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Post by Kapitan on Jul 21, 2020 14:22:07 GMT
In terms of image, it just screamed "insecurity." While some of their contemporaries began growing older gracefully--not easy to do in the rock world, especially for that second generation to do so--they seemed desperate to prove how young and hip they were. And like almost everyone who is tries to prove they're young and hip, they looked old and lame.
I would argue it's the same as 85, with its contemporary production, but on top of mediocre and in many cases outdated sounding material.
I said earlier in this or some other thread, it all just feels like a mid-life crisis, some embarrassing uncle or aunt who just got divorced after the kids left home and is trying to get out on the scene, maybe buys a sports car or gets excessive plastic surgery, dresses like someone half his/her age... It's just awkward.
They weren't the only ones in the '80s to do this in some way or another. But the smartest people got out of that business quick.
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Post by kds on Jul 21, 2020 15:11:50 GMT
In terms of image, it just screamed "insecurity." While some of their contemporaries began growing older gracefully--not easy to do in the rock world, especially for that second generation to do so--they seemed desperate to prove how young and hip they were. And like almost everyone who is tries to prove they're young and hip, they looked old and lame.
I would argue it's the same as 85, with its contemporary production, but on top of mediocre and in many cases outdated sounding material.
I said earlier in this or some other thread, it all just feels like a mid-life crisis, some embarrassing uncle or aunt who just got divorced after the kids left home and is trying to get out on the scene, maybe buys a sports car or gets excessive plastic surgery, dresses like someone half his/her age... It's just awkward.
They weren't the only ones in the '80s to do this in some way or another. But the smartest people got out of that business quick.
Yep, couldn't have said it better myself.
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Post by lonelysummer on Jul 22, 2020 21:06:30 GMT
Looking back, i don't see a problem with the Beach Boys 80's look. They had to move on from the hippie look of the 70's. Brian doesn't even look like the same person - look at Brian in the first Landy era, long, greasy hair and beard, robes, obese, etc; then look at him during Landy #2 - slim, trim, short hair, Miami Vice clothes. It's easy to criticize 80's fashion now, but i look at how the Monkees presented themselves in 86-87, George Harrison during the Cloud 9 era; i guess the point ya'll are making here, though, is that when the 80's were over, most artists left them behind. The BB's carried right on as if nothing had changed - SIP era, for example. Musically, it was the same - the 90's came along and demolished everything 80's, but our guys carried on like nothing had changed. The Monkees recognized the change - instead of the drum machines and synths of 1987's Pool It, we got the grungy guitars and pounding drums of Justus. The Beach Boys appeared on Baywatch and cranked the drum program up to ridiculous volume. Brian was the exception, of course. He recorded an album with Van Dyke Parks full of nostalgia for a bygone time (the 50's? or even earlier?), Orange Crate Art, and another album, I Just Wasn't Made For These Times, where he SOUNDED old, and a documentary of the same name where he LOOKED old. Brian didn't give a damn about pandering to teens and 20-somethings (although some of his handlers may have - why the push to have him collaborate with alternative rock stars?).
I'm not sure what the alternative would have been for the BB's. Have Mike go onstage with a shaved head, and Bruce in long pants? I do agree that Al with the ponytail looked ridiculous, and Carl always looked like he belonged in a different band, with the prom night clothes he favored.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 22, 2020 21:15:48 GMT
Part of it is not moving on quickly enough. But part of it (in my opinion, anyway) was adopting it in the first place. Following trends just doesn't reflect well on older people. It looks desperate.
Now, how specifically could I defend this? Not at all. Because while on one hand I'm saying it would be better for them not to have adopted 80s looks, I also agree that they couldn't maintain the beardo look, or the Pendleton shirts, for that matter. So there is wiggle room. But there is something about being too ready to adopt (young) fashions that just doesn't reflect well on older people--and in the world of popular music, "older people" meant 40s and up.
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Post by B.E. on Jul 22, 2020 21:33:23 GMT
... Carl always looked like he belonged in a different band, with the prom night clothes he favored. and a patchy, graying beard (from the mid 80s onward). … I also agree that they couldn't maintain the beardo look
In Carl's case, do we know when he was last clean shaven? 1970? I'd like to see the last known photo of Carl without a beard. It boggles my mind that he might not have shaved for decades. Edit: I forgot about the 1977 Grammy Awards. It looks like Carl is starting to grow his beard back in those pictures.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 22, 2020 22:54:58 GMT
In the 80's and 90's - and the 70's actually - The Beach Boys suffered from a lack of/poor management and the wrong producers for their albums. Despite being so talented and growing up in California (whatever that means ), for whatever reasons, the guys just couldn't figure it out, and it was one mistake after another.
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Post by kds on Jul 23, 2020 12:20:05 GMT
Looking back, i don't see a problem with the Beach Boys 80's look. They had to move on from the hippie look of the 70's. Brian doesn't even look like the same person - look at Brian in the first Landy era, long, greasy hair and beard, robes, obese, etc; then look at him during Landy #2 - slim, trim, short hair, Miami Vice clothes. It's easy to criticize 80's fashion now, but i look at how the Monkees presented themselves in 86-87, George Harrison during the Cloud 9 era; i guess the point ya'll are making here, though, is that when the 80's were over, most artists left them behind. The BB's carried right on as if nothing had changed - SIP era, for example. Musically, it was the same - the 90's came along and demolished everything 80's, but our guys carried on like nothing had changed. The Monkees recognized the change - instead of the drum machines and synths of 1987's Pool It, we got the grungy guitars and pounding drums of Justus. The Beach Boys appeared on Baywatch and cranked the drum program up to ridiculous volume. Brian was the exception, of course. He recorded an album with Van Dyke Parks full of nostalgia for a bygone time (the 50's? or even earlier?), Orange Crate Art, and another album, I Just Wasn't Made For These Times, where he SOUNDED old, and a documentary of the same name where he LOOKED old. Brian didn't give a damn about pandering to teens and 20-somethings (although some of his handlers may have - why the push to have him collaborate with alternative rock stars?). I'm not sure what the alternative would have been for the BB's. Have Mike go onstage with a shaved head, and Bruce in long pants? I do agree that Al with the ponytail looked ridiculous, and Carl always looked like he belonged in a different band, with the prom night clothes he favored. I thought Carl was the only one in that era who actually dressed his age. He didn't look like a guy in his 40s, trying to look like a guy in his 20s. Image wise, I think he adapted to the era far better than his bandmates.
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Post by kds on Jul 23, 2020 12:20:39 GMT
In the 80's and 90's - and the 70's actually - The Beach Boys suffered from a lack of/poor management and the wrong producers for their albums. Despite being so talented and growing up in California (whatever that means ), for whatever reasons, the guys just couldn't figure it out, and it was one mistake after another. You can go back as far as the 60s for that.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 23, 2020 12:32:21 GMT
I never had a problem with the Hawaiian shirts. It gave them a kind of colorful but laid back, tropical look. I remember way back in the late 1970's, scouring all of the clothing stores within a thirty-mile radius of my home , looking for Hawaiian shirts. They were hard to find and when I did, they were expensive for a college kid with no money. What I did think looked awkward post-1975 - and I didn't have an alternate solution; they couldn't go back to suits - was that each Beached Boy dressed completely different. Mike wore Hawaiian shirts with those white cotton pants and all kind of hats. Carl was wearing suit coats or full suits. Dennis was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Brian was wearing Adidas gym suits or gym pants and a buttoned shirt . Bruce was wearing shorts and a polo shirt. And Al was all over the place. They could not have dressed more diverse. The only unifying characteristic were the beards!
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Post by kds on Jul 23, 2020 12:36:35 GMT
I never had a problem with the Hawaiian shirts. It gave them a kind of colorful but laid back, tropical look. I remember way back in the late 1970's, scouring all of the clothing stores within a thirty-mile radius of my home , looking for Hawaiian shirts. They were hard to find and when I did, they were expensive for a college kid with no money. What I did think looked awkward post-1975 - and I didn't have an alternate solution; they couldn't go back to suits - was that each Beached Boy dressed completely different. Mike wore Hawaiian shirts with those white cotton pants and all kind of hats. Carl was wearing suit coats or full suits. Dennis was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Brian was wearing Adidas gym suits or gym pants and a buttoned shirt . Bruce was wearing shorts and a polo shirt. And Al was all over the place. It was hard to tell who were the main attraction and who were members of the backing band! The Hawaiian shirts weren't so bad, but the short shorts (I think shorts are a bad look onstage overall unless you're Jimmy Buffett), the high striped socks, the neon baseball caps, etc made them look like less of a band and more like a Dad ready to fire up the Weber. Even the bandmembers dressing different isn't really bad thing, but you're right they were all over the map.
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Post by lonelysummer on Jul 24, 2020 0:24:33 GMT
I never had a problem with the Hawaiian shirts. It gave them a kind of colorful but laid back, tropical look. I remember way back in the late 1970's, scouring all of the clothing stores within a thirty-mile radius of my home , looking for Hawaiian shirts. They were hard to find and when I did, they were expensive for a college kid with no money. What I did think looked awkward post-1975 - and I didn't have an alternate solution; they couldn't go back to suits - was that each Beached Boy dressed completely different. Mike wore Hawaiian shirts with those white cotton pants and all kind of hats. Carl was wearing suit coats or full suits. Dennis was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Brian was wearing Adidas gym suits or gym pants and a buttoned shirt . Bruce was wearing shorts and a polo shirt. And Al was all over the place. It was hard to tell who were the main attraction and who were members of the backing band! The Hawaiian shirts weren't so bad, but the short shorts (I think shorts are a bad look onstage overall unless you're Jimmy Buffett), the high striped socks, the neon baseball caps, etc made them look like less of a band and more like a Dad ready to fire up the Weber. Even the bandmembers dressing different isn't really bad thing, but you're right they were all over the map. i think the short shorts onstage are a bad look unless you are Miley Cyrus or Selena Gomez.
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Post by kds on Jul 24, 2020 12:08:40 GMT
The Hawaiian shirts weren't so bad, but the short shorts (I think shorts are a bad look onstage overall unless you're Jimmy Buffett), the high striped socks, the neon baseball caps, etc made them look like less of a band and more like a Dad ready to fire up the Weber. Even the bandmembers dressing different isn't really bad thing, but you're right they were all over the map. i think the short shorts onstage are a bad look unless you are Miley Cyrus or Selena Gomez. You mean........Disney Girls
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Post by lonelysummer on Jul 25, 2020 1:45:15 GMT
i think the short shorts onstage are a bad look unless you are Miley Cyrus or Selena Gomez. You mean........Disney Girls i'm trying to imagine Bruce updating the lyrics to reflect the change from Annette to Hannah Montana.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Jul 30, 2020 21:49:52 GMT
Will the Feel Flows boxset become the next victim of this quote? Find out next time on As The Beach Boys World Turns.
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Post by B.E. on Jul 30, 2020 22:13:03 GMT
Will the Feel Flows boxset become the next victim of this quote? Find out next time on As The Beach Boys World Turns. The same thing crossed my mind! Maybe someone on the inside is a fan of this thread and wants to contribute!
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