Sunday 30 September 2012

THE BEACH BOYS: Watching a car crash

Last night I watched Later with Jools Holland on the BBC iPlayer. It featured an appearance by The Beach Boys and following the news that I posted yesterday about the band splitting, I was interested to see what was probably the final TV appearance by all the members of the classic lineup who are still alive.

It was like watching a car crash.

Just look at the two segments I have posted below. Brian seems somewhere else entirely, and heavier than he has appeared in years. The only time in the whole show that he appeared animated was during PiL's set (they were magnificent, by the way), when he was bopping along happily to Deeper Water. But the body language between the members during the interview was so angry and defensive that the whole thing made very uncomfortable viewing.

Brian's lead vocals on Heroes and Villains were excruciating  Something is very badly wrong with that particular group of elderly performers, and I have a sneaking suspicion that yesterday's announcement did not tell anything like the full story. And now I have absolutely no idea who are the heroes and who are the villains.

 

No comments:

Post a Comment

...BECAUSE SOME OF US THINK THAT THIS STUFF IS IMPORTANT
What happens when you mix what is - arguably - the world's most interesting record company, with an anarchist manic-depressive rock music historian polymath, and a method of dissemination which means that a daily rock-music magazine can be almost instantaneous?

Most of this blog is related in some way to the music, books and films produced by Gonzo Multimedia, but the editor has a grasshopper mind and so also writes about all sorts of cultural issues which interest him, and which he hopes will interest you as well.