Mike Love’s finest vocal moments

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

There was a rejected version with him on lead on the PS box.

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

And he has a great voice for playing off the other guys leads or co-leads. Al especially..they have similar voices yet they work well off each other. A Casual Look, Winds of Change, Make it Big.

I've decided that in Make it Big, the end vocal interplay between Brian + Mike, with Mike getting close to a falsetto, is one of my all-time favorite moments in the entire catalog. I get the "feels" on that part almost as much as some of their very best material from the '60s.  I'm odd like that.

That vocal arrangement is genius; I wonder if it was Brian's idea? I think I recall reading that he only came in for a brief cameo on that song. I wonder if those Brian/Mike vocals were arranged on the spot by Brian, or if it was some pre-existing arrangement (done by someone else) that Brian just came in to sing.

So funny that you're such a big fan of that song. I love it too. And it's a main reason (along with "Kokomo", "Island Girl" and "In My Car") of mine why Still Cruisin' is part of my collection.

Right on, sweetdudejim   The only part that makes me cringe is the "Johnny B. Goode" lyric. I really could do without that! And Mike hams it up too much with trying to sound like his young, nasal self on that entire section. But at the end, on the tag, Mike sounds gold. I too love those other Still Crusin' tracks. I wish they did an entire album in that era that had that synthy 80s Make it Big sound. Love it.

I like "Still Cruisin'", very good songs therein. Even bad - the song you 2 discuss - has jolly good reason to like it. That Brian & Mike tag is big favorite, said it before. Say what you will but I think Brian's vocal there is great!

Back to topic - "Here today", "I'm waiting for the day", "Monster mash", "Little deuce coupe", "Little Saint Nick".

Mike didn't sing I'm Waiting For The Day.

Let's count our blessings that he didn't. His one take on the box set was really just awful . I usually skip over "Here Today" because of the obvious strain on his tonsils trying to sing. The song should have been handled by Carl or Al.

[RangeRoverA1]

Deleted for the attitude.

[Jay]

Like it or not, Mike did sing "I'm waiting for the day". Fact. I prefer his version & think it's his "finest vocal moment". The thread topic doesn't say to pick *just* from official leads.

I didn't know a version existed with Mike singing. My apologies.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Like it or not, Mike did sing "I'm waiting for the day". Fact. I prefer his version & think it's his "finest vocal moment".  The thread topic doesn't say to pick *just* from official leads.

It also didn't say not to. There was no need to be that harsh.

[RangeRoverA1]

Dlt for the attitude.

[SMiLE Brian]

lay off Jay....

[RangeRoverA1]

Your post says "This poster is ignored". Maybe you said cool list of Mike goodies.

Sth. I rmbr. - "Anything for you" (the girl vocal tho is epic fail), "Betsy" (as good as Brian's), "California girls" (should've mentioned it before), "Isn't it time" (as well as single with him singing the middle 8 instead of Jeff Foskett).

[Lee Marshall]

I appreciated Mike's 'smart-ass' sound on the early hits like Surfin' USA, Shut Down, Little Deuce Coupe, Be True to Your School and Fun cubed.  With Brian off-setting Mike's leads in THOSE specific songs the ying and the yang 'thing' worked well.   At least that's the way it struck me in REAL TIME/as it happened.  As the group progressed though I found that the 'nose factor' detracted from 'it' a little too often...although Here Today worked to a degree.  I thought that Mike fit back into a more melodic groove from part of Friends up until Holland.  After that the special moments came with a decreasing amount of regularity and with a lot of space in between them.

That Carl, Al and Denny stepped forward from 1965 on to easily shoulder their share of the load helped to cut down on how much 'front and centre' Mike was required to provide.  THAT was a true blessing.  Yes Mike made a whole heap of contributions along the way...especially early on.  And in the end?  He was just as important as the rest of the guys...but really, when you take the time to measure everyone's entire body of work, certainly NO MORE so.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

It isn't anywhere near as "harsh" as what the other posters say. Could anybody mix up Brian's voice with Mike's? When I list "I'm waiting for the day" in the "Mike Love's finest vocals", it means he did sing it.

Seriously...enough with the attitude.

[Jay]

Wow. Just...wow.