

I get the impression that Carl was the one most enthusiastic about Smile, he's the one who kept going back to finish those songs after all. Dennis is a harder nut to crack, most accounts have him more concerned with lifestyle indulgences at this point than anything else. On one hand I could understand he'd want the band to keep up its' commercial success, but on the other hand wasn't Surf's Up done because of Dennis' frustration with the band's uncool image? Would he have really confronted Brian over the experimental nature of Smile, there's something seemingly out of character about that...