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Author Topic: Why no new album in 1975?  (Read 12836 times)
Steve Latshaw
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« Reply #50 on: March 22, 2017, 08:00:58 AM »

<<As noted by HeyJude, it was a hit only because of the relentless hype>>

Hit records didn't happen because of relentless hype in 1976.  Just didn't happen.  Top 40 was audience driven and Rock & Roll Music was a hit because it was a "...great single" as Carl put it and because it sounded like a classic oldie from the band.  In 1976, Beach Boys hits like Fun Fun Fun, Surfin' USA, California Girls and Do It Again were in heavy recurrent rotation on  Top 40 radio .  On WLS Chicago, you heard a hit Beach Boys song with a Mike Love lead every hour. And they were in heavy rotation because they were requested by listeners.  Rock & Roll Music fit right in.  It shot to #5 on the billboard charts and was a radio hit because audiences loved it.  That was the mood in 1976.  It's the same reason The Beatles' Got to Get You Into My Life was a hit the same summer.  Capitol dusted off that ten year old album track and made bank.  60s nostalgia hit its peak in the summer of '76 and Rock & Roll Music was the perfect song at the perfect time. 
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Crow
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« Reply #51 on: March 22, 2017, 08:26:29 AM »

I agree - Rock and Roll Music SOUNDS like a Beach Boys - a classic beach Boys hit. (I don't get the hate - I like it and it sounds great - great Mike vocal, fun background vocals) and it has more punch than It's O.K.   Sure a better album would have helped them but they do blow it pretty consistently.
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Chocolate Shake Man
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« Reply #52 on: March 22, 2017, 09:16:44 AM »

Hit records didn't happen because of relentless hype in 1976.  Just didn't happen. 

Are you suggesting that there was no PR for music in the 1970s?
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Steve Latshaw
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« Reply #53 on: March 22, 2017, 10:20:52 AM »

<<Are you suggesting that there was no PR for music in the 1970s?>>

I'm not suggesting that at all.  I was responding to a comment that the only reason R&RM was a hit was due to PR and hype.  There was no amount of hype, PR, press releases or promotion that would have made a song a hit if the record didn't resonate with record buyers and radio listeners in those days.  There is no question that the hype helped... but if R&RM hadn't been a great single, it would have died.

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Chocolate Shake Man
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« Reply #54 on: March 22, 2017, 10:30:38 AM »

<<Are you suggesting that there was no PR for music in the 1970s?>>

I'm not suggesting that at all.  I was responding to a comment that the only reason R&RM was a hit was due to PR and hype.  There was no amount of hype, PR, press releases or promotion that would have made a song a hit if the record didn't resonate with record buyers and radio listeners in those days.  There is no question that the hype helped... but if R&RM hadn't been a great single, it would have died.



Well, that's just a matter of personal taste. I don't think that I could comfortably say that a song is great if it happened to appeal to a sizeable amount of a specific market. But, yeah, obviously record companies must have felt that hype played a factor or they wouldn't have sunk money into it.
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HeyJude
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« Reply #55 on: March 22, 2017, 10:33:24 AM »

And to be clear, I *never* said PR and hype was the "only" reason R&R Music was a hit single. What I said is that the single's performance had "a fair amount" to do with the media blitz surrounding "15 Big Ones/Brian's Back", etc.

I think a good reason to think about whether the hype did play a pretty decent role in the single's success is that the song certainly didn't have the legs that some other hits did in terms of the song being attached to the band as a classic or standard. The band kept it in the setlist once it was a hit, but I never heard anyone screaming for "Rock and Roll Music" at concerts in the 80s or 90s or later. I always found the song one of the more tedious songs in the setlist, moreso in later years. It had some spark in the 70s and into the early 80s, but then when the band slowed it down, especially in the 90s, it was a slog to listen to and often appeared to be a slog for the band to play. That Brian and Al have rarely if ever done the song in their own shows (though Brian may add it back shortly if his recent interview is an indication) indicates as well that perhaps Mike had more of an affinity for the song than the other guys.

I will say that the C50 version of "Rock and Roll Music" improved on the late 80s and 90s versions of the song; on C50 it sounded much more hard-edged and, despite the large band, somewhat stripped-down.
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HeyJude
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« Reply #56 on: March 22, 2017, 10:39:38 AM »

<<Are you suggesting that there was no PR for music in the 1970s?>>

I'm not suggesting that at all.  I was responding to a comment that the only reason R&RM was a hit was due to PR and hype.  There was no amount of hype, PR, press releases or promotion that would have made a song a hit if the record didn't resonate with record buyers and radio listeners in those days.  There is no question that the hype helped... but if R&RM hadn't been a great single, it would have died.



Well, that's just a matter of personal taste. I don't think that I could comfortably say that a song is great if it happened to appeal to a sizeable amount of a specific market. But, yeah, obviously record companies must have felt that hype played a factor or they wouldn't have sunk money into it.

Also, "resonating" with buyers isn't necessarily the same thing as being, especially in retrospect, a "great" single. There have been plenty of well-marketed, flavor-of-the-month hit singles that people ultimately (and sometimes contemporaneously) derided. Of course the record company can't literally make a song *everybody* hates a #1 hit. But marketing can be a powerful tool.

Which isn't to say the BBs were ever in that category; I don't think they ever had a hit with a "bad" song, nor do I think they ever had the record company behind them enough to take a crummy song and make it a hit. They may have tried to push some dreck on occasion, but that stuff (e.g. "Summer in Paradise") usually sunk like a rock, as did some truly great stuff. "Rock and Roll Music" might be the least interesting "hit" they had in my opinion, but even that is still a solid, enjoyable-enough track.
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Ziggy Stardust
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« Reply #57 on: March 22, 2017, 12:59:04 PM »

I agree - Rock and Roll Music SOUNDS like a Beach Boys - a classic beach Boys hit. (I don't get the hate - I like it and it sounds great - great Mike vocal, fun background vocals) and it has more punch than It's O.K.   Sure a better album would have helped them but they do blow it pretty consistently.

I feel it's too similar to Surfin' USA, perhaps that's why it was a hit: the pandering Mike Love formula worked ....
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tpesky
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« Reply #58 on: March 22, 2017, 05:25:27 PM »

I've always had a soft spot for it, in fact it is one of of my favorite BB cover. I completely understanding why it was a hit- it sounds like the BB! I don't know they didn't out a version with the last verse. The mix they used on the album could have been much better. They also rocked it live into the early 80s'  The 90s killed it,  that slow tempo made it sound horrible.
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joshferrell
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« Reply #59 on: March 22, 2017, 06:36:37 PM »

using songs that weren't released (by the Beach Boys) on other beach Boy (or solo albums) that we know about, I think they could have released a decent album,,,something like this


Side A (Contemplative side)
1. Out in the country
2. California Feeling'
3. Awake (Brian on vocals)
4. Wouldn't be nice to live again
5. Our solution
6. Daddy Dear
7. barnyard Blues
8. Sweet Mountain (Brian Vocal)

Side B (Pop Rock Side)
1. Seasons in the sun
2. Soulful Old Man Sunshine
3. carnival/ Loop De loop
4. Can't wait too long
5. Sherry She Needs me
6. Old Man river

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Bill30022
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« Reply #60 on: March 22, 2017, 08:32:02 PM »

I always thought that it was a mistake not to have 'It's OK' as the first single off 15BO.

* it sounds more like a BB song - the background vocals are more prominent.
* the ending makes it sound like a Brian song.

I remember being disappointed by 15BO, primarily because of the determination of Brian's voice. That one thing made the 'Brian's Back' campaign a sham.
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