BEACH BOYS SPLIT AGAIN

The other day I received a smashing Brian Wilson/Beach Boys DVD from those jolly nice folk at Chrome Dreams. I will be reviewing it properly in the next week or so, but one thing was very self-evident; Mike Love seems to be a very strange man. According to generally accepted history, there are two poles within the Beach Boys: Brian, the tortured genius, and Mike the bread head businessman who discovered TM and became even more of a breadhead businessman. But watching this film, it became increasingly difficult to know which was which. 

One of them was a pudgy chap with shortish hair and sad eyes, and the other had wild staring eyes glaring out from a forested beard that a whole family of owls could have nested in, and furthermore he always seemed to be dressed like Rasputin, in some sort of weird monk's cowl. Furthermore, everyone interviewed repeated that the chap with the sad eyes wasn't mad at all, merely insecure. Now the mad monk has done something else unexpected.

I like the Beach Boys, I have always liked the Beach Boys, and was particularly happy when - earlier this year - the surviving members of the original line-up reunited and made a smashing album which reaffirmed one's faith in human nature. That's why God made the Radio is a lovely record, and had Brian Wilson's fingerprints all over it. It has the same DNA as Smile, Pet Sounds, and the other bona fide classics that Wilson has masterminded over the years. Now, in a surprise move, Mike Love has kicked Brian, Al and David Marks out of the band.

Read this story from Something Else:

Through the news release issued by the Beach Boys tried to portray their latest split as a planned event following a celebrated 50th anniversary album and tour, new comments from ousted leader Brian Wilson tell a different story.

Mike Love, it’s now clear, has decided to retake a central role in the Beach Boys, having led an offshoot group that only includes second-generation member Bruce Johnston for the last 14 years. Wilson, in new comments to CNN, says Love told him in no uncertain terms that Wilson, Al Jardine and David Marks — the only other surviving original members of the Beach Boys — were not welcome. Seems Love thinks too many shows with them will dilute the reunion concept’s impact.

This, after Wilson had said just weeks before that he was hopeful for a quick return to the studio for the Beach Boys, who released That’s Why God Made the Radio earlier this year to rapturous praise and then embarked on a record-smashing tour. That concert series — and, apparently, the dream of a long-hoped-for end to these squabbles — draws to a close on September 28, 2012, at London’s Wembley Stadium.

Read on...