What's the Corniest?

[Mike's Beard]

Why was this video made? It is so cheesy. What "look" was Mike going for - and he revisited it on the 1974 New Year's Rockin' Eve! Do you think Dennis could've made a better attempt at keeping up with Hal Blaine? Not a keyboard in sight for a keyboard-driven song. With all those quasi-go go dancers in those cubicles doing these exotic "moves".... it reminds me of some kind of brothel and the guys anticipating some action. Embarrassing.

http://youtu.be/DJ1UqDnY7as

Right there is why the BB's couldn't sell records or draw crowds in '69.

[retrokid67]

I thought the appearance from 1969 is pretty cool myself. Dennis must've been in his glory with all those babes bopping nearby.

I've only seen clips of The Beach Boys on "Full House" but never put much stock in them. I realize that for a certain generation, shows like "Full House", "Saved By The Bell", "Family Matters", "Perfect Strangers" etc. were a ubiquitous and cringeworthy presence. I guess I should consider myself lucky that I missed all those and just had "The Brady Bunch"....and no one can convince me that the Davy Jones and Joe Namath appearances were corny. Nope. No sir.

I'm surprised Mike Love didn't convince them to appear on the Brady Bunch Variety Hour knowing him  

[Grayhands]

I know there's already one for songs but what's the corniest video or t.v. appearance you've ever seen from the guys? these two tie for me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MdwhxyYDXE and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBFsJk6PWu0

Whoa I didn't even know there was a second leave it to beaver show, and besides the cheesy dance skit Brian doesn't make a half bad teacher

[alf wiedersehen]

I really dig that "California Girls" 'performance' from 1969, too. I think the set is really cool, I like the dancing, and the way everyone was dressed.

For better or for worse, I think they fit in perfectly with the culture around them.

[Sheriff John Stone]

For better or for worse, I think they fit in perfectly with the culture around them.

Do you really think so? Perfectly with the culture around them? Since I'm the one who originally posted that I thought the video was cheesy and embarrassing, and a couple of people thought it was cool, well, I'm perplexed by that.

Take another look at the way they were dressed, especially Mike. Take a look at the lame dancing in place. Take a look at Dennis, who was supposed to be the cool one, who looks like he's about to come in his pants. Now, close your eyes and think of 1969 and The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, The Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Glen Campbell, Simon & Garfunkel, Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, The Bee Gees, and Sonny & Cher. Now, which culture did they fit in with again?

I'm gonna steal some statistics from Moon Dawg and Disney Boy (1985) from the Surf's Up thread...Friends peaked at #126, 20/20 at #68, and Sunflower at #151. The attendance at the live shows was dwindling. The group was soon to be dropped by their record company. The sad and ironic thing was, there was some good material on those three aforementioned albums. But the Beach Boys image was killing them. A video/TV performance like that above "California Girls" didn't do them any favors.

Hey, Bubbly waves, I'm not coming down on you; just felt like posting something, that's all...

[Myk Luhv]

I am kind of surprised there are people here who refuse to acknowledge that The Beach Boys have been (routinely!) really fucking corny. Sometimes this is their own fault -- they just seem like corny dudes in general -- and sometimes it's not; the end result is the same however.

[alf wiedersehen]

For better or for worse, I think they fit in perfectly with the culture around them.

Do you really think so?

I really do think so.

Most of those bands you named were gritty, rock bands. The Beach Boys were never like that.
However, those weren't the only popular bands back in 1969. There were people like the Zombies, the Association, Gary Puckett & the Union Gap Band, Herman's Hermits, Tommy Roe, the Turtles, the Monkees, the Archies, the Bee Gees, and, hell, even the Ventures scored a hit.
These bands were similar to them, aesthetically and musically, and they managed to keep moving and releasing hit records.

I'm gonna steal some statistics from Moon Dawg and Disney Boy (1985) from the Surf's Up thread...Friends peaked at #126, 20/20 at #68, and Sunflower at #151. The attendance at the live shows was dwindling. The group was soon to be dropped by their record company. The sad and ironic thing was, there was some good material on those three aforementioned albums. But the Beach Boys image was killing them. A video/TV performance like that above "California Girls" didn't do them any favors.

I look at this issue a little differently. I don't so much blame the Beach Boys image that they were putting off as much as I blame them for playing their old hits. At a time when bands were cranking out new material at breakneck paces, here was the Beach Boys playing an old hit from 1965. Nowadays, four years doesn't seem that big a gap, but, back then, things were moving so quickly, they must have seemed simply irrelevant. Where was the new songs?

I'm only assuming on those points. I wasn't around back then - maybe things weren't as fast as they seem in retrospect. Maybe they didn't even get to choose the song they performed.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Bubbly Waves, you're absolutely right about "California Girls" maybe not being the best choice of songs. I was gonna mention that, too.

As far as the bands/culture I compared the group to...Not all of them I listed were gritty rock bands. But, they were among the most popular, and that's why I chose them. In many threads on this board, we question why The Beach Boys fell of the proverbial map, when the group - including Brian - continued to churn out great material in that 1967-1973 era. And, we'll compare them to some of those other groups and say, "the Beach Boys' music was better than theirs; why were they (the other groups) so popular and not the Beach Boys?"

We're frequently having those Beach Boys vs. Beatles threads comparing the two on a year by year, album by album basis. On many of those threads the Beach Boys come out on top (in our opinions) in years when The Beatles trounced The Beach Boys in sales. Why was that? The Beach Boys were fighting a huge image problem.

[metal flake paint]

Daryl Dragon said it best: "I don't think The Beach Boys are supposed to be hip. I think they're supposed to move you emotionally whether you like it or not."

http://youtu.be/X7PjuaM4mR8?t=6m26s

[metal flake paint]

Where was the new songs?

Performed sometime during the Kraft Music Hall show as the band also featured their then new single "I Can Hear Music."

[18thofMay]

For better or for worse, I think they fit in perfectly with the culture around them.

Do you really think so? Perfectly with the culture around them? Since I'm the one who originally posted that I thought the video was cheesy and embarrassing, and a couple of people thought it was cool, well, I'm perplexed by that.

Take another look at the way they were dressed, especially Mike. Take a look at the lame dancing in place. Take a look at Dennis, who was supposed to be the cool one, who looks like he's about to come in his pants. Now, close your eyes and think of 1969 and The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, The Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Glen Campbell, Simon & Garfunkel, Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, The Bee Gees, and Sonny & Cher. Now, which culture did they fit in with again?

I'm gonna steal some statistics from Moon Dawg and Disney Boy (1985) from the Surf's Up thread...Friends peaked at #126, 20/20 at #68, and Sunflower at #151. The attendance at the live shows was dwindling. The group was soon to be dropped by their record company. The sad and ironic thing was, there was some good material on those three aforementioned albums. But the Beach Boys image was killing them. A video/TV performance like that above "California Girls" didn't do them any favors.

Hey, Bubbly waves, I'm not coming down on you; just felt like posting something, that's all...

One of the best things you have written!

[retrokid67]

I know there's already one for songs but what's the corniest video or t.v. appearance you've ever seen from the guys? these two tie for me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MdwhxyYDXE and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBFsJk6PWu0

Whoa I didn't even know there was a second leave it to beaver show, and besides the cheesy dance skit Brian doesn't make a half bad teacher

Yea I didn't know that either