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Post by B.E. on May 11, 2023 23:34:37 GMT
Lonelysummer, I notice your Still Cruisin’ avatar didn’t survive this thread. Is KDS next?
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 12, 2023 11:45:09 GMT
Not that you don't have a point: there is more of a non-summer impression than one might think if you really focus on what each picture shows ... but is it that big a deal? I think that, as with specific lyrics in song sequencing, perhaps you take this stuff much more literally than I do. I think it's a great cover, but I admit it's because I don't care that much whether it's summer-specific. And in fact, I'd say the color palette is a little more autumnal, with softer light and those gold/orange shades (though I think those are just very much of the times, along with olive greens and whatnot). But now, if I may contradict the whole premise by taking a page out of your book, I'd say "All Summer Long" is an autumn song, not a summer song. Or at least a back-to-school kind of song. The summer they're remembering is over (or ending). They HAVE been having fun all summer long, it won't be long til summer time is through, remember when... etc. So maybe it's chilly! Good points, Kapitan, but first I just want say that All Summer Long might be their most aesthetically pleasing album cover (if not their flat-out best). I love the colors and the design, and I like the pictures (but like anything, sure, I suppose they could have been a little better). Overall it certainly has a late summer/early fall feel and that’s perfectly fine with me, and as you point out, is consistent with the lyrics of the title track. Specifically, it feels like September. The summer crowds are gone, the locals have the beach to themselves. The weather is starting to cool, they’re back in school, and sports are starting up. But they’re hanging onto summer…And as was mentioned in a later post, isn’t southern California known for being 70 year round? Surfers wore long sleeve Pendletons, right? Because it gets cool at night even in the summer? On another level, I’m sure the decision to picture the group wearing different outfits (including pants and long sleeve shirts, sweaters, and jackets) on the beach was fashion driven. And posing on the beach was killing two birds with one stone. But, again, I like the late summer/early fall vibe you get from some of their early album covers. What I get from it is: they live that life year-round, they’re not just down for the weekend or on vacation. They’re living the dream. Interesting. I have never thought of All Summer Long as early fall, with the weather starting to cool (?), they're back in school (??), and sports are starting up . With songs like "Girls On The Beach", "Don't Back Down", "I Get Around", "Drive-In", and "Little Honda", and "All Summer Long" - I get visions of... summer.
Sweatshirts, jackets, and a pair of bandanas All fall long, you've been with me, I can't see enough of you We've been having fun all autumn long...
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Post by Kapitan on May 12, 2023 11:47:29 GMT
"We've been having fun all autumn long" would make it a transition-to-winter album. That's part of the point of how you COULD tie in the title song to autumn in the first place. Summer is ending in those lyrics; they're talking about what they've been doing (but won't be doing for long) all summer.
But most of what you highlighted are the description of the cover being autumnal.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 12, 2023 12:01:20 GMT
In this thread, I think the lyrics "won't be long 'til summer time is through" are being used to shove the calendar too far ahead. I associate those lyrics, that line, with the month of August, and I associate August with still hot weather, still summer activities, and still summer clothing. Now, yes, you might get a stray cool night, the days are getting shorter, and the NFL pre-season started. I'm even well into my Christmas music. But, I'm not ready to make the song, "All Summer Long" or the album, All Summer Long, nothing but a...summer feel, regardless of the album cover.
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Post by Kapitan on May 12, 2023 12:44:45 GMT
The Beach Boys (1985) has a very generic cover that makes no impact; it would be so easy to just walk past that one on the display wall; ditto for Still Cruisin'. In both cases, a current shot of the group would have been nice. Our guys still looked pretty good in the 80's, Brian especially. It was okay to put fat, sweaty Brian on the cover of 15BO in 1976, but not slimmed down, athletic looking Brian in 1985? Especially on the s/t album, I think they made a real misstep. I'm not sure that a band picture is the solution, but like you correctly said, it's somewhat ironic that they went that route in 1976, when they weren't exactly a collection of models. Not just Brian, but arguably everyone looked better in 1985. But the cover they chose, just the band's name with the letters colored in by photos of a beach from above, is indeed very forgettable. It doesn't look unpleasant, it just looks like a background. Maybe a back cover, an internal photo, something like that. What should the cover have been, then? I don't know, that's why I am not an artistic director or graphic designer. Band photos as Beach Boys covers, though ... just generally, I don't think they were ever all that photogenic a group. (I suppose Dennis is the exception, though I know the others have their fans.) As a rule, I am less fond of the covers that show, or at least feature, them.
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Post by kds on May 12, 2023 12:50:47 GMT
Why doesn't TWGMTR have a photo of a radio on it? Or better yet, the five remaining BB's standing by an old radio? How about a picture of God making a radio?
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Post by kds on May 12, 2023 12:51:44 GMT
Lonelysummer, I notice your Still Cruisin’ avatar didn’t survive this thread. Is KDS next? Lol, yes, I excluded TWGMTR from my list. My using that at my avatar is much more about the music than the cover.
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Post by kds on May 12, 2023 12:53:37 GMT
In this thread, I think the lyrics "won't be long 'til summer time is through" are being used to shove the calendar too far ahead. I associate those lyrics, that line, with the month of August, and I associate August with still hot weather, still summer activities, and still summer clothing. Now, yes, you might get a stray cool night, the days are getting shorter, and the NFL pre-season started. I'm even well into my Christmas music. But, I'm not ready to make the song, "All Summer Long" or the album, All Summer Long, nothing but a...summer feel, regardless of the album cover. I do too, and for me, I begin to get that "uh oh, summertime won't be around much longer" feeling as soon as the page turns to August, and that's because it does go super fast.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 12, 2023 13:21:12 GMT
This (below) would've been an option for The Beach Boys front cover. I prefer it to what they came up with. I wonder if the absence of Dennis Wilson (in the photo) influenced their decision, back in 1985? They obviously moved on musically, but maybe not for a front album cover.
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Post by Kapitan on May 12, 2023 13:45:57 GMT
This is just speculation, but I always think about the '80s as being a really image-conscious time, and very much a time of youthful appeal. Out with the old and all that... I wonder if, even though imo the band looked better than they did 10 years prior, the general atmosphere in the pop-entertainment world was less forgiving of people looking their age. The 70s had more than its share of aging and frankly ragged looking performers; the 80s seemed a time of slick, sleek, sexy, youthful looks whenever possible.
And if that's right, I wonder how heavily that played into the decision. But to choose boring and forgettable over a cover shot of a bunch of forty-somethings who looked just fine, well, that is a questionable choice imo.
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Post by kds on May 12, 2023 13:52:39 GMT
This is just speculation, but I always think about the '80s as being a really image-conscious time, and very much a time of youthful appeal. Out with the old and all that... I wonder if, even though imo the band looked better than they did 10 years prior, the general atmosphere in the pop-entertainment world was less forgiving of people looking their age. The 70s had more than its share of aging and frankly ragged looking performers; the 80s seemed a time of slick, sleek, sexy, youthful looks whenever possible. And if that's right, I wonder how heavily that played into the decision. But to choose boring and forgettable over a cover shot of a bunch of forty-somethings who looked just fine, well, that is a questionable choice imo. Probably so, and a lot of legacy acts looking to stay relevant did not appear on their album covers at that time (Fogerty, Floyd, Whitesnake, Aerosmith, etc).
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Post by Kapitan on May 12, 2023 13:55:27 GMT
And they and other legacy acts really glammed up, too, trying to look 20 years younger. Heart and Starship come to mind, but also those bands you named to varying degrees. When I saw "Still of the Night" in 1987 on MTV, I had no idea David Coverdale had been at it for almost 15 years.
How else did those bands present themselves? Often with videos featuring other (younger, sexy) people. The Beach Boys actually fit in this group as well, video-wise. Lots of Stamos and bikini-clad girls!
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Post by kds on May 12, 2023 14:17:46 GMT
And they and other legacy acts really glammed up, too, trying to look 20 years younger. Heart and Starship come to mind, but also those bands you named to varying degrees. When I saw "Still of the Night" in 1987 on MTV, I had no idea David Coverdale had been at it for almost 15 years. How else did those bands present themselves? Often with videos featuring other (younger, sexy) people. The Beach Boys actually fit in this group as well, video-wise. Lots of Stamos and bikini-clad girls! I think I've mentioned this before, but I had absolutely no idea there was a pre 1987 Whitesnake until the early 00s. Somehow, though, The Beach Boys themselves always looked so awkward trying to fit it with their neon baseball caps and shorts with striped socks. Other bands either glammed up, or went with the dignified elder statemen of rock look (blazer, collared shirt, Dockers). The Beach Boys always looked like they hit a sale at K Mart or Ames.
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Post by lonelysummer on May 13, 2023 1:45:14 GMT
And they and other legacy acts really glammed up, too, trying to look 20 years younger. Heart and Starship come to mind, but also those bands you named to varying degrees. When I saw "Still of the Night" in 1987 on MTV, I had no idea David Coverdale had been at it for almost 15 years. How else did those bands present themselves? Often with videos featuring other (younger, sexy) people. The Beach Boys actually fit in this group as well, video-wise. Lots of Stamos and bikini-clad girls! I think I've mentioned this before, but I had absolutely no idea there was a pre 1987 Whitesnake until the early 00s. Somehow, though, The Beach Boys themselves always looked so awkward trying to fit it with their neon baseball caps and shorts with striped socks. Other bands either glammed up, or went with the dignified elder statemen of rock look (blazer, collared shirt, Dockers). The Beach Boys always looked like they hit a sale at K Mart or Ames. Except for Carl. He always wore a nice suit, always looked ready for the post-high school prom.
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Post by kds on May 13, 2023 3:00:31 GMT
I think I've mentioned this before, but I had absolutely no idea there was a pre 1987 Whitesnake until the early 00s. Somehow, though, The Beach Boys themselves always looked so awkward trying to fit it with their neon baseball caps and shorts with striped socks. Other bands either glammed up, or went with the dignified elder statemen of rock look (blazer, collared shirt, Dockers). The Beach Boys always looked like they hit a sale at K Mart or Ames. Except for Carl. He always wore a nice suit, always looked ready for the post-high school prom. That's true.
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