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Author Topic: Can "Summer in Paradise" be salvaged?  (Read 29747 times)
Alex
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« Reply #50 on: January 10, 2018, 03:56:02 PM »

"Passing Friend" is admittedly a self-ripoff of the Culture Club track "Miss Me Blind" (I wasn't aware of this until someone more familiar with the Culture Club catalog heard me play "Passing Friend" and could already tell it was a Culture Club song).

Sort of bizarre that The Beach Boys were enlisting help from members of Culture Club.  

But, then again, Pink Floyd got some help from a member of The Dream Academy on their later work.

I think the obvious answer on that is that the Culture Club outtake came through producer Steve Levine, who was working with them at this same time. I don't think any member of the BBs sought it out. Similarly, I'm guessing it was Levine who brought in Gary Moore to do some guitar shredding, etc.

Its debatable whether or not The Beach Boys were even aware of The Culture Club, but either way there are some Culture Club songwriting credits. 

I keep forgetting Gary Moore appeared on BB85.  I should remember that, as that kind of guitar work is largely absent in BB work.

The BBs would have been living in a pretty epic vacuum to not even know who Boy George was in 1985. But I'm sure the one Culture Club-penned track on the '85 album came through Steve Levine, and almost surely was instigated by Levine. I guess we can't know for sure. I guess it's not impossible that, say, Carl was in the studio and said "Hey Steve, you work with Culture Club, do they have any songs they'd like us to record?"

It's still unclear how many outtakes exist from the '85 project as well. We know of "At the Hop" of course, which was apparently jettisoned very late in the game. There are a bunch of alternate mixes/performances floating around. They may have worked on Brian's "Oh Lord" and Al's "And I Always Will." Brian may have worked on "Water Builds Up", and they may have also worked on Carl's (?) "Down by the Pier."

Carl reported in a circa 1986 interview that he was still writing with Robert White Johnson, so there may be more of that stuff.
A few years back I heard an old British radio interview from when the album came out where Carl said Passing Friend was pretty much a gift from Steve Levine and Boy George. In that same interview he also talked a little bit about Dennis, and just randomly brought up how much Dennis was disappointed with 15 Big Ones.
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« Reply #51 on: January 10, 2018, 06:14:18 PM »

Add some  LOL
« Last Edit: January 10, 2018, 06:15:13 PM by SMiLE Brian » Logged

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 #52 on: January 11, 2018, 08:47:56 AM »

Maybe a total salvage of SIP would be a stretch. However, there have been many discussions on boards over the years regarding the interest in a collection of some of the 80's stuff being complied onto one collection. Some of the Soundtrack cuts, the originals from Still Cruisin'..you could throw a few SIP tracks in there.
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« Reply #53 on: January 11, 2018, 08:54:15 AM »

Maybe a total salvage of SIP would be a stretch. However, there have been many discussions on boards over the years regarding the interest in a collection of some of the 80's stuff being complied onto one collection. Some of the Soundtrack cuts, the originals from Still Cruisin'..you could throw a few SIP tracks in there.

I'd love to see a collection like that, but I think it's highly unlikely.......but again, I never predicted we'd ever see a Brian Wilson solo best of collection. 
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« Reply #54 on: January 11, 2018, 11:36:03 AM »

Meanwhile....HEY!!!...I gotta go!!!
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« Reply #55 on: January 11, 2018, 11:58:34 AM »

Whatever little appeal this era of recordings has is as a historical artifact ... as such, an updated SIP might sound even worse.

Keepin the Summer Alive was pushing it, BB85 barely listenable (except for the super weak spot I have for "Male Ego"), Still Cruisin' still sounded like "The Beach Boys" but a bad version of them, Summer in Paradise is the absolute worst BB-related release of all time ("Looking Back With Love" is pure gold in comparison) ... just when you thought they couldn't break that record, here comes Stars and Stripes.

I'd rate That's Why God Made the Radio  better than BB85 but not even as good as Keepin the Summer Alive personally. Plus the tour was great, so it kind of makes the whole affair seem more appealing.

Meanwhile, the Paley stuff is still mostly unreleased.

Other than "Male Ego", of this era I think "Living Doll" is fantastic.
« Last Edit: January 11, 2018, 12:01:46 PM by DonnyL » Logged

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« Reply #56 on: January 12, 2018, 09:33:17 AM »

I think you really have to separate the *material* (as in, the compositions) from the production.

It's been eons since the BBs had a truly *well-produced* album. TWGMTR would be pretty solid were it not for the autotune. SIP and SC are mostly shrill and thin-sounding.

BB '85 actually sounds pretty good in retrospect, surprisingly. Yes, it's still a bit sterile-sounding. But it does have some warmth, and if nothing else has a unified sound.

Bruce's production on KTSA is pretty flat and dull. Bruce Johnston is not the guy to be producing something like the title track. It sounds totally limp. The live versions sounded better. Even the good compositions like "Goin' On" are hampered by pretty flat, homogenized production. Very big-boxey-sounding drums. Something like "Santa Ana Winds" fares better because it's light and acoustic.

"LA (Light Album)" is somewhat similar. Because several of the recordings began work outside the auspices of Bruce, it isn't as homogenous in terms of production. Some things sound better than others. I'm not bashing Bruce. I *love* his layered vocals on "Full Sail."

Al gets knocked for "MIU Album", but sonically it's not too bad. Kind of undistinguished, but solid. As Al himself has noted, "Come Go With Me" sounds sharper because it was recorded separately in different circumstances.

I'll stop from regressing further, but I think pretty much all the BB albums from a certain point on are hampered to varying degrees by random awful songs, and then sometimes iffy production.
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« Reply #57 on: January 12, 2018, 09:39:07 AM »

I'm just going to say this outright: A collection of 80's Beach Boys material up to SIP would do the band and its legacy no favors, in fact it could serve to shatter whatever cred the band's name has built up since 1992 on the strength of the back catalog from the 60's and early 70's. Unless Mike can come up with a good line of PR bullshit about how the material got unjustly ignored but the synth sounds and other cheese-filled sonics he offered were ahead of their time and SIP is a concept album that needs to exist alongside Pet Sounds as a concept album, there wouldn't be enough to justify more than a 4 song EP at best to sum up that entire era in terms of the highlights.

So no, SIP can't be salvaged along the lines of the old adages about putting lipstick on a pig or turning chicken sh*t into chicken salad.
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« Reply #58 on: January 12, 2018, 09:58:20 AM »

I think there are about ten thousand archival releases more important than reissuing the late 80s/90s material, and I certainly don't think it would be a good idea to put out some sort of heavily-promoted curated set of the 80s/90s material as if it's being presented to the public. Save that for a "Sunflower" and "Surf's Up" immersion-style boxed set, etc.

I'd probably be a bit more adamant about getting SC and SIP back in print at least digitally if they weren't pretty darn easy for the people who would or should care (hardcore fans and scholars, etc.) to track the CDs down (or whatever downloads) if they don't already have them.

If they want to put a big giant "Brother Rarities" boxed set with 7 or 8 discs and throw some late 80s/90s stuff in there (more unreleased than previously-released), that could yield some interesting material.
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« Reply #59 on: January 12, 2018, 11:25:14 AM »

Speaking of the relatively weak production of KTSA... What happened to Bruce as a producer???

The stuff he was producing and arranging in the late 50's-early 60's sounded incredible! Rip Chords, Bruce & Terry, etc... all sounds really great! Rich harmonies and great rocking backing tracks. Those songs were full of life. Stuff like Summer Means Fun and Don't Run Away are definitely on par with what a lot of The Beach Boys were doing.  Hell, even Deirdre, Tears In The Morning, and Disney Girls were really well arranged and produced!   ...And then... Goin' Public. And ever since, we've gotten boring, flat sounding production from Bruce. I just don't get it. Must be his personal taste?
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« Reply #60 on: January 12, 2018, 11:27:33 AM »

Speaking of the relatively weak production of KTSA... What happened to Bruce as a producer???

The stuff he was producing and arranging in the late 50's-early 60's sounded incredible! Rip Chords, Bruce & Terry, etc... all sounds really great! Rich harmonies and great rocking backing tracks. Those songs were full of life. Stuff like Summer Means Fun and Don't Run Away are definitely on par with what a lot of The Beach Boys were doing.  Hell, even Deirdre, Tears In The Morning, and Disney Girls were really well arranged and produced!   ...And then... Goin' Public. And ever since, we've gotten boring, flat sounding production from Bruce. I just don't get it. Must be his personal taste?

I believe Goin' Public was produced by Gary Usher.
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« Reply #61 on: January 12, 2018, 11:40:56 AM »

I don't think Bruce was ever a great producer in the same league as other busy, versatile producers.

I think he was a good utilitarian producer for the stuff he did in the 60s.

As someone opined some years ago, it's pretty true that Bruce doesn't really have a rock and roll bone in his body. This really narrows the field for what could possibly work with him as producer. I guess he could have produced stuff that sounded like "Going Public" (even though, as pointed out, Usher actually technically was the producer on that one), or Manilow and that ilk.

But the Beach Boys, even though not any sort of heavy rock band, were not a good fit for Bruce's production. The thing Bruce provided for the BBs on LA and KTSA was the same thing Joe Thomas brought to TWGMTR; Bruce was (at that time) somewhat of an intermediary who could also augment things musically. Bruce was good for organizing sessions, keeping everything rolling along, etc.

But his work with the BBs in 1978-1979 reminds me a bit of David Malloy's production on the 1979 Badfinger albums "Airwaves." He was an Eddie Rabbit guy turning the "rock" stuff into mush with cardboard box drums.

I think very quickly after KTSA, Bruce really wasn't heavily involved in seemingly much of *anything*, whether it was writing and recording material for the BBs, producing, or even singing lead vocals in concert. I think at this stage (or even in the 90s), whatever production skills he did have are atrophied to the point where it has been decades since I even wondered to myself why Bruce isn't producing a bunch of stuff.
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« Reply #62 on: January 12, 2018, 01:17:43 PM »

I'm just going to say this outright: A collection of 80's Beach Boys material up to SIP would do the band and its legacy no favors, in fact it could serve to shatter whatever cred the band's name has built up since 1992 on the strength of the back catalog from the 60's and early 70's. Unless Mike can come up with a good line of PR bullshit about how the material got unjustly ignored but the synth sounds and other cheese-filled sonics he offered were ahead of their time and SIP is a concept album that needs to exist alongside Pet Sounds as a concept album, there wouldn't be enough to justify more than a 4 song EP at best to sum up that entire era in terms of the highlights.

So no, SIP can't be salvaged along the lines of the old adages about putting lipstick on a pig or turning chicken sh*t into chicken salad.

That said then...my 'tinkling' on it probably IS the best idea.  Now I gotta start drinking water again. Roll Eyes  Slumber in Pair o' Dice really is a turd burger...inspired by... ... ... its namesake.
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« Last Edit: January 12, 2018, 01:22:00 PM by Add Some » Logged

"Add Some...Music...To Your Day.  I do.  It's the only way to fly.  Well...what was I gonna put here?  An apple a day keeps the doctor away?  Hum me a few bars."   Lee Marshall [2014]

Donald  TRUMP!  ...  Is TOAST.  "What a disaster."  "Overrated?"... ... ..."BIG LEAGUE."  "Lots of people are saying it"  "I will tell you that."   Collusion, Money Laundering, Treason.   B'Bye Dirty Donnie!!!  Adios!!!  Bon Voyage!!!  Toodles!!!  Move yourself...SPANKY!!!  Jail awaits.  It's NO "Witch Hunt". There IS Collusion...and worse.  The Russian Mafia!!  Conspiracies!!  Fraud!!  This racist is goin' down...and soon.  Good Riddance.  And take the kids.
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« Reply #63 on: January 12, 2018, 01:21:33 PM »

No

Agreed.  Let's not waste time on crappy albums.
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« Reply #64 on: January 12, 2018, 05:03:12 PM »

Well, I actually think Summer of Love is fun and I love the drum sounds on the album.  

I can dig 80s drum sounds, and I love, love, love a ton of 80s music (including music with drum machines). And I'll even defend some of the songs on this album.

But to actually love the drum sounds on the album? I guess some are just kinda meh, ok, inoffensive, but how about the SUPER LOUD, SHRILL SNARE on Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night)? Find me a more grating, fingers-on-the-chalkboard distracting drum sound in the whole BBs' released catalog. I dares ya! Do you actually love that specific sound on that song?

BTW, other than that AWFUL snare sound, I actually really dig that song.
« Last Edit: January 12, 2018, 05:06:38 PM by CenturyDeprived » Logged
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« Reply #65 on: January 12, 2018, 06:38:35 PM »

Well, I actually think Summer of Love is fun and I love the drum sounds on the album. Why do some people want everything to sound like Pet Sounds or Sunflower? SIP is not a masterpiece, nor it's meant to sound like one. It's just a corny, cheesy and (partly) horrible album. I can't stand that Forever cover. But overall the album has it's charm - and those cheesy drums are a huge part of it.

Didja know that Mike's title for the follow-up album was seriously Masterpiece? It seems our friend Dr. Michael Edward Love thought he was making some important music.
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« Reply #66 on: January 12, 2018, 08:07:57 PM »


But to actually love the drum sounds on the album? I guess some are just kinda meh, ok, inoffensive, but how about the SUPER LOUD, SHRILL SNARE on Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night)? Find me a more grating, fingers-on-the-chalkboard distracting drum sound in the whole BBs' released catalog. I dares ya! Do you actually love that specific sound on that song?

I take it this is a rhetorical question and not aimed at me. If you go back and reread this thread, I have repeatedly stated that I dislike the drums on pretty much the whole album. To the point where I sold the US version, initially, only to get the UK one many years later.

Maybe I am just too fanatical, but I can't name a single BB album that doesn't contain at least something of merit. I'll even pull out NASCAR. Solo works, re-recordings, vanity projects, you name it, I can't get enough BB. Call me indiscriminate. I certainly wouldn't go to such lengths with any other band, except perhaps Beatles and Byrds (the three B's in music). Anyway, I think a lot of good points have been raised in this thread. And I still think a decent EP of remixed songs could be extracted from SiP. Of course I'd like to get a Brother years box of unreleased stuff. I have heard of 300+ songs languishing in the vault. But one does not exclude the other. I don't think a latterday comp would damage their legacy any more than what is already out. For one, only diehards like myself would buy it.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2018, 05:20:33 AM by GoogaMooga » Logged
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« Reply #67 on: January 12, 2018, 08:11:06 PM »


Didja know that Mike's title for the follow-up album was seriously Masterpiece? It seems our friend Dr. Michael Edward Love thought he was making some important music.

He did. He wrote liner notes to SiP, where he made it quite clear that his intention was a summer concept album. We can scoff at that, but that is what he wanted.
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« Reply #68 on: January 13, 2018, 05:17:51 AM »

I think setting the tapes on fire could fix it.
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« Reply #69 on: January 13, 2018, 05:22:48 AM »

I think setting the tapes on fire could fix it.

I'd piss on the burning tapes, just to save them for posterity.
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« Reply #70 on: January 13, 2018, 08:39:06 AM »

Hey!!!  That's ***MY*** job. Wink
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Donald  TRUMP!  ...  Is TOAST.  "What a disaster."  "Overrated?"... ... ..."BIG LEAGUE."  "Lots of people are saying it"  "I will tell you that."   Collusion, Money Laundering, Treason.   B'Bye Dirty Donnie!!!  Adios!!!  Bon Voyage!!!  Toodles!!!  Move yourself...SPANKY!!!  Jail awaits.  It's NO "Witch Hunt". There IS Collusion...and worse.  The Russian Mafia!!  Conspiracies!!  Fraud!!  This racist is goin' down...and soon.  Good Riddance.  And take the kids.
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« Reply #71 on: January 16, 2018, 07:20:50 AM »

People, the inadvertent genius of SIP is that there *aren't* any tapes. It was recorded with a Beta version of ProTools on a Macintosh Quadra computer! Nothing to burn!

(Though, in all seriousness, they may well have backed up stuff on DAT tape, and certainly something had to be run off when it came time to master it for release).
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« Reply #72 on: January 16, 2018, 08:24:10 AM »

GoogaMooga, I agree with you 100% about finding at least something good in every BBs release. There are things I like on SIP, KTSA, Looking Back With Love, Unleash The Love, Going Public, Nascar, Summertime Cruisin, etc... I, like you said, just can't get enough!
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« Reply #73 on: January 16, 2018, 08:55:08 AM »

People, the inadvertent genius of SIP is that there *aren't* any tapes. It was recorded with a Beta version of ProTools on a Macintosh Quadra computer! Nothing to burn!

(Though, in all seriousness, they may well have backed up stuff on DAT tape, and certainly something had to be run off when it came time to master it for release).

I just looked up what that type of computer system would have looked like:



Somewhere there must be some photos of the band in the studio recording this album, right? Especially since they were forging new territory with the technology.  I wonder what drove them to make the decision to record in this manner.

Did they get some sort of sweet deal with Apple for using and promoting a brand new type of recording method and system?   Was using an Apple computer yet another avenue for Mike to potentially be able to drop his Beatles connection, via the Apple reference, into interviews? Also I'm guessing it was cheaper and might've also been easier to record this way due to the incessant, nonstop touring that they did.  Probably a combination of reasons, but I'm curious.

I'm also curious if anybody ever, in the history of recorded  music, decided they themselves too wanted to record with ProTools due to liking the sound of this album.  Has any musician ever, for non-ironic purposes, decided that they wanted to try to replicate the SIP sound?
« Last Edit: January 16, 2018, 08:58:19 AM by CenturyDeprived » Logged
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« Reply #74 on: January 16, 2018, 10:16:26 AM »

As I posted previously, the funny thing is there were albums recorded using *earlier* versions of ProTools *before* SIP that sound nowhere near as awful, in fact one released in 1991 is one of my favorite albums of the past 30 years. Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend".

So as much as I'll repeat how awful SIP sounds, knowing how other albums used the same if not earlier versions of the same recording technology and didn't sound that bad, you have to wonder about the other factors involved. As in, how did something that sounded like that get approved for a release in the first place, no less with the name "The Beach Boys" attached to it.

Then fast forward to 2017 and Mike's solo album...'nuff said.
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