The Worst of The Beach Boys

[chaki]

<<The worst of The Beach Boys ?
Most recently, this forum.>>

Perfectly put, Andrew ... and this entire thread is a glaring example of why most Beach Boys fans have been perceived for decades as obsessive, angry lunatics. 

Come on, Steve. This thread is just poking fun at some of the cheesier aspects of 80s pop culture. BBs are so apart of Americana and our culture that it would be a crime NOT to have a bit of fun regarding some of the stuff they did later in their careers. It doesn't have to be serious all the time... I mean unless you're a huge fan of The New Leave it to Beaver and TJ Hooker, then I whole heartedly apologize. Sheesh.

[Rob Dean]

<<The worst of The Beach Boys ?
Most recently, this forum.>>

Perfectly put, Andrew ... and this entire thread is a glaring example of why most Beach Boys fans have been perceived for decades as obsessive, angry lunatics.  

Come on, Steve. This thread is just poking fun at some of the cheesier aspects of 80s pop culture. BBs are so apart of Americana and our culture that it would be a crime NOT to have a bit of fun regarding some of the stuff they did later in their careers. It doesn't have to be serious all the time... I mean unless you're a huge fan of The New Leave it to Beaver and TJ Hooker, then I whole heartedly apologize. Sheesh.

Do you mean 'A PART' ?

[Rob Dean]

<<The worst of The Beach Boys ?
Most recently, this forum.>>

Perfectly put, Andrew ... and this entire thread is a glaring example of why most Beach Boys fans have been perceived for decades as obsessive, angry lunatics.  

Come on, Steve. This thread is just poking fun at some of the cheesier aspects of 80s pop culture. BBs are so apart of Americana and our culture that it would be a crime NOT to have a bit of fun regarding some of the stuff they did later in their careers. It doesn't have to be serious all the time... I mean unless you're a huge fan of The New Leave it to Beaver and TJ Hooker, then I whole heartedly apologize. Sheesh.

Do you mean 'A PART' ? Otherwise it could mean quite the opposite 

[Steve Latshaw]

<<I mean unless you're a huge fan of The New Leave it to Beaver and TJ Hooker, then I whole heartedly apologize. Sheesh.>>

I'm a fan of this band and have been for 40 years.  And this thread takes all of this completely out of historical context.  Yes, New Leave It to Beaver is pure cheese, when examined almost 30 years later.  At the time, it was a television experiment; an attempt to actually revive a TV show from the 50s with the original cast... and it did fairly well for a few years.  I suspect the new revival of Full House will look pretty hokey 30 years from now.  It doesn't take any intelligence to trash older pop culture; it would be like calling out the 1959 season of Ozzie & Harriet for the goofy clothes, hair styles, idiotic storylines and social mores in 1987.

What's missing from your thread is also the historical Beach Boys context.  In 1987, Brian was just starting to merge after years in the wilderness... a rumplestiltskin figure many of us had witnessed on stage or on TV at his worst in the 1970s and early 80s.  We had little knowledge of what he was going through with Landy; to us, at the time, this was a brave attempt by the man to get out there and participate in media.  Bad acting, sure.  Less than adequate script?  Absolutely.  But he was out there... and it was cool to see him trying.

TJ HOOKER... basically new insert shots of Carl (shot on 35mm film) giving shout outs to Bill Shatner in the audience, combined with VIDEO inserts from the 1980 HBO show.  It looked bad back in 1984.  Analog video does not cut well with film.  But taken in the context of 1980s action shows, it was the best you were gonna get.  They all cheaped out in those days.  As for the Beach Boys, they'd had a couple of rough years and just lost Dennis.  It was good to see them honored, even on TJ Hooker.   MTV was in its infancy in those days and they never ran Beach Boys clips.  So it was tough to see these guys in any media.

PROBLEM CHILD?  Personally, I liked that song, even though Bruce hated it.  It was Bruce, right?  Again, historical context.  Yeah, those 80s mixes were too polished... too much fake drum.  But that was the sound in those days.  The Beach Boys scraped out a few hits with that new sound in the 80s... because their stuff was, sonically, finally consistent with the other bands on the radio at the time, as regards mix, etc.  Some of it is hard to take in 2015... certainly it was all much less organic.  But it sounded great to hear Beach Boys records that could compete on the radio.  And did.  This one failed to hit.  But fun little fluff, catchy, goofy.  And I thought the music video, which I saw for the first time recently, was charming.  Good to see these guys goofing and having fun.  And in there pitching.  Because we don't get to see that anymore.

FYI - Problem Child 2 is actually funnier than the first one.  Primarily because of a lot of great vomit jokes.

[The Shift]

The worst of The Beach Boys ?

Most recently, this forum.

Unfortunately true. The outbreak of hate when No Pier Pressure was too much for me. It spoiled the whole fun of the board and even part of the enjoyment of listening to the Beach Boys' music for me. And every time I do come here all threads are tainted with SmileBrian's and OSD's obsessive mike-hate crap. As I don't understand why these two brainless trolls are not banned by the moderators, I'm off. Bye, sensible guys! I might lurk sometimes. Especially the Stephen Desper thread, the only part of this forum still worthwhile.

<<The worst of The Beach Boys ?
Most recently, this forum.>>

Perfectly put, Andrew ... and this entire thread is a glaring example of why most Beach Boys fans have been perceived for decades as obsessive, angry lunatics. 

Stick around guys… I'd hoped that the mods might've killed this thread at birth but I think a few of us have at least killed much of its intent.

As for those who constantly work to bring the fan community into disrepute and diss some of the very elements of their favourite band that contributed to its success, well, they say you're never more than ten feet away from a rat… the mods maybe did ought to consider pest control.

[guitarfool2002]

The worst of The Beach Boys ?

Most recently, this forum.

Unfortunately true. The outbreak of hate when No Pier Pressure was too much for me. It spoiled the whole fun of the board and even part of the enjoyment of listening to the Beach Boys' music for me. And every time I do come here all threads are tainted with SmileBrian's and OSD's obsessive mike-hate crap. As I don't understand why these two brainless trolls are not banned by the moderators, I'm off. Bye, sensible guys! I might lurk sometimes. Especially the Stephen Desper thread, the only part of this forum still worthwhile.

<<The worst of The Beach Boys ?
Most recently, this forum.>>

Perfectly put, Andrew ... and this entire thread is a glaring example of why most Beach Boys fans have been perceived for decades as obsessive, angry lunatics.  

Stick around guys… I'd hoped that the mods might've killed this thread at birth but I think a few of us have at least killed much of its intent.

As for those who constantly work to bring the fan community into disrepute and diss some of the very elements of their favourite band that contributed to its success, well, they say you're never more than ten feet away from a rat… the mods maybe did ought to consider pest control.

Maybe it's a case of short-term memory, perhaps remembering the good while erasing the bad, but I have something to consider in reply to all these posts. What or who is to blame, what the mods should or shouldn't do, calling out this or that...

Remember the list of Beach Boys related internet message board and communities that have come and gone in the past decade-plus. Shall we list some of them? (feel free to add any that are missed)

The Male Ego Board

"The Cab Board"

Shut Down

(add any of the color nicknames to the boards listed, aka 'the white board', etc)

The Smile Shop (and offshoot the Sunshine Pop board)

Keep listing?

The Record Room fizzled out, at one point it was to be the greatest music board in internet history.

The Vibe Room...stalled before it was put into "drive", it would seem. Nothing happened, nothing happening currently.

Any others?


Now consider, everyone throwing stones, pointing fingers, casting doubt, armchair coaching, etc...

Why did some of these Beach Boys themed board collapse, implode, or simply fizzle out?

Don't say there were no knock-down, drag-out battles on those boards listed. There were - serious ones that went beyond the majority of what happens here. Do we forget that, or is it a case of erasing the bad memories and only holding (reporting) the good? Some of those boards could turn into cesspools at the drop of a hat. People bullied off, people insulted, nasty arguments, slurs, the whole nine yards. Some really nasty things, nasty people, really ugly interactions, and yes it did happen.

But those were the "good ol' days"? Great communities, great boards, great people and discussions...not quite the case. Unless we're forgetting or erasing the memories.

Now what was it that made those boards implode, explode, or fizzle out?

Find the constants. The various things being blamed here on Smiley Smile, were those factors even in play when Shut Down or Smile Shop turned ugly? Nope.

Consider that some of the same people that were on those boards a decade or more ago as those boards ended up crashing and burning are still active here, was it their fault? I mean, we can so definitively point fingers around here, how about the people who were "regulars" at those other forums which ended up in the scrap heap, often brought on by the incessant arguing, negativity, and in some cases outright nasty behavior?

And consider which boards are still standing.

Just thinkin' out loud.

[Andrew G. Doe]

My first BB MB, back in 1998, was the American Band board, which opened a whole new level of fandom to me. That just seemed to wither, and l moved on to the Cab, which was another level. That died because the owner lost interest. Wound up here via Ego and others. Thing is, some withered, others were killed from within. SS could be taking the latter route: of late, several folk have used the term "toxic" to describe this forum, and that includes more than two of the band. There's a host of good, good folk here making important contributions, and significant original research has resulted. Then there's the trolls, malcontents and general bottom feeders, who do none of this, being content to disrupt for the sake of disruptings sake. Sad.

[SMiLE Brian]

Who cares about M&B saying the board is toxic, they want this place scrubbed clean into a BBB pro-M&B board by their online PR manager.

[guitarfool2002]

My first BB MB, back in 1998, was the American Band board, which opened a whole new level of fandom to me. That just seemed to wither, and l moved on to the Cab, which was another level. That died because the owner lost interest. Wound up here via Ego and others. Thing is, some withered, others were killed from within. SS could be taking the latter route: of late, several folk have used the term "toxic" to describe this forum, and that includes more than two of the band. There's a host of good, good folk here making important contributions, and significant original research has resulted. Then there's the trolls, malcontents and general bottom feeders, who do none of this, being content to disrupt for the sake of disruptings sake. Sad.

A good number of those other boards which collapsed or ran out of fuel were more toxic. Toxic toward other posters, toxic in the nature of discussions, toxic beyond what memories might want to suggest.

Maybe - just maybe - the reasons for that aren't what some would want to suggest. Go back to some of those other boards and try to remember some of the people involved in those arguments and at times toxicity. I remember them.

So basically, there were no perfect "good ol' days" on Beach Boys-centric message boards since at least 2000 or so.

It's just funny - where were the band members and other folk calling Male Ego, Cab, Smile Shop, etc "toxic" and blasting people who post there in general when those boards turned into piles of sh*t on any given week? Call the board toxic because not everyone agrees?

I remember. Toxic, here? This doesn't hold a candle to some of the idiots, assholes, and outright pieces of sh*t that had populated some of the other forums in the past. They were toxic.

Oh, and the intelligent conversation stuff. From my experience, I've posted things here which I actually spent time on, and effort, and got replies along the lines that I was "long winded", "lecturing", "wordy", etc. And I know who those people are and were.

We got Brian Wilson here, an actual Beach Boy to answer question. Wanna talk toxic? Check some of the reactions and replies to that, before, after, and during that event.

***Where were the assorted band members and other folk calling the board toxic when that was going on?*** Check the archives, it's all there.

Toxic, eh? Let's compare notes. I got tons of 'em.

[Niko]

My first BB MB, back in 1998, was the American Band board, which opened a whole new level of fandom to me. That just seemed to wither, and l moved on to the Cab, which was another level. That died because the owner lost interest. Wound up here via Ego and others. Thing is, some withered, others were killed from within. SS could be taking the latter route: of late, several folk have used the term "toxic" to describe this forum, and that includes more than two of the band. There's a host of good, good folk here making important contributions, and significant original research has resulted. Then there's the trolls, malcontents and general bottom feeders, who do none of this, being content to disrupt for the sake of disruptings sake. Sad.

For so many reasons you are the most toxic person on this board.

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

My first BB MB, back in 1998, was the American Band board, which opened a whole new level of fandom to me. That just seemed to wither, and l moved on to the Cab, which was another level. That died because the owner lost interest. Wound up here via Ego and others. Thing is, some withered, others were killed from within. SS could be taking the latter route: of late, several folk have used the term "toxic" to describe this forum, and that includes more than two of the band. There's a host of good, good folk here making important contributions, and significant original research has resulted. Then there's the trolls, malcontents and general bottom feeders, who do none of this, being content to disrupt for the sake of disruptings sake. Sad.

For so many reasons you are the most toxic person on this board.

  -think that says it all. POST OF THE DECADE, good work, Woodstock!! You are the man! 

[Mike's Beard]

More bollocks from the usual suspects.

[Bean Bag]

During the 80s, I really thought they were at their worst, because they just couldn't seem to come out with anything cool or new.  It was very frustrating being a fan -- I just couldn't understand why they couldn't get together for a few weeks and make a cool song.  Kokomo, was actually 1/2 decent, and gave me hope, but it was still awful for some reason -- even though I sort of liked it.  If that makes sense.  It was a confusing time for a fan.

But there was more to come.  I think the worst of the Beach Boys actually happened in the earl 90s.  The one-two punch of Surfin' and Summer of Love from Summer In Paradise is a prime example of a group just imploding.  Stars and Stripes followed.  It was a total admission of the well being completely dry.  To me, they were broadcasting that they were officially done.  I mean, this was the freaking Beach Boys!!!  Yet, they seemed liked a bunch of forgotten one-hit wonders, showing up at the grand opening of a new Jiffy Lube.

However, strictly speaking, Brian's rap song might be the absolute worst moment in their history.

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

More bollocks from the usual suspects.

Calm down, man! It's perfectly acceptable to be the 2nd most toxic person on the board. We understand. 

[Mike's Beard]

More bollocks. 

[chaki]

Guys,

This thread was not created to disrupt, troll, or cause toxicity. It was meant as light hearted fun. Jesus fucking Christ, the lack of humor here is intense sometimes.

[bgas]

More bollocks from the usual suspects.

[KDS]

Guys,

This thread was not created to disrupt, troll, or cause toxicity. It was meant as light hearted fun. Jesus fucking Christ, the lack of humor here is intense sometimes.

I can't help but agree as I didn't think this thread was started as an attack on The Beach Boys or their fans.  It's a light hearted jab at some of the less than proud moments in the band's history.

I'm sure everybody here has had fun sharing embarrassing stories with friends.  Same thing here. 

Jon Stebbins even devoted a chapter in Beach Boys FAQ to some of their missteps, and I got some chuckles out of that.