Re-Mike Love

I’m going for 75 minutes until I am 90! Living the dream!!! Peter Noone  ____________________________________________ Great write-up on Mike Love.  Mike was my boss for 23 years, including when I met you at the Vilar in 2019.  You’ve hit the nail on the head - Mike really loves performing for the fans.  Summers on tour with The Beach Boys were often brutal - like 32 shows in the month of August alone, each in a different city!  But as hard as it was for the band and crew, I never forgot that Mike would also spend all day doing phone interviews for radio, print and the web for upcoming shows, even early “drive time” hours.  Fielding show offers, planning the routing, and more. He is truly the epitome of a hard-working guy!  So to your point #6 “was this the last Mike Love show?”  If he can regain his health and strength, I am sure he will be back out there! Scott Totten Guitar, Voice, Production and Arranging ScottTotten.com ____________________________________________ An old friend of mine has been the tour accountant/lighting director for Mike Love and the current Beach Boys for the past twelve years. When they passed through San Diego last summer we connected and my wife and I had a chance to see the show, catch up with my friend, and hang a bit backstage. Here’s my two cents. Is Mike in great voice? No, but that’s not the point. He’s 86 and  the last living link to justify The Beach Boys touring and being on stage, and, as you pointed out, he’s all heart and genuinely loves it. The rest of the band, including Mike’s son as well as John Stamos, longtime genuine fan and talented goofball, are fantastic. The audience loved every second of it. These songs are timeless, but the original members aren’t. Mike is there. Literally, that’s all that matters. Whiners gonna whine and haters gonna hate. The show will sell out long before they should choose to not buy their ticket. More seats for the rest of us. And Mike works hard. When we saw them they were fresh off playing some dates in Ireland, and heading out the next morning to travel up the West Coast.. My friend that works for him and everybody else I talked to in the organization had nothing but positive things to say. We are lucky to be alive in this era when these folks are still among us and, in Mike’s case, wanting to share the experience with us, then let’s celebrate every moment of it we can. Thanks for all you do. Ralph Covert ____________________________________________ Mike is five years older than me. I hope I can hang on as long.   In 1980, I was a promotion rep for Boardwalk when he released his solo LP “Looking Back with Love.” The label had booked a promo tour, and I met up with him in Houston to hit the stations, do some press and visit some record stores. I figured “nothing but the best for a legend,” so I rented a loaded red Caddy to chauffeur him around in. When I picked him up at the airport, he smirked, “Got your daddy’s car, huh?” Fortunately, I managed to catch myself just before blurting out, “No, it’s from Avis.”    Jon Sullivan ____________________________________________ I produced a project with BILL CHAMPLIN for Warner Japan , and took him to Tokyo to compete in the Tokyo Music Festival in 1990. We sat in First Class and I had the seat next to Mike Love,  who was also going for the festival as the guest artist.  He got pretty blasted and liked to talk a lot. Very friendly and nice. He told me a lot of fun and interesting stories in the 12 hour flight. He talked  of how he was suing Brian Wilson for co-authorship on many songs. He seemed very confident that he would win . At the time, I was thinking he was talking thru the booze and that for him to win would be a long shot. Lo and behold, he did win!  Mike’s guest performance at the Festival was great ! He and his  polished band did an impressive 45 minute set of Beach Boys hits .  During the competition segment, Bill won Best Vocal Performance (beating out Bobby McFerrin , among others) and he and I shared the award for Best Composer.  Fun memories (seemed like yesterday!) Joey Carbone ____________________________________________ What a beautiful tribute to and analysis of Mike Love.  Mike's a problematic guy if you're a Beach Boys fan.  We know about the rants, the dumb interviews.  But even for the Brian-centric Beach Boys fans who think they hate Mike Love - who could ever have done Mike Love's parts better?  The music is what will last and I have no problem giving Mike his respect for making literally millions of people happy since the 1960's.  And as you pointed out - Mike had more to do creatively with the early Beach Boys stuff than people think.  His strong work ethic kept the band on the road - and money coming in for Brian, Al and the Beach Boys families.   Because of his snippy personality, it's hard for many of us to do what I am about to do now - which is to say THANK YOU MIKE LOVE!  The pleasure was all mine. -Ted Schreiber ____________________________________________ Thanks Bob. I hate it when people speak negatively of Mike Love. He did write the lyrics on most of the hits and he did sing the lead on many of them. He didn't have the advantage of having his father be their manager (who worked to promote Brian).    And he kept the band going and relevant when Brian couldn't or didn't want to. I always respected him for that. He put a great product out there too. The current band is excellent and I've seen them many years in a row.  All good things come to an end but what a great ride it has been and of course we'll always have the music. Feeling down? Just put on the Beach Boys and you can't help but feel better. The lyrics, melodies and the harmonies are timeless and emotionally evocative - like no other band!  They're America's Band!   Patrick Whitaker ____________________________________________ Beautifully expressed, Bob. And people need to lay off Mike Love. He's been unfairly overlooked for his role in those songs for decades and unfairly compared to Brian Wilson who was hardly a saint, just more spectacularly f*cked-up. And apparently had much better publicists. Cheers David Vawter ____________________________________________ Been a fan since..well… before the Beatles…first time live…Winterland 1973… opening with Blondie belting out a fabulous Sail On Sailor…after ball games…arenas…amphitheaters every time they played Maui (even a private gig).. That video of Mike hit hard… I know he’s been in bad shape but to see him like this? First thought was”time to hang it up”… but man what do I know? He’s been doing this pretty much nonstop his whole adult life…it’s his fuel…Over 40 songs every night…he’s going against Doctors orders and even his band…if he wants to ride this wave to the very end… he’s earned that right…we’re all a leaf on a windy day… Tom Clark ____________________________________________ Bravo for giving another face to the man.  I saw that pic of him onstage and could only think of how Paul Atkinson was at the Zombies “reunion” show at HOB in Hollywood years ago, not long before he died. Paul was a mensch, a lovely man. Oh, well…. Hugo Burnham ____________________________________________ '"Today, unless you live here, California is a pariah, a veritable joke, a hellhole with a government that doesn't work, stratospheric taxes and unaffordable real estate.” Keep in mind, California is the most populous state in the USA.   It is #1 in tech, #1 in entertainment, #1 in start up companies, #1 in agriculture, #1 in GDP (and is #4 worldwide !), #1 in venture capital, #1 in Fortune 500 companies headquarters. It ain’t perfect (I got my real estate tax bill today)……but it beats the sh*t out of Texas and Florida. Mike Bone P.S. AND I will put the UC and Cal State colleges up against ANY other states colleges ____________________________________________ Interesting piece, Bob. Lots to think about and lots to unpack.  I will tell you this: I had the honor of seeing Glen Campbell’s “The Goodbye Tour”, accompanied by several of his children, namely Ashley, a good artist in her own right…and it was a very special evening. Not without its “ouch” moments - but mostly, it was heartfelt, there were dashes of his brilliance, his playing and that voice. But, mostly - about how his kids and none other than the legendary TJ Kuenster embraced, protected and celebrated him and his music. Thank you for mentioning him in your piece, even if briefly.  Respect,  Alex Lopez Negrete  ____________________________________________ so much truth in your writing about mike love. these musicians still out there soaking up whatever love they can get from fans...and fans wanting the last ounce of whatever their rock idols have to share. seems like a win-win to me.  tom petty had it right: "i don't know but i've been told you never slow down, you never grow old." rock on! mary e. ____________________________________________ I went to Buddy Guy’s 90th Birthday at Radio City about a week ago.  He was doing it for the love of the music and the love of the crowd and for the love of other musicians.  A few years back I saw an 87 year old BB King delivering on his music.  So, maybe 85 isn’t so old if you love what you do.  John Parikhal ____________________________________________ I’ve seen the Beach Boys several times, mostly in the early 1980s. Even saw Brian with them in an odd one-off in Huntington WV of all places (Carl was sick so Brian filled in).  Point is, I love ‘em. The splintering makes me sad and I wouldn’t go to a show now. That said, I don’t have any problem with anyone who wants to go or if Mike et Al want to keep playing. They deserve to be the ones to choose when they hang up the forever symbolic surf boards. Tim Wood ____________________________________________ Hey Bob, the Beach Boys were the REASON I came to California.  Even though by 1965 I was more of a British invasion guy, the BB came first.  Ever since I heard their first hits in 10th grade I knew I would be California bound some day.  High school was 1961 to 1965 in Arlington, VA.  I went to one of the best public schools in the country, where almost everyone that graduated went to a 4 year college.  Not me, I had C minus average and barely graduated so I was off for Glendale Junior College.  Why California?  Hottest chicks, hottest hotrods, hottest weather is what the Beach Boys said, so why would anyone want to go anywhere else? So I tossed my drum set in the trunk of our 1960 Imperial and my mom and I drove across country.  We arrived on Friday the 13th of August,1965 and got a motel room in Glendale, close to the college.  My mom went to sleep and I drove off for the beach, with no map, but made it to Santa Monica via the freeway.  Coming back was another affair, got lost for hours, (half the fun), almost ran into the Watts riots, finally made it back to the motel by 3 am by asking numerous folks "Which direction is Glendale?"  I had arrived. The dream had started. My first night in CA! The Beach Boys were RIGHT! Sterling Howard, founder/owner  https://www.MusiciansContact.com ____________________________________________ If we are taking a side trip on musicians that died on stage, Col. Bruce Hampton comes to mind. Thank you, David Howard ____________________________________________ Mark Sandman from Morphine died on stage. Roderick Smith ____________________________________________ Man I love you for writing this. Mike Love is a living legend. Thank you. Jordan Holman ____________________________________________ Totally agree with you. Van Fletcher ____________________________________________ Loved this. So true. Two facts for you. One , I took my Mother to see Perry Como at Royal Albert Hall about 50 years ago . He was brilliant! Two, somewhere sometime I met Mike Love. He was brilliant! Sadly I was so fu*ked up I can’t remember where or when but I do remember he was so lovely. Richard Griffiths ____________________________________________ Hi Bob, nice piece. I had mixed emotions when I saw the first clips of Mike in his stool with Stamos championing the crowd around him … as you note it’s tough to see your hero’s lose their vocal chops and push through a show, largely on goodwill. But I think if anyone has earned the right to go out on his terms it’s Mike Love. I really appreciated your interview with him, I think he’s lived in the Wilson’s shadow way too long but he’s really been the glue that’s kept that band alive and a legit touring force. The footage wasn’t great but I hope he was basking in the adoration of that crowd, and however many more he can make.   Cheers Craig Eagleson ____________________________________________ I saw Brian maybe 10/15 yrs ago at the majestic Beacon Theater. I saw Mike with Uncle Jesse Stamos on drums after a AAA  baseball game in Buffalo in maybe 92? The latter was a celebration…people, all different stripes, singing songs and dancing in the aisles together . I was young , as were they relatively. Too much fun.  I actually sat through a baseball game to see the band. Not my sport.  The former I did to say that I saw him… like my friend saw Elvis in Niagara Falls the year he died.   Daniel C. Dwyer ____________________________________________ Thanks, Bob. 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