Should they remix "1985" and release the ultimate 80's cd?

[joshferrell]

I was thinking that since the 80's is so retro right now that it would be interesting if they did a complete remix of the 1985 album and re-released it using today's technology giving it a warmer updated sound to it..I can picture it featuring the whole "1985" album but also as bonus songs the various songs from compilation and soundtracks throughout the 80's including highlights from "Still Cruisin" and "Keeping the summer Alive" so basically the ultimate 1980's beach boys collection... but all remixed..so I can picture it being something like this...

Disc 1. (tracks 1-12 are the original album remixed with bonus tracks from the 80's filling out the disc.)
1. Getcha Back
2. It's getting late
3. Crack at your love
4. Maybe I don't know
5. She Believes In Love Again
6. California Calling.
7. Passing Friend
8. I'm so lonely
9. Where I Belong
10. I Do Love you
11. It's just a matter of time
12. Male Ego
13. Oh Lord (Unreleased)
14. At the hop
15. California Dreamin' ( Made in the usa version)
16. Rock n Roll to the rescue
17. Living Doll (since it was released as the "Beach Boys")
18. East Meets West (with the four seasons)
19. Don't Worry Baby ( with the Everly Brothers)
20. Happy Endings (With Little Richard)
21. Wipe Out (with the fat boys)

Disc 2 (Singles and other songs from the 80's and some stack o tracks)
1. Getcha Back (single Version)
2. Where I Belong (Stack O Tracks)
3. California Dreamin' (not the Made in the USA version)
4. Rock n Roll to the rescue (extended version)
5. It's just a matter of time (Live version with Dennis)
6. Happy Birthday America
7. Lady Liberty
8. Kokomo
9. Somewhere near Japan
10. Island Girl
11. Chasin the sky
12. Still cruisin
13. It's a beautiful Day
14. In My Car
15. Make it big
16. The Spirit of Rock n Roll (Live version)
17.Goin On
18. Come Go with me
19. Santa Ana Winds
20. Living with a heartache
21. keeping the summer alive
22. Endless Harmony

[rickymyfataar]

I would prefer if they remixed it to sound more 60s than a more modern sound. I'm not a fan of that 80s sounds and the sounds that came after. I would love to hear songs like Getcha Back, Male Ego & Kokomo done using analog without that digital sounds. I wish the same would be done for BW88 .

[Jay]

I think we need an "'80's-early '90's set". Maybe about three cd's or so. Really, I think it's overdue. I think that "BB's 85", "Still Cruising" and "Summer In Paradise" need remastered and re-released, with bonus cuts that would feature all the stuff you can't get anymore, like "It's A Beautiful Day", "Chasing' The Sky", "East Meets West", "Happy Endings", etc. It would be nice if we could get some alternate versions of songs from the period too. I know that some alternate "BB's 85" recordings exist. There's also a rejected version of "At The Hop" from that time period. It would be nice to get the original and unaltered recording of "Don't Fight The Sea", which I've read dates back to the "Still Cruising" sessions.

[The Heartical Don]

I would prefer if they remixed it to sound more 60s than a more modern sound. I'm not a fan of that 80s sounds and the sounds that came after. I would love to hear songs like Getcha Back, Male Ego & Kokomo done using analog without that digital sounds. I wish the same would be done for BW88 .

Basically I agree.

IMHO there were quite a few 'antimusical' fashions since the advent of digital, and perhaps these are partly due to the way people listen to music in general.

The whole computerization of everything under the sun hasn't always been fortuitous for real music lovers. All that trickery is not real clothing, it's only dress to impress. Or the new clothes of the Emperor, if you will.

I mean: horrible compression and/or brickwalling - who on earth was waiting for that? It's the reason why I rarely play Springsteen's Magic, even though it is a fine album. Brendan O'Brien wasn't a lucky choice for producer, I think.

-------

Now, on the other hand:

I am hesitant when it comes to make albums sound more 'now', or more 'sixties', after the fact. I consider The Beach Boys a thing of its time - so the production values of 1986 belong to that album. It was thought up way back then, and it's debatable whether re-dressing it in a guise of another era is historically responsible.

But to return to Ricky's idea: if it would be done, I would prefer an older and warmer sound.

[KDS]

I'm not a big fan of remixes.  After all, an album is a document of a specific time period. 

Maybe if they decided to include a remixed version as a bonus disc, that would be fine. 

I'd be more in favor of releasing various odds and ends from the 80s / early 90s that still have yet to be released on CD. 

[doc smiley]

like the idea in general but what you have here has too much fat...
2 cd's (drop the KTSA tracks, as that CD is really thought of as a 70's release anyways)
disc 1 is a remixed '85 with about 15 minutes of extra tracks to up it to a hour of music, disc 2 is Still Crusin' minus the 60's tracks with most of the rest of these tracks you mentioned added .. get it up to about 60 minutes as well..
Good packaging, with Island Girl as the radio push song... and away you go...
 

Disc 1. (tracks 1-12 are the original album remixed with bonus tracks from the 80's filling out the disc.)
1. Getcha Back
2. It's getting late
3. Crack at your love
4. Maybe I don't know
5. She Believes In Love Again
6. California Calling.
7. Passing Friend
8. I'm so lonely
9. Where I Belong
10. I Do Love you
11. It's just a matter of time
12. Male Ego
13. At the hop
14. California Dreamin' ( Made in the usa version)
15. Rock n Roll to the rescue
16. East Meets West (with the four seasons)
17. Don't Worry Baby ( with the Everly Brothers)
18. Happy Endings (With Little Richard)


Disc 2 (Still Surfin' plus bonus))
1. Kokomo
2. Somewhere near Japan
3. Island Girl
4. Chasin the sky
5. Still cruisin
6. It's a beautiful Day
7. In My Car
8. Make it big
9. Wipe Out (with the fat boys)
10 Runaway(live)
11. The Spirit of Rock n Roll (Live version)
12. Buzz Buzz Buzz (live)
13. Country Pie (live)
14. It's just a matter of time (live with Dennis)
15, Rockin All Over The World (live)
+ a few other live tracks that fit this time period (NOT Imagine)

[KDS]

like the idea in general but what you have here has too much fat...
2 cd's (drop the KTSA tracks, as that CD is really thought of as a 70's release anyways)
disc 1 is a remixed '85 with about 15 minutes of extra tracks to up it to a hour of music, disc 2 is Still Crusin' minus the 60's tracks with most of the rest of these tracks you mentioned added .. get it up to about 60 minutes as well..
Good packaging, with Island Girl as the radio push song... and away you go...
 

If a release such as this is keeping with current patterns, we'll see it in 2035.

[doc smiley]

working with this a little more we could do this,
moving Happy Endings (soundtrack song) in with Still Surfin tracks and adding a few known alternate versions it could look like this:

Disc 1. (tracks 1-12 are the original album remixed with bonus tracks from the 80's filling out the disc.)
1. Getcha Back
2. It's getting late
3. Crack at your love
4. Maybe I don't know
5. She Believes In Love Again
6. California Calling.
7. Passing Friend
8. I'm so lonely
9. Where I Belong
10. I Do Love you
11. It's just a matter of time
12. Male Ego
13. At the hop
14. California Dreamin' ( Made in the usa version)
15. Rock n Roll to the rescue
16. East Meets West (with the four seasons)
17. Don't Worry Baby ( with the Everly Brothers)
18. Runaway (live)
19. Rockin' All Over The World (live)


Disc 2 (Still Surfin' plus bonus))
1. Kokomo
2. Somewhere near Japan
3. Island Girl
4. Chasin the sky
5. Still cruisin
6. It's a beautiful Day
7. In My Car
8. Make it big
9. Wipe Out (with the fat boys)
10. Happy Endings (With Little Richard)
11. The Spirit of Rock n Roll (Live version)
12. Buzz Buzz Buzz (live)
13. Country Pie (live)
14. It's just a matter of time (live with Dennis)
15. Make It Big (alternate Version)
16. Somewhere near Japan (single Edit)
+ a few other live tracks that fit this time period (NOT Imagine)

[Tony S]

Doc Smiley, agree with your selections, that would make for a nice release.

[Matt H]

I would add Kokomo Spanish version so we have the version with Brian on it.

[KDS]

I would add Kokomo Spanish version so we have the version with Brian on it.

I'd have much rather has some of these 80s / 90s odds and ends on MiC over slightly remixed versions of the hits, and the same Smile outtakes that had just been released on the SS set.

[HeyJude]

If BB '85 had been recorded on tape and only mixed digitally (as many 80s albums were, including some of McCartney's), then a remix could be done and an "all analog" sound could be achieved. (They did this with McCartney's "Tug of War", with mixed results; the remix was warmer, but also kind of weird).

But the '85 album was a digital recording. A remix could perhaps sort of reintroduce some warmth I suppose with the right equipment (sort of like adding hiss back to tape, or artificial grain back to film), but it's always going to have that sort of sterile sound because everything was recorded straight to digital.

I think sonically the '85 album sounds fine in terms of mixing and mastering. You'd have to do more than remix to get rid of that "80s sound." The intro to "Crack at Your Love" is never *not* going to sound like 80s cheese unless you actually re-record it.

Listen to "Summer in Paradise" from 1992, and you'll find that the '85 album sound quite warm in comparison.

I'm all for an expanded '85 album with outtakes and alternate mixes (a bunch of rough mixes from the album float around), and some vocals-only mixes and things like that on some songs would be great. But just a standard "remix" re-balancing the instruments in some minor way wouldn't yield much in my opinion.

[MikestheGreatest!!]

The eighties stuff was pretty much a crap-fest and the less said or heard about it the better!

[bringahorseinhere?]

I'd love to hear a remix of the album, but from a different approach,
similar to the way 'let it be - naked'.  Strip away all the cheesy stuff
and all of that reverb and effects, and just bring it back to basics.
I agree also with having a career defining set from the 80's and 90's
period.  Some of those songs are pretty hard to locate for the average
fan, and on Cd too.

[SMiLE Brian]

Agreed, the horse is back as well!

[Lonely Summer]

I would buy a remix of this album, as it was sort of the last real Beach Boys album - SC being a comp, and SIP being a Mike solo album with the other's voices on it.

[Aum Bop Diddit]

Why is it that recordings from the 60s into the 70s sound timeless and recordings from the 80s sound...well like the 80s?

[bringahorseinhere?]

analogue and tube recording techniques and great producers/engineers.