"Beach Boys' Mike Love talks Good Life Fest"

[Nicko1234]

I don't know. Songs don't stay that long up there anymore. But I think they could have had another hit with all the promotion and publicity last year. TWGMTR definitely deserved a Top 30 chart placement imo but the song with the most potential is/was "Isn't it time". That one could've made it big I think. But there was no promotion whatsoever. Nothing. Zero. Plus the single version was too much over the top, but it had the better bridge than the album version.

I would say that Spring Vacation is the catchiest and most commercial song. If that had been given some lyrical revisions and released in the spring then it would have stood the best chance.

[AndrewHickey]

I don't know. Songs don't stay that long up there anymore. But I think they could have had another hit with all the promotion and publicity last year. TWGMTR definitely deserved a Top 30 chart placement imo but the song with the most potential is/was "Isn't it time". That one could've made it big I think. But there was no promotion whatsoever. Nothing. Zero. Plus the single version was too much over the top, but it had the better bridge than the album version.

I think if Isn't It Time had been the first single off the album, with the Mike middle section but otherwise the album mix, it could have been a genuinely big hit.

[Nicko1234]

I think if Isn't It Time had been the first single off the album, with the Mike middle section but otherwise the album mix, it could have been a genuinely big hit.

I'm not sure about that but I think they would have to have re-recorded Brian's vocals to have stood any chance. They are too slurry at the start of the song.

Hopefully the single version will appear on the box set though.

[Don Malcolm]

What about "Endless summer"?

Endless Summer stayed on the charts forever, but not in the top 10...that portion of its chart reign was six weeks from August 31-October 5, 1974. Spirit of America was in top ten for four weeks from June 14-July 5, 1975 and it seemed to drive Endless Summer back up the charts, with it peaking again at #20 for two weeks at...well, at the end of summer (August 30-September 6, 1975). All in all, it was on the top 200 for 71 consecutive weeks.
--
Again, data courtesy of the bounty at AGD's Bellagio 10452 site.

[Nicko1234]

AGD's site is certainly invaluable when it comes to chart info.

It is still unbelievable that in the U.K. 20 Golden Greats was at number 1 for 10 weeks in 1976. What with that and Endless Summer it really should be no surprise that they put naff all effort into their new material.

[keysarsoze001]

I'm no Mike apologist, but I do feel like it must be incredibly frustrating to him that even when discussing the mid-sixties output, it's always sort of framed as "So Brian Wilson sure is great, huh? Did you do anything on those songs? I don't remember." It's like Mike is Salieri in Amadeus or something. He DID contribute to those classic tracks, and his voice and lyrics are an indelible part of them. But there will never come a day in which he'll be regarded by the public as being able to contribute anything remotely comparable to what Brian did, whether that's a fair assessment of the band's greatness or not. So he's just naturally always on the defensive when it comes to that topic. Has there ever been a period in the band's history where he's been able to give an interview in which Brian wasn't mentioned? It's always the only thing anyone wants to discuss. "Marcia, Marcia, MARCIA!"

[Letsgoawayforawhile]

Does anyone today ever dominate any form of the newfangled musical charts for three months? Not that Mike actually mentioned that length of time, mind you. Andrew's US chart data shows Beach Boys Today! in the top 10 from May 24-July 17, 1965 and SDSN from August 7-October 9, but those are top 10, not #1.

It looks like Beach Boys Concert was the all-time top chart performer for the BBs, in the Top Ten for 20 weeks (November 21, 1964-April 3, 1965), including four consecutive weeks at #1. All Summer Long was next, in the Top Ten from August 15-November 28, 1964 (16 weeks).
--
(Data, of course, courtesy of Mr. Doe's fabulous treasure trove of BB information.)

Yes.
Adele's "21" was number one for 24 weeks.

[Aegir]

all it takes is listening to any cover of a song with a Mike lead, to know that Mike added so much to those songs.

[Rocky Raccoon]

I'm no Mike apologist, but I do feel like it must be incredibly frustrating to him that even when discussing the mid-sixties output, it's always sort of framed as "So Brian Wilson sure is great, huh? Did you do anything on those songs? I don't remember." It's like Mike is Salieri in Amadeus or something. He DID contribute to those classic tracks, and his voice and lyrics are an indelible part of them. But there will never come a day in which he'll be regarded by the public as being able to contribute anything remotely comparable to what Brian did, whether that's a fair assessment of the band's greatness or not. So he's just naturally always on the defensive when it comes to that topic. Has there ever been a period in the band's history where he's been able to give an interview in which Brian wasn't mentioned? It's always the only thing anyone wants to discuss. "Marcia, Marcia, MARCIA!"

So what?  He should accept that.  The Who would not been The Who without Roger Daltrey on vocals but if you read any interview with Daltrey, he always praises Pete Townshend and acknowledges him as the backbone of the group.  He doesn't feel undermined by that, he knows his part and he plays it.  Sure he contributed a lot to the group but Mike Love wants the public to see him as something he wasn't.  He's a decent singer with stage presence and a great personality, he helped write some great songs in the sixties but by no means was he an essential part of the writing of those songs.  Mike in addition to Al, Carl, Dennis, Dave Marks... they all played a great role in the Beach Boys but they still owe everything to Brian Wilson.

[Dancing Bear]

I'm no Mike apologist, but I do feel like it must be incredibly frustrating to him that even when discussing the mid-sixties output, it's always sort of framed as "So Brian Wilson sure is great, huh? Did you do anything on those songs? I don't remember." It's like Mike is Salieri in Amadeus or something. He DID contribute to those classic tracks, and his voice and lyrics are an indelible part of them. But there will never come a day in which he'll be regarded by the public as being able to contribute anything remotely comparable to what Brian did, whether that's a fair assessment of the band's greatness or not. So he's just naturally always on the defensive when it comes to that topic. Has there ever been a period in the band's history where he's been able to give an interview in which Brian wasn't mentioned? It's always the only thing anyone wants to discuss. "Marcia, Marcia, MARCIA!"

So what?  He should accept that.  The Who would not been The Who without Roger Daltrey on vocals but if you read any interview with Daltrey, he always praises Pete Townshend and acknowledges him as the backbone of the group.  He doesn't feel undermined by that, he knows his part and he plays it.  Sure he contributed a lot to the group but Mike Love wants the public to see him as something he wasn't.  He's a decent singer with stage presence and a great personality, he helped write some great songs in the sixties but by no means was he an essential part of the writing of those songs.  Mike in addition to Al, Carl, Dennis, Dave Marks... they all played a great role in the Beach Boys but they still owe everything to Brian Wilson.

But Pete never blamed the demise of the Lifehouse Project on Roger, John and Keith. Respect is a two-way street.

[urbanite]

It wouldn't bother me one bit if Mike Love gave an interview and trashed Brian for all the shenanigans he put the group through since the mid-60's.  I've got problems with Mike and some of the poor choices he's made over the years, but he's more than earned the right to set the record straight on the decades of shoot the group went through with Brian.  Might be therapeutic for him.

[Nicko1234]

He's a decent singer with stage presence and a great personality, he helped write some great songs in the sixties but by no means was he an essential part of the writing of those songs.

Sorry but how can writing the lyrics and hooks to those songs not be considered to be 'an essential part'?

From Surfin' onwards Mike did play an essential part as Brian couldn't have written the songs on his own any more than he could have written the car songs without Roger Christian, Pet Sounds without Tony Asher or Smile without Van Dyke Parks. Brian has tended to write around 1 song alone on each album and has needed collaborators for the rest.

That doesn't in any way diminish Brian's qualities in terms of production, writing music, vocal arrangement etc.

[runnersdialzero]

He's a decent singer with stage presence and a great personality, he helped write some great songs in the sixties but by no means was he an essential part of the writing of those songs.

derp

[shelter]

For the last 40 years or so, it has pretty much been Mike Love's full time job to sing songs from 1962-1966, and to talk about those years. And yet, he gets annoyed because in April 2013 someone is still "hung up" on something that happened in Summer 2012.

And isn't it sad that he can't just enjoy that his group made a really good, well-received, in parts very moving and relatively successful album last year? Just because it didn't have a hit single and because his own imput was somewhat limited?

[Micha]

The Who would not been The Who without Roger Daltrey on vocals but if you read any interview with Daltrey, he always praises Pete Townshend and acknowledges him as the backbone of the group.

Well, Mike hasn't been diminishing Brian's dominant role in interviews either...

[Jonathan Blum]

My heart stopped for a while when I read this:

He wanted to do some re-records of some of our favorite songs. And I was up for that.

Have people forgotten "Do It Again" already?  I know the scars of Summer In Paradise run deep, but it really wasn't that spine-chilling this time around...

Cheers,
Jon Blum

[Micha]

But I think they could have had another hit with all the promotion and publicity last year. TWGMTR definitely deserved a Top 30 chart placement imo but the song with the most potential is/was "Isn't it time". That one could've made it big I think. But there was no promotion whatsoever. Nothing. Zero.

I think so too. I once dreamt I saw a video to the album version of "Isn't it time" that was set in an old people's home. They were sitting in rocking chairs at first and got livelier during the video. They redid those dancing steps from the 1962 "Surfin' Safari" live video and danced with middle-aged ladies in the end. Jeff and Darian played male-nurses...

The dream, however, gave no clue if the video had an influence on the chart position...

[Rocker]

I think if Isn't It Time had been the first single off the album, with the Mike middle section but otherwise the album mix, it could have been a genuinely big hit.

I'm not sure about that but I think they would have to have re-recorded Brian's vocals to have stood any chance. They are too slurry at the start of the song.

I disagree. I totally love Brian's vocals on "Isn't it time". I just think that the slowing down of the single version wasn't a very good idea.

[BergenWhitesMoustache]

I think if Isn't It Time had been the first single off the album, with the Mike middle section but otherwise the album mix, it could have been a genuinely big hit.

I'm not sure about that but I think they would have to have re-recorded Brian's vocals to have stood any chance. They are too slurry at the start of the song.

I'm not sure it would have necessarily been a big hit, BUT if it were produced properly, it, and the album could certainly have had a shot at 'restoring credibility' in the same way the Jack Riely era stuff did. Isn't it time is a fun song...makes me think of 'our team'...just classic easy Beach Boys feel good silliness. The production of both versions is criminal.

[Ziggy Stardust]

He wanted to do some re-records of some of our favorite songs. And I was up for that. We mentioned a couple of songs to each other. But that never happened.

I wonder if it's about their own songs or just covers of other tunes.. either way, terrible terrible idea, thank god they just came up with a new album.

Q: “That’s Why God Made the Radio” sounds more like a Beach Boys album than a Brian solo album.

A: That’s because Alan is singing and I’m singing, and Bruce came up with his parts. So yeah, it does. Because it is (laughs). Anyway, it sounds like you’re hung up on that album. Or that tour.

But seriously, what kind of comment is that?

[SMiLE Brian]

Good question, Mike seems not happy that his band is being compared to C50 line-up.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

The Who would not been The Who without Roger Daltrey on vocals but if you read any interview with Daltrey, he always praises Pete Townshend and acknowledges him as the backbone of the group.

Well, Mike hasn't been diminishing Brian's dominant role in interviews either...

What do you call it when you suggest that you were the one responsible for the success of the band?

[drbeachboy]

The Who would not been The Who without Roger Daltrey on vocals but if you read any interview with Daltrey, he always praises Pete Townshend and acknowledges him as the backbone of the group.

Well, Mike hasn't been diminishing Brian's dominant role in interviews either...

What do you call it when you suggest that you were the one responsible for the success of the band?

Honesty, wrapped in a lie?

[Micha]

The Who would not been The Who without Roger Daltrey on vocals but if you read any interview with Daltrey, he always praises Pete Townshend and acknowledges him as the backbone of the group.

Well, Mike hasn't been diminishing Brian's dominant role in interviews either...

What do you call it when you suggest that you were the one responsible for the success of the band?

I need the exact quote to properly answer your question. If Mike has claimed so multiple times, please provide me with as many interviews with that suggestion as possible.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

The Who would not been The Who without Roger Daltrey on vocals but if you read any interview with Daltrey, he always praises Pete Townshend and acknowledges him as the backbone of the group.

Well, Mike hasn't been diminishing Brian's dominant role in interviews either...

What do you call it when you suggest that you were the one responsible for the success of the band?

I need the exact quote to properly answer your question. If Mike has claimed so multiple times, please provide me with as many interviews with that suggestion as possible.

It's a fairly infamous quote by now:

"Ultimately I think the Beach Boys meant so much to so many people because of the positivity and that was me." - Endless Harmony doc