Potential Hot Take Tuesday: Beach Boys 85 has aged worse than Still Cruisin' tracks. The keyboards on 85 are stifling and at least Still Cruisin' has a greater guitar emphasis.
You're not wrong. The production on 85 has aged very poorly, which is a shame because that album features some great Carl Wilson vocals. The Terry Melcher era that followed was a welcome return to actual instruments and while not close to groundbreaking, it's not hard to listen to. I've always felt they should have ditched tracks like Wouldn't It Be Nice from Still Cruisin' to include more of the contemporary tracks like Rock 'n' Roll to the Rescue or even their cover of California Dreamin' (which is actually not bad at all).
Don't forget to keep in line with the "movie soundtracks" half theme of that album by including possibly the worst thing they've ever recorded:
From the Whoopi Goldberg film that I've never heard of, "The Telephone."
Look, you have to establish context for these things. And I maintain that unless you appreciate the Fall of Constantinople, the Great Fire of London, and Mickey Mantle's fatalist alcoholism, live Freddy makes no sense. If you want to half-ass it, fine, go call Simon Schama to do the appendix.
Potential Hot Take Tuesday: Beach Boys 85 has aged worse than Still Cruisin' tracks. The keyboards on 85 are stifling and at least Still Cruisin' has a greater guitar emphasis.
You're not wrong. The production on 85 has aged very poorly, which is a shame because that album features some great Carl Wilson vocals. The Terry Melcher era that followed was a welcome return to actual instruments and while not close to groundbreaking, it's not hard to listen to. I've always felt they should have ditched tracks like Wouldn't It Be Nice from Still Cruisin' to include more of the contemporary tracks like Rock 'n' Roll to the Rescue or even their cover of California Dreamin' (which is actually not bad at all).
Don't forget to keep in line with the "movie soundtracks" half theme of that album by including possibly the worst thing they've ever recorded:
From the Whoopi Goldberg film that I've never heard of, "The Telephone."
Mike was apparently bummed they didn't stick with the movie song theme. In regards to the Little Richard track, yeah, it's bad, bad, bad.
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble
Potential Hot Take Tuesday: Beach Boys 85 has aged worse than Still Cruisin' tracks. The keyboards on 85 are stifling and at least Still Cruisin' has a greater guitar emphasis.
You're not wrong. The production on 85 has aged very poorly, which is a shame because that album features some great Carl Wilson vocals. The Terry Melcher era that followed was a welcome return to actual instruments and while not close to groundbreaking, it's not hard to listen to. I've always felt they should have ditched tracks like Wouldn't It Be Nice from Still Cruisin' to include more of the contemporary tracks like Rock 'n' Roll to the Rescue or even their cover of California Dreamin' (which is actually not bad at all).
Don't forget to keep in line with the "movie soundtracks" half theme of that album by including possibly the worst thing they've ever recorded:
From the Whoopi Goldberg film that I've never heard of, "The Telephone."
Mike was apparently bummed they didn't stick with the movie song theme. In regards to the Little Richard track, yeah, it's bad, bad, bad.
Hey may say that, but then he benefitted from Somewhere Near Japan going on it. Whatever.
Look, you have to establish context for these things. And I maintain that unless you appreciate the Fall of Constantinople, the Great Fire of London, and Mickey Mantle's fatalist alcoholism, live Freddy makes no sense. If you want to half-ass it, fine, go call Simon Schama to do the appendix.
I LOVE when they mime their performance because it finally gives Mike the chance to "play" the sax:
Look, you have to establish context for these things. And I maintain that unless you appreciate the Fall of Constantinople, the Great Fire of London, and Mickey Mantle's fatalist alcoholism, live Freddy makes no sense. If you want to half-ass it, fine, go call Simon Schama to do the appendix.
Somehow I'd never heard the studio version of We Got Love until this morning. Holy smokes, what a fuckin' song:
It kills me how good those songs Chaplin/Fataar had a hand in are and how short a period this was for the band. Uniformly some of the coolest songs in the Beach Boys catalog, imho.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead
Here's the Chaplin/Fataar Boys comp, where they're credited as writers/producers or lead/shared lead vocals I suppose plus their post-regular-band-member contributions to the mythos:
1. Here She Comes from Carl and the Passions - "So Tough" (Writer/Vocal Credits)
2. Hold On Dear Brother from Carl and the Passions - "So Tough" (Writer/Vocal Credits)
3. Sail On, Sailor from Holland (Blondie Chaplin vocals only)
4. Leaving This Town from Holland (Writer/Vocal Credits)
5. Funky Pretty from Holland (Shared lead vocal credits only)
6. We Got Love from Holland [2015 digital/2016 AP reissues] (Writer/Vocal Credits)
7. Sail On, Sailor [Live] from The Beach Boys in Concert (Blondie Chaplin vocals only)
8. Leaving This Town [Live] from The Beach Boys in Concert (Writer/Vocal Credits)
9. Funky Pretty [Live] from The Beach Boys in Concert (Shared lead vocal credits only)
10. We Got Love [Live] from The Beach Boys in Concert (Writer/Vocal Credits)
11. It's OK from 15 Big Ones (Ricky Fataar on drums only)
12. The Same Song from 15 Big Ones (Ricky Fataar on drums only)
13. Keepin' The Summer Alive from Keepin' The Summer Alive (Ricky Fataar on drums only)
14. Sunshine from Keepin' The Summer Alive (Ricky Fataar on drums only)
15. Sail Away from Brian's Wilson's No Pier Pressure (Blondie Chaplin only w/ Al Jardine)
Well, the last few tracks after they left the band as regular members get increasingly patchy. And really that whole In Concert album, particularly, benefits from their muscular musicianship. Fact checkers: does that cover it all? That's a pretty good, unusual, BB playlist imho.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead
I don't have a lot of thoughts on the new mixes released on the sounds of summer deluxe that just came out but I listened to a podcast where they interviewed one of the guys who put it together and he said his favorite beach boys material was where it's obvious they fucked, so thought this thread seemed like a good place to mention that.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead
1985's "Getcha Back" from the album "The Beach Boys" (1985) with lead vocal from Mike Love
This was the lead off single from one of their many attempted comeback albums in their career. Everyone's favorite sax player Mike Love co-wrote it with top bro-dawg Terry Melcher with whom he would later strike gold with "Kokomo." This one made it to #26 in the US which wasn't even as high as their shitty "Come and Go With Me" cover a few years prior, but good enough to reliably make most BBs compilations.
Lyrics: Oof. Mike Love wants a girl to get back with him. She left him because he pressured her into having sex which sounds very much like something Mike Love would do. He then promises to leave his new girlfriend if the girl leaves her new boyfriend. Doesn't sound like it'll work out, thankfully.
Music: Some horrific loud, metallic 80s drums open the track before some throwback classic BB vocal arrangements. It's jarring, but they are clearly trying to milk nostalgia, this time with 80s sounds! Mike's verses are pretty alright if you ignore the rapey lyrics. I think that's Carl on the outro which is nice, but not as impressive as his other showings. There's a few spicy chords thrown in at the end of some sections and a standard whole step key change towards the end. Yeah, it's alright
Video: A young boy and girl are friends but evil Mike Love takes pictures of them and then separates the young friends. The boy grows up into a hotter, buffer Patrick Carney, but I guess he's an undesirable nerd because he has glasses and in the 80s, glasses might as well be having an arm growing out of your head. Still, he obsesses over the girl Mike Love tore her away from especially because she turned into a totally hot 80s babe. She invites him to Al Jardine's 80s cocaine party for some reason and he practices dancing with a dance machine strapped to him. I'm all in on this invention.
Hotter buffer Patrick Carney goes to Al's 80's cocaine party and Carl is the hired muscle working the door for some reason. They dance, but the invention malfunctions and hot Carney ends up in the pool which seems on brand for an 80s cocaine party. 80s babe takes him to the beach the next day to go surfing for some reason. Brian shows up to give hot Carney one of those inflatable balls that the Flaming Lips guy uses as if hot Carney doesn't already have enough hipster appeal. Sure enough, 80s babe is smitten by his post-ironic antics. Bruce almost lets him die because he's ignoring his life guarding duties to chat with other 80s babes. They run off together.
Song grade: B-. Horrific production and problematic lyrics aside, this is adequately catchy even if the vocal arrangement is a bit too on the nose. Video grade: B-. It's very 80s, but at least has a story (albeit thin one) and decent production values. All the members make an appearance too from pedo Mike Love with his creepy camera to cocaine cool Al Jardine. Choice Youtube Comment: "I remember hearing this legendary song back in 1985. The Beach Boy's" (that's the whole comment and is one of the most upvoted comments on the video) Brian status - active contributor in the video. Looking healthy. Eugene Landy is working his magic! No idea if he's on the actual track since it sounds like just Mike and Bruce with a touch of Carl. Mike Love venom - He's clearly the villain of the video. Fortunately, they overcome his evil and end up together in the end.
Next week: Time for Carl to shine with the follow up single "It's Getting Late."
Look, you have to establish context for these things. And I maintain that unless you appreciate the Fall of Constantinople, the Great Fire of London, and Mickey Mantle's fatalist alcoholism, live Freddy makes no sense. If you want to half-ass it, fine, go call Simon Schama to do the appendix.