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Author Topic: Mike Love One on One with AGD  (Read 6458 times)
Wata
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« on: May 04, 2017, 01:36:33 AM »

He did it!

http://petsoundsforum.com/thread/1468/mike-love-on-interview
Herewith the fruits of an hour long interview with Mike in St. Louis (and me in... England). Well, not so much an interview per, more me putting a question culled from this very forum and Mike taking flight. Thoughts welcomed.

AD: When did you realise that the band had a different, deeper connection with the UK fans ?

ML: When we came over in 1964 we noticed that there were such avid fans for our music, appreciating the same stuff that we did, Chuck Berry, The Four Freshmen, The Everly Brothers, the harmonies. There were songs that were hits in Great Britain that weren’t particularly hits in the United States and also, last but not least, we were voted the #1 group in Great Britain in 1966 on the strength of “Good Vibrations”. That was phenomenal for us, so appreciative. We’ve always had a very strong appreciation for how we’ve been accepted by British fans. Not only that, 20 Golden Greats sold a million copies and was #1 for ten weeks…. Very blessed with that kind of recognition from anywhere at any time, so we couldn’t even contemplate going to Great Britain without doing something very special, digging deeper into the repertoire.

AD: That leads nicely into the next question - last time you were over here you did “All I Wanna Do”, the time before that “’Til I Die” and “All This Is That“… can we expect anything special this year ?

ML: For me, it all has to do with the sequencing of the songs, the way one song leads to another, and “All I Wanna Do” was such a sweet song. The intention of that song could not be a sweeter, more loving message, and I think that must be what attracts people to it. People have said my vocal is different from so many others, and I do have different voices: my “Kokomo” voice, the “Good Vibrations” chorus… it’s different from “Surfin’ USA” and “Fun. Fun, Fun”, there’s no doubt, but “All I Wanna Do” is yet another type of song and a way of singing, so soft, gentle, which is an appropriate way to deliver the message of that song. People will listen to that song and feel better about themselves, about life. For me the structure of a set list has to do with which song, what tempo and what conceptual or lyrical message sets up the next song, or how do they complement each other, and then the one after that, the ebb and flow to it. “All I Wanna Do” I think would go nicely into “All This Is That” - there’s a whole feeling of love and mysticism combined in those two. “All This Is That” is very special to me. Alan Jardine and I collaborated on that one. He came up with the “two ways have I”, two roads - it’s from a poem, “The Road Less Travelled”, but “all this is that” is from the Vedas, the ancient scriptures, and Maharishi spoke of it back in Rishikesh, so that has a real special place in my heart. When we do it live it’s somewhat hypnotic, like a mantra that keeps repeating and it has an influence, a mystical influence. Maybe it’s because I know the derivation of the title. It truly points out that we’re all coming from the same source, creation itself, we’re all made from the same stuff, what Maharishi called pure consciousness. So there’s a mystical and spiritual component to that song that I really treasure. And you know, whether anybody knows that’s the origin of that song, I think performing it in a proper setting, proper venue is a beautiful thing. We’re challenged by the fact that we have so many songs, many of them very well loved, and we can’t always get to somebody’s favourite - but we try ! When we get to Great Britain we always try to do a bit more than in a normal set, and we’re grateful for the appreciation. We’re not only performers, we’re writers, we’re all life-long musicians, and to be able to do what we do, and be successful, still have people come to see us five decades after we started, it’s an incredible blessing. A lot of acts seem to want to get on and off the stage: we have to be told not to do as much as we’d like to do ! Ordinarily we do an hour, an intermission and then another hour, but those hours expand when we get to Royal Albert Hall, or any venue where we’re allowed to play the songs we want, and where people do appreciate more than just the hits that we‘re known for.

AD: The 1975 gig at Wembley Stadium with Elton John - do you have any special memories of that ? It’s one of the band’s legendary concerts.

ML: Oh, it was unbelievable ! ‘75, we’d been down, we’d left Capitol EMI and, you know, to have the kind of reception we’d got in Wembley Stadium was pandemonium. We had, what, an hour to do and it was just solid hits. That was a spectacular day, spectacular response, and it really made us feel, as human beings as well as performers, wow, this is really a wonderful thing - miles away from our home, we’re that appreciated. Elton is a wonderful artist, great singer, lovely person, and it was just a great event to be involved with. Reminded me that when we did Live Aid, Wembley had a lot of acts going on and we were in Philadelphia, and Bob Geldof insisted we be on Live Aid even though Bill Graham didn’t necessarily want us on there - he was more into other types of acts - but Bob said “no, when The Beach Boys are on stage people will feel in a good mood” and the contributions actually spiked when we were on stage. We were singing “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” in Philadelphia and the audience in Wembley were singing along with us. So many fond memories of Wembley Stadium.

AD: Speaking of iconic stadiums and festivals, would you like to play Glastonbury ?

ML: I would love to be there on the Legends stage, we totally fit that description, don’t we ? In fact I don’t understand why we haven’t done it already ! It’s always been on my mind every time we come to England, why aren’t we doing more festivals ? Not that I’m complaining about being sold out at Royal Albert Hall !

AD: Your upcoming tour here is billed as the Wild Honey 50th anniversary tour, which has excited a lot of people, because that’s the favourite album of many fans: how did you and Brian decide to go into an R&B flavoured, very simple album as opposed to what had gone before ? Was it his idea, your idea or did it just kind of happen ?

ML: I think it more happened naturally. Carl did a fantastic job on “I Was Made To Love Her”, so I think… I’ve told the story before about opening the cupboard while they were doing the track to “Wild Honey”, going to make a cup of tea - herbal tea, that is - in the Wilsons kitchen, and there was a jar of wild honey. I said “wild honey - that’s a great title for a song about a girl. I even thought about Stevie Wonder when he was young, singing that to his mother. So that gave me the idea. While the guys were finishing the track, I wrote out the words and that’s how that was born. But, I think The Beatles and The Beach Boys have always got a lot of accolades for our work in the 60s, but Motown, Motown was an amazing force of nature in music. The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, and more, and on and on ! Amazing body of work. We always loved the R&B influence, and music, we all loved that, and we’re not alone. So I think it did just happen naturally. We wanted to do something closer to that vernacular than what we were known for. Also, it was after Smile had been shelved and Smiley Smile had been done, which was kind of a quirky album. Some of the songs were kinda silly - “She’s Goin’ Bald” - but then “Wind Chimes” was gorgeous. It was mellifluous and beautiful in many ways, and kinda silly in other ways, but with Wild Honey, I think there’s some really good performances there. “Aren’t You Glad” was a real fun time to work on, it was really great to write with Brian again, together at that point in time. I really have a lot of love for that album. Now, “How She Boogalooed It”… that could have used a bit more production, to be honest, in my opinion. It’s a fun song, but… a couple of songs on that album, the production was pretty minimal, and that’s OK once in a while but… “Let The Wind Blow” was a beautiful song. I really enjoyed writing with Brian on that particular album. His domain was the studio, and instrumentation, and arrangements and stuff like that. Our domain together was to figure out the harmonies, just like we did on “The Warmth Of The Sun” but my domain has always been the lyrics, concepts and hooks and so on, and it was no different on that album. While the guys were finishing up the track for, say, “Darlin’”, I would write out the lyrics. I’d sit and listen over and over and over again and come up with the lyrics I felt matched the impulse of the beat, and the tone, of the track, the mood of it, taking all these kind of things into consideration, and the words would just come to me naturally. And that’s how “Wild Honey” and “Darlin’” happened. “Let The Wind Blow”, as I recall, was a bit more interactive with Brian. It’s a really cool song: the background harmonies with the guys, Carl, Al, Bruce - it was pretty neat. A nice exercise. The vocal arrangement sounds good to me, intricate and interesting parts coming and going, and it’s a very sentimental song too. How many people have been in a situation where you really love someone and then she doesn’t want it ever to end, and then sometimes it does. It’s kind of a prayer that you can keep that love going with that special person. So many of us can relate to that. I think it’s a brilliant song. I don’t know if we’ll get to do that because we have a few other albums that we have to do songs from.

AD: Did you contribute any musical input to Wild Honey ? It’s been said in the past that you contributed some of the music to “Let The Wind Blow”.

ML: Well, when you write the words, sometimes that will influence where the melody goes, because maybe the melody isn’t complete yet. In the case of “Darlin’”, the words have to work within the constraints of the beat and the tempo. It just has to be like that. So that often gives rise to how the melody goes, and I would often come up with background ideas, like “inside outside USA” or “round round get around I get around”. Or it might be that the melody was totally determined, and that determines what you write to. I don’t know, I don’t think you can separate writing the words and the melody and the arrangement, it all kind of comes together organically.

AD: If you could choose just one, what would be the single highlight of your career in music ?

ML: One thing is in the recording field, and one thing is in the performing field. #1 in the live performance field is July 4th 1985 when we played the Washington Mall for about three quarters of a million people and we got a standing ovation before we even sang a note. That was truly amazing. That was just incredible. In terms of musical #1 ? I’d have to say “Good Vibrations” going to #1 in November of 1966, and being voted the #1 group in Great Britain. That stands out, that really has to. So many other great songs, performances and experiences but those are the two number ones. They say “Kokomo” sold more records than “Good Vibrations” but in terms of creativity, and the time, and being regarded that highly in Great Britain, that has to be #1.

AD: Is there any one released track that you feel should have gotten more attention than it did ?

ML: Oh, several, not one ! Going way back when, I like “Little Honda”. It wasn’t a single for us, and it was released by The Hondells, they got a guy that sings just like me. I think that could have been a bit of a single had we put more into it and focussed more on it. Also the song “Hawaii”: there are many songs I think we could have done a little bit more production. On each album there’s a song we could have done better at. “Help Me Rhonda”’s a prime example, the album version versus the single version. I came up with the “bow bow bows”, we put a bit more attention on that song and the single went to #1. Probably a couple of dozen where we could have done a better job production wise.

AD: “Time To get Alone” is a big fan favourite: was that not considered as a single maybe because it didn’t have the impact ?

ML: It could have been the song itself, the album it was on, the record label, the music that was happening and what radio would play. There’s different trends in music and maybe The Beach Boys never followed trends. I think we’ve always been on our own recognisance - never been the type of group that has to emulate, copy what’s going on. If anything, the opposite of that is true. Maybe it was never considered. It’s real complicated. What’s going to be a single has a lot to do with the record companies. For instance, “It’s OK” on the 15 Big Ones album. “Rock & Roll Music” went top 5, pretty darn good, and “It’s OK” is an early summer single, but they waited to put it out because of “Rock & Roll Music”. They didn’t put “It’s OK” out until August or September. Should have come out in May or June. I think it could have been a lot bigger hit for us. I love that song and I like doing it in concert, but we do it with a little more gusto, shall we say ? So that’s a case of… the record company has a tremendous influence. Their marketing people and their promotion people have to believe in the record - like they didn’t for Pet Sounds ! - and if they don’t, you’re not gonna get a single release, or it’s not gonna be so great. Like “Getting’ Hungry” - Brian & Mike ! You know, there’s a lot of factors that go into what becomes a single and if it becomes successful, there’s a lot of second guessing involved. It’s kind of weird, on the boards, people getting at each other’s throats about their favourites. Music is meant to be enjoyed and everybody’s got an opinion. So anyway, there are too many factors, and you could get forensic about it, and go into the reasons why, say “Heroes And Villains” didn’t do as well as “Good Vibrations” although the track was incredibly great. Many different things you could discuss, but when it comes to a single, you don’t always put out what you want.

AD: I read somewhere that you sequenced Sounds of Summer as if it were a Beach Boys concert.

ML: There was one question you had about Endless Summer and what I had to do with that. Well first of all I named it. They were going to call it something like The Best of The Beach Boys Volume Three or something like that and I said “no no no, there’s no such thing - let’s call it Endless Summer”, and I met with them on the running order because, with me, spending my life on the road and by trial and error seeing what songs complement each other, trying to make it so that the ballad is featured beautifully and then the mid-tempo song comes along after that, then the upper tempo and back to perhaps something slower, so there’s a lot from me that goes into the structure of a set list, and we go over it every night. Might reposition a song only to see if it might get a better reaction or it might feel better repositioned, so there’s an art to doing a set list. I’ve been the lead singer of this band from the beginning, co-wrote most of the hit songs with Brian from the early to mid-sixties, and because we were writing together, he at the piano, I’m standing behind him and I’d sing the lead because it had to be in my vocal range, then Carl would come up with the guitar thing: it was very natural the way that evolved. I’ve been on the road since 1962 so it’s very natural and normal for me to figure out the set lists. The reason I’m going on about this is because, when Capitol did Endless Summer, a lot of kids thought it was a brand new album even though it was a compilation of hits. Years later we did Sounds Of Summer: same thing, sequenced the songs. I might have a dialogue with the record company, they might say “we want to have a couple more uptempo songs right in the beginning” and I’d go OK, but there is a dialog back and forth, primarily I’ll come up with the concept, title and a running order, by and large. When you go to a concert and there’s a flow to the music, start out energising and you go through the peaks and the valleys, different moods and different albums throughout your career, try to touch upon that thing so real dedicated and devoted fans find something to appreciate about the concert. We try to leave people on an upbeat note when they’re leaving the show, having experienced so many different moods and emotions. So based on that trial and error, and experience on the road over so many years, during the concerts, that did influence me on the sequencing of Endless Summer and Sounds Of Summer. And on a micro level, when we do an album we also try to think about what’s the best sequence of the songs.

AD: Everybody has their own opinion of what The Beach Boys mean to them: what do The Beach Boys mean to you ?

ML: On a personal level, we started The Beach Boys because of a love of getting together and harmonising. That’s the secret sauce, that’s at the core of everything we ever did, the love of harmonising. We began singing together as family members. My cousin Brian & I, his brother Carl… we might grab my sister Maureen or my aunt Audree to sing a fourth part, until Brian and Al got together. That was the blend, back then. It wasn’t about being stars, being well-known, being recording artists or anything else. Essentially, music was the bond that brought everybody together at Christmas time, birthday parties, all kinds of special occasions. That was as a result of my mother, and of course Murry Wilson her brother. Music was a family tradition, and so therein lies the origin of The Beach Boys, the love of harmonising. So every time we step out on stage and recreate those songs, there is that component… it’s just a fact, that’s at the very centre of what we do. So, what The Beach Boys mean to me on a subjective level, a personal level, is that we’re carrying on a family tradition through music, and it makes us feel good to do so. And the beautiful thing about it, the miraculous thing about it is that it makes others feel good too. I think that’s the most important thing about The Beach Boys is not the ins and outs, the ups and downs, whatever you may want to talk about that’s negative. The overwhelming positive thing is that our music has made millions of people feel good, whether it’s for three minutes, an hour or a lifetime. That’s the thing that means the most to me, objectively, is that our music has meant so much to so many millions of people and given them a solace, happiness, joy… and maybe in a melancholy way, some sort of healing. There’s no way to calculate the myriad impressions that are out there, the billions of people that The Beach Boys have touched at home, on TV, radio, the movies, that has be the real wonderful, miraculous thing about The Beach Boys. It’s taking something that was a simple love and a family tradition that became a gift to the world. That’s a fantastic thing: it’s something to marvel at, actually. All the other stuff, all the things that are not so great, completely pale when you think of the value of those songs. I mean, guys that were in Vietnam saying “thank you for saving my life, your music helped us get through what we had to do”. That can bring tears to my eyes, statements like that. Or a little girl that has a brain tumour and was asked what’s her favourite song. Ten years old, she says “409” ! That song came out 40 years before she was born !! Things like that, you can’t credit it. It’s hard to put into words how incredible that effect our music has had on some. There’s all kinds of people that like other music, our stuff is not their cup of tea, that’s fine, we understand that, but for those who have been touched by The Beach Boys, or else love The Beach Boys, to me that’s the most important thing. That our concerts, our recorded music, can create that kind of positivity, that gift of happiness to so many people.

AD: Staying with the happiness theme, when were you happiest as a Beach Boy ? Maybe you still are…

ML: Yeah… you know, we travel beautifully, stay in wonderful hotels rather than when we first started out, when we had a station wagon with the U-Haul trailer in back, set up and broke down our own equipment, and the sound systems were crummy - it was exciting and fun, but now it’s quite a bit better, the sound is greater, the venues are far nicer, the travel is good. Multiple generations come out to see us, so I think there’s been an evolution, not without its ups and downs. By and large I’d say I’m very happy to look forward to coming to Great Britain, very happy to go to the continent, all over France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Italy… and then we come back to the United States and we’re doing July 4th this year in front of the Capitol building for PBS‘ A Capitol Fourth. A lot of great things going on, wonderful things to look forward to. Last night [April 23rd] we did a great show in Missouri, great crowd, so at the very moment in time, it’s as good as it ever was. People say that our group now sounds better than it ever has, or as good as it ever was, and that’s a compliment, a blessing. We have a video of Dennis doing “Do You Wanna Dance” and Carl doing “God Only Knows”, and so they’re represented. It’s where we are. It’s really wonderful.

[Thanks to everyone who made this possible, notably Jacquelyne Love, Betty Collignon Wright, Vodaphone and of course Mike.]
« Last Edit: May 04, 2017, 02:08:29 AM by Watamushi (Polly Poller) » Logged
JK
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« Reply #1 on: May 04, 2017, 02:05:44 AM »

Excellent upbeat interview. Like the man said, Mike was clearly happy with questions "beyond the usual". Thanks for linking it here, W. :=)
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« Reply #2 on: May 04, 2017, 06:34:36 PM »

Some interesting things here. He never really answered the when were you happiest as a BB question. It seems like he is most happy now?  Based on his response.
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The Lovester
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« Reply #3 on: May 04, 2017, 06:39:07 PM »

I like the interview! Only nitpick is I wish he would've given a straight answer on the Let the Wind Blow question, I've been wondering that myself Grin
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« Reply #4 on: May 04, 2017, 11:45:21 PM »

Nice interview. He doesn't come across as a prick in this one. He can be kind and generous when he is approached the right way.
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« Reply #5 on: May 05, 2017, 12:12:54 AM »

I like the interview! Only nitpick is I wish he would've given a straight answer on the Let the Wind Blow question, I've been wondering that myself Grin

seems like Mike would gladly take credit for writing any of the music to Let the Wind Blow, or anything else for that matter. he didn't do that here and even went out of his way to say Let The Wind Blow had more Brian influence. I think we can put that one to rest
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GREAT post, Rab!


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« Reply #6 on: May 05, 2017, 06:40:30 AM »

Very good interview, and with the Question/Answer ratio every good interview should have, also thanks to a very fluent Mike. Once I watched on TV an interview to Jean Paul Sartre, and the interviewer hogged 97% of the time. I was like: "Damn fool, the guy in front of you is one of the greatest contemporary philosophers! Let him say SOMETHING, dammit!" 
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« Reply #7 on: May 05, 2017, 07:16:00 AM »

I wish he would have asked more questions about Wrinkles
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« Reply #8 on: May 05, 2017, 08:13:17 AM »

After all this time and all these years, a half century of the same questions being asked, if I had a chance to sit down with these guys, and *especially* if it wasn't for publication anywhere but was just for fans, I'd forego any of the broad "connecting with fans" questions and questions about "what do the Beach Boys mean to you?" and go specific and deep from the outset.

Other than an introductory bit (and maybe not even then), I'd forego any question I could imagine a local newspaper asking Mike if I only had say 10 or 15 minutes with him and my *sole* audience was hardcore fans on the internet. *Especially* if I've already been pals with the guy and infamously sympathetic to his "side" for some years now.

Yes, this still goes deeper than any local newspaper feature possibly could. But I probably *would* ask about "Wrinkles" or something like that, because it'll at least potentially take the interview in a different direction.


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« Reply #9 on: May 05, 2017, 09:16:20 AM »

Really great interview!
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« Reply #10 on: May 05, 2017, 09:20:10 AM »

I asked the question -- AND got the answer!
Mike told me not too long ago that his fondest period was around the time around of the '85 LP, MADE IN USA, etc.
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« Reply #11 on: May 05, 2017, 09:31:20 AM »

Jesus Howie.... Undecided
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« Reply #12 on: May 05, 2017, 09:37:04 AM »

I asked the question -- AND got the answer!
Mike told me not too long ago that his fondest period was around the time around of the '85 LP, MADE IN USA, etc.


It's actually quite interesting to me that Mike is so fond of that era. I get part of why that is; they were doing those huge DC gigs and "Live Aid" and whatnot. Maybe one of the last eras, outside of C50, where the band was put on that same industry level/gravitas of the top bands of that time. But I'd definitely love to hear more about why he digs that era so much. The BB '85 album wasn't a hit, and while Mike drops "Getcha Back" into his setlist once in awhile, he doesn't seem to be super fond of that album.

But as Mark Lewisohn did recently remind us when it comes to the Beatles, we can't mark people's lives by LP releases.

So what else was going on in 1985/86 for Mike and the band? The stress of the Dennis situation was largely gone. Brian was doing well health-wise, and the full "Landy" deal wasn't apparent to all that early on. Brian hadn't yet become quite as estranged from the band as he would be in the late 80s and early 90s. He hadn't yet hit the super difficult patch with Al I guess.
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« Reply #13 on: May 05, 2017, 09:40:12 AM »

But Dennis was dead, Carl resigned to touring, and BW under control of a madman. The total control he always wanted was there for the taking...
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And production aside, I’d so much rather hear a 14 year old David Marks shred some guitar on Chug-a-lug than hear a 51 year old Mike Love sing about bangin some chick in a swimming pool.-rab2591
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« Reply #14 on: May 05, 2017, 09:43:57 AM »

Concerning not having anyone to answer to, I'm sure that's a big part of why he's happy now. At least on the road with his band, there are no corporate politics, nobody to argue over the setlist with, nobody telling him which musicians or songs he'll be doing. Major cash, and all of the other perks a full-time touring musician gets or can pursue if they wish to.
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« Reply #15 on: May 05, 2017, 11:37:27 AM »

Mike was on a roll in the Reagan era, the (temporary) boost in that time frame (84-86) pushed the band back into the identity he is most comfortable with and that glosses over the fractures in the group, allowing him to wave away the very interesting period from 1969-73 when the band just needed one hit to get big again.

AGD didn't bother to correct Mike's assertion about "It's OK," even though his own web site makes it clear that it would have made no sense to put the single out in June ("Rock'n'Roll Music" didn't chart until June 5, and had just cracked the Top 20 in early July). The weakness of "It's OK" as a single can be seen in it charting initially at #87 on the heels of "Rock'n'Roll Music"--should have been a good bit higher at the outset. It might've done better if it had come out two weeks earlier--possibly more of a coattail effect would have been there--but so many folks heard it at the time and said "jeez that's a cheesy organ riff...holy moly but Mike has found that lost adenoid..." In short, it was just too regressive--it just didn't recapture their youthful panache (and we have Mike's lyrics, interestingly enough, ultimately working against the impression of youth: "Good or bad, glad or said, it's all gonna pass/So it's OK, let's all play and enjoy while it lasts"). All that semi-resigned impending mid-life crisis leap of faith to hedonism just sort of lies there at the end.

Also, it's disputed, but there is some likelihood that 15BO got held up from a June release due to a decision to go back and rework "It's OK." AGD blasts Badman for having a mid-June session listing, but ask yourself why an LP that was mastered in mid-May was held up for seven weeks? That's a long time for something to sit around--or, rather, it was in 1976. Did Warners really want a 4-6 week buildup for "Rock'n'Roll Music" before releasing the LP, or was there a last-minute re-do on "It's OK" as a result of some input from the record company? They certainly could have listened to 15BO and realized that they had no other possible follow-up single on the LP, which might have prompted an eleventh-hour session...
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« Reply #16 on: May 05, 2017, 12:48:56 PM »

If It's Ok would have been the first single, I wonder if it would have done as good as Rock and Roll Music.
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« Reply #17 on: May 05, 2017, 06:27:20 PM »

It wouldn't have. That said, "It's O.K." would've fared better with some GUITARS blasting out of the speaker.

Had the completed "Peggy Sue" been the followup to "Rock And Roll Music," and coming off THAT momentum, it absolutely would've been a Top 10, be it August, September -- or whenever.
It was a recognizable sound and a direct link to "Rock And Roll Music -- which stylistically had a tremendous musical link to the '75 blockbuster "Love Will Keep Us Together" -- which, although brilliant, was (arguably) Daryl Dragon beating Brian to the punch by collecting all the stray BW musical fingerprints of the '70s to date, and weaving it into/onto a brilliant song.

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« Reply #18 on: May 05, 2017, 06:45:43 PM »

Quote
t was a recognizable sound and a direct link to "Rock And Roll Music -- which stylistically had a tremendous musical link to the '75 blockbuster "Love Will Keep Us Together" -- which, although brilliant, was (arguably) Daryl Dragon beating Brian to the punch by collecting all the stray BW musical fingerprints of the '70s to date, and weaving it into/onto a brilliant song.

Excellent observation
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« Reply #19 on: May 05, 2017, 07:25:18 PM »

Also excellent to observe the right meals AGD needs to serve Mike.... Wink
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« Reply #20 on: May 05, 2017, 07:40:07 PM »

Although their hits were more sporadic, it is easy to forget that they played to their largest audiences during that 1980's America's Band era. The irony, I think, may be that's the era that Mike clings to the most moreso than 1962-65.
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« Reply #21 on: May 05, 2017, 10:24:11 PM »

Although their hits were more sporadic, it is easy to forget that they played to their largest audiences during that 1980's America's Band era. The irony, I think, may be that's the era that Mike clings to the most moreso than 1962-65.
And I was one of the many going to those shows and enjoying them immensely. One comparison comes to mind: in 1987, I saw them at the fair In Puyallup, just a week after the reunited Monkees had been there. With all the hype surrounding the Monkees reunion, I expected their show to get a better reception than the Beach Boys (after all, we got to see them once every year). Nope, when the BB's stepped on stage and started singing all those classics, well, you just felt it in the crowd, everyone wanted to dance and sing along. The Monkees show was very good, but the advantage the BB's had was that great catalog of songs and those voices.
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« Reply #22 on: May 06, 2017, 08:53:57 AM »

It wouldn't have. That said, "It's O.K." would've fared better with some GUITARS blasting out of the speaker.

Had the completed "Peggy Sue" been the followup to "Rock And Roll Music," and coming off THAT momentum, it absolutely would've been a Top 10, be it August, September -- or whenever.
It was a recognizable sound and a direct link to "Rock And Roll Music -- which stylistically had a tremendous musical link to the '75 blockbuster "Love Will Keep Us Together" -- which, although brilliant, was (arguably) Daryl Dragon beating Brian to the punch by collecting all the stray BW musical fingerprints of the '70s to date, and weaving it into/onto a brilliant song.

"Love Will Keep Us Together" is good, clever, a bit cheesy--and another reason why "It's OK" was not going to go to the top with that keyboard-based arrangement...you can only get so many hits from that type of stuff. LWKUT was a far more interesting track, with an actual instrumental break as opposed to V-C-V-C-V-C-tag for "It's OK" (and calling "gotta go to it/through it/with it" a chorus is giving it a good bit more credit than it probably deserves).

There's certainly a case to be made that Warners waited a bit too long to get a second single out, and given the shaky nature of 15BO (which did not hold a lot of momentum on the charts after cracking the Top 10 in August) it's not clear that any follow-up 45 was going to go Top 10. Regardless of its merits (and I'd have to say they are somewhat more arguable that what Howie has asserted...), "Peggy Sue" was left in the can when 15BO was assembled and for whatever reason, Warners did not make any effort to use non-LP material as fodder for 45s at that time. The third single off 15BO was "Everyone's in Love With You," which reminds us that the LP was really bereft of radio-friendly material. I think the chances of a second vintage track making it high on the charts were quite remote, as the success of 15BOs came from the long build-up for "Rock'n'Roll Music" that got people to buy 15BO before they discovered its abundance of flaws. As a record store employee in LA at the time, I recall that we actively discouraged people who came in with the LP as a trade-in by telling them that we couldn't give them top price for the LP because too many folks were bringing it back--they wanted the premium $2 trade-in price for it and were getting offers of 50-75 cents because we were trying not to have a glut of used copies of 15BO in the stacks...
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« Reply #23 on: May 06, 2017, 03:07:33 PM »

Also excellent to observe the right meals AGD needs to serve Mike.... Wink

You'd think that would've came up during his hiring interview...
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« Reply #24 on: May 06, 2017, 03:11:39 PM »

During the lunch where Mike didn't pick up the tab.... Wink
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