Fall Tour

[Andrew G. Doe]

I was told that the main outlet for ITKOD was at Disney parks & stores. Makes sense to me. Just wish they'd done more classics and fewer recent songs.

[HeyJude]

I think it's fair to say that some of Brian's solo releases are almost willfully uncommercial, and major props to him for that: I loved the way he essentially held Disney to ransom in order to get the excellent Gershwin album out.

Andrew, I've always been perplexed why Disney wanted him to do ITKOD so badly they let him do the Gershwin album first, then seemed to put zero effort behind promoting ITKOD.  Do you have any insight into this?  Was it about disappointment with BWRG sales?

Apologies if this is OT, but then so is Mike Love's album...

I can't imagine how anyone (personally or as a record label) would think a BW album of Gershwin OR Disney covers would sell terribly well, so that might explain the lack of promotion. It wouldn't of course explain why they pursued the record deal in the first place. Perhaps sometimes it's a tiny "prestige" move for the label, to sign Brian Wilson. It's mostly longtime grizzled industry veterans and hardcore BB fans that know all of the times BW and the BB's caused their labels severe disappointment. So there is still some prestige in having BW on your label.

[Andrew G. Doe]

But I'm sure steady tickets sales for decades while the band continued to slip off the charts has informed his decision to tour incessantly and stay away from much new music releases.

There's another, far simpler, reason: Mike doesn't like the recording process. Much prefers the stage to the studio, and having done a smidgen of studio work myself back in the day, I can't say I blame him.

[HeyJude]

I was told that the main outlet for ITKOD was at Disney parks & stores. Makes sense to me. Just wish they'd done more classics and fewer recent songs.

I've ended up, unwillingly to some degree, visiting numerous Disney stores regularly since before the release of ITKOD, and I've never seen the BW album there (nor a great deal of CDs in general). But that's just my experience. It's weird as well that Disney offered the "exclusive" version of the album with bonus tracks to Amazon as an exclusive, rather than offering it to Disney parks, which often have "exclusive" items for sale.

I haven't been to any parks though, so perhaps they pushed the CD hard there. I wonder if they had a similar train of though to Hallmark, who had had some big selling CDs at their stores with Michael McDonald and a few others, and pushed for what ended up being the "Songs from Here & Back" BB CD. I'm pretty sure that BB CD tanked as well. No further Hallmark releases, and no later "mainstream" release of the CD to other outlets.

[HeyJude]

But I'm sure steady tickets sales for decades while the band continued to slip off the charts has informed his decision to tour incessantly and stay away from much new music releases.

There's another, far simpler, reason: Mike doesn't like the recording process. Much prefers the stage to the studio, and having done a smidgen of studio work myself back in the day, I can't say I blame him.

Very true, Mike has said that. But I'm also fairly certain that if the BB's had continued to have hit singles and albums through the 90's and 2000's (or if Mike had had solo hits), and if people had been patting him on the back all that time for his latest hit single/album, he would have been all over the studio.

[Les P]

I was told that the main outlet for ITKOD was at Disney parks & stores. Makes sense to me. Just wish they'd done more classics and fewer recent songs.

OK, thanks, that does make some sense.  Not having been in a Disney park since 1974 (not because of any philosophical reasons), and perhaps never in a Disney store, I had no idea...

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

Yeah, the studio must really suck-not enough people to waive or point at. 

[SMiLE Brian]

so true

[Andrew G. Doe]

I was told that the main outlet for ITKOD was at Disney parks & stores. Makes sense to me. Just wish they'd done more classics and fewer recent songs.

I've ended up, unwillingly to some degree, visiting numerous Disney stores regularly since before the release of ITKOD, and I've never seen the BW album there (nor a great deal of CDs in general). But that's just my experience. It's weird as well that Disney offered the "exclusive" version of the album with bonus tracks to Amazon as an exclusive, rather than offering it to Disney parks, which often have "exclusive" items for sale.

I haven't been to any parks though, so perhaps they pushed the CD hard there. I wonder if they had a similar train of though to Hallmark, who had had some big selling CDs at their stores with Michael McDonald and a few others, and pushed for what ended up being the "Songs from Here & Back" BB CD. I'm pretty sure that BB CD tanked as well. No further Hallmark releases, and no later "mainstream" release of the CD to other outlets.

I'm not up to speed on this, but weren't the McDonald, etc. releases on Hallmark all new material (in his case a Christmas album) ? Might explain why when I did a sweep of Hallmark Gold stores in northern Delaware, I scooped up about ten copies of the BB album. It certainly didn't perform to expectations.

[The Shift]

And his voice isn't even a selling point either, its a nasal wine these days.

Do you have a good cheese to accompany that nasal wine? (Yuck!)

[Mendota Heights]

There's another, far simpler, reason: Mike doesn't like the recording process. Much prefers the stage to the studio, and having done a smidgen of studio work myself back in the day, I can't say I blame him.

It is also safe to say Mike is not a very creative person. Artists who compose/produce like being in the studio. Mike has not written anything substantial in ages - his last tour de force was SiP. If Mike had the formula to write/produce number one hits he would be in the studio day and night.

So he performs instead.

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

But you are avoiding my main point, Mike cannot write new songs even in two years. Its all retreads of half baked stuff from failed solo projects 1970s to 2000s.

And his voice isn't even a selling point either, its a nasal wine these days.


There is no market for dreck like Viggie.

  Told like it really is, SB! Brian, whose singing gets better every day and still moving forward with his career while luHv is stuck in an oldies quagmire without a towtruck.

[rab2591]

There's another, far simpler, reason: Mike doesn't like the recording process. Much prefers the stage to the studio, and having done a smidgen of studio work myself back in the day, I can't say I blame him.

It is also safe to so Mike is not a very creative person. Artists who compose/produce like being in the studio. Mike has not written anything substantial in ages - his last tour de force was SiP. If Mike had the formula to write/produce number one hits he would be in the studio day and night.

So he performs instead.

Not even number one hits but anything that would generate a comfortable amount of money. I'm sure that Mike does prefer the stage to the studio, but if he had any constant monetary incentive to record in the studio, he would've been recording albums on and off all these years.

[ToneBender631]

There's another, far simpler, reason: Mike doesn't like the recording process. Much prefers the stage to the studio, and having done a smidgen of studio work myself back in the day, I can't say I blame him.

It is also safe to so Mike is not a very creative person. Artists who compose/produce like being in the studio. Mike has not written anything substantial in ages - his last tour de force was SiP. If Mike had the formula to write/produce number one hits he would be in the studio day and night.

So he performs instead.

Not even number one hits but anything that would generate a comfortable amount of money. I'm sure that Mike does prefer the stage to the studio, but if he had any constant monetary incentive to record in the studio, he would've been recording albums on and off all these years.

Here's an opinion that's not likely to be very popular with certain members: Mike being able to do 150 rock and roll shows a year at age 73 is just as impressive as Brian's ability to put out great albums. And let's be honest, there are certain BW performances (not judging his band) that could be viewed the same way SIP is (aka, not good).

Here's my armchair shrink take on things:

I have no doubt that Mike would change his touring plans if it meant he could work creatively with Brian on his terms, with money having nothing to do with it. Why is that? A. He longs for his relationship with Brian to be how it was when they were younger and life was simpler B. Creatively, it would take a lot of pressure off of him. I think he knows that working with Brian would up his game and get the best out of him.

By the same token, after years of saying "no way", 2012 saw Brian as a Beach Boy again. Why? A. He longs for his relationship with the guys to be how it was when they were younger and life was simpler. B. From a performance standpoint, it took a lot of pressure off of him and he knew that touring at the level Mike was used to would up his game and get the best out of him.  

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

There's another, far simpler, reason: Mike doesn't like the recording process. Much prefers the stage to the studio, and having done a smidgen of studio work myself back in the day, I can't say I blame him.

It is also safe to so Mike is not a very creative person. Artists who compose/produce like being in the studio. Mike has not written anything substantial in ages - his last tour de force was SiP. If Mike had the formula to write/produce number one hits he would be in the studio day and night.

So he performs instead.

Not even number one hits but anything that would generate a comfortable amount of money. I'm sure that Mike does prefer the stage to the studio, but if he had any constant monetary incentive to record in the studio, he would've been recording albums on and off all these years.

Here's an opinion that's not likely to be very popular with certain members: Mike being able to do 150 rock and roll shows a year at age 73 is just as impressive as Brian's ability to put out great albums. And let's be honest, there are certain BW performances (not judging his band) that could be viewed the same way SIP is ("aka, not good").

Here's my armchair shrink take on things:

I have no doubt that Mike would change his touring plans if it meant he could work creatively with Brian on his terms, with money having nothing to do with it. Why is that? A. He longs for his relationship with Brian to be how it was when they were younger and life was simpler B. Creatively, it would take a lot of pressure off of him. I think he knows that working with Brian would up his game and get the best out of him.

By the same token, after years of saying "no way", 2012 saw Brian as a Beach Boy again. Why? A. He longs for his relationship with the guys to be how it was when they were younger and life was simpler. B. From a performance standpoint, it took a lot of pressure off of him and he knew that touring at the level Mike was used to would up his game and get the best out of him.  

myKe made his bed so let him sleep in it. Life is not about "on my terms" but tell that to luHv. It appears he wants things his way or the highway. Hit the road myKe, and dontcha come back, come back. come back, hit the road myKe. and dontcha come back no more...

[doc smiley]

Wrong. They'll be re-recordings of Mike's unreleased material, last I heard.

Personally, I would think that this would be the best way for Mike to do this...

Going through the unreleased material picking out the best bits that this admittedly questionable songwriter has done. works better than locking him in a room for a couple months would likely to result in.

Then secondly, taking this material and rerecording it with one band and one studio would hopefully result in a cohesive final result. At least making it sound like something that wasn't thrown together from 30 years of rejected tapes..

imho of course!

[The Shift]

Here's an opinion that's not likely to be very popular with certain members: Mike being able to do 150 rock and roll shows a year at age 73 is just as impressive as Brian's ability to put out great albums.

This.