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Post by kds on Dec 6, 2022 19:38:11 GMT
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! I'm not a fan of it either. In general, I'm not really a fan of solo songs being in band setlists anyway. Although, I will say sitting though some of Mike's songs was kind of worth it to get to hear Little Saint Nick, The Man With All the Toys, and Santa's Beard in person (since Brian's Christmas Tour doing the full 1964 album didn't come near me).
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Post by lonelysummer on Dec 6, 2022 20:03:22 GMT
Oh good grief, now we're back to this. I say, you guys stick with your Brian Wilson concerts, where you'll never have to worry about hearing solo Brian Wilson songs. I enjoy hearing Mike's songs.
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Post by kds on Dec 6, 2022 20:09:58 GMT
It's not like there are any Brian shows going on at the moment, and it's probably up in the air whether or not there will be any in the future at this point, so I think it's reasonable (for the seasonable) to debate whether or not Mike should be promoting solo material at "Beach Boys" concerts, and TV appearances by "The Beach Boys."
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 6, 2022 20:20:12 GMT
Oh good grief, now we're back to this. I say, you guys stick with your Brian Wilson concerts, where you'll never have to worry about hearing solo Brian Wilson songs. I enjoy hearing Mike's songs. One has nothing to do with the other. Brian Wilson singing Brian Wilson songs at Brian Wilson concerts will not make Mike Love singing Mike Love songs at Beach Boys concerts any more appropriate.
You're welcome to like Mike's songs, but it doesn't mean anyone else has to agree with you. (Though I know several people here do like some of them to various degrees. I like some of them, too, actually.) But it is a separate issue from the appropriateness of singing them at Beach Boys concerts.
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Post by kds on Dec 6, 2022 20:23:32 GMT
I like Fortress Around Your Heart and Fields of Gold. But, I definitely did not watch to hear them when I saw The Police Reunion Tour in 2007. Luckily, the setlist was only made up of songs released by the name of the band on the ticket stub for that tour.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 6, 2022 20:49:18 GMT
It's bad enough Mike bumps other great Beach Boys' songs in order to perform his solo songs at "regular" Beach Boys' concerts. But...sneaking in...his solo Christmas songs appears, to me anyway, to be even more unacceptable. Come on, like I said above, many people are going to these holiday shows to hear The Beach Boys' Christmas Album songs. As many as possible! And there's a lot to choose from. Bumping them in favor of those Reason For The Season songs is simply not necessary and, frankly, a little deceiving. Due to this thread, I now know that Mike is doing it, but if I didn't know it and went to a Beach Boys' concert featuring some Christmas songs - and Mike went into those inferior (and mostly unknown) solo Christmas songs - I'd be disappointed (and I'm being kind).
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Post by kds on Dec 6, 2022 21:11:40 GMT
It's bad enough Mike bumps other great Beach Boys' songs in order to perform his solo songs at "regular" Beach Boys' concerts. But...sneaking in...his solo Christmas songs appears, to me anyway, to be even more unacceptable. Come on, like I said above, many people are going to these holiday shows to hear The Beach Boys' Christmas Album songs. As many as possible! And there's a lot to choose from. Bumping them in favor of those Reason For The Season songs is simply not necessary and, frankly, a little deceiving. Due to this thread, I now know that Mike is doing it, but if I didn't know it and went to a Beach Boys' concert featuring some Christmas songs - and Mike went into those inferior (and mostly unknown) solo Christmas songs - I'd be disappointed (and I'm being kind). I certainly agree. At least when I saw them in 2018, it was billed as the Reason for the Season Tour, since the album was released that year, and the tickets I bought came with copies of the album. So, I knew what I was in for them. To still be playing those songs four years later, on a tour that's not promoting the album, seems a bit off.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 6, 2022 21:19:53 GMT
It's bad enough Mike bumps other great Beach Boys' songs in order to perform his solo songs at "regular" Beach Boys' concerts. But...sneaking in...his solo Christmas songs appears, to me anyway, to be even more unacceptable. Come on, like I said above, many people are going to these holiday shows to hear The Beach Boys' Christmas Album songs. As many as possible! And there's a lot to choose from. Bumping them in favor of those Reason For The Season songs is simply not necessary and, frankly, a little deceiving. Due to this thread, I now know that Mike is doing it, but if I didn't know it and went to a Beach Boys' concert featuring some Christmas songs - and Mike went into those inferior (and mostly unknown) solo Christmas songs - I'd be disappointed (and I'm being kind). I certainly agree. At least when I saw them in 2018, it was billed as the Reason for the Season Tour, since the album was released that year, and the tickets I bought came with copies of the album. So, I knew what I was in for them. To still be playing those songs four years later, on a tour that's not promoting the album, seems a bit off. I could be crazy, but I think I saw they are giving away copies of the album again with this tour. I know the press releases have mentioned they would be playing songs from both the Beach Boys' and Love's Christmas albums.
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Post by kds on Dec 6, 2022 21:23:35 GMT
I certainly agree. At least when I saw them in 2018, it was billed as the Reason for the Season Tour, since the album was released that year, and the tickets I bought came with copies of the album. So, I knew what I was in for them. To still be playing those songs four years later, on a tour that's not promoting the album, seems a bit off. I could be crazy, but I think I saw they are giving away copies of the album again with this tour. I know the press releases have mentioned they would be playing songs from both the Beach Boys' and Love's Christmas albums. That's certainly possible. I have to wonder how many copies of this album are sitting in homes of Beach Boys concert attendees, still in the original shrink wrap.
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Post by lonelysummer on Dec 7, 2022 2:35:34 GMT
So I guess I should have walked out of that Beach Boys concert at the Kingdome in 1983 because Carl had the gall to sing "What You Do to Me" and "Rockin' All Over the World"! Those are not Beach Boys songs! Those were not the songs we expected to hear! To make it worse, he repeated the stunt a year later, singing "Rockin'" again, along with "Heaven". Don't waste our time with solo stuff or new songs, we just want to hear the golden oldies again for the billionth time. Seriously, if it bothers you that much, don't go to the shows. I would love to see a Beach Boys Christmas show. They can sing anything they want and I'll be happy - as long as it's not that *&^%@! feet song or "Hey Little Tomboy". Hey little tomboy, what would you like for Christmas, a baseball bat and a catchers mitt? How about some hot pants and some lip stick?
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 7, 2022 12:14:24 GMT
I won't speak for the others, but I addressed that exact thing--doing a solo song apiece back when they were actually a band--in my post.
Nobody is telling you how you should feel or think. We're saying how we feel or think.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 7, 2022 13:01:25 GMT
So I guess I should have walked out of that Beach Boys concert at the Kingdome in 1983 because Carl had the gall to sing "What You Do to Me" and "Rockin' All Over the World"! Those are not Beach Boys songs! Those were not the songs we expected to hear! To make it worse, he repeated the stunt a year later, singing "Rockin'" again, along with "Heaven". Don't waste our time with solo stuff or new songs, we just want to hear the golden oldies again for the billionth time. Seriously, if it bothers you that much, don't go to the shows. I would love to see a Beach Boys Christmas show. They can sing anything they want and I'll be happy - as long as it's not that *&^%@! feet song or "Hey Little Tomboy". Hey little tomboy, what would you like for Christmas, a baseball bat and a catchers mitt? How about some hot pants and some lip stick? OK, lonelysummer, I'll admit to some - some - hypocrisy when it comes to this issue. I was at those concerts you're referring to when Carl performed his solo songs (yes, plural). And, I probably was clapping along and enjoying the heck out of it. Do you remember that Carl sang "Heaven" on the nationally televised Beach Boys' 25th Anniversary special? He could've sung "God Only Knows" instead, but I liked his performance of "Heaven" a lot.
I also go back to 1978 when Mike performed "Almost Summer" and "Cruisin'" with Charles Lloyd - and loved it! And, I'll also mention a 1989 BB concert with Chicago at the Philadelphia Spectrum when none other than Brian Wilson barnstormed the stage with a couple of musicians and played three songs from his solo album. I was both stunned and ecstatic; it's STILL an all-time highlight in my BB fandom.
So, I get it. There is a precedent. And, as I just admitted, I not only didn't mind, but enjoyed it. I can't explain why, but these recent examples of Mike Love doing it bothers me more. One reason could be that Mike's solo songs are VERY inferior to bumped Beach Boys' songs, where the other solo songs performed in the (distant) past weren't. Maybe it's because Mike's solo songs bring the concert to a disturbing halt, when again, Carl's and Brian's solo songs didn't. But, I also want to make clear - again - that while I have been complaining about it (maybe too effectively in your eyes), it really doesn't bother me THAT much, nor does it keep me from buying tickets to a Beach Boys' concert, which I did earlier in 2022. And, finally, I would never turn the issue into a Smiley Smile Forum-like thread where 47 pages are devoted to hammering, name-calling, and picking apart every aspect of Michael Edward Love because of it.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 7, 2022 13:13:43 GMT
For me, this is the difference.
In earlier eras, the band wasn't representing the Beach Boys or carrying on the name of the Beach Boys, it was (more or less) the Beach Boys. If Carl said "I want to sing 'Heaven," or Mike said, "I want to sing 'Almost Summer,' presumably everyone involved had a say in that decision. It would be based on whether they agreed (or at least enough agreed to vote on it) the song was up to par and represented the band well. And generally, more than one member had that opportunity.
Now, the band on the road under that name obviously isn't the Beach Boys, but a band licensed to tour with the name and carry on the legacy. One person has the authority to decide what is played and what isn't--and it happens to be the one whose composing ability and judgment (in my opinion) are worst of everyone who used to be in the band. He's voting for himself with no opposition, and presenting it as the Beach Boys. This band isn't doing a few of Mike's solo songs plus a few of Brian's and a few of Carl's and a few of Al's and a few of Dennis's. They aren't even doing a few of Bruce's and a few of John Cowsill's and a few of Scott Totten's (if he even writes, I don't know--but you get the point). It's a Mike-dominated group whose role is promoting the Beach Boys, and he's unilaterally choosing to promote Mike Love. That's a big difference.
But really, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about this. As I said in my first post on the subject, I don't want to be a grouch about it all the time. Endless one-note whining and bitching gets old, as we've all seen on numerous boards. A Sheriff John Stone said, I don't want to just rant and rave about Mike Love. I am a fan of a lot of what he does and am glad he's out there with the group. I just think this particular thing he does is wrong.
With all that, I think I've made my point. Nobody has to agree. And that's more than enough from me on the subject.
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Post by kds on Dec 7, 2022 13:51:48 GMT
So I guess I should have walked out of that Beach Boys concert at the Kingdome in 1983 because Carl had the gall to sing "What You Do to Me" and "Rockin' All Over the World"! Those are not Beach Boys songs! Those were not the songs we expected to hear! To make it worse, he repeated the stunt a year later, singing "Rockin'" again, along with "Heaven". Don't waste our time with solo stuff or new songs, we just want to hear the golden oldies again for the billionth time. Seriously, if it bothers you that much, don't go to the shows. I would love to see a Beach Boys Christmas show. They can sing anything they want and I'll be happy - as long as it's not that *&^%@! feet song or "Hey Little Tomboy". Hey little tomboy, what would you like for Christmas, a baseball bat and a catchers mitt? How about some hot pants and some lip stick? It's just a discussion, man. No need to man battle stations. I think we've all gone to concerts where we didn't like every single song on the setlist. I wasn't thrilled when Runaway Dancer was introduced when I saw Brian back in 2015.
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Emdeeh
Pacific Coast Highway
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Post by Emdeeh on Dec 7, 2022 14:00:35 GMT
If Mike were touring under his own name, instead of the band's, we wouldn't be having this argument. You'd expect a mix of BB and solo songs in that case. When the BBs were all together and one or the other slipped a couple of solo or new, unreleased songs into a show (including Dennis in the early '70s), I enjoyed them. In Mike's case nowadays, he keeps playing some of his solo songs that I find less appealing (as compared to some of his earlier efforts, like "Almost Summer").
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