SOMEONE had to ask...

[Mr. Cohen]

Do you think Mike usually kept his hats on when he had sex out of a deep insecurity over his baldness, or did he take them off?

LIKE YOU HAVE NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT!

[Mahalo]

I just figured Mike never got laid.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Well this was completely random...

[phirnis]

People are talking too much about Mike Love's baldness when they could be talking about his saxophone playing instead. After all, it's the music that matters.

[SloopJohnB]

I had never thought about that, but now that you've brought it, I'd like to have other people's opinions on the subject. Perhaps he wears a wig. Or a mask.

[lisa75]

Well the light bouncing off his head would certainly distract from his short comings!

[punkinhead]

silk and hair more silk and hair lay near his pillbox

[Fun Is In]

Although the gender is reversed, I think that the answer to this question lies in Randy Newman's song "You Can Leave Your Hat On" on "Sail Away"....which ties it all back in to the BB since Brian is supposed to have obsessed over, er, I mean, listened repeatedly to "Sail Away" during the Holland sojourn.  Clearly, Brian believed that Mike was the inspiration for the song and was trying to annoy Mike by playing it repeatedly. It's GOT to be.  

[Beach Boy]

This thread seems pretty unfair and somehow stupid.

[lance]

translation:
AS a balding middle-aged man I am deeply offended at this thread. 

Just kidding. I actually am a balding middle aged man. It's no reason to hate Mike. In fact, it makes him human, like Brian being fat, only more genetic.
 Now, his gigantic ego and general shallowness...nah. Thought better of it.

[brianc]

The sax solo on "Shut Down" is pure clunky rock 'n' roll of the first order. Thanks Mike for reminding us how powerful the simple evocation of the form can be. The Ramones never forgot.

[KokoMoses]

I think it's Mike's general un-rockstar-esque looks and personality that makes him such an easy target. And in a way, I think he takes the fall for all of music's bad guys!....... Seriously!

We can hear horror story after horror story about Mick & Keith, Alex Chilton, Lou Reed, Bowie, Iggy Pop, Van Morrison, Jim Morrison, and tons of other rock gods, but we don't talk crap about them because we love their music and they're all cool as hell and are badass rock n rollers and it all comes with the territory.

Mike, on the other hand is just not cool in any way...... (Which makes him very cool IMHO)..... so, he's just an easy easy easy target.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Mike, on the other hand is just not cool in any way...... (Which makes him very cool IMHO)..... so, he's just an easy easy easy target.

I think Mike had an era where he was the coolest in the band.  64 to maybe 68, he was dressing very nattily and selected pretty stylish hats for the most part.  He looked pretty hip for a few years there.

[lance]

Sure, but I don't think that people are down on him because he isn't COOL. Most of the Beach boys aren't cool at all in the sense that they aren't fashionable, they are kind of nerdy for rock stars. It's not even that he's necessarily a jerk. It's that his ego and general jerkiness is not outweighed by his talent. Pure and simple. If he was as talented as any of those people you mentioned, he'd get respect no matter what he did. I'm not saying he's talentless, or anything. And I don't care about his hair. It's his attitude coupled with his (IMHO relatively) mediocre talent. I'm not saying he's talentless or anything, I think some of his lyrics are cool and I like his vocals in the old days.
Just that he's not talented enough to support his jerkiness the way those others are..

[lance]

Sure, but I don't think that people are down on him because he isn't COOL. Most of the Beach boys aren't cool at all in the sense that they aren't fashionable, they are kind of nerdy for rock stars. It's not even that he's necessarily a jerk. It's that his ego and general jerkiness is not outweighed by his talent. Pure and simple. If he was as talented as any of those people you mentioned, he'd get respect no matter what he did.  I don't care about his hair. It's his attitude coupled with his (IMHO relatively) mediocre talent. I'm not saying he's talentless or anything, I think some of his lyrics are cool and I like his vocals in the old days.
Just that he's not talented enough to support his jerkiness the way those others are..

Edit: just thought I'd quote myself here. 

[mikeyj]

I think Mike had an era where he was the coolest in the band.  64 to maybe 68, he was dressing very nattily and selected pretty stylish hats for the most part.  He looked pretty hip for a few years there.

Of course its all opinion but I never thought Mike was anywhere near the coolest in the band at any time. Yes, he looked a lot smarter back then but he was by no means cool. Firstly he just doesn't have the look. I mean especially when you compare him to Dennis and even Brian (who was pretty cool I thought back in the mid 60's at least). And then secondly, his stage persona was kinda lame a lot of the time. I always read "Mike is one of the best frontmen, blah blah blah" and in most cases I have to disagree. I find him funny at times but a lot of the time he just comes across as annoying. I mean I have even shown people the Live In London album and they just thought he was annoying too.

[lance]

one of these days I'm gonna figure out how to use these computers.

[Shady]

Mike was popualr with chicks in the 60s, end of story..

And he wrote 'All I Wanna Do' so he is very cool

[KokoMoses]

Sure, but I don't think that people are down on him because he isn't COOL. Most of the Beach boys aren't cool at all in the sense that they aren't fashionable, they are kind of nerdy for rock stars. It's not even that he's necessarily a jerk. It's that his ego and general jerkiness is not outweighed by his talent. Pure and simple. If he was as talented as any of those people you mentioned, he'd get respect no matter what he did. I'm not saying he's talentless, or anything. And I don't care about his hair. It's his attitude coupled with his (IMHO relatively) mediocre talent. I'm not saying he's talentless or anything, I think some of his lyrics are cool and I like his vocals in the old days.
Just that he's not talented enough to support his jerkiness the way those others are..

That's probably the most levelheaded and sensible description for not really liking Mike that I've ever heard.

I happen to be a Mike fan and get defensive at all the Mike-bashing, but I have to agree that his attitude, however justified, has done a lot of damage. And I don't agree that he's a mediocre talent, it's just that his talents are so specific to the Beach Boys that when you try to look at him away from the group, he doesn't come off that well.

Carl had the greatest voice of all time
Brian was/is a genuius producer/singer/arranger
Al has a great voice which is integral to the blend and is a strong lead vocalist
Bruce has a great voice and wrote some classics
Dennis was handsome and a great singer and a genius songwriter.

.... Mike..... has a unique voice and a very specific thing he does well that is specific to The Beach Boys. And that thing is his bread and butter and he recognizes what it is and embraces it. It is an essential component to the band and had a lot to do with their initial success. Problem is, Mike will always be associated with this element no matter how many other kinds of songs he wrote or contributed to, mainly because his voice, his sound, his THING is almost the first thing one associates with The Beach Boys as the fun in the sun "america's band" part of their legend. It's a tricky thing but it's very important to The Beach Boys appeal.... For me, something really cool clicks in my head/soul when I hear Mike come in at the end of Wouldn't It be Nice and on his leads on Pet Sounds. Here you have this mature and wonderous music, no surfboards or woodies in sight, but then you hear Mike's voice and right away you're reminded that, yes, this is that same band!! The same guys!! It's hard trying to describe this. But Mike doesn't sound any different than on Surfin USA or all that stuff, but everything else has changed, so here we don't have Burt Bacharach or a zillion years ahead in maturity to where the old stuff can be tossed in the trash, but this weird sort of limbo, kind of like hanging onto your adolescence even though all this heavy stuff is happening....

I dunno, it just really works for me and is one of the reasons I always defend Mike.

Ok, I'm babbling like a fool here

[kookadams]

The sax solo on "Shut Down" is pure clunky rock 'n' roll of the first order. Thanks Mike for reminding us how powerful the simple evocation of the form can be. The Ramones never forgot.

The Beach Boys & the Ramones - greatest bands in rock n' roll history, period.

[kookadams]

Sure, but I don't think that people are down on him because he isn't COOL. Most of the Beach boys aren't cool at all in the sense that they aren't fashionable, they are kind of nerdy for rock stars. It's not even that he's necessarily a jerk. It's that his ego and general jerkiness is not outweighed by his talent. Pure and simple. If he was as talented as any of those people you mentioned, he'd get respect no matter what he did. I'm not saying he's talentless, or anything. And I don't care about his hair. It's his attitude coupled with his (IMHO relatively) mediocre talent. I'm not saying he's talentless or anything, I think some of his lyrics are cool and I like his vocals in the old days.
Just that he's not talented enough to support his jerkiness the way those others are..

The Beach Boys were nerdy? How? They had the coolest image ever as far as I'm concerned. sh*t changed and times changed but I think that that image they originally had will always be cool. Their image and music go hand-in-hand, it'll never be old and it'll never be uncool.

[KokoMoses]

The sax solo on "Shut Down" is pure clunky rock 'n' roll of the first order. Thanks Mike for reminding us how powerful the simple evocation of the form can be. The Ramones never forgot.

The Beach Boys & the Ramones - greatest bands in rock n' roll history, period.

I second that!

[Mahalo]

We can hear horror story after horror story about Mick & Keith, Alex Chilton, Lou Reed, Bowie, Iggy Pop, Van Morrison, Jim Morrison, and tons of other rock gods, but we don't talk crap about them because we love their music and they're all cool as hell and are badass rock n rollers and it all comes with the territory.

I'll talk crap about them and delight in it too. Especially Mick, Keith, and the tiny lizard king. They are particularly annoying to me.

I think people take these jabs at Mike Love way too seriously. It is all in good fun. When people get too serious about topics it is refreshing to me for someone to come along and lighten things up a little bit. I mean, do you think Brian ever showered in the 15 Big Ones era? I smell funk just looking at the cover of 15 B. O..

If I had a gold vest just like Mike's I'd wear it when I was getting busy.

[brianc]

There's a great interview with Mike Love from 1976 where he talks about how he came up with the title of "15 Big Ones." And he talks about it for like two minutes. It's so surreal. Like, he thinks it was a nab at brilliance that he came up with the title.

[lance]

There's a great interview with Mike Love from 1976 where he talks about how he came up with the title of "15 Big Ones." And he talks about it for like two minutes. It's so surreal. Like, he thinks it was a nab at brilliance that he came up with the title.

Well, it was a top ten hit due to the title, whereas Sunflower wasn't because he didn't think of that Title. It's a good title ARTISTICALLY but people just don't relate to it like they relate to 15 Big Ones. He tried to tell the others . He LIKED the title Sunflower, but just knew it wasn't where it was at--looking at it from a strictly COMMERCIAL point of view, of course.