'California Gurls' versus 'California Girls': Brian Wilson chimes in

[Shady]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/07/california-gurls-katy-perry.html


Been hoping for this. Katy Perry's a big beach boys fan so I'm glad he didn't go hard on her. 

[Alex]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/07/california-gurls-katy-perry.html


Been hoping for this. Katy Perry's a big beach boys fan so I'm glad he didn't go hard on her. 

Does Miss Perry own 10 copies of every single SOT volume? Or more realistically, has she even heard anything from Love You? There's a big difference between just liking the hits and being a diehard.

[Paulos]

Expect her new song 'Roller Sk8ting Chyld' to be out anytime soon!

[Shady]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/07/california-gurls-katy-perry.html


Been hoping for this. Katy Perry's a big beach boys fan so I'm glad he didn't go hard on her. 

Does Miss Perry own 10 copies of every single SOT volume? Or more realistically, has she even heard anything from Love You? There's a big difference between just liking the hits and being a diehard.

I believe she has a demo of Johnny Carson floating around   

[shelter]

I like that Katy Petty song. Not really my type of music, but it really has a great summer vibe. It does kinda suck though that 'California Gurls' will go down in history as a bigger hit than 'California Girls'.

[Shady]

I like that Katy Petty song. Not really my type of music, but it really has a great summer vibe. It does kinda suck though that 'California Gurls' will go down in history as a bigger hit than 'California Girls'.

"California Gurls" will be forgotten in a year, "California Girls" will remain in history as one of the greatest songs of all time.

[runnersdialzero]

I like that Katy Petty song. Not really my type of music, but it really has a great summer vibe. It does kinda suck though that 'California Gurls' will go down in history as a bigger hit than 'California Girls'.

lolwut

[runnersdialzero]

Does Miss Perry own 10 copies of every single SOT volume? Or more realistically, has she even heard anything from Love You? There's a big difference between just liking the hits and being a diehard.

* There's a big difference between being a big fan and being an obsessive.

[Jonas]

It does kinda suck though that 'California Gurls' will go down in history as a bigger hit than 'California Girls'.

Are you high?

[Shady]

Time magazine set it straight today

Worst summer songs ever



Katy Perry, "California Gurls"

So. Many. Questions. Why is Snoop wearing a pink cupcake-print suit? What happened to his gummy-bear army? Why does he even have a gummy-bear army? Did Katy Perry force him to do these ridiculous things? (My, how the mighty fall.) Why is a song about California set in Candy Land? Why does she shoot whipped topping out of her bra? The music video for "California Gurls," the so-called 2010 song of the summer, is just the icing on the cake of this terrible tune. Word of advice for Ms. Perry: if you're going to follow up a classic song like the Beach Boys' "California Girls" with a version of your own, make sure it doesn't suck.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/07/19/top-10-worst-songs-of-the-summer/picture-6-10/#ixzz0uHZCntiS

[Chris Brown]

As much as I hate to admit it, Katy's song is quite catchy.  I generally don't care for a lot of today's pop music, but if I'm flipping through the stations and it's playing, I'll usually leave it.  It did bother me at first that she would so blatantly rip off Brian and Mike's idea, but she did a good job modernizing it without disrespecting the original. 

I never actually thought we'd get to hear Brian's opinion on the matter...actually, just the image of Brian Wilson listening to a Katy Perry song makes me chuckle.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

It's  pop music, but it's good pop music. I'm glad Brian can look past the bubblegum production and hear the melody for what it is. The fact that he can do that speaks volumes about the way he is right now. *This* is a reason why he's turning out such good material lately...he's feelin' music again.

[shelter]

It does kinda suck though that 'California Gurls' will go down in history as a bigger hit than 'California Girls'.

Are you high?

I never said "better song" or "greater classic". I said "bigger hit". 'California Girls' was #3 in the US and as far as I know it didn't even make the top 10 anywhere else. 'California Gurls' is a US & UK #1. Like it or not, it's a cold hard fact that it'll go in the books as a bigger hit.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Prefer Kayla's cover myself.

[Wirestone]

"Bigger hit" is quite relative. I would guess that a number 3 song in 1965 sold more per capita than a number 1 song in 2010. I know it's that way on the album charts -- a "number 1" album can have quite low sales these days, historically speaking.

[shelter]

"Bigger hit" is quite relative. I would guess that a number 3 song in 1965 sold more per capita than a number 1 song in 2010. I know it's that way on the album charts -- a "number 1" album can have quite low sales these days, historically speaking.

'California Gurls' sold over 2 million legal downloads already. Quite a nice sales figure if you'd ask me.

And for the record: I posted earlier that 'California Girls' wasn't a top 10 hit anywhere outside the US, that wasn't true: it made the top 10 in Sweden, Rhodesia, Australia, Canada and South Africa.

[Ron]

Personally, I don't think Brian's ever heard the song.  I think the interview went like this, before it was edited.

Reporter: What do you think of this variation on your theme, and are you flattered or infuriated by it?

"I love her vocal, She sounds very clear and energetic."  (he's never heard it)

Reporter: What do you think about her new melody?  Do you like that better than Snoop's part in the tag where he uses your lyric?

"The melody is infectious, and I'm flattered that Snoop Dogg used our lyric on the tag, I wish them well with this cut."  (he's never heard it)





Update: Mike Love gave his thoughts in the same link now.  It's actually pretty good.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Personally, I don't think Brian's ever heard the song.  I think the interview went like this, before it was edited.

Reporter: What do you think of this variation on your theme, and are you flattered or infuriated by it?

"I love her vocal, She sounds very clear and energetic."  (he's never heard it)

Reporter: What do you think about her new melody?  Do you like that better than Snoop's part in the tag where he uses your lyric?

"The melody is infectious, and I'm flattered that Snoop Dogg used our lyric on the tag, I wish them well with this cut."  (he's never heard it)





Update: Mike Love gave his thoughts in the same link now.  It's actually pretty good.

Brian has a 13-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old daughter - you still think he's never heard it, at least in passing ? 

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Hmmm...that may be part of the reason why his opinion is softening towards newer music...

[shelter]

Personally, I don't think Brian's ever heard the song. 

It's currently the #1 hit in the US and it has the same title as one of Brian's greatest songs. Doesn't seem that hard to believe to me that it came to his attention one way or another. The guy doesn't live under a rock.

We have a lot in common now: We both have done songs called 'California Girls' and we've both kissed girls and liked it.

Has to be one of Mike's better jokes. 

[Pretty Funky]

I'm with Ron! He probably hasn't heard it.


"I love her vocal," the Beach Boys' creative mastermind said Monday through his manager. "She sounds very clear and energetic."

[Chris Brown]

I would tend to agree with AGD and shelter on this one...although I doubt Brian keeps up on what's new in pop music these days, it's hard to believe he wouldn't hear a song that bears the same title as one of his biggest hits and is a huge hit in its own right at the moment.  You'd have to think that somebody at some point thought it might be fun to play it for him and see what he thought.  Not too farfetched I don't think.  Of course, Brian may have also come across the music video one day and been so entranced staring at Katy that he came to like the song that way...certainly wouldn't surprise me!

Mike, on the other hand, is quite clearly familiar with Katy's work 

[Ron]

I'm still not sold.  I don't think you can trust a thing Brian says in an interview, that's one of my favorite things about him... his complete and utter lack of respect for journalism, lol.  I mean you can't even get him to take ANY question seriously.  I also feel he lives in Wilsonland and even if the song was playing in the car, he was driving, with his two daughters singing along Brian probably wouldn't be hearing it. 

I think it would be possible in Wilsonland for the song to be playing in the car, he was driving, and all THREE of them were singing along and he still wouldn't be hearing it

I know tons of senior citizens who hear new music all the time and couldn't tell you a thing about it, they zone out.

I'm being a bit faceitious but really I don't thik he's heard it, he's just being polite.

[Ron]

BTW, Gretchen Wilson had a huge hit a few years back called "California Girls" that i'd bet was more heard than this, and Brian's never commented on it... probably because he never heard it, either. 

[Cam Mott]

I like "gurls" inspite of myself. My only small criticism is Snoop's one-for-the-ages flow is off or something...like he is reciting someone else's words...?...