10 Reasons Why I love The Beach Boys.

[Abdulmajid]

1) They wrote proper tunes

2) They were never afraid to experiment

3) They had a good image

4) They represent Western values

5) They have never given up

6) They were never smug with their success

7) They are the best band ever to live

8) The album tracks were as good as the singles

9) They are timeless

10) They have shown Hawaiin shirts are cool!!!

Can anybody add anything else?

[Ethel]

You are so right.

Brian's drug abuse, massive weight gain, paranoia and his tendency of suing all and sundry are typical Western vales.

But the music is good.

[Mortartube]

I was astounded how shot Brian Wilsons brain is. I worked on one of his concerts about 3 years ago and he has a flat screen monitor at either end of his keyboard with the lyrics scrolling up it, controlled from a laptop by a bloke in the wings.

When you think how catchy, famous and memorable the Beach Boys lyrics are and the fact he wrote much of it, it is a sad testament to the aftermath of his troubles.

[vehelpfulguy]

>his tendency of suing all and sundry

Ethel, dont usually disagree with your answers, but I am not sure Brian Wilson is known for suing everyone (willing to be proved wrong though)

Mike Love, another band member, seems to enjoy suing people. He even sued Brian Wilson a year or so back saying he helped write some of the songs that previously had been credited to Brain only.

The fact that Brian has written loads of great songs and Mike Love has written almost none (on his own) we can see where the talent lies.

[vehelpfulguy]

I grew up in the 1960s and at the time liked some Beach Boys singles but never got round to hearing their albums.

Only in the last few years have I re-discovered some of the early Captiol albums (up to say Pet Sounds) and there are some wonderful songs hidden away in there.

But to comment on your particlar points:

1) They wrote proper tunes

Almost all the songwriting talent was in Brian Wilson. Without him they would have had little success. Harmonies of the voices was wonderful.

2) They were never afraid to experiment

True up to a point. They were pressured by their record label to keep churning out their "surf" hits, but Brain wanted to try to emulate what the Bealtes were doing. Trouble is it drove him mad.

3) They had a good image

Debatable. When other "rock" groups looked "cool" the Beach Boys looked rather stupid. Look at the cover of Pet Sounds, Came out in the mid 60s with all the fancy album covers, and what are they doing, feeding animals in a zoo dressed in cardigans.

They did not have a very good image for a rock band.

more....

[vehelpfulguy]

4) They represent Western values

Well they all took drugs. Brian took so many it did his brain in. Dennis took drugs AND drank a lot and finished up throwing himself off the side of a boat (or fell off because he was so drunk).

Neither Brian or Dennis went to their father's funeral because they had lots of rows with him and they were not on speaking terms.

Mike Love has married five times, once i think to his cousin.

5) They have never given up

Well as a group they have. The three remaining main members, Brian Wilson, Mike Love, and Al Jardine all tour in separate groups.

Mike Love has sued Brain recently, and took Al Jardine to court to stop him using the name Beach Boys.

The "Beach Boys" touring the UK at the moment only has Mike Love from the original band (plus Bruce Johnson who was in the band for a while)

Travesty calling themselves the Beach Boys. It is like Ringo Starr going on the road calling himself the Beatles.

6) They were never smug with their success

Probahbly true. I think at the begining they were all pretty nice people.

7) They are the best band ever to live

Debatable. They were a good band, but would not say the best band.

more....

[vehelpfulguy]

8) The album tracks were as good as the singles

There are some excellent album tracks, but because they were constantly pressured by their record label to get albums out quickly each album had one or two really duff tracks.

Whereas the Beatles made absolutely sure an album was ready before putting it out, the Beach Boys were often pressured to put out an album before it was ready.

This is because all the talent was in Brian and he could only do so much. Even Pet Sounds, which everyone says is such a great album, still sounds unfinished to me.

9) They are timeless

Well we are still listening to their music 40 or more years after some of it was put out.

10) They have shown Hawaiin shirts are cool!!!

Debatable !