Mike Love is an arrogant a**hole.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Brian Wilson
SuperSonicX — 18 years ago(June 04, 2007 03:44 PM)
He's still milking the band's name for all it's worth, going on tour with the band name only (The Beach Boys), with one "original" member and a bunch of backing musicians. Worse than that, he kept giving "The Genius" beep during the recording sessions of "Pet Sounds" and "Smile."
Obviously, Mike wasn't into the idea of expanding one's creativity, and he actually told Brian Wilson "don't beep with the formula", after Wilson produced and composed a number of innovative recordings for his "SMiLE" project in 1966. Afterwards, Wilson reportedly shelved the project because arrogant Mikey "didn't like it." In a sense, he helped kill the genius.
He also sued Brian twice: first, for credit and royalties for songs he claimed he co-wrote (in some cases only a few words). Second, for damages for 'shameless mis-appropriation of the Beach Boys name' after Brian released a five-song CD in a newspaper to promote a solo album with Beach Boys songs on it.
Mike is also proud that he recorded the group's biggest single "Kokomo" without Brian. That song sucks, anyway.
What an a**hole, he reminds me of Brian's father Murry. The two of them were just jealous of Brian, the true genius of the group, and one of the greatest musical composers and innovators of the twentieth century.
"Don't believe everything you hear on the radio." - Charles Foster Kane -
SuperSonicX — 18 years ago(June 10, 2007 11:53 AM)
From his IMDb biography page:
[When asked if there was any mis-conception about the public perception of him and Brian Wilson] "Who wants to hear about Brian's mental problems anyway? I mean, to call a record "Sweet Insanity", imagine that. A whole album of Brian's madness that no one wants to release and still everyone says he's a genius! I make "Kokomo", it goes to number one in the charts and I'm still the dumb, know-nothing, talentless Mike Love."
"Don't believe everything you hear on the radio." - Charles Foster Kane -
Freddie-B — 18 years ago(August 24, 2007 01:54 AM)
Mike said that?
Honestly.
What.
A.
Dick.
www.soundclick.com/paulstaveley
www.myspace.com/babybeatle -
thegreyarea — 18 years ago(January 10, 2008 12:56 PM)
Mike Love was and is an INTEGRAL part of The Beach Boys, period. Picture the BB without Mike ever having been in the band. It was the combination of their different soundsvoices.writing styles.personalities, etc that made the band what it was. And crack on Mike's voice if you want, but it is very unique,and it nails a lot of what the Beach Boys' songs and sound are all about. The bands' soundtheir harmonies were a perfect storm of 4 voices that, alone, were ok.but together, became the surfin' band known as The Beach Boys.
When Brian started to fall apart, it was Mike who kept the ship afloat and kept the original sound and vision intact. Brian was just never the same after the first few albums, after he began his nervous breakdown and got into drugs. While Brian was drifting into near insanity, Mike kept the band visible and as relevant as he possibly could. He also gave the band its second revival (with the idea of reminding the public of their early surf and car hits with a greatest hits package).and then its third (w/ Kokomo in 1988a great, fun, easy-breezy song that exemplifies what the fun & sun Beach Boys were founded on).and even still today Mike gives the fans what they want: The very best of The Beach Boys. Surfincars.chicks.fun and sun. There's nothing like them.and they are a reminder of the good, simple, fun times of the past. Mike is keeping the spirit aliveand once they're gone, there will never be anything like them again. As much as Brian contributed to The Beach Boys, and as much of a wonderful genius as he ishis path and styl2000e veered off in a completely different direction than what made the Beach Boys so fun and special. Brian's conceptual experiments got so existential and weird..they would have been in direct contrast to The Beach Boys. It would have been a completely different band, sound, style and message. Because the rest of the band (even Carl) did not feel comfortable with his new concepts, Brian's new ideas should have been experimented in a different bandor (as he eventually did) in solo work. Listen to the album "Smile"and then listen to The Beach Boys 20 Greatest Hits CD. There's no comparison. For me, Brian is a genius, but mostly based on what he did to get The Beach Boys started. As for Mike.I think he exemplifies the spirit of the group: Fun, Fun, Fun.period. People who criticize him just don't get The Beach Boys. Was Mike ever an "a-hole" to you personally? Andhe bent over backward supporting Briantrying to get him involved w/ the groupand, trying to get him off the drugs and back on a path to health. Brian made his own choices, and dug his own hole. Anyone who has ever been to a BB concert (I've been to MANY).even the current version of the group (w/ Mike, Bruceand a wonderful band who embraces the youthful spirit, sound and mindset of what the group stands for) has seen and heard the great times and great sounds of an endless summer. Mike: Thank you for that. I can't wait for The Beach Boys return to Michigan. -
edorapietrafesa — 18 years ago(January 19, 2008 09:33 AM)
brian is the genius. but all great bands need everyone, regardless of who's the best. even ringo starr was needed somewhat even though he gets trashed. somehow without that intregal member, it wouldn't work. so mike is no more right or wrong than brian. mike did write some catchy songs and in that business, you do want to stay afloat. i'm sure it's not easy to deal with a genius and mike needed to pay bills. look what happened to fleetwood mac after rumours. there next album tanked. not that that's bad. but if you finally make some dough adn have been struggling forever, i can understand thinking to just make another similar album to not piss off your fans. i don't know. that way of life is really hard and to deal with a temperamental unstable genius can probably be tough. no offense to brian wilson since i'll never have to grapple with being a genius and have no idea what that must be like! haha!
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goes2eleven — 18 years ago(January 20, 2008 07:24 AM)
look what happened to fleetwood mac after rumours. there next album tanked.
Tusk
, the Fleetwood Mac album you're referring to, didn't tank. It reached #4 on the US charts and #1 on the UK charts and eventually went double platinum, which is actually pretty good for a 2 disc album. Sure, it didn't get the attention that
Rumours
did, but albums of that magnitude don't come around very often.
Tusk
contained some great songs and the title song and "Sara" are still heard quite often now, nearly 30 years since it was released. Nothing on there even remotely sounds like
Rumours
or any of their other albums and proved bands
can
experiment with music and the fans will still listen and spend their money.
The main difference between The Beach Boys and Fleetwood Mac in this type of situation is that no one ever really tried to stop Lindsey Buckingham from experimenting and coming up with completely different material. The other band members, while not always in agreement with Lindsey, trusted his judgement and stood back and let h2000im handle things his own way. If Lindsey had been treated like Brian was, we would surely be without a lot of great songs that have since been released by Fleetwood Mac since 1979.
While I agree that Mike Love was an extremely important part of The Beach Boys and the band would not have been the same without him, I can't help but think that his actions during the
Pet Sounds
and
SMiLE
sessions were very immature, and understandably since he was a fairly young man at the time. An older and wiser Mike Love
might
have realized with
Pet Sounds
that Brian wasn't apt to turn around and go back to songs about surfing and cars and just be thankful that Brian wanted his voice on the finished tracks. No one else in the band acted like Mike. Carl and Dennis knew that what Brian was creating was unusual, but only in the best way. Not only did Mike try to stop him, he also ridiculed everything about the work that Brian was doing. I could overlook thatif it stopped as he grew olderbut it didn't. Mike continues to make comments about Van Dyke Parks and the condition that Brian was in at the time, even though Brian makes an effort to be civil to Mike. I feel that Mike was jealous because Brian was going to outside sources for help in writing the lyrics and continues to harbor those feelings. You'd think that a man his age would have learned to keep his thoughts to himself and just be happy that he can now go around with a Wilson-less band and call it "The Beach Boys." I sincerely apologise to anyone who is a fan of Mike Love, but I can't bring myself to have any respect for him as a person.
I will always wonder just how magnificent an album
SMiLE
would have been if it had been finished four decades ago with the voices that Brian intended.
Brian Wilson Presents Smile
is a masterpiece in my eyes and I'm truly thankful that Brian finished it, but a part of me wishes that I could hear what it
could
have been, if Brian had been encouraged to finish it by everyone involved at the time. I'd bet that Mike Love has wondered this very same thingbut will he ever admit it? -
edorapietrafesa — 18 years ago(January 20, 2008 11:12 AM)
wow! thank you. what an informed response. i didn't know tusk did that well. and i love that song sara. i thought it tanked for some reason. i guess it was just being compared to rumours. brian i guess could stand up to that little loud pipsqueak who wanted to keep singing about fast girls and pretty girls. brian said on charlie rose he got a 10 minute standing ovation for smile so it would have been nuts to see the reaction 40 years ago. i cannot believe he shelved it for that long cause of pressure from the band. i think it's very hard for anyone to understand a genius. brando was misunderstood. so was mozart. and brian was. they just have to live on their own plane, but others like mike get pissy about it and childish because they cannot understand him. keats and lord byron were misunderstood too. many geniuses' lives are so hard it might be better to be ordinary like me!
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thegreyarea — 18 years ago(January 23, 2008 07:15 PM)
It had to be incredibly difficult for Mike (and the others in the band) when Brian began to fall apart, get into drugs, completely change the direction of the style that was their signature, and not even perform on-stage with them. Live performances were essential to them staying popular, relevant, on the public's radar, and competitive with the Beatles and Elvis. Mike was (and is) the showman. The steady, driving force. Brian made his choices; dug his own hole. And the kinds of experimental, conceptual, abstract songs Brian was attempting were SOOO completely off in left-field and in contrast to the Beach Boys signature style, they may have been better served as solo work or side projects. Not to slag on Brian, he's absolutely brilliant. But for me, much of why I think he's brilliant has to do with what he did to create the early Beach Boys. I listened to SMILE when it came out a few years ago and as creatively interesting as it wasit just wasn' for me. I can't see myself ever popping it in while cruising in my Jeep with the top dda0own. I guess I'm just much more of a Beach Boys fan than a Brian Wilson fan. Mike Love is keeping the BB together the best that he can (as he always has). And I'll repeat what I've said before.it's pretty much impossible to go to their concerts and not have a fantastic time. Nearly 50 years after they first played "surfin" on stage, they're as fun as ever. And wow, that incredible catalog of songs. Brian helped create it, but Mike keeps it alive. It's cliche to slag on him.but liking and appreciating him is a lot more fun.and open-minded.
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goes2eleven — 18 years ago(January 24, 2008 03:14 AM)
I can respect your feelings, thegreyarea, and agree that Mike Love has always been a great entertainer. I think it's wonderful that you and others can go to their concerts and have an enjoyable time and I'd never want to take that away from you or anyone else. It's not for me, but if others want to go, that's fine.
I simply don't like Mike Love as a
person
. Many great entertainers have been appreciated for their talents even though they were not nice people. Granted, I don't know him personally, but he's been very vocal in interviews through the years and to me, he does appear arrogant. That's just my perception and it causes me to not respect him, but that's just me.
I do appreciate your civil response to my post, by the way. So many times on these boards, discussions turn into little wars and it's nice to read a post that doesn't tear me apart.
5b4 -
thbryn — 17 years ago(November 22, 2008 02:04 AM)
Why all the deletions?
Anyway, Brian was super talented. Love was a lot of things that were not exactly positive but the BB's were poorly managed and he didn't exactly get the best direction from Murray or the record companies. Mike was important to the BB's but curiously Brian doesn't consider himself part of the group even though he was integral to their success.
I've read about 75 bio's of artists of this era and a lot was going on and you wonder how many survived. I'm glad Brian is healthy enough to be on TV the other night. -
Picnic10 — 10 years ago(October 04, 2015 01:00 PM)
People who aren't famous and/or talented mistake self assurance and protecting one's name as being arrogance. 100 interviews might be given and only 1 contain some bullishness and it's seized upon. You can't imagine the lovely bubble of creativity, slowly twisting and entering in to 'history' [despite few others in the world creating such a loving 'present') in tour after tour, kids turning in to adults with less than a quarter of the creative force that you had at their age, acting in ways that seem to have no sympathy with your loving and sincere, hopeful and melancholic, songs. Your audience shifts, becomes older then younger , with more available advantages than you had yet with less true angst, drive, innocence. If the public get what the public wants, Love was probably just reflecting the public's arrogance about what is cool right back at them.
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SnoozeAlarm — 13 years ago(May 12, 2012 10:46 AM)
Tusk, the Fleetwood Mac album you're referring to, didn't tank. BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA
Balls. It tanked. To go from Rumors to Tusk was an embarrassment.
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