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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on May 29, 2019 0:34:39 GMT
The first single is going to be released on Thursday, which is a cover of Rockaway Beach by the Ramones. This should be really interesting.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 29, 2019 1:19:40 GMT
If this was Brian Wilson recording the Ramones' "Rockaway Beach", would I be looking forward to it? I guess. Probably. At least a little bit. But this is Mike Love, and I have these thoughts of a cheesy, autotuned, nasally cover. Please prove me wrong, Mike.
Marky looks older than Mike!
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Post by Kapitan on May 29, 2019 1:23:00 GMT
Sadly that's pretty uninteresting.
I'd love to be excited about some BBs-universe upcoming release sometime. But at this point I'm guessing there won't be anything that will top the next copyright extension releases. (And I didn't even buy the 1968 ones.)
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on May 29, 2019 1:54:03 GMT
If this was Brian Wilson recording the Ramones' "Rockaway Beach", would I be looking forward to it? I guess. Probably. At least a little bit. But this is Mike Love, and I have these thoughts of a cheesy, autotuned, nasally cover. Please prove me wrong, Mike. Marky looks older than Mike! I think Sam Hollander and Scott Totten are producing this album, so the autotune should be dialed way back. Can't make any guarantees about your other concerns!
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Post by kds on May 29, 2019 12:43:22 GMT
If this was Brian Wilson recording the Ramones' "Rockaway Beach", would I be looking forward to it? I guess. Probably. At least a little bit. But this is Mike Love, and I have these thoughts of a cheesy, autotuned, nasally cover. Please prove me wrong, Mike.
Marky looks older than Mike!
I'm actually the opposite. At this point, I'd welcome an album of Mike covers before Brian (probably because three of the last five BW studio albums were covers albums).
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Post by Kapitan on May 29, 2019 12:45:50 GMT
But Mike hasn’t been shy about covers (Beach Boys or traditional Christmas songs) on his recent albums either.
How about someone release non-covers albums!?
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 29, 2019 13:00:43 GMT
If this was Brian Wilson recording the Ramones' "Rockaway Beach", would I be looking forward to it? I guess. Probably. At least a little bit. But this is Mike Love, and I have these thoughts of a cheesy, autotuned, nasally cover. Please prove me wrong, Mike.
I'm actually the opposite. At this point, I'd welcome an album of Mike covers before Brian (probably because three of the last five BW studio albums were covers albums). Hell, they ALL cover way too much. Brian made a second career out of it throughout his solo career. As The Kapitan said, Mike's recent albums are full of 'em, and Al's only solo album in 58 years was a joke. It's a typical Beach Boys' quandary. You want more material from the guys, but then you end up disappointed because they couldn't come up with something...new. And this has been going on for a long time.
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Post by kds on May 29, 2019 15:38:27 GMT
Well, here's the tracklist
Tracklist: 1. California Beach 2. It's OK (feat. Hanson) 3. Surfin' 4. Calfornia Sun 5. Surfin' Safari 6. On and On and On 7. Here Comes The Sun 8. Girl From Ipanema 9. Over and Over 10. Keepin' Summer Alive 11. Summertime Blues 12. Rockaway Beach
That's four BB remakes (five if you include Summertime Blues). Once again a Beach Boy can't get away from his own shadow. I'd be OK with an album full of covers of summer classics, but far too BB heavy.
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Post by Kapitan on May 29, 2019 15:40:26 GMT
Ugh.
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Post by kds on May 29, 2019 15:44:09 GMT
Two years ago, we got Do It Again with Mark McGrath and now the version of It's OK with Hanson finds a home. Something about the pop music of the summer of 1997 must've really grabbed Mike.
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Post by Kapitan on May 29, 2019 15:58:31 GMT
Up next, Semi-Charmed Life? Or the Spice Girls Wannabe...
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Post by kds on May 29, 2019 16:11:46 GMT
Up next, Semi-Charmed Life? Or the Spice Girls Wannabe... Sticking with the summer theme, Smashmouth's Walking on the Sun would work. Ugh, the 1990s.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on May 29, 2019 20:05:24 GMT
Is California Beach an original?
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 29, 2019 23:06:36 GMT
Mike Love continues to perplex me. First - and just to get this out of the way - Mike, and any of the Beach Boys for that matter, can record whatever they please. They've earned that right. But my question is, why does Mike continue to cover so many other songs, Beach Boys' songs, and now his own songs (from Looking Back With Love)? Mike is an intelligent man, and I'm sure he keeps somewhat in touch with BB biographies, magazine/newspaper articles, interviews, and maybe even Facebook and YouTube comments - regarding the band and himself. Mike has to know what the public perception is when it comes to his reputation as an artist, or lack of. He has to be familiar with the labels and criticism, but, I guess, he just doesn't care. And, I guess maybe that's a good quality to have, you know, not letting others influence what's really in your heart.
I've often wondered if Mike had any heart-to-heart conversations with his children, especially Christian and Ambha, and what they had to say about Mike's current musical direction. Both Christian and Ambha seem to be intelligent, articulate people, and of two distinctly different generations. I'm curious if they tried to influence their old dad into recording more contemporary music? I'll say again that Mike appears to not really care, and he's going to record stuff that he likes, regardless of it not even being recognized/mentioned in music publications, regardless of it being criticized when it is recognized/mentioned, and its total lack of commercial success. Why is Mike Love recording this stuff? Doesn't he get his fill with live performances? Didn't he get it out of his system many years ago? Doesn't he realize that very few people even want to hear these remakes?
I've never understood why Mike never wanted to do something that reflected his artistic side. Oh, there's nothing wrong with good old rock and roll; I'll take it any day. But you would figure that Mike reached his been there/done that quotient a long time ago. I really expected that if Mike was eventually going to record again, that he would, like his cousin Brian, link up with a collaborator who would/could write the songs or parts of the songs, new songs. We've used the term "stretching out musically" so many times in the past with Brian, but, hey, what about Mike? Doesn't he ever want to get away from the surf & turf image and the "word man" self description and the musical lightweight reputation? With this recent burst of productivity, Mike had the chance to prove some things to some people, to maybe step out and surprise his critics, and least of all, to do something...different.
This isn't a post to hammer Mike. I leave that to The Haters. They'll have a field day with this album. They've been waiting for it. Salivating. They live for it. I'm just questioning Mike's musical direction and why he chose this one...again. I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.
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Post by Kapitan on May 30, 2019 0:32:11 GMT
Good thoughts, good questions. I'd agree that the re-recording of some of these songs just seems entirely unnecessary, especially for someone who is almost constantly touring. What is the point of re-recording a song you've recorded, performed, and continue to perform, especially when you're not re-arranging it in any dramatic way? Sure, it's new product, but Mike must know such new product isn't a real candidate for significant commercial success...
I actually love that Mike is recording and releasing music, even though I haven't loved any of that music. I just wish he'd take better advantage of the opportunity to actually expand his catalog as opposed to just photocopying it.
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