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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 3, 2022 16:29:05 GMT
Total speculation, but I think it's getting to the point, or has already gotten to the point, where Mike can do pretty much whatever he wants to do with The Beach Boys, outside of recording new music under their name. Sadly, Brian is in no shape to care anymore, and Melinda might have her hands full with non-Beach Boys' issues that are more important than Mike Love. Al makes the occasional comment in interviews to make a/his point, but it doesn't appear to have any legs. It's like "Al? Who cares what he thinks..." And, I wonder if Al himself ever actually pursues anything Beach Boys-wise. I have no idea where Carl's estate stands on issues. Maybe as long as they are getting their check...And Bruce? Well, we know who he's following.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that we have a few octogenarians who recently hired a firm to handle things that they no longer have the energy or interest in handling by themselves - Lord knows they never have/had competent management anyway - and we now have one guy, Mike, who not only speaks for The Beach Boys, but pretty much determines - outside of the recordings - which avenue they're going to go down. LOCASH anybody? How 'bout a George Harrison homage? Hey, Beach Boys' fans, it's the Reason For The Season!
For all intents and purposes, it's been at that point since 1998 (save for a few months in 2012 of course. From the early M&B days of slapdash greatest hits setlists with some oldies covers sprinkled in, to the more recent years of including songs from UTL, Reason for the Season, 12 Sides of Summer, and that LOCASH thing. And of course, the ever present John Stamos, and some collaborations with late 90s one hit wonders. I agree. I think Mike knew - and the other guys knew it, too, but would never admit it - that all they cared about when Mike was granted the Beach Boys' "name" for touring purposes was getting their money. Mike plays...we get check. As long as Mike kept his nose clean and didn't embarrass the name (and I wonder how much they really cared about that), they weren't going to closely monitor him. And, honestly, overall they really didn't have to as Mike (and Bruce) have been very hard-working and professional. I think to BRI, "coming down" on Mike for using Stamos, Mark McCrath, "Rockaway Beach", the George Harrison mini-set, LOCASH, and the Reason For The Season would be nit-picking. In the end, who in the hell really cares anyway? They're still selling tickets so everybody's happy. Everybody is getting their money.
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Post by kds on Oct 3, 2022 16:41:19 GMT
At the end of the day, BRI realizes what I've been saying across the boards for several years whenever Mike does something questionable with The Beach Boys name - nobody cares. I think the only time that members of BRI really took issue with Mike was when he played that show for trophy hunters a few years ago, and even that went away pretty quickly.
At the end of the day, just about anything that's ever happened in M&B era will be forgotten except for obsessives like us who've been following the day to day activities of the Beach Boys band members.
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Post by lonelysummer on Oct 6, 2022 2:19:41 GMT
Well, I know i would be pretty pissed off if I went to a Beach Boys show and Dennis started singing River Song, or Carl sang Heaven, or Brian sang Love and Mercy.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 4, 2022 12:54:45 GMT
Thinking of Dennis Wilson on his 78th birthday...
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Post by carllove on Dec 5, 2022 15:11:55 GMT
This morning on the Today Show. They played “Little Saint Nick”. Sadly, no John Cowsill on drums since Stamos is drumming, but he was in studio and did wave at the camera earlier. Edit - They just did a look in and John was sitting at his drum set - so maybe I do get to see John drum on the third song. So much for leaving for work ….
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Post by carllove on Dec 5, 2022 16:12:25 GMT
Yay - John is on the drums! The Beach Boys played “Finally It’s Christmas”.
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Emdeeh
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 520
Likes: 532
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Post by Emdeeh on Dec 5, 2022 20:12:23 GMT
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Post by carllove on Dec 5, 2022 20:22:22 GMT
Then I didn't miss any! Thought I missed one, because for some reason I thought they were on GMA.
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Post by lonelysummer on Dec 5, 2022 21:45:51 GMT
Then I didn't miss any! Thought I missed one, because for some reason I thought they were on GMA. Glad I watched them in reverse order. Mike sounded very weak on Little Saint Nick - I never notice this in live concerts, but on tv, every weakness is magnified. Thankfully, the rest of the band sounds great. Mike sounded better on the new songs - but I'm amazed he can do this at all at 80 something. And he really doesn't look much older than he did 20 years ago. Bruce, on the other hand, has really aged a lot in the last 20/30 years. Great band, though - Ike, John, Christian, Scott, in fact the strength of the younger musicians sort of makes up for any vocal weakness in Mike or Bruce.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 6, 2022 0:56:58 GMT
Thank you for sharing, carllove and Emdeeh. I had no idea they were on! Must be slipping. I am surprised they got up so early to perform - on the same day they are playing Carnegie Hall! I hope they have time to take a nap.
I am a huge fan of "Little Saint Nick". Not only is it a great Christmas song, but I rank it very high in the overall BB catalogue as well. A perfectly-crafted 2:00 pop song. I heard it played on the radio today and it got me to thinking. How many rock and roll bands had a Christmas song as popular - and as good as - "Little Saint Nick". Not very many. The song is as popular today as it was in 1964. It's become a Christmas music standard.
OK, now for the complaints. Why did they have to perform two Mike Love solo Christmas songs? The audience doesn't want to hear them. Here you have a band that has a Christmas album with two or three other songs that still get radio airplay in "Frosty The Snowman", "Christmas Day", and "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", and they play these obscure, inferior Christmas songs. Is Mike still trying to sell that solo Christmas album?
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Emdeeh
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 520
Likes: 532
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Post by Emdeeh on Dec 6, 2022 4:26:46 GMT
I've been wondering why Mike did two of his solo songs, instead of another BB Christmas song and I think it may be partly that those songs are more physically comfortable for him to sing. His voice has clearly aged, after all. Probaby not the only reason, but a factor, I suspect.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 6, 2022 11:36:59 GMT
I've been wondering why Mike did two of his solo songs, instead of another BB Christmas song and I think it may be partly that those songs are more physically comfortable to for him to sing. His voice has clearly aged, after all. Probably not the only reason, but a factor, I suspect. Yes, and with the other Beach Boys' Christmas Album "radio songs" that I mentioned above, Mike doesn't sing lead except for a part in "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". It would've been awkward for (legendary Beach Boy, and I'm not being sarcastic) Mike Love to appear on national TV and stand there singing mostly background vocals.
Which also raises the question - are The Beach Boys performing those Mike Love solo Christmas songs on their current holiday tour with the Holiday Vibrations Orchestra?
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Post by kds on Dec 6, 2022 14:32:43 GMT
I've been wondering why Mike did two of his solo songs, instead of another BB Christmas song and I think it may be partly that those songs are more physically comfortable to for him to sing. His voice has clearly aged, after all. Probably not the only reason, but a factor, I suspect. Yes, and with the other Beach Boys' Christmas Album "radio songs" that I mentioned above, Mike doesn't sing lead except for a part in "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". It would've been awkward for (legendary Beach Boy, and I'm not being sarcastic) Mike Love to appear on national TV and stand there singing mostly background vocals.
Which also raises the question - are The Beach Boys performing those Mike Love solo Christmas songs on their current holiday tour with the Holiday Vibrations Orchestra? They are. They've pretty much been playing the same selection of Christmas songs since the release of Reason for the Season. When I saw they were touring with an orchestra, I thought that meant they'd be doing more of the Dick Reynolds songs from the 1964 album, but it's still just Frosty and I'll Be Home.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 6, 2022 19:07:55 GMT
Yes, and with the other Beach Boys' Christmas Album "radio songs" that I mentioned above, Mike doesn't sing lead except for a part in "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". It would've been awkward for (legendary Beach Boy, and I'm not being sarcastic) Mike Love to appear on national TV and stand there singing mostly background vocals.
Which also raises the question - are The Beach Boys performing those Mike Love solo Christmas songs on their current holiday tour with the Holiday Vibrations Orchestra? They are. They've pretty much been playing the same selection of Christmas songs since the release of Reason for the Season. When I saw they were touring with an orchestra, I thought that meant they'd be doing more of the Dick Reynolds songs from the 1964 album, but it's still just Frosty and I'll Be Home. Just making conversation here, as I really don't have a dog in this race, and I'm not really vocal (well, maybe just a little ) about Mike playing solo songs at Beach Boys' concerts. However, for some reason, I'm both surprised and yes, a little bothered, by Mike peforming solo Christmas songs at these holiday Beach Boys' concerts. I guess I have to ask the question...why? Why is Mike playing solo Christmas songs? Is it safe to say that 99% of the audience attending these Beach Boys' holiday shows either owns The Beach Boys' Christmas Album or has heard pretty much the entire album over the years in some form. And, is it safe to say that THOSE are the songs they want to hear in concert? I had a chance to see The Beach Boys' (and Brian's) holiday concerts the last couple of years and passed for no specific reason, maybe laziness or maybe not wanting to spend the money or whatever. However, the one thing that WAS ENTICING me was the chance to hear those songs from The Beach Boys' Christmas album. I've been attending Beach Boys/BW concerts since 1978, and I've never attended one where they featured Christmas music. I thought it might be interesting or at least entertaining to hear versions of those classic BB Christmas songs, regardless of the current band members and the non-original voices. But, knowing that Mike is dragging out those solo Christmas songs, songs that IMO are inferior in every way to the Beach Boys' Christmas songs, well, that kind of bothers me and again prompts me to ask...why? Is it his ego? Is he still trying to generate album sales? Is he bored? Does he think the people really want to hear songs from Reason For The Season...over The Beach Boys' Christmas Album? And, no, I don't believe it's OK to feature both. Come on, Mike!
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 6, 2022 19:20:06 GMT
I don't like it, either with his solo Christmas songs or his other solo songs. I don't complain about it because I don't want to be a grouch all the time (especially about Mike), but to me, if Mike has the license to tour as The Beach Boys, he has an obligation to play Beach Boys music. If he wants to perform Mike Love solo music and sell Mike Love solo albums, etc., then he ought to tour separately as Mike Love and the Super Self-Referential Summer Solo Band or whatever.
And I wonder what kind of audience he'd get. I wonder what kind of pay he'd bring in from the venues. You could say "well, he may well have the same band, so they'd be just as good" ... but would he? Could he afford them if tickets weren't sold under the Beach Boys name? Could he even play the same venues?
I know the Beach Boys have long performed some solo songs in their sets, from "River Song" back in the early-to-mid '70s, to some of Carl's songs in the early '80s, to some of Brian's in the later '80s. I get that. But it's one thing for each member to do a song of his own, and quite another for one of two real members to do several (without anyone else there to have a chance). At least in my mind it is.
I find it distasteful.
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