1980 gigs & sessions

[Andrew G. Doe]

... are up for your perusal at http://www.btinternet.com/~bellagio/gigs80.html. Comments... ah, you know. 

[Beach Boy]

Finally!!! 

Edit: I had the American Banstand performances and Bobby Figueroa is on drums.

[Ian]

There are a bunch of 1980 shows I'm missing-so if anyone knows of any that aren't listed-Please speak up- I'd really appreciate it...

[TdHabib]

If I'm not mistaken, wasn't the basic track for "Stevie" recorded in late 1980?

Very good work otherwise, man did those KTSA sessions drag on for a long time...I never thought "Sunshine" would've took so much time!

[tpesky]

Judging by the final product, they should have spent much more time

[tpesky]

Do we exactly know how much "sweetening" specifically was done to Knebworth. In posts several years ago, I know Bruce strongly denied much sweetening at all

[Doo Dah]

At last - I'm happy to see the 1980 information posted. I was at one of those Palace Theatre gigs on the week of the 26th of February. Brian was there btw - playing the snow white grand.

One question that befuddles me - I seem to remember Mike saying on stage, 'all kindsa people have been requesting this new track of Carl's, so we're gonna play it tonight.' That tune was livin' with a heartache. But according to the timeline they were working on KTSA as late as February 14th. (?) I was a college paper reviewer so I guess it's possible that my copy of KTSA was obtained prior to release on March 17th, but I swear that I recall Mike saying that and thinking (oh yeah...that IS a good tune).

Memories of that show:
1) the ridiculous megaphone comedian
2) Carl used a real dirty distortion sound on his guitar leads - a little unexpected
3) Brian just sat behind the grand and played one hand up, one hand down, and repeat. Oh and smoking up half of Virginia! Still, he seemed in good spirits
4) Massive February snowstorm made driving to the gig an adventure.

Good times.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Do we exactly know how much "sweetening" specifically was done to Knebworth. In posts several years ago, I know Bruce strongly denied much sweetening at all

Lots. 

[Ian]

By "Ridiculous megaphone comedian" I guess you mean Glen Super.  I never had the pleasure

[Jay]

I have a question about the December 6th American Bandstand show. Was that the 20th anniversary special? Because Dennis was there for that show.

[MBE]

No that was in late 1981 or early 82. It's pretty sad. They do the Medley.

[Amanda Hart]

Ugh...that medley may have been the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen.  Why would they agree lip synch to the release at any time, let alone  twenty years after the fact?  Didn't they know how bad that was going to be?  Or think that anyone would notice?

[Beach Boy]

American Bandstand was always playback, though Carl always hated to lip synch so at least his vocals are live on his solo performance on AB.

[Aegir]

They should've recorded a new version of it to lipsync to, then.

[HeyJude]

Ugh...that medley may have been the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen.  Why would they agree lip synch to the release at any time, let alone  twenty years after the fact?  Didn't they know how bad that was going to be?  Or think that anyone would notice?

As someone else mentioned, it seems like "American Bandstand" was very firm about only doing lip-synching. They also probably chose to mime to that medley because it was a recent "hit". Didn't that medley hit like the Top 10 or 20 around that time?

It is one of the more odd BB TV appearances. Dennis looks about the worst he ever had, at least as far as TV appearances. The whole thing was just odd. Circa 1981 Carl-less Beach Boys miming to the "Party" version of "Barbara Ann", 1981 Brian miming to Carl's lead vocal on "Good Vibrations." Weird stuff.

My favorite part of that show was the "all star jam" at the end to "Rock Around the Clock." Since Carl as the normal lead guitarist wasn't there, Al had to "represent" the BB's on stage for the song. They start by announcing each "band member" and having them come on stage, and it's pretty funny when they call out Al Jardine to come on stage, he's in the middle of sipping his drink and acts surprised and has to put it down and come on stage. Then, during the song, they let most of the musicians take a solo and Al's is hilariously dreadful. Strangely, even though the BB's were never a heavy guitar band, and Al was never even the lead guitarist, he actually was and/or is capable of playing those leads. I saw him in 2005 playing spot-on leads on songs like "Fun Fun Fun" and "409." But for whatever reason, his solo on "Rock Around the Clock" was a miss. But it's really funny, and you can see the look on Al's face like he knows he blew the solo.

[MBE]

I think I have that part somewhere but I am not sure. I have only seen the medley because if I do have the segement it's on a seperate DVD. Brian seems to be laughing at how silly it is, Mike is twisting and turning like he is having a spasm, Dennis almost falls off his stool. Strange stuff.

According to a Peter Dogget article in Record Collector, they did record a studio medley that CBS rejected. I think it was implied that it was awful. Maybe one of those Mike solo deals.

[Jay]

That medly was HORRIBLE! It sounded like it was edited by a two year old. Songs cut in and out with no rhyme or reason. If you go back and watch that footage closely, everybody looks totally confused.