Looking back...

[KokoMoses]

Hey, well at least Al would have to stand on his tippy toes to kiss you! 

I remember buying Still Crusing at Tower Records near my house, and both my friends bought Metalica's And Justice For All!

No amount of explanation or justification put a dent in the harassment and jokes I had to endure that day (and many many after) .... But I still went home and blasted side 1 onver and over!

Incidentally, I still think Mike is the coolest Beach Boy! Not the most talented, of course, BUT, he was the only Beach Boy who ever seemed completely at ease with himself, bad fashion or not. Plus, he really is and always was a complete freak of nature/oddity/and everything about him is as far as you can get from what a "rock star" is...... which is of course, kinda cool!

[LittleSurferGirl]

Oh yeah I dont think Mike is a dork either! People just always laugh at me when I tell them the story of how when I was little I thought the 80s-early 90s Mike was the cutest ever!

Yeah well I'm listening to The BB's, all my "peers" are listening to whatever is on the radio. But I could really care less because I wont pay attention to people who cant appreciate good music!

[Jason]

Incidentally, I still think Mike is the coolest Beach Boy! Not the most talented, of course, BUT, he was the only Beach Boy who ever seemed completely at ease with himself, bad fashion or not. Plus, he really is and always was a complete freak of nature/oddity/and everything about him is as far as you can get from what a "rock star" is...... which is of course, kinda cool!

"Dear erikdavid, what a statement! The second part is a masterpiece of objective realism, but everything seems so real that I think you will get in trouble with all the world!" - Sergio Leone with slight rearrangements.

[Wilsonista]

Hey, well at least Al would have to stand on his tippy toes to kiss you! 

I remember buying Still Crusing at Tower Records near my house, and both my friends bought Metalica's And Justice For All!

No amount of explanation or justification put a dent in the harassment and jokes I had to endure that day (and many many after) .... But I still went home and blasted side 1 onver and over!

Incidentally, I still think Mike is the coolest Beach Boy! Not the most talented, of course, BUT, he was the only Beach Boy who ever seemed completely at ease with himself, bad fashion or not. Plus, he really is and always was a complete freak of nature/oddity/and everything about him is as far as you can get from what a "rock star" is...... which is of course, kinda cool!

[tpesky]

where did you get that shot of Mike? On the tour plane?

[Shady]

where did you get that shot of Mike? On the tour plane?

OMG epic 

[Wrightfan]

I guess I must be the shortest male here (5'6")

Guess my funny Beach Boys story is when I first started to really listen to Good Vibrations. I thought it was a Brian lead the whole way (the released version)

[KokoMoses]

Oh yeah I dont think Mike is a dork either! People just always laugh at me when I tell them the story of how when I was little I thought the 80s-early 90s Mike was the cutest ever!

Yeah well I'm listening to The BB's, all my "peers" are listening to whatever is on the radio. But I could really care less because I wont pay attention to people who cant appreciate good music!

Just in case Mike is reading this, and considering your lovely avatar, I'd warn you to be looking over your shoulder for baseball caps, hawaiian shirts, sensuous nasal/tenor mumblings/geriatric leisure wear, and stay clear of state fairs or coorporate shindigs with a stage set-up!

But yes, Mike is cool! He's also a great frontman! None of the other Beach Boys were exactly Mick Jagger, but Mike was close!!!!

[Wilsonista]

Oh yeah I dont think Mike is a dork either! People just always laugh at me when I tell them the story of how when I was little I thought the 80s-early 90s Mike was the cutest ever!

Yeah well I'm listening to The BB's, all my "peers" are listening to whatever is on the radio. But I could really care less because I wont pay attention to people who cant appreciate good music!

Just in case Mike is reading this, and considering your lovely avatar, I'd warn you to be looking over your shoulder for baseball caps, hawaiian shirts, sensuous nasal/tenor mumblings/geriatric leisure wear, and stay clear of state fairs or coorporate shindigs with a stage set-up!

But yes, Mike is cool! He's also a great frontman! None of the other Beach Boys were exactly Mick Jagger, but Mike was close!!!!

[Sciencefriction]

Dennis was, and always will be, the coolest Beach Boy ever.  He should have been their frontman in the 70s, how cool would that have been?  Anyway, Mike is okay, I've got nothing against him, but bald and "cool frontman" don't fit together in my world very well.

[Wilsonista]

Dennis was, and always will be, the coolest Beach Boy ever.  He should have been their frontman in the 70s, how cool would that have been?  Anyway, Mike is okay, I've got nothing against him, but bald and "cool frontman" don't fit together in my world very well.

Bald guys who wear tacky Hawaiian shirts try OH SO HARD to be cool are not the epitome of cool.

[Sciencefriction]

Haha.  It's weird talking about the Beach Boys.  I feel like the world of the Beach Boys is this really serious place where one wrong word will land you out on your bottom.  Whenever I talk about them here I feel like I'm taking some sort of risk because I'm not the most knowledgable fan, etc, etc.  Regardless of all that, I feel safe saying Mike isn't cool.  I think at one point the Beach Boys were each cool in their own way, but you had to learn to appreciate them.  That day is gone, long gone I think, and now they are a bunch of old guys who are veterans (and good) at what they do but aren't exactly cool.

[KokoMoses]

Awwww, c'mon! Just cause Mike's bald shouldn't make it impossible for him to be a cool frontman! it just doesn't stand up to logic! I mean, the guy DID wear hats a lot of the time!

James Taylor is bald and has been for ages

Neil Young has had a huge bald spot on his head for years and years

Freddy Mercury had a receeding hairline going way back

Michale Stipe is bald and has been for ages

Phil Collins is....... wait, uh, I'd only be disproving my own point if I include him

[Sciencefriction]

It is all opinion of course, but I don't think any of those guys are cool.  Also, as talented as some of them are (and I would include Dwight Yoakam in that list), they aren't really cool frontmen.  I'll give you the hats bit, Mike did wear some great hats, but he couldn't hide forever! 

[the captain]

Freddie was (and is, even in his 18-years-as-ashes form) mind-numbingly cool. But James Taylor? Yikes.

[KokoMoses]

I think I might have to retract my Phil Collins, uh...retraction....

Sure, he has some faults, but you gotta hand it to the guy.

He managed, what I consider something of a feat!

It was the image obsessed 80's and the guy became a HUGE pop star!!!!

Look at all the points he had working against him:

1. He was short
2. He was bald
3. He was pudgy
4. He came from prog-rock
5. He came from prog-rock that went all soggy ballad-ish!
6. The only cool points he had was being a great drummer

So with all that against him, Phil went and became a huge star with scores of hits and his mug plastered all over everything.

All that and sure, he still isn't/wasn't "cool"...... but what the hell does cool mean anyway?

Come to think of it, how many people actually ever were really really, honestly cool???

Elvis?
Keith Richards?
Lou Reed?
Chuck Berry?
Dennis Wilson?

Those are about the only really really cool people I can think of who were honestly cool and not in some detached, ironic "Beck" sense, but Fing cool!!!!!

So, maybe cool is a merda term and perhaps Mike's "cool" is in being NOT cool? I dunno!

[KokoMoses]

Yup, Luther, Freddie was damm cool if there ever was such a thing!

[the captain]

Coming in very short order in the non-music forum (what is it called again? Whatever. The bottom one. You know.).

People Who Are, or Were, Cool. And When. And Why.

[jimmyboy]

Mike Love....When I hear that name I sometimes conjure up the scenes in the BB American Band doc where sleazy ML,while wearing one of those white robes with his skanky looking scalp is seen pulling some dazed Polish teenager out of a line with a carnal look on his bearded face...total poon-hound.

[the captain]

In typing something like "poon-hound," do you laugh?

[KokoMoses]

Poon-Hound?

remember, this guy had DENNIS WILSON to compete with!!!!

That's about enough to drive any poon-hound to make many many questionable decisions (mostly having to do with fashion, but I degress)

[the captain]

Not that Dennis' fashion sense was beyond question. Excuse me, are those white linen pants you're wearing?

[Wilsonista]

Awwww, c'mon! Just cause Mike's bald shouldn't make it impossible for him to be a cool frontman! it just doesn't stand up to logic! I mean, the guy DID wear hats a lot of the time!



JT looks distinguished.

Neil doesn't even try to look cool which is EXACTLY why he's cool.

Stipe embraced his baldness by shaving his head.  I never found him as dorky as I find Mike L.

Freddie had the camp  thing going for him. Plus he was incredibly charismatic to boot - something none of the BB had with the possile exception of Dennis.

[Jason]

Awwww, c'mon! Just cause Mike's bald shouldn't make it impossible for him to be a cool frontman! it just doesn't stand up to logic! I mean, the guy DID wear hats a lot of the time!

Remember who keeps replying to you with the Jean-Luc Picard pictures - the ultimate Mike hater of Beach Boys fandom. He's like Bill O'Reilly only nowhere near as relevant or even interesting.

[KokoMoses]

Mike Love-Not War!!!!!

That's my motto!