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Post by kds on Jun 23, 2020 14:39:40 GMT
Happy 46th Birthday to Endless Summer, released on June 23, 1974.
The massively successful comp was of course great for business. It can also be debated that it was extremely detrimental from an artistic standpoint, as it creates a pretty clear dividing line between when The Beach Boys were a true creative force and when The Beach Boys were a nostalgia act in concert who struggled with modern trends in attempts for relevancy in the studio.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jun 23, 2020 15:02:17 GMT
That's the album that got me hooked. My sister bought it and played it in her bedroom. At first I was like Mackenzie Phillips in American Graffiti with "I don't like that surfin' shit." That music wasn't cool enough for me. It was 1974 and I was heavily into the likes of KISS, Blue Oyster Cult, New York Dolls, Slade, and The Doors. Well, it wasn't long before one song at a time made its way from my sister's record player through our adjacent bedroom walls - and got my attention big time. First it was the rockers like "I Get Around" , "Surfin' U.S.A.", and "Fun, Fun, Fun". But it wasn't long before the ballads like "Surfer Girl", "The Girls On The Beach", and "Don't Worry Baby" made an even bigger impression. And, the rest is history.
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Post by kds on Jun 23, 2020 15:11:19 GMT
Until just now, I'd actually never listened to Endless Summer (I'm listening right now on Spotify). I've obviously heard the songs, but not in this sequence.
That's kind of how I was until 2006. Although, I mainly bought a copy of Sounds of Summer for three ballads that I wanted to add to my first attempt at summer mix CDs - Don't Worry Baby, Surfer Girl, and In My Room.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jun 23, 2020 15:25:58 GMT
One thing that I remember the most about the vinyl is that each side had only 5 songs on it, and very short songs at that. This isn't one of those "being critical of short BB albums" riffs, but at that time (1974), I was listening to things like a 7-minute "Light My Fire" and an 11-minute "The End", then I went to a BB album where the entire sides were only about 12-13 minutes long!
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Post by kds on Jun 23, 2020 15:37:51 GMT
I hear you, being really into bands like Floyd, Maiden, Sabbath, The Doors, early Queen, The Who, etc. I knew the Boys' songs were fairly short, but didn't really pay attention to how short they were, with songs like LDC and Shut Down coming in under two minutes.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 23, 2020 15:56:19 GMT
The first BBs album I ever heard: my parents had the vinyl, despite not really liking the BBs much. (In fact, it might have been my aunt's, pilfered at some point or another.) I listened to it a lot as a little kid--like really little kid, aged 4, 5, 6, 7.
"Fun Fun Fun" and "In My Room" were my favorites that I recall listening to often and intentionally, and looking now I see they were on the same side of the same disc. I guess Side 2 was a big hit in our house. My other primary memory of it was listening to "Little Deuce Coupe" (also on Side 2) and having no idea wtf they were talking about. Deuce? Coupe? Pink Slip Daddy?
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Post by kds on Jun 23, 2020 15:58:03 GMT
I used to think the song was Little Do Scoop. And wondered why they seemed so happy about getting fired (pink slip).
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Post by jk on Jun 23, 2020 17:45:03 GMT
I used to think the song was Little Do Scoop. And wondered why they seemed so happy about getting fired (pink slip). I used to hear this song on French radio when it was released but didn't know what it was! I'd seen "LDC" in the Billboard charts but always read it Yurpean-style as "Little Dee-oose Coo-Pay"!
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jun 24, 2020 17:08:15 GMT
Back in 1974-75, Endless Summer was everywhere. Do you remember those old record clubs where you could get 10 albums for a dollar, and then had to buy four or five at the regular price over so many years? Well, they featured Endless Summer on all of their promotional mailings, and it was attractive because you could get a double album and it only counted toward one album!
The album contained this poster which I had hanging on my bedroom wall, next to Gene Simmons spitting up blood and Jim Morrison holding a lamb in Miami:
Endless Summer was even advertised on TV:
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jun 24, 2020 17:11:49 GMT
I can't get that poster to print above, maybe because I also linked a YouTube video? Anyway, this was the poster that came with the album:
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 25, 2020 11:19:57 GMT
One thing about Endless Summer that fascinated me as a little kid was that cover. There was some other, surf-and-cars era picture of the Beach Boys around, though I can't recall another album in the house. (That part still confuses me: what was my reference point?) But I would stare at that cover and try to figure out who was who. I always failed.
What's more, I'd look at the interior spread at that bodybuilder and wonder: am I looking at a (very, very muscular) topless woman!? I knew it couldn't be. But could it? Very intriguing idea at the time.
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